How to Get Massage Therapists to “Ethically” Sell
By Deirdre Lovell LMT, MTI

The words “ethical” and “sell” in many ways seem diametrically opposed to one another. Selling or sales is one of the most misunderstood phrases in entrepreneurship – particularly for entrepreneurs in the wellness industries. Massage therapists are comparable to artists – they love what they do, but rarely see what they do as a business. Regardless of the size of your spa or practice, selling services, products or both are probably your only source(s) of income. So let’s get clear about what we’re selling, why we’re selling it, to whom we’re selling, and by whom it is being sold. What is it that your customers want? Are you listening and responding to their requests or are you simply pushing a product to boost income?

A good definition of ethical sales is “helping people to buy”. You will have to answer all the questions about your target market, demographic, average sale, frequency and value of sale. A great place to start in helping massage therapists sell ethically is by giving them a product to sell that promotes the mission of the practice and is within their scope of their expertise. Clients feel more comfortable listening to the merits of a product from an expert, advocate, or user. Staff members who are asked to up-sell products, should be trained to do so within the context of the business. They should be knowledgeable enough about the product or service to elaborate in detail. Products relative to the services offered by massage therapists and recommendations for other services at the business are the most “ethical” choices. When massage therapists are pressured to sell products unrelated to their practice…THIS is not ethical.

Standardizing the “speech” that introduces a product can be a helpful tool in assisting therapists who are shy, not natural salespeople or uncomfortable speaking publicly. This also insures that the correct information about your products or services will be shared with all clients. Commission is a great motivator - as is recognition by satisfied clients.

Understand that in a business, ethics is either a practice or it is not.

© 2012 Deirdre Lovell

Why It's Called Work
by:  Charles W. Wiltsie III, LMT
Managing Partner Lypossage esthétiques® International, LLC
charles@lypossage.net
December 2, 2011

Over the past few years work has been seen by employees as dull, unfulfilling and a contributor to the life/work imbalance. It is perceived by employees as being meaningless and does not contribute to the employee’s version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In short only 50% of American workers are satisfied with their jobs and a majority of dissatisfied workers look to their managers or employers to contribute to an environment that helps a worker reach his or her “true potential”. E.L. Kersten, a former professor, contributing writer to the Harvard Business Review and COO of Despair Inc, a company in Austin, Texas likens this problem with employees as the “expectations akin" to the, “romantic ideal that guides some people in their quest for a mate.” He further states that, “Those animated by the romantic ideal believe that they will someday find ‘the one’” In reality, mature individuals will abandon that myth, because, if they don’t, they will be domed to a life of misery and disappointment.

A similar problem exists for employers when employees have an unrealistic ideal of what a job is. Sometimes the employer is not interested in an employee’s input and often tasks performed in jobs are tedious or even, at times, misconceived. The result is that the employee may find his or herself frustrated or demeaned. Unhappiness can be avoided if the employee simply has a less exalted view of themselves and the work. Work itself is often enough of a reward. Work, whatever it is, is worthwhile in and of itself. My grandmother, who recently died at age 92, when, just before she died, I asked her feelings about work, told me that the “job” didn’t matter much and that “all work is noble”. She also said that all things in life derive themselves from work. Things like, struggle, conflict, conflict resolution, a place to go, life long friends, a desire to do a job well, ups and downs, everything is there. The employer needs the employee and the employee needs the employer. In short, if we look into the wild kingdom at the common squirrel, the fulfillment it gets from work, the gathering of nuts, is the fulfillment of food saved and then eaten on a cold winter’s day. Nature, the employer, provides the environment and the squirrel, the employee, cleans up the environment and feeds itself and it’s squirrel family- a perfect relationship.

Again, Kersten states that, “Employees should not demand that companies imbue their lives with meaning. Employers and employees have something the other needs. One of the keys to a mutually beneficial relationship is a realistic understanding of what that something is”. However, in the Alternative Health Services field and Spa Industry, positive environments are at the top of the list for the customer and the employee. The employee has the capacity to nurture more effectively if the total ambience of the facility exudes relaxation, healing and nourishment. Yet, there are three parts to this environment that differ from that of large corporations: First, is the customer, second, the employee and third the employer. Many large corporations do not have to handle the “customer” directly. In the Alternative Health Services and Spa environments, the customer is, in all respects, the true employer. This means that whatever personal needs the employee has are second to that of the customer on the massage table or in the sauna. The employee and employer are both subordinate to the customer and jointly must satisfy the goals and needs for that customer. The employers contribution to this formula is to provide good working conditions and a decent wage. In turn the employee needs to provide an honest day's work with a positive attitude and a nurturing demeanor. Meeting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an individual path each person needs to take on his or her own, in their own way. It is part of the job, only in the sense, that a person who is not self-actualized functions poorly in most places, including work. That said, self-actualized or not, the employer and employee must function at a high level even if those personal needs are not met because the “ethical” business relationship is always customer centric. Finally, my mother once said to me that if a person is to be successful in business they need only a couple of things. First is a commercially acceptable product and second is to do a good job.

Leadership Qualities
by: Charles W. Wiltsie III, LMT
Managing Partner Lypossage esthétiques® International, LLC
charles@lypossage.net
December 2, 2011

According to Steven R. Covey, of Franklin Covey, an executive and organizational development consultant and author, basic leadership qualities come from three things:

1. Ethos: The personal values and a track record that embodies those values.
2. Pathos: Having the ability to listen deeply and empathize.
3. Logos: The ability to think rationally and strategically.

So what does this mean? In the first place there is a contention, ethos, that a person's private and public values are likely to be working best when the two agree. It is rare that one will find a business track record that is better than one's personal track record. One's whole life and the consequences of that life are embodied, for better or worse, in a consistent whole. If the business person constantly seeks truth and is willing to apply that to business the likelihood of success may be greater, assuming that what the business person is selling has a value that is socially or commercially acceptable.

In order to reach the truth one must have the ability to seek it, pathos according to Covey. The ability to listen "deeply". Reading, listening, watching, researching and general critical listening will get the truthful information needed to apply to any business in question. Empathy will allow the business person, after the facts have been gathered, to "know" what to do.

Knowing or intuition will not be helpful without the facts and without assimilating all information available to allow one to reach a logical decision, logos.

In the Alternative Health Services field and Spa Industry this requires more use of analytical thinking than many other industries require because it is a combination Service/Products industry. Calculating manufacturing on an assembly line is actually easy because, by and large, all the facts can be gathered to reach an outcome. Services, on the other hand, require more information and make it less subject to calculation. Information is important but more information is required to plan strategically. Human behavior is uncertainty. Uncertainty is, in many ways incalculable. Or a least in the past that has been true. Human behavior is fluid and as such the old way of controlling risk probably applies here. To minimize your risk in managing human beings as employees or customers the business person should identify and answer the following:

1. Eliminate Risk: Things that are plainly risky based on information gathered should be eliminated.
2. Control Unavoidable Risk: Sometimes there are unavoidable risks. Identify them and have strategies in place to handle them.
3. Calculate Risk: Calculate the risk/reward ratio. Ask yourself; Is there a great benefit to a controlled risk taken?

Listen, Learn, Internalize, Gather Facts, Use Logic, Minimize and Eliminate Risk. These are tried and true ways of scientifically improving your business.