Firing Clients - Fire 80% Of Your Massage Clients Today

I hear you already...

Has Kris lost his marbles?

Well, that was a long time ago...

...but I digress ;)

I'm going to go out on a limb here for just a moment and tell you how 'firing clients' worked for me back in 2007 while performing massage in Las Vegas.

Everyone and their brother is talking about the 80/20 rule, and I’m going to as well.

The good news is I’m going to get a little more specific.

The 80/20 rule means that 80% of your profits come from 20% of your massage clients. Take a close look at your own business. I sure did, and this rule holds true for me and my business.

Let's look at an example of what I'm referring to.

Do you have massage clients who only see you when offered a substantial discount of, say, 50% off?

Have you ever noticed that you only see these people when you offer a very large discount or FREE samples of your massage?

Have you noticed that you probably never get any referrals from these people?

It's happened to me throughout my entire career.

This happens in ALL businesses.

Here's what I did while performing massage in Las Vegas:

I stopped contacting 80% of my clients, immediately. No telephone calls, no text messages, no mailers, nothing. I truly began firing clients.

I wanted to isolate and select the most profitable part of my business, the 20%, and let go of the least profitable areas that engaged 80% of my time.

I finally figured out that there are people around that are just mooches. Always those that want something for nothing.

Let them go! I decided to let others who perform massage in Las Vegas deal with these people.

Now please understand, I'm not getting rid of 'bargain hunters.' With these people I still have an excellent relationship with and are a part of this 20%.

Let's continue. Also...

You now have much more time to spend with your quality clients, or, acquiring new massage clients!

Do you want to know what the biggest lesson learned?

I finally realized that I shouldn't force my services on people that really don't want to buy. I've learned to market to those that really want a massage in Las Vegas!

"But Kris, don't the moochers really want a massage as well?"

Not really.

These individuals only want whatever it is, for a discount or for free. Yes, they may want a massage in Las Vegas, but we're here to make a living, correct?

[Update to this article, 9/2/11.] This post is also in direct relation to the 'Daily Deals' that so many massage therapists are now participating in. Firing clients needs to be a part of this process as well!

Most 'Daily Deal' programs are only building and developing more mooches, not loyal massage clients that will stay with us. Please keep that in mind. With that said, back to the original post...

I learned this a long time ago: Take care of myself, first.

If not, how am I going to take care of anyone else?

I also took a close look at the massage packages I was offering and discontinued anything that wasn't in the top 20%.

This tactic was scary for me, as I went to many continuing education classes on specific modalities that I just couldn't market very well for one reason or another.

These classes weren't cheap, either.

So, I decided to stick with what I was best at. I really focused on the 20% of massage packages and massage clients that generated me 80% of my business.

And guess what? My business grew daily.

These 20% of massage clients:

• Were more reliable and less likely to cancel appointments.
• Upgraded to more expense massage packages.
• More receptive to new idea's.
• Purchased other 'add-on' products.
• Referred more of their friends and family.
• ...all with less work!

How does that sound to you?

A bit radical? Of course!

Stop banging your head against the wall trying to promote certain modalities that aren't selling, and pushing them on people who aren't going to buy anyway! Firing clients is the best tactic I've used in a long time ;)

It's liberating!

Massage in Las Vegas by Kris Kelley

I am currently not performing massage therapy in Las Vegas anymore. I'm now a life coach down in Prescott, Arizona. If these services interest you, please feel free to visit my new website here, Exploring Awareness.