How do you determine outcall fees?

[Bumble]

I haven't done outcalls in years because I hate the hassle of them and really like having my office set up just the way I like it. I made an exception last week and think I undersold myself :irked:

How do you decide how much to charge for an outcall/housecall? I have a 25 min. commute to my office, so I wasn't sure how to charge for my house call travel time since I don't charge for my travel time to my office.

Do you charge a flat rate for outcalls or do you vary it depending on how far your traveling (within reason of course)? I also factored in that they have their own table so I don't have to haul mine.

 

[Brittany Reid]

How do you determine outcall fees?

My outcall fee is double my in-office fee. That's with or without a table. With a table they get a certain discount and I rarely do out-calls anymore where the client doesn't have their own table. I can't be hauling one around like I used to, so I don't encourage that, at all.


Any questions, just ask and I'll say more. Right now I'm actually going to an outcall though, so, I don't have more time. *zoom*

 

[I am a feet guy]

How do you determine outcall fees?

Thanks pueppi. Based on your response, they're getting one heck of a bargain. Ah well, live and learn t002

Do you discount at all if you're doing 2 sessions while you're there vs. just 1?

 

[masybab02]

How do you determine outcall fees?

Here's my situation, and of course you may need to tweak these concepts and ideas according to how you feel about this and how it fits with your lifestyle.

I live about 45 mins. from my office, so pretty much anything I do, is another 20-45 mins. further out from the office. That can, on occasion be closer to my home, or further away. I'll take my current outcall clients as the general example and talk about other items of interest after that, if you don't mind. It's a bit easier for me to keep track that way. BTW, traffic here can at times be extraordinarily heavy, so that 45 mins. is without traffic for the record.

My current outcall clients, which are two people in the same household, live about 30 mins. west of my office. That means that it takes me about 1 hour 10 mins. to get home in the evening - leaving their home around 9:30pm, on average. Sometimes it's an hour. I don't charge any more for it taking me longer to get home (my regular outcall rate does pretty much cover this, which is why it's not an issue), but I do try to work those outcalls so that I am not only going to an outcall at their home on a given day. I may on occasion do so, because they need me, but I really try to keep it in line with doing their work after I finish my work day at the office. Does that make sense? Basically, this way I get a little more bang-for-my-day.

However, I believe that each outcall situation is unique and will make certain concessions based on the clients. In thier case, I can see them as frequently as twice a week. Sometimes it's once a week, and sometimes there is a 3 week gap if they have to leave the country. It all depends. But, for the most part they try to keep it at twice a week when possible. Because of this... they do get preferential treatment. That means, if one of them is running late from work, I am not going to be getting all grumpy and forcing the issue that I need to get home. I also pad my time around those appointments, because of this reason (they bith have some pretty crazy schedules and situations that are not able to be avoided when it comes to getting out of work "on time"). And, I give them a discount for anything past a 1 hour massage. It's only 10 percent, but it adds up (especially when they have family in town and I am doing 4 hours of massage on a visit). Basically though they get 2 and 1/2 hour of massage between themselves currently. And, sometimes it goes like this: Day 1 = 1 and 1/2 hours for person 1. Day 2 = 1 and 1/2 hours for person 1 & 1 hour for person 2. OH, and they have their own table.

Ok. So, I got that part out. Now, what I have gone over to this year, for anyone wanting masage as an outcall, is the following: I will provide 1 and 1/2 hour work X 2 people at any given appointment and they will need to have their own table. This price includes the "discount", and in the letter my clients recieve (which has gone out to couples who are part of our private practice) the discount is marked as such, so it's obvious. I have the "normal" price for that service, and their discounted price (offered to them because they are regular in-office clients). This way, they understand that I am doing this as a nicety. I would consider working less table time if two clients were very regular like the ones I mentioned previously, but it's not what I have as a proposal. I'd need to be convinced - if that makes sense.

I will say that I have one client I offered to come and see privately for a 1 hour minimum, but this is because she lives very close to my home, and theoretically, I could go see her on my day "off".

Now, an interesting glitch to my system, is that currently, my regular "big" outcall clients I mentioned in the first paragraph are in a situation where the schedule is only working for a one hour massage once a week for one of them... and this will go on for about 4 weeks. I am certainly not going to make it difficult on them by insisting that I can't see them because of this. After all, we've been very regular and will definitely get back to our agreed upon scheduling after this current oddity passes. But, there is not a discount for the 1 hour in this case. I am however, being flexible enough to continue to accomodate them. And, they have accomodated me, to change the massage day as fits best to both our schedules.

I hope that makes sense and gives you some things to toss around in regard to how you plan to persue your scheduling and fee structure.

I will say, that because I have my own office, I mainly offer out-calls to only certain people and it is more of a bonus for me. If I am not getting something useful from it, I don't do it, because I don't want to resent it. But, I have a bit of a luxury to do that, since I have my private practice.

Also, in the past, I have done hotel outcall work which can be a beneficial boost to your income, as much of that work can be done "after hours". Keep in mind, that if you go that route, you need to be very flexible with your time regarding the hotel, or they will search for someone else who can better accomodate them and drop you from the call list, no matter how good or how nice you are. I say this because I knew someone who could not drop what she was doing and be at their beck and call, and it eventually caused her to be dropped to the bottom of the call list. So, if you want to be first call, you have to respond regularly.

Hope that helps some. Feel free to ask me to clarify if needed.

This thread may also be of use.

 

[Deke]

How do you determine outcall fees?

MTs have two constraining factors. Time and Stamina

Time is money. And that is more true in massage than in most businesses.

No matter how long you practice, there is no "experience curve" or other productivity gains. A one hour massage takes one hour. You can make marginal productivity gains in your turn-around time between appts so you can book the next one sooner that you otherwise would, but that only helps when you are heavily booked.

For outcalls, time is much more important than energy/stamina. The commute time is neither consistent nor controllable (unless you live in wide open spaces with perfect weather, perfect drivers etc.) The incremental energy you expend putting your table in and out of your car and the set up and pack up are small compared to the time involved in the whole matter. So someone having a table is only of marginal benefit.

But then you have the other side of the problem -- the client really does not care where you live or how long it takes for you to get to their home. If you price based on the time you invest, clients will eventually find a closer, cheaper alternative.

So unless you are likely to REGULARLY miss out on office appointments by doing outcalls, the economic impact of investing 2.5 or even 3 hours into 1 appt is rather small. You would just be sitting around you office in between clients if you did not take the outcall.

Also, once you approach being as booked as your body can take, time is less of a factor and stamina becomes the constraint. Raising prices, saying No more often or taking an outcall -- think of the commute time as a paid, though at a lower hourly rate, break.

I would advocate a flat surcharge for outcalls, up to a set distance and don't go beyond it even for more money.

 

[LadySupport]

How do you determine outcall fees?

The incremental energy you expend putting your table in and out of your car and the set up and pack up are small compared to the time involved in the whole matter. So someone having a table is only of marginal benefit.

I'd like to address the "marginal" comment.

In my case, a client having a table is a heck of a lot more than a marginal benefit. Here is why:

• I live in an upstairs apartment. Hauling the table up and down the stairs is irritating to say the least. I prefer to keep my outcall table at home and not in the office, because when I have an outcall late at night, I don't want to stop by the office to pick it up and I like to use this particular table at home anyway. Yes, I do have a second outcall table (not the same as my private practice tables) at the office, but it is still heavier than the one I prefer, and honestly, I haven't taken the time to trade it on on one like my preferred table, since it would take some searching to locate that model (which has been discontinued).
  
  
• My office is in a big city. This means, if I am going to an outcall and have to park my vehicle for any amount of time, I need to place the outcall table in the office. Yes, people break into vehicles for the fun of it down here. That becomes a pain in any direction... to/from home, to/from office .... to from clients home/store, etc. When a client does not have a table in their home, I really have to be careful in making plans which include NOT going anywhere but from my space to clients home if I want my table to be minimally exposed to the freaks in our city. Or, I have to lug it aound multiple times.
  
  
• Set up and personal energy focus becomes that much easier when the client already has a table set up in their home. I never realized how much even a little extra focus does for a massage therapist, until I became one. As a healthcare practioner who was not an MT, I just didn't get it. As an MT, I figured it out real quick-like! I highly suggest that anyone talking for what is marginal to an MT, become one to actually grasp this concept. I think most MT's would agree.

Those are just my reasons for why I highly prefer the client to have a table in house.

 

[Erick28]

How do you determine outcall fees?

I still stand by my comment, and despite not being an MT, it was based on several factors.

First of all, for your situation, it may not be true. You live in a building without and elevator and in a big city and probably have a car without a secure (meaning they can't see into it) storage area.

The context of my comment was hauling the table in and out compared to the 90 minutes you spend going to and from an outcall client and setting up and tearing down. The bigger impact on your ability to generate additional revenue is the time sink of the commute -- how often has someone thought "Damn, I could have picked up two more appts today if I hadn't been so tired from the extra work of the outcall" vs. "I could have picked up two more appts today if I had not been stuck in traffic/commuting to that client"

From working with our staff of nearly 100 MTs nationwide for nearly a decade, travel time impacts their ability to earn 5x or more often than not having the energy to do the work because of the rigors of an outcall vs office work.

 

[Chance M]

How do you determine outcall fees?

My outcall fees are a little simpler. I restrict how far I'm willing to travel (I used to travel a lot farther than I do now). I am willing to travel up to 30-45 minutes from my home (or office, give or take some with traffic). I haven't had an office this past year, but I will do again soon. My outcall rate will be $20 more than my incall rate.

I offer a $10 discount on each session if there is more than one person booked or there is a table (if there is both, there is still a $10 discount, period).

I could get wild and crazy and vary the rate based on distance, I know some who do that, and should I make an exception and decide to travel further. Some I've heard charge extra for stairs and no elevator. To me, it's a "cost of doing business".

I have a good table cart that is steady up the stairs, so I don't have to carry it.

 

[Pompal 09.]

How do you determine outcall fees?

I've handled outcalls several different ways, and I'm still not exactly sure which works best (for both myself and the clients), so YMMV.

When I first started to get really busy (circa 2005), I basically charged my in-office rate plus mileage. The best way I found to calculate the additional mileage fees was to sit with a small map of my metro area (shrunk down to 8x11, and I had several copies in case I made a mistake or changed my mind) and figure out how much time it took me to get to various locations around the city. I was also able to consider my geographical boundaries - how far was I willing to travel? I imagined every possible scenario, because I knew I'd encounter them eventually and it'd be best to have an answer ready. I must admit, I got more takers on the office fee (which was about $60/hr back then) plus mileage (trust me, I calculated that in a way that didn't gouge them but didn't shortchange me either - I lived in an outlying suburb where traffic is still a PITA and so my mileage charges started at $20 for outcalls in the same city, since it still took me 15-20 mins to get anywhere in that suburb and went up to about $50 for someone living closer to downtown, which still took 30 or so mins to travel). I also got more couples/groups because the mileage was only charged once, so it built in a discount for multiple people at one location.

As I got busier in the studio and with school, I eventually decided to make outcalls a single flat hourly rate that was more expensive than my studio rate. By then that studio/in-office rate was $70-75, and I made my outcalls a flat $100/hr, no matter where they were. I simply redrew the map and instead of price-tiers, I simply drew lines for geographical boundaries I would not cross. The client either fell within my service area, or they didn't. I realized that for couples or groups, this flat-rate pricing, while more straightforward, was a big price hike - so I gave a 10% discount off the total.

Now I live in a different city, and I am more centrally located. I don't plan to do much massage therapy, but I may do a basic housecall on weekends or after hours for some additional income. I also, like Pueppi, live in a 2nd floor apartment, one which doesn't have an elevator. So, lugging a table will carry some additional consideration. Although for me the tradeoff now is that the traffic I now face is NOWHERE NEAR what it was in my former city, and there are plenty of backroads and sidestreets, so local trips take 5-10-15 mins and getting all the way across town takes 20-30 max. Wages here, however, aren't what they were in my former city, so my prices would have to be re-adjusted, probably to what my rate schedule was about 5 yrs ago. But that's OK, because cost of living is also much lower.

I think the key is to consider all possibilities, from the cheap to the premium pricing, and figure out which pricing, and which pricing method, along the continuum best resonates with you. And I found it VERY helpful to think all of these things through beforehand, so that I wasn't put on the spot, nor feeling any pressure, when the phonecall came from that outcall client. Best to consider all of these things when NOT under pressure

Hopefully that helps?
Hugs!
~Jyoti

 

[xxabbyxxjoexx]

How do you determine outcall fees?

I price my outcalls on a 30min radius from where I am, I charge a third of my clinic rate for that possible 1hr round trip (occassionally it is a 15min round trip if they are very close). Or a 30min radius it goes up in $15 15min blocks up to 1hr, I won't travel over 1hr, I arrive in drive mode rather than therapist mode. I use something like google maps directions to calculate the timing.


I don't have stairs to tackle with the table at my end. I don't offer any discount on them having a table, because I always take mine along the first time, and every time so far they have preferred my table over their table, plus I know how to adjust the height on my table, I know how to adjust the face cradle, I know how the linen moves on the table, I know how my table cover fits, and I know how comfortable my table is.