Possibly lowering rates...

[PetPrincess]

Since a lot of people are trying to save money, I thought perhaps lowering my rates a bit might help me obtain new clients (other than just advertising). My one concern is the couple of clients I have so far through my mobile business. In another thread a non-MT mentioned that he/she received reimbursement for fees he/she paid before the MT lowered her rates. As a client of MT myself at times I would never expect that to happen, but worry that someone might request that of me. I don't have the money to give back.

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[emorain]

Possibly lowering rates...

No opinion on lowering your rates or not, but I definitely would NOT refund $ after the fact for a price change. Think about it, would you pay your MT for all past massages if they raised rates? Or would you expect your clients to pay you the extra?

Personally, methinks the person you are referring to was full of it....

 

[vaye]

Possibly lowering rates...

Since a lot of people are trying to save money, I thought perhaps lowering my rates a bit might help me obtain new clients (other than just advertising).

Instead of lowering your rates, how about a coupon? Or a nice healthy package discount?

 

[crystal-claire]

Possibly lowering rates...

I agree with the previous 2 posters.
An additional alternative to lowering rates could be offering a good incentive for referrals.

Though it may be different elsewhere, it seems the therapists who have kept their rates the same are doing better than those who have lowered them. Some of those lowering them have gone out of business due to overextending debt combined with still not having enough to cover it. This has resulted in the unexpected result of more clients for some of the other therapists. Well, at least one other therapist!

 

[A Wolf at the Door.]

Possibly lowering rates...

I have not seen an MT survive lowering their rates, here. It seems to be the death blow to the struggling business.

 

[vlost1]

Possibly lowering rates...

Also the math doesn't add up. Let's say you are doing 15/wk at $60, that's $900. Then you lower your prices to $50. You will have to pick up 3 new clients JUST to be back where you were at $900. And to maintain the SAME level of income, you now have to work 18 sessions a week.

If you offer a coupon, you might be able to bring in some new people, without sacrificing income on stable sessions. Better yet, if you offer a similar thing in a package discount, (say $50 off a 5 session package,) you create stability with repeat business.

 

[Kookie]

Possibly lowering rates...

In another thread a non-MT mentioned that he/she received reimbursement for fees he/she paid before the MT lowered her rates.

Regarding this situation, I'd take that with a grain of salt. There were some contradictory elements in his story, and I'm relatively certain we were spun just a bit. Plus the poster who made that claim admitted that he was trying to get a rise out of us, so I'm not sure how much of the rest of his tale was believable anyways.

I wouldn't expect anyone to ask for retroactive discounts, and if someone does, just tell them no.

When Burger Queen moves another burger to the dollar menu, do you think they honor requests from patrons to give them money back on all the previous burgers purchased at full price?

 

[Jong Shung]

Possibly lowering rates...

Very good points. Thank you for that. I needed things put into perspective. I'll try the coupon and package discounts and see if that speeds things along.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Possibly lowering rates...

Where I work we have done a "Buy one, Get one Free" coupon for new clients only - about 70, 000 were distributed and it made us quite busy and we're still busy. It sucks doing free work - but out of the coupon clients I've had, over 50% have come back after their free massage - so it worked. Along with that coupon also came a coupon for existing clients for referrals. 50% off a massage, for a referral.

I am now offering a package special of 10% off each massage, if they're bought in multiples.

With coupons, be careful of wording. Make sure you are specific. We had a few people question if two people could come in and only one have to pay for a massage. Nope, we should have specified that the free massage is to be used by the coupon holder. Also, you must see the therapist you originally saw - not fair for another therapist to work for free on a client who hasn't paid them ever. Also, with the referrals - the referral has to actually come in and say you referred them before you get a discount.

Like breathe said - you get the opportunity to gain new clients without sacrificing your current income when you use coupons.

 

[Dayna1717]

Possibly lowering rates...

Like Patton said, "I don't like to pay for the same real estate twice"

Keep your published rates as they are. If you feel the need to lower them, do it as a promo/discount, but have a goal for this. If you offer an extra 30 mins when booking 60, you can keep your income fairly constant compared to recent years, but just be a bit more tired, vs. Breathe's example of how many more CLIENTS you have to get to make up for a discount. Clients don't equal Hours -- it costs $ to get new clients, but until you are at capacity, hours are free.

 

[dantheman]

Possibly lowering rates...

My best best promo has always been running a sale on a 90 min.massage. I could do the same for an hour or a half hour and get nothing t017 , but if I lower the rate on the 90 min. the phone rings off the hook. And the good part is after the promo is over most of those people end up sticking with 90 min. at the regular price

 

[horsiie]

Possibly lowering rates...

My best best promo has always been running a sale on a 90 min.massage. I could do the same for an hour or a half hour and get nothing t017 , but if I lower the rate on the 90 min. the phone rings off the hook. And the good part is after the promo is over most of those people end up sticking with 90 min. at the regular price

That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing. JLW... may I ask how much you "run your sale" off the regular price? And, how you are doing this advertising? Via coupon, mailer, etc?

I'd also add that I've done tests over the years and found that giving a discount of $10 off a one hour massage does not bring in any less clients than one of $15, $20 or $25. Therefore I always keep it at $10-Off on a coupon when doing that.

 

[Ellie B]

Possibly lowering rates...

My best best promo has always been running a sale on a 90 min.massage. I could do the same for an hour or a half hour and get nothing t017 , but if I lower the rate on the 90 min. the phone rings off the hook. And the good part is after the promo is over most of those people end up sticking with 90 min. at the regular price

That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing. JLW... may I ask how much you "run your sale" off the regular price? And, how you are doing this advertising? Via coupon, mailer, etc?

I'd also add that I've done tests over the years and found that giving a discount of $10 off a one hour massage does not bring in any less clients than one of $15, $20 or $25. Therefore I always keep it at $10-Off on a coupon when doing that.

I run a add with google ad words, put a ad on Craig's List and send out an email to my client list.

At one point I ran a promo for a month a 90 min. massage for the same price as a 60 min. And that really got the phone ringing and now all those people are paying $80 for the 90 min. so it was worth me giving that type of discount