Getting clients to schedule a session is a key element of building your massage practice, but getting them to show up—to not call with last-minute cancellations or simply no-show—is also critical to creating a financially sound business that will allow you to serve clients for years to come.
How can you encourage clients to show up? In this article, I will show you how to get clients to keep appointments.
Last-Minute Cancellations & No-Shows
Most therapists are focused on getting clients to book. Meeting that goal might include posting on your social media accounts, sharing your business information in Facebook groups that are local to your community, asking existing clients to rebook, emailing your client list, joining networking groups to harvest referrals, and using paid ads to attract a boatload of clients.
While these tactics are a necessary part of client acquisition, they are only the start. What good is a schedule full of appointments if clients don’t actually show up? A wildly successful business requires more than a strong infrastructure; it requires clients who actually receive the benefits of what you’re selling. And to do that, they need to show up. If you experience last-minute cancellations or no-shows, it’s time for a new strategy.
Creating a strong business infrastructure with a shared therapist-client mindset, a pre-payment requirement, clear policies, and both appointment confirmations and reminders are all essential and set your business up for success.
Your business infrastructure communicates your authority position and fully protects your income. Done properly, it will also ensure that your clients will pay the full amount of their scheduled session, even if they don’t show up.
However, you want clients to receive the benefits of your massage, so let’s dive into building a practice with fully engaged clients.
7 Show-up Strategies
Excitement leads to eagerness. Shift your mindset and the mindset of your clients. Creating a virtual atmosphere where clients are excited to show up for their sessions should be a constant theme in your overall marketing approach. After all, when a client is eagerly anticipating their appointment, the chances of them missing it are nearly nil.
When laying out your content, the most important thing is to be excited about the solution. The more excited you are, the easier it will be to create powerful content that makes your target market take notice and want to take action. How can you do that?
First, be honest with yourself. Do you love treating the problems your clients are coming to you with? If the answer is no, maybe it’s time to refer those problems to other therapists. Referring out will allow you to focus solely on solving the problems you enjoy. When you’re passionate about the work you do and the results you provide for your clients, they’ll notice, and they’ll want more of it.
Next, expand your content. Even if you can provide expert-level results for a single problem, you’ll never struggle for content ideas. Go beyond the modalities you practice, the techniques you employ and what you think you’re solving.
For example, low-back pain is wreaking more havoc on your client’s life than just the pain it’s causing. Explore the impact their pain is having on their job, their hobbies and their family life. Are they missing work and pay? Can they no longer participate in their favorite hobbies or social activities? Are they unable to lift their toddler or clean their house?
Understanding the true impact their problem is having, beyond their physical body, will give you loads of content to help underscore the importance of the solutions you provide.
An overwhelming percentage of the population still associates massage with pampering, treating or luxury. If this describes the business model you choose, those descriptions still solve a problem. That problem might be self-care, a birthday or anniversary gift or stress relief, just to name a few.
As with pain problems, creating content that focuses on the problem you are solving—and that you are excited about—will move clients’ mindset from one of “do I deserve it?” to one that clearly knows “I need it.” By shifting into this “need” mindset, you underscore the role massage plays in solving a problem, thereby making showing up much more of a priority.
1. Require the Full Session Fee as a Deposit
Time is your most valuable commodity, so leveraging it into revenue should be at the top of your list. An increasing number of therapists are now requiring a deposit to confirm an appointment, which is a step forward in protecting your income from no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
However, the most commonly charged deposit fee is $25 to $50. With this fee, the therapist is attempting to guarantee some income in the event a client cancels or does not show up, but wants a low-enough deposit to not turn clients off. While this is much better than not requiring a deposit at all, it is far less than the cost of the session. So, if the client does not show up and you cannot fill the appointment, with a $25 to $50 deposit, your income isn’t fully protected.
To fully protect against loss of income, there is only one best answer: Have the client pay in full at the time of booking. When you require full payment up front, cancellations and no-shows will not wreck your revenue.
2. Set Clear Cancellation Policies
Maintain a crystal-clear cancellation policy in conjunction with your pay-in-full requirement to ensure the financial health of your business. There will be no chasing or waiting for clients to pony up a cancellation fee, no invoicing, no asking for money—because it is already done.
When writing your policies, be sure to outline exactly what constitutes a no-show and the deadline for cancellations so clients are fully aware of when and how much they will be charged. Include a sickness-and-emergency policy for clients as well as yourself. If you live in an area where weather is a concern, include a policy that addresses weather.
3. Confirm Appointments Immediately
Utilize the features of your booking system to its fullest. Asking for a phone number, email address and physical address ensures you have multiple options to communicate with your clients. Set up an automatic confirmation to be sent via email and text, with any necessary links included. A quick reminder of your cancellation policy should be included in the confirmation, as well as agreed to before accepting payment.
4. Send Courtesy Reminders
As a business owner, it’s not your job to babysit your clients or act as their personal secretary. However, it is your job to make sure you have clients on your table. Sending out appointment reminders is as easy as building them into your booking system. I recommend reminders one hour before your cancellation policy kicks in, 24 hours prior to the appointment (if this is shorter than your cancellation policy), and a final reminder two hours prior to the start of the session.
If your booking system allows you to check in your clients, you can also set up an automatic thank you or an “Oops, you’ve missed your appointment” message. Thank-yous should be sent a few hours after the session has ended (you do not want an awkward message hitting their phone or inbox while they’re still on the table). Include a link to schedule their next appointment in the event they opted not to reschedule on the spot.
“Oops” messages can be scheduled to send as soon as your no-show policy kicks in. If you allow a 15-minute grace period, send it after that time. If you don’t have a cutoff, sending it immediately after the session would have ended is most appropriate. For oops messages, include a reminder that their card has been charged per your cancellation policy. You can also include a link to your full policy.
5. Don’t be Soft on Gift Certificates and Pre-Paid Packages
Appointments booked using gift certificates or prepaid packages should be treated just like a standard appointment and follow your general cancellation policy.
6. Rebook or Terminate
When a client misses a scheduled appointment, you have more follow-up options. If you want to retain the person as an active client, include a link to schedule their next appointment. This should not be a reschedule, as you’ve already completed the original appointment by charging according to your policy.
If you don’t want to see this client again and prefer to terminate the business relationship, now is the perfect time to release them from your care and refer out (if appropriate).
Giving and Receiving
The key to getting clients to show up lies first in the content you’re sharing, followed by a clearly laid-out set of policies and prepayment requirement, as well as frequent communication after booking to the actual appointment. And remember, the more excited you are about what you’re selling, the more eager your clients will be to receive.
About the Author
Melinda Hastings, LMT, BCTMB, MTI, has practiced massage therapy since 1996. She holds active licenses in Washington and Texas, and is also a Texas Massage Therapy Instructor. She is a Nationally Approved Continuing Education Provider through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork. Her CE classes are offered through her seminar business, Inspired Therapist Seminars.