If you’ve ever experienced a potential client calling to ask if you offer services such as body scrubs, muds or other spa treatments, and had to reply “no,” consider this: If a client goes to a spa to get a treatment she’s seeking, she may get her massage there, too—even if only for the sake of convenience.
It’s easier than you may think to include spa add-ons in your menu of services, even if your practice is not a traditional spa environment. If you’re doing a lot of deep tissue massage, breaking up your routine with a spa treatment or two may help save your hands and leave you less tired at the end of the day.
Scrubs and muds
The supplies you’ll need to offer spa scrub or mud treatments are minimal. A towel cabi is a great investment, and is not only good for spa treatments, but will also be useful whenever you need to apply heat to a client. The simple act of putting a warm towel over the client’s face at the end of a massage is a nice touch that will open up sinuses after the client has been lying prone.
Once you apply a scrub or mud to the client, use warm towels to remove the substance. There are also waterless muds available that peel off.
You’ll want to protect your massage table and linens during spa treatments by using disposable products. Plastic and paper sheets are available from spa and massage distributors at a reasonable price.
A thermal blanket to cover the client while mud is on the body is another inexpensive investment.
Towels, washcloths and the products are the only other expenses.
Products such as body scrubs and mud can be—and should be, if you’re just starting out—purchased in small sizes; you don’t want to purchase a gallon or more that could spoil before you use it until you see how it goes.
Paraffin
Paraffin treatments are an excellent way to add a spa experience to your practice. Once you invest in a paraffin warmer, you’ll find the cost per treatment to be minimal—less than $1 per hand or foot treatment. It’s so inexpensive, it’s a great treatment to give away to celebrate a client’s birthday, or to offer someone who had to wait a few minutes extra before an appointment. It’s also a way to increase your bottom line.
Paraffin feels wonderful to people who suffer from arthritis in their hands, and those who have cracked, dry skin will love the way it leaves their skin feeling. Paraffin treatments can also be done on the feet or elbows, or painted on to any part of the body with a body brush.
Stone therapy
Hot stone (and cold stone) massage is often thought of as a spa treatment, but anyone who has been properly trained in the technique can offer stone massage. Traditional hot stones aren’t the only option; these days there are battery-operated rechargeable hot stones available, heated mitts, warm bamboo, heated shells—plenty of options.
Please seek proper training in these techniques, including safety and sanitation protocols, before performing hot or cold therapies.
Selling spa add-ons
Promote your spa treatments on your website, and in your newsletter and client emails. For example, as dry skin is a problem for a lot of people in the winter, say something like, “Exfoliate and moisturize your dry winter skin and get ready for bathing suit weather with a salt scrub,” or “Leave your skin glowing and feeling smooth with a relaxing mud treatment,” or “Soothe your aching hands with a warm paraffin treatment.”
Remember, any time you add extra services onto a regular massage, charge for them. It’s a good idea to do an Internet search for day spas and other therapists in your area to see what the average charge is for value-added services, and charge what the market will allow.
Take treatments on the road
Therapists who provide on-site massage can offer spa treatments at clients’ homes—and since the client will have a shower at home, you won’t have to wash off the product. The same goes for those therapists who practice from their own homes, or in studios that contain a shower.
Applying a nice body lotion after the treatment is sure to leave your client’s skin feeling smooth and silky.
Pamper and relax
One word of advice: Don’t make claims about what a spa treatment is going to do, other than be relaxing and revitalizing for the skin. Avoid promising clients that you’re going to get rid of cellulite, flush out toxins or make them lose weight. Spa treatments, by their very nature, are all about pampering—so make clients feel pampered.
About the Author
Laura Allen is the massage division director of Soothing Touch, as well as an author, educator and clinic owner. She has been a massage therapist for 16 years.