ASSIGN CLIENTS HOMEWORK TO GROW YOUR MASSAGE BUSINESS

Why give homework

Give homework to keep people coming back.  Here's the thing.  After a client found you and made an appointment now it's your job to keep them booking time and time again.  Giving them a great massage is only part of what will keep them coming back.  By assigning homework you create a partnership with the client.  You are no longer having to "fix" them during an hour session every two weeks but now some accountability has shifted to them.  They are responsible for holding up their end of the partnership until it's time for their next appointment.  By assigning homework it shows you care what they are doing outside of the treatment room.  It shows that you are invested in their success and clients appreciate that!  You can even share your goals with them and that has them looking forward to the upcoming months with you.  Giving homework is an easy way to keep clients rebooking and get referrals for your massage business.        

When to give homework

Give homework to every client!  Yes every single one.  You know from your intake before the session begins why that person is there for the massage.  Take what they said and assign a homework piece related to their wants.  For example, a client comes in complaining of headaches.  After the massage you might give them a tennis ball and show them how to use it for self massage on the sub-occipitals.  Those clients who are runners might need to roll their calves at home with a foam roller or tennis ball.  Those clients with a stubborn piriformis may benefit from a psoas release.  Think of the things you wish you had more time on during the massage session and send the client home with that as their homework.  Keep it simple and assign no more than two homework items for the best result.        

How to give homework

Directly following the session before they re-book.  As the client leaves the treatment room see how they are feeling and take them to a quiet corner to teach them the right way to do their homework.  If a separate area isn't available you can take them back into the massage room and show them what you would like them to do for homework until next time you see them.  Show them, watch them do it and offer your email if they have any questions while trying it at home.  If a print out of the exercise is necessary, that's a nice thing to send with them. 

What homework is best

Think of what will make your next session with that person easier.  Looser pecs?  Working out that trigger point on levator scapulae?  That's what you will assign them.  It might be a simple stretch or a foam roller technique.  Depending which tools they have at home might depend what you assign them.  Many clients will purchase tools for home after you show them what will help them gain the outcome they're looking for.  A stretch every client could use is the doorway stretch.  Especially clients who have a desk or computer job and are rounded forward through the shoulders.  Opening the pectoralis muscles on a daily basis will help their posture as well as your bodywork progress each time you work with them. 

Giving clients homework gives them knowledge about how to help themselves when they feel tightness or pain coming.  As a massage therapist you know long-held muscular patterns are not fixed with one hour of bodywork every other week.  When you gain the help of the client everyone is happy.  They reach their goals faster and you gain a client for life. 

Until next time

Be fit, be strong, begin giving clients homework and watch your business soar.