Is the Massage Field Saturated?

A colleague mentioned that the market saturation of massage is a myth. Market saturation isn't a myth, but rather an economic concept that is centered around supply and demand. Our profession certainly has been affected by it, but whether or not a certain market is saturated is a little more complicated.

Being the eldest child growing up in a family where survival was a concern, the possibility that there might one day not be enough clients for me to survive has always whispered in my ear. But that is something internal, something that sneaks up behind me when I'm not looking, something that I will probably deal with the rest of my life. But, funny thing, it's not necessarily related to reality.

What I have found over the many years of my career is that as massage therapy has become more popular and more massage therapists have come into the market, the flavor has changed. No longer do people tell me that they're thrilled Atlanta has a massage therapist. They now tell me about all the other therapists they have been to around the corner and amongst their family and friends. Yet they still come.

Okay, so I'm no longer exclusive. Now I am competitive. That in itself' is not a bad thing. Now I can justify the decoration and equipment and, of course, the additional training to make myself a better practitioner and improve my professional image. Oh wait, a better practitioner with a more professional image. Now that's not only competitive, but also something I always wanted to do anyway.

Then came the massage schools. Georgia has grown from the one school I attended to over 30, with at least six within a mile of my office. Now they're punching them out like Detroit used to punch out cars. And, now they're calling me every week looking for a job. But I'm established and experienced and pretty good, so that hasn't had a big effect.

Now comes the Wal-Marts, a.k.a Massage Envy, which has opened within a mile of my office and on my street. Funny thing, from the time the sign went up, and before they even opened, I have had a surge of clients calling. I think the sign actually served as a reminder that they were overdue, probably something I should have been doing myself, since the city won't allow a sign
in front of my building because my landlord has taken on city hall a few times too many.

I don't think massage saturation is a myth, but that the market will always right itself. More practitioners have left massage because they can't get a foothold is probably true. The Massage Envy's have given them a chance, though at a lower wage than former entry level opportunities, which means that a few more cannot afford to pay their dues in that way. But practitioners left in earlier days because they couldn't fill their schedules and Massage Envy supposedly supplies the expertise to fill those schedules, so the net earnings for a new practitioner might just be about the same or even better. Meanwhile, massage is becoming more and more popular and it's so flexible that it can adapt to many market demands. Relaxation, papering, sports, clinical, bodywork, energetic, spa. There are so many reasons to get a massage that it continues to appeal to a wider and wider spectrum of consumers.

I suppose we'll go the way of other services, that we'll have to become more efficient or more specialized, build a more solid reputation as a practitioner, or find a new market to survive. Those looking for training will eventually come to understand that not all schools are alike, and some will close. And, alas, we'll have to do a better job of marketing and managing our businesses. One possible benefit from folks who hire us is that they will have a more and more hungry short list of practitioners to hire. Hunger might breed better employees, better practitioners more prepared for an eventual independent practice.

The New AT&T

Has anyone had trouble with the New AT&T? They have been adding charges to my bill that I didn't authorize. About the time they merged, they began hounding me to upgrade my DSL Lite, calling sometimes multiple times per day, evening threatening that I couldn't keep the Lite. I'm a small business, not a gamer, and really don't need any upgrades. One day the upgraded charge (from $30 to about $85) appeared on my bill. They did promptly credit me and downgrade my service.

Then they did call and offer to add on free long distance and even reduce my bill. Suspicious, I questioned them at length, asking several times if it was a promotion or if it would affect my contract in any way. They assured me that it wasn't a promotion but a regular fee, that my bill would even be less, that other companies were killing them, so it was not a promotion and wouldn't affect my contract in any way. So, reluctantly, I agreed.

Well, a $20 charge started appearing on my bill. I called and they wouldn't credit me previous months but they would take it of my bill.

This month, I received my bill with a questionable $20.00 fee. I called and as he was talking to his supervisor, I was abruptly disconnected and could not call back because it was now after hours. During the call, he said he was working with his supervisor and was indicating that since I agreed to the service, I couldn't get a refund. I replied that although I had agreed to the service, I had agreed to it without any additional fees.

In addition, I have lost some of my features in Complete Choice - ring control and pager notification. Each time I call them, they say it is fixed, but it never seems to work.

My contract with BellSouth is up November 5th and I am contemplating switching to Cavalier. I use them at home and notice no difference except the DSL is full speed for less. With their lowest business plan, I would get 100 hours monthly of long distance, much more than I need plus DSL, all for about $55.00 plus all the junk fees. With AT&T, I am currently paying $73 plus junk fees, $93 with the unauthorized long distance charges, $142 without a contract. Cavalier has no contracts.

Ideally, I would like to port to my mobile, but haven't found a reasonably priced DSL-only fee for my small business. Even at $50.00, it's about the same as having a phone line and the DSL with Cavalier. The only thing that they do not offer, at least with my home service, that I use is Remote Call Forwarding, Ring Control and Page Notification, but I think I will be able to live without that. Does anyone know of a better small business offering?

Perhaps one lesson is to record all business-related phone calls. The call center also recommended that I write them confirming the conversation and keep a copy.

Is change always good?

An editorial I wrote was published in the August 2007 issue of Massage Magazine titled "Oh no, not another exam." I wrote it from a practitioner's perspective about the new examination from the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) about the possible negative impact of veteran massage therapists as new qualifications replace old ones.

I do want to say that I am not attached to the NCBTMB. Indeed it caused me many problems when it became widely accepted and changed the standard for the entry level practitioner. I do not pretend to be an expert on the subject and there may, indeed, be reasons to change the exam, but man, we were so close to having a universal exam. Why change it now?

Why does massage feel so good?

Withing the first few days of massage school we saw what we called the "touch video." I do not know the name of it, but I think it was from Nova. It visually described how important touch is to being human. If a newborn receives everything he needs except human touch, he will die.

There was an experiment at a corner store in which the checkout clerk would sometimes avoid touching the customer when they gave them change, and sometimes touch them ever so slightly. Outside a census taker would ask them how they rated the store and if the clerk touched them in any way. Those who had been slightly touched said they weren't touched, and their rating of the store was significantly higher than the group that was not touched.

I think massage feels good because humans need touch to survive. Touch heals us and completes us and makes us fully human.