We understand the frustration of needing a massage right now and being told that the first available for your preferred therapist is three months out. That is just ridiculous! You may even feel, “I’ve been a loyal client for a long time, they should make room for me.” We get it, and we agree. Brenna and Melissa have increased their hours up to 25% to help accommodate you. We really do want to be there for you when you need us most.
It’s times like this that tempt us to apologize for being good at what we do and having the ability to fill our appointment books too quickly – but isn’t that why you love us as you do? You wouldn’t have it any other way. You know there is a reason why we are the #1 Massage Therapy Business in Kentucky and #4 business overall, according to Top Rated Local. You know there is a reason why the owner and senior therapist (Melissa) won the gold medal in Swedish Massage at the American Massage Championship and is now on the U.S. team to compete in the World Massage Championship next June in Denmark.
So what can be done to help you get an appointment more easily? Some suggest that we just hire more therapists. Well, even if the employment market weren’t terrible right now, we will never stop having the highest standards for hiring and keeping massage therapists. Kentucky state requires that massage therapists take three hours of Ethics every two years. There is a reason for that – some therapists talk a good game but really have no game. With very few exceptions, if you’ve seen us hire a therapist and they were gone just as quickly, it’s because they would not meet our standards of care for all of you, our precious clients. Simply put, we will only keep the very best therapists for you.
Some suggest raising our prices so high that it will weed out many people and scale our waitlist down. It is true that, like everyone else, we did have to raise our prices because of covid-inflation, but that had no impact on our waitlist. Knowledgable clients want quality massage and will prioritize that in their budgets. I get it. I do the same.
So it may not be perfect, but here are the steps that we are taking to help you get an appointment sooner:
- We are changing our endless waitlist to aweekly waitlist. If you want to be on it – make sure we have a message from you by Tuesday when we open at 9 am. Leave a voicemail at 270-904-3474. You can be on it for two consecutive weeks at a time. This will help us prioritize your needs better and stay focused on finding some wiggle room to possibly squeeze you in – which we do try to do.
- We will be doing a better job reminding you to book again directly after your massage for regular appointments – even if they don’t start until several months out. When the time comes, you will be glad you have those recurring appointments that are all yours. Be proactive!!
- While you are waiting for your regular appointments to start, why not try our new Myofascial Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage and Block Therapy with Tyanna Shiles, LMT, for your chronic aches and pains? You might just get hooked. She’ll be here from New Mexico in a few short weeks.
- I (Melissa) have increased my hours and taken 25% of those appointments off online booking so that when you are done with your massage, I have room to rebook you for the follow-up treatment that you may need next week.
- Brenna has opened up clinic hours after her regular work time for her many clients who specifically suffer from TMJD, for which she is now a certified expert. This issue affects about 85% of our clients, and we are thrilled that this is Brenna’s new passion.
- We have been blessed by another new full-time LMT hire coming on in a few months, whom we will train to do our most requested massage, the New York Signature Massage. Her name is Kenzie Manning, LMT from Lexington. She has been a therapist for six years and is currently a professional massage coach at Lexington Healing Arts Academy.
- One of our biggest surprises of the year is that Michael Strautman, our general manager is currently in massage school and hopes to contribute to the company as a Licensed Massage Therapist starting in July 2023. This news is due to the opening of a new massage school here in downtown Bowling Green, Bluegrass Massage Institute. We are incredibly pleased with the curriculum and the standards the new owner is teaching. This means there will be new LMT candidates shortly. Like their Facebook page and share it with others. You never know who might be looking for a new career in what we think is the coolest profession out there!
You could help us gain more therapists by leaving reviews on Google and Facebook. Tell the public why we are specifically different than other massage therapy places in town. Your opinion may just be the word a new therapist needs to hear to set up an interview with us. The more interviews we have, the more hires we can make, and the more appointment opportunities you’ll have.
As always, thank you for trusting us and being our clients. We truly appreciate you and want to do our very best for you.