About 20 years ago, when I was about to start a massage business, I went on a quest to find a physical therapist. I wanted to build a professional relationship with a PT who was approachable, would answer my questions and collaborate with me when treating certain clients.
Guess what?
I finally found one!
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great PTs out there. That wasn’t the problem. Finding the one who was willing to take the time to discuss a client’s case in depth was the hard part.
Interview with a Unique Physical Therapist
In this vlog-ish post, I interview Dr. Charlie Johnson. He’s a Doctor of Physical Therapy and he has a lot to say about PTs and finding the right PT to work with and/or refer to. I’ll think you’ll welcome his fresh perspective and you might even be a little surprised as to what he has to say about the PT world.
In the Start a Massage Business show notes that proceed the video, I list the PT resource that Charlie mentions during the interview as well as Charlie’s contact information.
Start A Massage Business: Connect with the Right Physical Therapist Show Notes
Thanks for watching! Here’s the resource that Charlie had mentioned during the show:
Where to find a Physical Therapy Specialist:
Charlie’s contact info:
Charlie Johnson, PT, DPT, OCS
Email: charliejohnsondpt@gmail.com
Website: www.physicaltherapyjohnson.com
Compiling Your A-Team of Health Practitioners
Here are some final thoughts regarding recommending other health practitioners to your clients.
When you start a massage business, you’re going to get some clients that don’t respond to massage. (If you’ve been doing massage for a while, I’m not telling you anything knew.)
What you do next, is as important, and in some cases, more important than the actual massage.
And it boils down to one question: Do I have a recommendation that could help my client?
This is when you need an A-team of health practitioners to refer to.
Compiling an A-team comes at a cost. You have to invest time and energy. But here’s the thing, once you do, it will completely change how you practice massage.
Here’s Why Recommendations Are a Must When You Start a Massage Business:
1. When massage isn’t working for a client you may still be able to help her by pointing her to someone who may have an answer.
In my arsenal of health/fitness practitioners to refer to are acupuncturists, podiatrists, MDs, orthopedists, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, personal trainers, chiropractors, running coaches, and psychologists.
2. You can stay in the loop when your client is seeing the person you’ve recommended (if she gives you permission).
Staying in the loop is like coming out of the massage room into a bright lobby. At first you squint and can’t really see anything. Then after a few seconds, you see the desk and chairs and, oh, hey there’s your next client, Steve, and everything comes into focus.
When you start referring out and are in the loop, you start to see the bigger world of how you can help someone out. And once you experience helping someone out in the bigger world, you’ll never be content to keep things in your massage room again.
3. Clients appreciate, hope and sometimes expect that you can help beyond massage.
And we can. I’m not saying that we’re the gatekeepers. I’m saying let’s take our recommendations as serious as we take massage so that we can provide our clients with vetted health and wellness options when appropriate.
4. From your efforts to do right by your clients you’re building trust with your clients and other health practitioners.
Through these actions and interactions with your clients and other health practitioners you’re establishing your reputation in the health world. And your reputation will serve as your advertisement for the rest of your career.
5. There are some health practitioners who’ll be a perfect match with you both in helping people and growing your business. These will be the practitioners who will send referrals your way.
For more about finding the health practitioners who are a perfect fit both professionally and as a referral source, check out How to Get Massage Clients: Referrals.
P.S. If you’re about to start a massage business or are trying to pick up clients, jump on my email list to get the latest video, tutorial and article about how to get a steady flow of new clients. The email group is free and you can unsubscribe anytime:-)
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