March 2008

Jumpstart Your New Practice: Transition Practicum Clients

by Cherie Sohnen-Moe

You can jumpstart your practice and build your business with the clients you worked with while in school. Keep in mind that it can be a shock for clients to make the transition from paying nothing or a nominal fee to your standard rate. Upon graduation you may lose many clients if they’re abruptly required to double or triple the amount they’ve been paying. Ease their transition by offering them a lower rate that gradually increases over time to the standard rate. You never know — they may offer to pay your standard rate anyway.

Shortly before you open your practice, send a thank-you letter to each of your practicum clients. This gives you the opportunity to formalize your new status as a credentialed massage therapist and offer a special transition program. Consider including something like this in your letter: “I greatly appreciate your confidence in me and the support you’ve given me throughout my schooling. Now that my educational program is about to complete, I have set a rate for new clients, which is $55 for a one-hour session. Because I value your longstanding support, I am pleased to extend you the following special rates: For the next three months, your rate will be only $30 per session; the following three months, your rate will be $45 per session. After that, the rate will be $55 per session. This special rate takes effect as of January 1.”

When you broach your rates in a gracious and businesslike manner, it’s highly likely your clients will appreciate your professionalism and special consideration, and will choose to schedule ongoing sessions.

For more on how to set your rates, '

Cherie Sohnen-Moe is an author, business coach and international workshop leader. She has been in business since 1978. She was in private practice for many years as a massage and holistic health practitioner before shifting her focus to education and coaching. In her coaching/consulting practice, she has worked with individual therapists to small wellness centers to day spas that have multiple locations. She has served as a faculty member at the Desert Institute of Healing Arts and the Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and is an adjunct professor at Clayton College of Natural Health. She has written more than 100 articles that have been published in more than 15 national and international magazines. She is the author of the book, Business Mastery, which is in its fourth edition, has sold more than 325,000 copies to date with 650-plus schools requiring it as a text. She is also the author of Present Yourself Powerfully and The Art of Teaching. She is co-author of The Ethics of Touch, with more than 300 schools requiring it as a text. She is also a contributing author of Teaching Massage: Fundamental Principles in Adult Education for Massage Program Instructors, and was interviewed for a chapter of SAND TO SKY: Conversations with Teachers of Asian Medicine. Sohnen-Moe is a firm believer in education and as such serves on the exam committee of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) and is a founding member of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE).  She can be contacted through her website, www.sohnen-moe.com.