7 Pressing Reasons Why You Should Raise Your Rates

Hey everybody! The Massage Success Express is here to tell massage therapists that it’s time to raise their rates. Yes, I will parrot what many other Massage Therapist mentors and coaches tell their therapist clients. If you’ve talked to other successful Massage Therapists, chances are you know that's one of the things we love to talk about.

Why? Massage Therapists have a history of not charging what they should be charging (undercharging). I remember my mentor Scott Lindquist coined the phrase “Starving Healer Syndrome” in reference to the broke massage therapists complaining in Facebook groups about being broke but not wanting to raise their rates so they could be affordable to the masses. It’s almost like they wore their poverty as a badge of honor. Discounts are a Massage Therapist’s favorite pastime.

Now, I know you didn’t become a Massage Therapist because you wanted to become the next Jeff Bezos, most likely, you wanted to help people feel better. We massage therapists can give our clients life-changing results with our work! But it’s hard for you to do that if you’re just making ends meet and you’re not making enough to save for retirement. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a career, and we work damn hard every day to make people feel better. You also want to be well compensated for the work you do. If Chiropractors and Physical Therapists make decent wages, why not Massage Therapists? And don’t tell me it’s because they had more schooling; a good Massage Therapist who gives clients the results they seek is just as valuable as our peers in the wellness community who do the same. Before I share the reasons for raising your rates, let's take a look at where you should be in your practice.

So What Should I Be Charging?

The easiest way to start, if you don’t know already, is to look at what other Massage Therapists are charging locally. In NYC, the average might be $150 per hour vs. your town/city, which might be $60 per hour.  Initially, you may want to charge the average in your area; don’t go below! From there, consider how much profit you want to take in vs. your back-office expenses. If your back office expenses are high, you will want to charge to accommodate that and charge enough to make a living. Ideally, you need to keep costs to a minimum so the rest can be set aside for taxes and profit. Here are my overhead expenses as an example:

• Utilities, internet, and outside maintenance included with rent: $400/monthly
• MassageBook: $38/monthly
• Laundry & Cleaning Supplies: $50/month
• Website: $206/year (broken up, it is around $17/month)
• Massage Mediums (lotions, applications) $150/year ($12.50 monthly cost)
• Pandora for music streaming: $10/month
• Six new sheet sets once a year $120/year ($10/month breakdown)
• Miscellaneous expenses: CE Classes, random supplies, etc., $500/year ($40 per month)
• Total monthly expenses, including annual expenses to save up for (website and supplies): $577.50/monthly

This doesn’t even include a marketing budget! Why am I not doing any paid advertising? I’m at that sweet spot in my career where it’s all regulars and word of mouth. If you’re not there and need clients, you should strongly consider a marketing budget of $150-$500 a month until you can’t fit people into your schedule anymore. I also keep my overhead expenses as low as possible to pocket more profit after taxes.

With $577.50/monthly overhead expenses, how many massages do I need to cover the costs? I currently charge $120/hour; so after five massages, the rest is profit after taxes. Let's say you’re close to my backend figures but need a marketing budget. I’ll add $300 to my monthly and round up to $900/month. How many massages will cover it?

• $70/hour average: 13 massages
• $80/hour average: 12 massages
• $90/hour average: 10 massages
• $100/hour average: 9 massages

Before hiring massage coaches, I never calculated my expenses. Knowing your numbers is the responsibility of every business owner. For example, do you have a monthly monetary goal? What’s yours? Where do you fall in below?

• $70/hour average, 20 massages:   $1400/weekly    $5600/monthly
• $80/hour average, 20 massages:   $1600/weekly    $6400/monthly
• $90/hour average, 20 massages:   $1800/weekly    $7200/monthly
• $100/hour average, 20 massages: $2000/weekly    $8000/monthly

Not only do you have to cover your business costs with what you make, but you need to cover your personal costs and have money left over. This all comes back to your rates and how much you want to make per month.

Is what you charge already taking care of all your business overhead and living expenses? If not, it’s time to raise your rates. If your overhead expenses are super high, you might want to find a different office location and possibly adjust some of your expenses.

KNOW YOUR WORRRRRRRRTTTTHHHHHHHH

If only I had a dollar every time I heard that line from people parroting it online, I’d get a free vacation every year. What determines your worth as a massage practitioner? What if I feel I’m worth $200 for a 60-minute session right out of massage school? Maybe I’ll charge $300 per session? Hey! I’m worth it, right?

First things first. Look at what the market can afford in your area. This is why my earlier advice is to get the average of what Massage Therapists are charging in the area if you have no clue. From there, it’s all about location. Are you in small town USA? Are you smack dab in the middle of a larger city? What is the average income for people in your area? This all influences what people are willing to pay for your services initially. Once you’re established and providing amazing results for your clients, then you have more leverage when raising your prices.

Determining Your Worth

This comes down to experience and the results you can give your clients. Results trumps experience. I’ve received substandard massages from people who have 20+ years in the industry. If you’ve only been in your practice for a couple of years but give great results to clients, you are worth more as a practitioner. Experience is great for therapists who apply what they have learned over the years and keep getting better at what they do. Again, your worth is determined by the results you can give to your clients. 

Your local community also determines your worth. If you have a strong message through your advertising and become well-known in your community, people will think you are an authority in your specialization and be willing to pay what you ask. If your clients think you’re amazing, they will typically be your biggest supporters when you raise your rates.

The Seven Reasons Why You Should Raise Your Rates

Take a look at the seven reasons for raising your rates. If you’re content with what you charge, that’s great! This is why I, as well as other Therapists over the years, raised our rates.

1. You’re always booked at least 2-3 weeks or months out. This means you have great client retention, you’re probably giving great results for your clients, and you’re busy. Now, just being busy isn’t reason enough to raise rates, but it’s confirmation that when you’re ready, you know you’ll fill the gaps of the few clients that might drop off.
2. You’re busy in your practice, and you keep adding value by attending continuing education classes and adding enhancements to your treatments or equipment in the office. Years ago, I raised my prices from $80/hour to $90/hour because I added a Biomat to my massage table. That and other things I bought for my massage table were over $2k! But it enhanced the experience for my clients. Since I added value to their experience, I upped my rates. Also, if I’m spending $500-$1k a year on my education to give my clients the best session I can give them, I will charge accordingly.
3. Burn-out is approaching either mentally, physically, or both. Take it from me: the longer you’re in the massage therapy field, the more burnout eventually comes for us all. It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, you need to scale back, but you don’t want to scale back your income. Raising rates can also solve this issue. Some therapists raise their rates by $20-$30 and do fewer massages, if that sounds compelling, then it may be time for you to do the same!
4. You’re under-charging your services. Newer and less confident therapists sometimes start very low with their rates to try to bring people in or be “affordable to the masses”. I get it, we want to help as many people as we can, and if we’re at a perceived affordable price point, you can help even more people, am I right? What happens at a very low rate is it attracts discount seekers, creepy people, and those that cancel or no-show more frequently. That is not always the case, but it’s more true the lower your rates are. Quality clients who are looking for a good therapist may also see that you’re too cheap and assume you are not as good as somebody charging $20-$50 more than you. Charging too low can also lead to burn-out a lot faster!
5. Clients are consistently tipping you $20-$50 more than what you are charging. It’s almost like they are telling you to raise your rates without verbally telling you. This happened to me in the past when I charged $70/hour, and clients even told me I charged ridiculously low for the work I did. Part of the reason I recently raised my rates to $120/hour is because most clients tipped me $15-$20 per session. When I raised my rates, nobody even complained!
6. If you’ve been busy in your practice in the past 2-5 years and haven’t raised rates, it’s time. Would you work for an employer and not expect a pay raise every so often? People quit their jobs over that kind of thing! I’ve talked to some massage therapists who have never raised rates in their 20-year careers! I get that massage can be a labor of love, but if it’s been more than five years, do yourself a favor and give yourself a raise! If you don’t need the extra money, then put it away towards retirement, vacations, and things that make you happy! Many newer therapists don’t even survive after the first five years in our industry.
7. Adjusting to inflation. The last few years have been difficult for many dealing with inflation. The dollar simply doesn’t have as much buying power as it did pre-covid. If you’re still charging your 2018 rates, then your increased overhead expenses, taxes, and general cost-of-living expenses have eaten into your profit. If everyone around you has raised what they charge to meet inflation, what are you waiting for? Clients who need you will always be there to pay what you charge.

The Aftermath: Here’s what to expect

I know it’s uncomfortable to raise rates. I’ve done it 5-6 times in the past, and it never gets easier to do. However, when I started to see what it did to my bank account, I got over it.

Once you have made the decision, let your clients know via newsletter, signs at your office, and whatever way that they will see it. I typically give 30-60 days' notice to my clients so everyone gets it. I leave my raised rates sign posted in the office about a month or so after new rates go into effect. How you do it is up to you.

Stick with your boundaries! Once clients notice you’re raising rates, some people will start canceling. Don’t panic! It happens Every.Single.Time! It’s guaranteed you will get some drop-off initially. However, the majority of your regulars will stay, and guess what? The weirdest phenomena will happen, you will get even busier. That’s right, almost every time I raised rates, more people wanted to book with me. It was the weirdest thing, and I’ve talked to many therapists that this has happened to. It almost makes you wonder why you didn’t raise rates sooner.

You will also get some clients who will give you sob stories on how your $10 raise is just too much after they have been paying $80/hour for the past two years while tipping you. Just be polite and say something like this: “I’m sorry you’re feeling that way, but unfortunately, I need to raise rates to cover increased expenses.” However you want to address it, just know it’s best to have a line you can fall back on. Some clients may ask if they can continue paying your old rate. It’s up to you since it’s your business, but the rule of thumb is you want at least over 90% of your clients paying your new rates. Or else, what’s the point of raising rates if you grandfather everyone into your old rate?

Well, I hope this gives you the kick in the pants needed to think about or even take action in raising your rates. I discuss that and how to implement it for massage practices in my coaching program. If you’re interested in learning more about my coaching program, click the link below to see how it can help you & your business succeed!

How Group Coaching Can Help You