I’ve been deliberating for some time over whether to raise my professional service fees. My practice is located in a small city where an automaker – the major industry in this town – laid off thousands of workers years ago. Tourism and other industries have suffered, and I suspect many shopkeepers and service providers have wrestled with their pricing decisions for fear of customer reprisal. It causes me to reflect on how I, and indeed my colleagues, set pricing.
How do we set our pricing? Is pricing based on the type of massage or sector served (rehabilitation, spa, integrated wellness, in-chair massage)? Time-length of session? Inputs of labour or added elements like hydro\electric therapies or special hand-tools? Are some outcomes (pain reduction, better mobility) more valuable than others (reduced anxiety, relaxation, better sleep quality)?
What role does wealth of the local economy, reliance on generous employee benefit plans, competition with peers or other services promising similar benefit play? What are our own beliefs about the value of our work, our relationship and experiences with money, and what we believe patrons are willing to pay?
Pricing is how the practitioner “captures” the value they offer to the marketplace. “Price transmits the most important signal to the customer…what the (practitioner) believes the product is worth”, states Ronald J. Baker, author of Pricing on Purpose: Creating and Capturing Value. Read the whole article at Massage Therapy Canada magazine
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Donald Dillon
Great, thought provoking article. I am an established RMT who recently completed comprehensive Structural Integration training. I am in the process of transitioning my practice and am struggling with pricing. I invested a significant sum in my training. I believe what I have to offer is incredibly valuable. I know it is unique in my area and am starting to see great results with patients. I would like to raise my fee to reflect the level of knowledge I have attained but feel guilty as a ‘beginner’ charging more than my regular 90 minute fee for the SI sessions. At the same time, if I don’t raise my fees now, how will I later? I feel like I am undervaluing my work by perceiving myself as a beginner but don’t know how to strike a good balance. I like your idea of polling for value, testing the waters.
Bravo. This is probably one of the best articles I have read on this subject. My short answer to the pricing question is that pricing is an indicator of how your applying the laws of attraction with regards to the kind of people you work with day in day out.
Excellent article! Although I am not in charge of setting my own pricing, belonging to a group practice, I still found the information valuable. All too often as RMT’s, we feel altruistic in our goal of helping others to the point of undervaluing ourselves. I know I myself feel like that sometimes. It is a bit of a fine line between being a service provider and a health care provider. I’m certain my personal cost of living suffers as a result. Thank you for writing this article. Food for thought and possible change.
Great point to share Susan. That tension you speak of between truly valuing what we provide and charging accordingly, while being nurturing and caring to our clients/patients is one of the reasons I wanted to put the article out. Thanks for taking the time.