Getting new clients is an ongoing effort when you own your spa or massage practice. One way to extend your marketing reach is to partner with other professionals to offer complementary services. Among your potential partnerships for massage therapy, chiropractors should be at the top of your potential partner list, whether you spend part of your time working onsite at their offices or establishing a referral relationship. In either case, you’ll want to take time to select the right chiropractor who has the professional credentials to match yours and shares your business values and customer service philosophy.
Start by researching potential candidates. If you don’t know where to begin, ask business associates for suggestions. Also, ask friends and family, and clients for recommendations of chiropractors they use and high regard. LinkedIn groups can be another way to find potential candidates. Join groups for chiropractors and physical therapists, as well as groups for massage therapists. Engage with group members by throwing out a question for discussion and seeing who answers. If you like someone’s response, you can message them privately. Even if they aren’t interested in discussing a partnership – or if they are not in the right geography – they may be able to refer you to others.
Before establishing a formal partnership, you can suggest to a candidate that you’d like to refer some of your clients to them. Use the feedback you get to decide if you’d like to arrange a strategic partnership to treat mutual clients in need of both chiropractic and massage services. Your relationship may include joint marketing.
MANAGING AND MAINTAINING THE RELATIONSHIP
Collaborate on Treatments
Whether you work out of the chiropractor’s office or see their clients in your own establishment, always show respect for your partner’s professionalism. You never want to undermine a chiropractor’s treatments by questioning their protocol, especially when talking to the client. If you have questions about the treatment a client is getting, talk directly to the chiropractor.
Honor the Partnership
The purpose of the partnership is to help each other grow your business. In the long run, there’s no long-term upside if you discourage – directly or indirectly – a client from continuing with chiropractic treatments. Honor the agreement you have forged with a chiropractor and work toward the benefit of both establishments.
Create a Similar Customer Experience
Even if you aren’t working out of the same offices, your clients should expect a similar experience from you and your partner. You may want to talk about retail products available at each practice, advice for at-home self-care, use of technology for appointment scheduling, etc. You don’t want to create a situation where clients complain to you about visiting your chiropractor partner and vice versa.
Partnerships take work, but the knowledge you gain from working with another professional can be well worth the effort.