Seeing new client in my home, advice please

[Ace of Clubs]

For those of you who see clients in your home: What advice do you have for a first timer?

I will be giving shiatsu to a first time client in my home tomorrow. It will also be the first time I have done a paid session in my home. I'm looking for any advice you may have and/or do's/dont's when working with people in this environment. Thanks!

 

[Green Eyes]

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[chuck]

Thanks for the advice macalla. I don't plan on advertising and seeing clients in my home. This person is a friend of the family. I am in the process of finding a space to rent. I live in Minneapolis though, so there are no regulations/laws on bodywork. :?

 

[Caleb]

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[Nacho-Nick]

Pay attention to what your home smells like and try to make it as neutral as possible. Don't forget to turn your phone off.

Do you have a designated area?

Make sure it is dust free and clean.....?

I don't know if that's the kind of stuff you are looking for.

 

[honey112]

You'd think, but I often wish there were regulations or some kind.

Minnesota is an unregulated state, but some cities do require a license. There is NO consistency at all in how they treat it. Some just require money and others (St. Paul) require a written and practical exam. All of this makes doing out calls a nightmare if one wants to be "legal" and travel outside Minneapolis.

I suppose other states have similar set ups too.

 

[Dorinta]

There are some states that you have to be licensed in each county you work in. Sounds extreme for one that travels alot, but I wouldn't want to be fined by the particular diciplinary board of said state, or losing one's license, for not understanding or violating the law.

 

[Ihtiyorhon M]

Gessika, My space at home is a room that was, in the former owner's life, a hair salon. In mine, it's a therapy room. I'm blessed that it has a private entrance separate from that of my home. My clients have access to the bathroom by walking through my dining room - about a 15 foot walk - if that is a necessity for them. Most of the time the house smells rather bland - except when dinner's in the oven/crockpot/slow cooker.... the office is lit with soft lighting and candles [nothing overhead] and I burn incense to cleanse the energy of the room at least once a day. I'm also blessed that the former owner had 2 separate closets built into the wall at one end of the room... perfect for storing linens, hiding the cd player, file cabinet, etc. The requisite licensing is in plain view - up near the ceiling over the closets.

Hope this helps.
J

 

[Superdave]

just a note....just because there are no laws or regulations on massage doesn't mean you can legally do it out of your home. MI is also an unregulated state but their are MANY cities in which you can not work out of your home.

i'm not telling you not to do it, just telling you that you might be surprised to know that it may not be legal.

as for your question, i'd be sure that if you have pets put them away. if you have cats, make sure your clients are not allergic. be careful what you cook prior to appointments. make sure your client has clear access to everything they may need. make sure they can find your home easily (you find it easily because you live there...but you'll want to make sure that you address is easy to find and read etc). turn off your telephone. i could think of a bunch of other things but don't know how specific you're talking about or what kind of info you're looking for.

have fun!

 

[ClizenCortes]

Thanks terab.

Minneapolis has no laws against massage in the home but several suburbs do. I'm safe!

 

[agent 007]

There are some states that you have to be licensed in each county you work in. Sounds extreme for one that travels alot, but I wouldn't want to be fined by the particular diciplinary board of said state, or losing one's license, for not understanding or violating the law.

And of course there are some states like California where you have to be licensed in EACH city in the county you work in. Here in San Diego County that means you would need close to 20 licenses to legally work everywhere in the County. :roll:

What is really frustrating for me is that I have lived in the same house for 20 years and have the original Del Mar phone number prefix of "755" and live just across the freeway from the city limits, but this means absolutely nothing to the City of Del Mar. In any event, I still had to shell out over $500 initially and now need to pay over $200 annually just to continue to legally work in this small seaside town with a population of only about 4,400. I actually pay a lot less to renew my San Diego massage license and the last time I checked the population was over 250 times the size of Del Mar.

 

[Spirits Alive]

Seeing new client in my home, advice please

For those of you who see clients in your home: What advice do you have for a first timer?

I will be giving shiatsu to a first time client in my home tomorrow. It will also be the first time I have done a paid session in my home. I'm looking for any advice you may have and/or do's/dont's when working with people in this environment. Thanks!

Personally I would be extremely careful about who you work on in your home. I used to have a number of clients come to my home during the first two years I was doing massage, but now I only work on family or do trades with friends.

It is an unfortunate reality, but in the litigous society we live in I just feel that the risk of having clients come to my home is not worth the reward. All it takes is one client claiming that they were injured in some way either before, during, or after a session and that has the potential of starting a real legal nightmare. I also don't like the idea of having strangers coming into my living space on a regular basis.

 

[aaron t]

Seeing new client in my home, advice please

For those of you who see clients in your home: What advice do you have for a first timer?

The place must be really really really clean. If they have to walk through a living area, that has to be clean too, and preferably clutter free. The bathroom has to be clean, no jars, on the sink, no toothbrushes, no half used dried out bits of soap, close to a full role of toilet paper in the toilet (well at least more than a third). A seperate entry is fantastic, treatment room right near the entry with attached bathroom is great. The rest is pretty much what you would expect in any treatment room: the right temp, no intrusive noises, more than a 100watt lightbulb for light (dimmer or lamp, you've got that already sorted), clean linen, somewhere for them to put their clothes, robe for them for the treatment, intake form, water, comfy table/mat (if it's on the floor, get down there and look under that cupboard in the corner - anything strange that should be cleaned up before anyone else gets on the floor???) Any supplies you need are readily accessible, but shiatsu you're not exactly using lots of essential oils, hot towel compresses, heat packs, etc etc, so you should be OK.


It doesn't sound like the safety/legal issues will be a concern with this client with it being a friend of the family, but are you asking for the future too?

 

[Pompal 09.]

I don't plan on seeing people I don't already know for sessions in my home. There is no concern that this particular person will act inappropriately. I was just looking for general advice on working with clients in this environment so I wouldn't forget anything.

 

[Meghan]

I have a massage office in my home and have a funny story to tell. I have 2 cats and I always set out a water glass for them on the bathroom counter. (the only counter they were allowed on) It was easy to freshen their water every other time or so that I was in the bathroom, and the cats of course, love the fresh, fresh water. I was in such a habit of "watering" them in the bathroom, that even after I started getting a water delivery of 5 gallon jugs of filtered water, I filled their water glass from that and continued to leave it in the bathroom.

Well, that all stopped after a client of mine exited my bathroom after her massage, holding the cat's water glass, thinking I had left it there for her. :shock: Imagine her surprise when I snatched it out of her hand. I was very embarrassed, but she has kids and pets, and thought it was funny.

Anyway, there is a thread going on somewhere on this website about laying on your own massage table and seeing your space as a client would. I think that is a good idea for you to do, for your first time--walk up to the door your client will, walk their the space, check out your massage room and bathroom as if you were a client.

Besides the obvious of making sure your massage space and bathroom facility is warm and inviting and spic and span:

other things to think about:
Turn off all your phone ringers including turning off or turning down the volume on your answering machine.
If you're providing water for your client, don't forget to refrigerate it.
Have actual hangers for clients to use who may be wearing business attire.
Have some cash on hand for change, just in case your client needs some change.
Have working writing utensils on hand for writing checks and writing in calendars.
Make sure you turn porch lights on, if client is coming early/late.

Good luck!
Noel

 

[10-T3]

: Quick thought about your massage room --- went into my office and lay upon the table tonight so my hubby could work on my back after my last client. Lay there and just looked at the lovely gold and silver garlands of foil stars and laughed and laughed. One of my elderly ladies, a very staunch British gal who survived the London Blitz in WWII, always hated my bare ceiling so, during one of her massages she told me she wanted "to see something on that damned ceiling besides paint the next time I come in here!!!" Well, since it was near the holiday, I bought the tinsel garlands of stars and proceeded to staple them to the ceiling in swirls and whirls, and the ends I twisted into curlicues. Long story short, she loved them!!! All of my clients love them!!! One of the men falls asleep counting them while I am working on him.... try to make the look of your massage room something they will find joy in, something they will find peace and harmony in and you cannot go wrong.

J

 

[ninapecora98461]

Gessika, how'd the appointment go?

 

[serendipity]

I think the session went well. It was a shiatsu and he was coming in because he strained his back somehow and his focus seemed to be more on "fixing" that than anything else. He was kind of hard to read so I'm not sure if he left happy or not. Sometimes it seems to me that the people who want a magic cure (I'm not sure if he was one of those or not) are so fixated on that, that they miss out on the other potential benefits and are not too impressed if they don't leave feeling brand new.

Here is some exciting news though: I just rented my first space and I already have my first client! I sent an email this morning to the 3 people who signed up for my mailing list when I did shiatsu chair massage at a craft fair last December. One of the women already called and wanted to book because she remembered my "excellent" massage. I hope I don't disappoint!

 

[Astey]

You won't disappoint!! You're getting a good start. Congratulations!

 

[Melissa Swan]

Way to go Gessika, we're all cheering for you! t041 t038 t041 t038 t041 t038 t041 t041 t038