With the 2011 World Series in full swing (no pun intended!) it got me to thinking about how much like a baseball team we are sometimes here at Body Well.
When I started Body Well in 2005, my goal was to provide on-site massage services primarily for local clients.
I wanted to win over regulars – not just one-time clients or travelers from out of town we might only see once (although they are both more than welcome!).
I knew that in order for this to work in the long run, I would need to assemble a team of not just any massage therapists, but one featuring those “players” who could provide the best service possible and help us to be at the top of our game.
I could work my butt off trying to get people to call us, but only by providing top quality services with consistency would the company be able to keep loyal clients and become the champion of our industry.
This is no easy task. Finding good massage therapist team-members is hard enough (those who get frequent massage probably know this all too well), but finding the good ones who are the whole package; those who have their act together enough to
- get to an unfamiliar address on-time, with all of the right equipment
- the maturity and people skills to provide good customer service without direct supervision “on the field” – well that’s a bigger challenge than you might imagine!
When we first started I’ll admit I wasn’t quite as picky as I am today. I still insisted on an in-person meeting and a hands-on demonstration to get to know each therapists – both the quality of their character as well as their massage ability. But at the same time, I needed to field a team, after all!
I needed therapists to help me get onto the playing field and execute a game plan.
Once a viable team was assembled, it quickly became clear who our “starters” were and who our bench players were. It’s not hard to do; some therapists consistently get repeat clients and rave reviews (think triples and home runs), others get an occasional repeat client or compliment (singles and doubles) while others never get either (sent packing to the minors).
Like the a baseball season, over time, it becomes clear who is performing and who isn’t.
It’s also my job as manager, over time, to continue to recruit new talent to the team – therapists who could raise the overall quality of our services and put us in a better position to win.
The way we run things, it doesn’t matter how long a therapist has been on the team. What’s more important is consistently good performance, and it doesn’t necessarily take a long time to establish that. We have some who join the team and right away they are an obvious all star whom our clients love.
We want these players on the field as much as possible. If a former starter finds they are on the bench not getting as many at-bats, hopefully for them they will get another chance soon to get back on the field and prove that they belong on a championship team.
So rest assured – when you buy your game ticket from Body Well – you’re purchasing from a carefully managed team that works hard behind the scenes to provide a crowd-pleasing experience that brings the cheers!
In Health,
Daniel Melmed, L.M.T.
Owner, Body Well
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