Here's the situation:

Most of you know that I work for a large corporation and that I'm going to school to become a massage therapist. My employer already allows a massage therapist to come in one day a week to do chair massage. He has fliers and newsletters plastered all over the building. It's fairly inconvenient to schedule an appointment with this guy, and in the one conversation I had with him I got the impression that business wasn't very good. I've talked to a couple of people who have had appointments with him and they didn't like him. I did not mention to those people that I do massage as well because IMO he was here first and it's not right for me to steal his clients.

My employer also provides a public bulletin board in our cafeteria where employees can post items for sale, business cards, notices about garage sales, etc. I had tacked up a few of my business cards there. Today I discovered that my cards are gone, and guess who's cards are tacked up in the exact same spot? That's right, the chair massage guy! I think that he took my cards down and put his up in their place. What really burns me is that he has one of those Christian fish symbols printed on his card.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

Answers

C'mon Sherri kick some butt! Did Microsoft and Apple say," better not do business cause IBM was here first". Let everyone know YOU do massage and If you happen to be better then YOU get all the business! Thats the way it works! Then shitcan his cards and put yours back up! .....Go Girl!!!!!!!!!.......Kirk

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

Sherri, Take Kirk's advice!!! All is fair in love in war!! I would tell EVERYONE in the office I do massages also and if he's no good you'll have customers out the ying-yang!!!! GOOD LUCK.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

Thanks guys! I've already put some more of my cards back on the board right next to his. I'm not going to toss his because I don't want to sink to his level, but if mine disappear again I may just rethink that position.

I've also become much more vocal about promoting myself since the incident I mentioned im my first paragraph. In fact, I had a long conversation with someone in our HR department to educate her after she referred to massage as "fluffy feel-good stuff" in a benefits meeting. Currently the company gives each employee a $150 "wellness credit" each year to cover items not included in our health insurance plan. As a result of my conversation with HR they are now considering expanding the wellness credit to include massage.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

I would make a fish with feet symbol on my card as a humorous way to show change for the better. However the heavily religeous people find no humor in the "when evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve" feeted fish symbol :>)

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

I don't know. To me, if the people you talked to don't like the guy, that means it's open to someone else. And that someone might as well be you. It's not like you are saying, "hey, this guy is no good, let me take care of you. I'll even charge less." Right? Go for it and don't feel guilty if he approaches you on it.

I think it's great too that your company offers such insentives. I believe in preventative medicine but most insurance companies will only pay for tests and stuff you don't need to find out what you don't have. Mine is getting better by covering chiropratic and acupuncture (sp) They offered a company for low cost vitamins but the company has since left for unknown reasons.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

Dee is right about charging less. It doesn't have to be much...just a few bucks. Money talks with most people, especially if you do a better job for less cash!! We always keep our labor rate at least five bucks cheaper than anyone within a fifty mile radius!

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

Hmm, this is weird, but how about if you talk to the guy? After all, the pie should be big enough for *both* of you to cut. Maybe he has a big family to support? And hey, if he's a Christian (or maybe he's more like a two-dimensional fish symbolist), he should want to *share*. Pull out Matthew and read about sharing the loaves and fishes...there was enough for all the multitude...(over 5000 and that was just guys! Not to mention the wives, slaves, kids, and hangers- on)...something about faith, I recall...(ahem!)...

Christians are supposed to trust that God is watching out for them (maybe not worrying so much about the competition that they stoop to executing nefarious business ploys). Oh well...just human like everyone, I guess.

I think massage therapy at a corporation is SOOOO appropriate. COOL.

Hope I understood this all correctly...if not, let me know. The fonts are still wearing me out! Good luck to you...!!!

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002

Because I'm an employee of this company they won't let me bring in my massage chair and do seated massage during work hours. So I'm not even directly competing with this guy. That's what's so bizarre about the whole thing.

Now that I'm over the initial crabbiness I kinda feel sorry for the guy. I made a decision early on that I would approach this career from an attitude of abundance and gratitude, not fear. Something like 80% of the people in the US have never even had a massage, so there's plenty of clients to go around. I"d rather network with colleagues than backstab competitors.

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2002

Sheri, there is also the possiblity that this fellow didn't do it, but somebody else trying to cause a stir. Don't ask ME why but I am figuring out, Finally! That there are people who get a kick out of that sort of thing!

Kirk, Your response cracked me up! Thanks for the tickle! (:

Love Tren

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2002

Sherri, you might also consider that he didn't take the cards down, but someone else did and did him the favor of removing yours.

Just keep passing out your cards to everyone. It takes a while to build a practice. Frankly, cards on a board get people to see and know your name, but word of mouth gets you real clients. Your classes should include some business info, if they haven't already.

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2002

The reason why I think it was probably him is because even though he's posted fliers before, he's never posted his cards. So it's not like someone could have taken his cards from somewhere else in the building and switched them with mine. But I don't know that for a fact and I really don't care anymore. I was PO'd that day but now I think it's kind of funny.

Yes, we've had some business practices lectures in school, and I've been reading some books about marketing massage in my spare time. The business cards on the bulletin board certainly aren't may main marketing tool. I agree that word of mouth and actually talking to people is more valuable. I'm working at a holistic health fair this weekend so I can get my hands on people and let them see that I look "normal". I did a free workshop on herbs at the library last night, and I have booth space at another event later on in the fall. I know it's going to take time, I'm not quitting my day job yet. :)

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2002