Why You Should Use Your Massage Therapist’s Cancellation List
You finally have an opening in your schedule so you go online to schedule a massage with your favorite massage therapist only to find they don’t have any openings that day. Gah! I hate it when that happens. I know you do too. But did you know that you might be able to get a massage after all?
Standby Scheduling
If your therapist has a cancellation list, you should definitely get on it. Will it guarantee that you’ll be able to get an appointment? No. But… if you’ve ever flown standby, you weren’t guaranteed a seat then, either, but you did it because you wanted to go somewhere and it was the quickest way to (hopefully) get there.
Here’s the thing: If you don’t let your therapist know that you’re available and would like to be called if they get a cancellation, you definitely won’t get a massage. Heck, you may get lucky and they may let you know that while they don’t have, say, an hour available, they can fit you in for 30 minutes. You might never have known that if you hadn’t reached out. And while 30 minutes isn’t nearly as great as 60, it sure beats the heck outta nothing.
If that doesn’t convince you, here are a few times where I was either glad to have a cancellation list, or sad that I didn’t:
- A client had a weird scheduling glitch and showed up a week, day, or several hours early (this has happened a few times), but was unable to make their actual appointment date/time
- A regular who never cancels had a family emergency
- Someone’s headache pain escalated so they went to the doctor and were admitted to the hospital with a serious issue leaving their appointment spot wide open
- A client was in a car crash on their way to work and totaled their car, leaving them with no way to get to their appointment
- A client’s kids were sick and they had to keep them home from school and stay home to take care of them
- Someone’s mom was in a serious accident and they had to rush out of town leaving their appointment open
So you see, there are times it can work out for you to be on the cancellation list.
If you always have a particular day and time free, consider asking if you can be on the permanent list for that day/time. You’ll be under no obligation to take an appointment if your therapist texts or calls, but you’ll get first dibs on your favorite day/time.
