I highly recommend you use massage software to run your business, for many good marketing and time saving reasons. Click here to read a review of my favorite massage software. Or, read on. On this page find:

1. the many advantages massage programs offer you,

2. a comprehensive resource list of software companies,

3. special discounts offered to my site visitors.

First, let's take a look at some of the basic features that many of the massage software programs can offer you when running your business.

• Client Information Files Quickly enter each client's contact information into your software. Once you have them in your system you can instantly access their records with ease. And these files make keeping in touch with your clients easy.

• Client Tracking With many software programs you can check how often your clients come, what the dates of their last appointments have been, how much they have spent, what their favorite service is, who they worked with, what products they may have purchased, who they have referred, and much more. With some software you can track missed appointments, birthdays, or take notes of any problems.

• Easy Appointment Booking Booking by computer can be amazingly easy. Take a name and a number, click on a date and time on the calendar, and your are done. Or for existing clients easily pull up their record to schedule. Some software allows easy drag and drop features for changing appointment times, and easily find upcoming appointments with a quick look at the client record. If someone wants to setup a standing appointment, that is also easy.

• Payment Receiving payment is a breeze with most programs. On their appointment, click to checkout. This brings in their service and cost automatically to a point of sale system, and records the transaction in their client record.

• S.O.A.P. Notes Many programs have nice SOAP note features that you can access from the client records.

• Insurance Billing Several massage programs offer you insurance billing automation that can save you tons of time. And they will track what has been paid or not.

• Taxes Doing taxes can be so much easier when you have all of your sales information easily at hand in reports. Many programs will also let you keep track of expenses.

• Retail Sales Do you sell products? Particularly if you are a bigger spa type business running your sales through a computer is great. Many programs will track inventory for you, produce orders automatically, and you can even bar code and scan all of your products for quick checkout.

• Payroll Do you have employees? Many programs have integrated payroll systems, with time clocks, tax figures, and check printing functions.

• Gift Certificate Tracking How nice to be able to see how many gift certificates are sold, how many redeemed, how many expired, etc.

• Package Tracking Do you sell packages of massage? Having a computer keep track of those packages, and automatically deduct from the package when a client has an appointment, makes keeping track of packages easy.

• Birthdays Massage software will often alert you a day or two before a client birthday is coming up. That can be super handy to send post cards.

• Reports This is one of the best features for more efficient marketing and understanding of your business. You can do reports on almost anything. What clients have come the most often in the last six months? Who has not been in to see you in six months or more? You can figure it out quickly. Financial reports, expense reports, gift certificate reports, tax reports, retail sales reports, you name it, most of these programs have some amazing report features.

• Confirmations Most software will remind you to do confirmation calls, and keeps track of who you have talked to, left messages for, and more.

For massage marketing, having all of this information quickly available gives you powerful marketing opportunities that you would have much more difficulty doing without software.

The first fantastic feature for marketing is having your client mailing/email list easily available and sortable. Keeping in regular contact with your clients is the foundation of a successful massage business. But without software, it can be a chore. Because you can easily do reports on your clients, you can decide to do a mailing only to people who have not been to see you in six months. Or, when you send out your newsletter, you can choose to send it only to people who have been to see you within the last year. Keeping on top of these simple things monthly is a pain without a computer system. You can also quickly export your mailing and email lists to use in different programs.

Another great marketing feature is the ease of keeping track of client rewards. Who is referring new clients to you? Who refers the most? Who has a client referred?

Also use the software to easily keep accurate record of how your clients are finding you, so you know what marketing is working best. You may be surprised. What you feel is correct, may not be so. Many times I have thought for sure that most of our new clients came from some form of marketing, only to do a report and find out I was not correct. Knowing for sure will save you money (by putting money where it works best).

Ultimately massage software allows you to accomplish more, and save time, and will increase your business success.

Running massage software in your business is also good for your clients. It makes you more professional. It looks more professional. It allows you to do things quicker for your clients, like scheduling, letting them know when their next appointments are, and how many they left on a package. They appreciate having their time saved.

Additionally, if you have employees, software like this reduces errors. It will prompt them for information if they forget, like a phone number, or to do confirmations. It frees you up to let other people do things in your business because it is all automated with computer systems.

What are the drawbacks to using massage software? Not many. You have to spend money on a computer. And computers will fail. That is very important to understand. You put hundreds of hours into putting all of this data in the computer. You need to have the attitude that when - not if - your computer dies, your information MUST be backed up correctly. This should be one of the most important criterion when you choose a software program. How easy is it to backup? And how successful are the backups?

So when you are deciding on what program to use, make a checklist of everything you want it to do. And think a couple of years down the road. Do you want to have multiple therapists working with you? What else might you want when your business grows. Because believe me, you will not want to change programs once you have been using one for awhile and inputting tons of data.

One important feature to look for with massage software is that you can get excellent customer support. You need to be sure that if you have problems with your program that you will get immediate help. It would also help to know that the company has been around awhile and will be around awhile.

Another important consideration is if you get free upgrades, or if you have to pay. Many of these programs are regularly improved, and they are likely improvements you will want. How easy is it to upgrade?

I highly recommend you download a demo trial version of any program you are considering. It is the only real way to see if the program will work well for you, and to see all of the features. Don't hesitate to email and call the company when you are trying the demo when you have questions. This is a good way to see what you should expect from customer support after you purchase the program. Yes, this will be difficult. It will likely take you weeks of looking through the different programs and seeing how easy it is to use them. But it will be worth it. Some programs are going to be much better for your situation and budget than others. Do not simply buy one because of someone else's recommendation.

Explore your options below. The programs are broken up into a couple different categories.

Massage Software - Full Practice Management

Customer Pro-File Massage Software - Full Review
This is my favorite massage software for the price. Click above for my comprehensive review.

www.massageofficesoftware.com

www.massage-suite.com
Full massage management software at a great price.

www.massagesoftware.com

www.islandsoftwareco.com

Massage Software - For Specific Business Tasks

www.wincityinc.com
This massage software is specifically designed to help you become more efficient with S.O.A.P. notes and is recommended by Diana Thompson.

www.ezclaim.com
Software for medical billing.

www.easyhcfa.com
Massage software for filling out HCFA forms.

More Massage Software Resources

To read more opinions on these specific massage programs there is a great massage forum discussion on this subject here:

Bodyworkonline Forum on Massage Software

Many of the best programs for massage therapists to use are actually designed for the spa and salon industry. If you are running a bigger practice, with many therapists to book, and you are maybe even selling a decent number of retail products, you may want to check out these types of programs. They tend to be much more powerful (and expensive).
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