When I first started doing massage therapy in 1993, I heard from several people that male massage therapists have a harder time finding clients. That “every massage client would rather have a female massage therapist instead”. Even a popular book on the massage industry said that male therapists have a harder time getting clients.

But this didn’t make sense to me. I knew I was a good massage therapist and that a professional massage is just that: strictly professional. Heck, the gentleman that taught me massage had more clients than he could handle and 13 years later, he is still seeing 30-40 clients every week personally.

So I opened my massage practice and started promoting massage therapy to everyone I met or could talk to. And sometimes, I’d hear someone say something like:

“I prefer a female therapist.”

“I’m not comfortable with a male massage therapist.”

And I would do the absolute wrong thing…I’d take it personally.

After all, I heard them tell me where they were in pain. I knew the exact massage techniques to get them out of pain. I was eager and willing to help them. And my gender as a stumbling block.

It turns out that there are people who won’t use a male therapist because of his gender, after all.

How I Overcame This Stumbling Block

One day, I was doing a massage trade with another massage therapist, who I’ll call Melissa to protect her privacy. Melissa is a very successful massage therapist who became so busy that she started a massage therapy office with four other massage therapists to handle her overflow.

As I’m giving Melissa a massage, I ask her if she was on vacation and wanted a massage, would she schedule an appointment with a male or female massage therapist.

And Melissa said:

“I don’t care if they are a male or female therapist. I want somebody who is good and can give me the type of massage I asked for!”

Don’t Try To Sell A “Chevy Car” To A “Ford Truck” Man

It was then I realized that I had trying to get clients the wrong way. I thought everyone was a candidate for massage with me.

Well, not everyone is a candidate for massage with you. Trying to get everyone to get a massage from you is like trying to convince a “Ford Truck” Man to buy a Chevy Car:

• They have always bought Ford Trucks


• They have always been happy with Ford Trucks


• They are not interested in any other type of car or truck, no matter how much better it may be built, cost less, etc.


• They consider themselves a “Ford Truck” Man for life.

What I Learned As A Massage Therapy Center Owner

I’ve answered the question of therapist gender numerous times in my career. As a massage therapy center owner, I started tracking the client requests, so I could hire additional massage therapists that could quickly match what clients were asking for.

I’m going to save the question of what massage techniques were most requested for another time. When it came to client preferences on therapist gender, here are the results I can share.

I can loosely divide every type of massage client into one of these three categories:

• They will always schedule with a male therapist. (About 30%)


• They will always schedule with a female therapist (About 30%)


• They don’t care: They want a therapist who will deliver the results they want. (About 40%)

So it doesn’t matter what gender you are. There will always be about 30% of the people
who will get a professional massage, who won’t schedule with you because they want a different gender. Or perhaps their spouse dictates what gender they can go to.

Focus on the 70% who will consider scheduling with you instead. Target them and tell them how you can deliver the results that they are looking for.

The other 30% who won’t schedule with you because of your gender, you can refer them to a massage therapist of the opposite gender.

Another massage therapist?

Yes, they can be a great business ally for you. They come across people who want a massage and tell them that they are the wrong gender too.

How I Created A Natural Referral Network

About 10 years ago, I started getting clients who would ask me if I knew of any good female therapists for their spouse, friend, boss, etc.

So I started developing a network of other massage therapists that I could refer to. If a client’s spouse wanted a female therapist who did energy work, I knew a female massage therapist that did energy work. If another client’s boss wanted a female therapist who did sports massage, I knew another massage therapist who did sports massage.

I identified these other massage therapists, mostly through networking. Those who I felt comfortable with, I would do a massage trade so both of us could get an idea of what each other’s technique and overall strength might be.

When any of us has a potential new referral to send, we just make the referral. There’s no expectation of referring X number of clients every year.

It costs us nothing but a few minutes of our time and everybody wins.