CBD for Massage: Improve Client Satisfaction and Business Revenue
Transcript:
– All right. Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. You’re at the CBD Clinic/Charlotte’s Web webinar. Thank you for joining us today. I am Jen Palmer. I’m a naturopathic doctor and I am the education director for Charlotte’s Web. And in case you’re not familiar with that part of our company, definitely get on our email list so that you can learn more about our oral products or CBD extracts. But today we’re really focused on CBD Clinic. And today we have Pamela Heavner with us. She has been doing a few education projects with us lately. She’s wonderful to have here and she’s from Proactive Massage and Bodywork in Virginia. And so she’s staying warm today. So Pamela is a massage therapist with about 20 years experience of doing massage therapy. And so she owns Proactive Massage and she has a lot of staff there as well. And she works with chronic and acute pain through medical massage therapy. And so she’s been doing that for about 25 years and she’s been an educator as well. And she served as department director of a massage therapy school. She’s been a massage instructor and a workshop facilitator and has done a lot of training events. And she’s a resource to other people in the industry especially as a business consultant, and our next webinar actually is going to be focused on business as a massage therapist.
And then she as a 2002 graduate from the American Institute of Massage. and she studied at Kansas State University and she’s a member of a lot of professional organizations including the American Massage Therapy Association. And so I’d like to thank Pamela for being here and she’s gonna jump in on the second part of our webinar. I just want to check the… Oh, questions here. Somebody asks if we’re recording this. Yes, this is being recorded and we will be able to share that recording with you afterwards. And please do feel free to put questions in the chat and we will answer them at the end. We’ll save some time for a Q&A. And what else? Yeah, please be sure to get on our mailing list so that you can keep up with all the educational activities that we have coming up. So today, what we’re gonna talk about or what am I gonna talk about in part one is just some overview of the endocannabinoid system. And I’m going to talk about how the ECS functions in the mind, in the body and in our skin. And then we’re gonna talk about endocannabinoid deficiencies and what does that really mean for our health?
And then Pamela is gonna jump in and she’s going to talk to us about how she incorporates CBD topicals into her massage treatments. And she’s going to share a few case studies with us and then she’s also going to briefly highlight some of the business opportunities for using these kinds of products, but that won’t be the main focus of this particular webinar. So just so we’re all in a level playing field here, if you’re brand new to CBD, And if you wanna, please just put a note in the chat feature. I’m really interested to see who’s brand new to CBD. Sorry, I didn’t push play. The difference between hemp and marijuana is a little bit confusing. And the reason why is because they’re actually the same thing. And I was always confused about this when I first started to learn about hemp and marijuana and just really didn’t make a lot of sense to me. But what happened is marijuana is always been on that schedule one controlled substance list through the DEA as a big no-no drug, just like heroin and meth and things like that. And so finally, what we realized was that there’s some medicinal properties to those cannabis plant, and that maybe we’re still gonna keep THC on that schedule one controlled substance but there are a lot of cannabis plants that don’t have a lot of THC and they have some health benefits and we wanna make those available. So, because of this in 2018, we had the farm bill, the 2018 Farm Bill, which really defined the difference between hemp and marijuana. And we decided hemp means it has less than 0.3% THC and that means that generally is going to have a lot of CBD instead. And then anything over that gets tossed into that marijuana bucket and then that’s where we have tighter restrictions for legalization. And marijuana just to give you a perspective is it’s going to have upwards of 15% THC, but sometimes it’s even as high as 30. So really, it’s bred for the THC content, whereas hemp is bred for the CBD. Now, hemp is legal in all 30 states and legal to grow. I’m sorry, in all 50 states. We have more than 30 states. But some people might ask is CBD itself actually legal because CBD wasn’t really specified in that whole discussion of the farm bill. It was about the plant. And so, there’s a little bit of confusion and gray area still with the CBD issue. Now there is a little bit of variation from state to state. So, I don’t have a pat answer for you but what I can say is the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, removed it from that Controlled Substance Act where marijuana still sits. And then with that came the hemp extracts in theory. And we said that they have to have less than 0.3% THC. Now the FDA has come around and said, “We don’t feel like CBD products are exactly a dietary supplement.” And so, they have failed so far to categorize them as such. However, we Charlotte’s Web, believes that it is a natural product very similar to an herbal extract. And so therefore, we feel it is a dietary supplement and that’s something we’re working to push through the FDA, and it remains to be seen exactly what’s going to happen with that. And so, because there’s still that gray areas, there are some states or even as finite as some counties which have a little bit different regulations for CBD. And a couple of very small regions are not even selling it. But for the most part, it’s widely accessible.
The Endocannabinoid System 101
So, the endocannabinoid system, you may have learned about this but most likely, you haven’t. There was a survey in 2017 and it said that only 17% of medical schools were actually even mentioning the endocannabinoid system in their physician training programs, which is really weird because we discovered the endocannabinoid system back in 1990 when it was like completely solidly determined that we have one. And it’s a very important system in our body. I would call it the master switchboard because it runs so many facets of our bodily functions. But for some reason, the medical schools and even in pharmacy schools are not teaching about this. And it probably has something to do with the fact that it’s indirectly related to cannabis, which still has that stigma that has not yet been overcome. And so, chances are when you’re a doctor may not know much about the endocannabinoid system or nothing about the endocannabinoid system which I think is a real failure on the training programs. So, the history of this is that it was way back in the 1960s when the National Institute of Drug Abuse kind of sort of figured out that this THC stuff works on these different receptors in the brain that they didn’t know about. And then the research evolved. And then in the 1980s, the university researchers thought, finally said like there are endocannabinoid receptors, and he identified them in the brains of mice. And then that evolved to human research. And then by the 1990s, we were definitely certain that we all have an endocannabinoid systems, every single living being except potentially insects but we’re just not sure about that quite yet.
So, Raphael Mechoulam, he is the big cannabis researcher from Israel. And he’s kind of the grandfather of all cannabis information. And he says that there’s barely a biological or a physiological system in our bodies in which these endocannabinoids do not participate. So, it’s pretty important. Every living being has an endocannabinoid system. We all produce these chemical compounds called endocannabinoids and they work on these receptors to control and create balance throughout the body. And it’s really focused on basic human functioning like helps us relax. And it’s related to eating and sleeping and it has a protective effect, and it’s even associated with forgetting. And when I say that I mean forgetting bad memories because things happen to us in the past. And if we weren’t able to forget them, they would constantly be running through our heads all the time. And we would have these negative memories keeping us from doing things and making us afraid. And so, one of the things that the endocannabinoid system does is kind of puts those aside so that we can function properly and go on with our daily lives. And so, this endocannabinoid system works with our nervous system, our immune system, our cardiovascular system. And it does anything that needs to happen to create balance within. And as I mentioned, our body makes these endocannabinoids as part of the system. And these chemical compounds are very similar like in structure to the cannabis compounds.
And so, these endocannabinoids are made from fatty acids. So that’s a good reason why you wanna make sure you get enough omega-3 fats in your diet so your body can make these properly. And they’re produced really rapidly in response to external factors, such as we’re under a lot of stress or we’re experiencing a lot of pain, and it helps find that balance to reduce those things and make us feel more close to normal. Now, these endocannabinoids that we produce in our body, they have a very short half-life. And so, we make them very quickly when we need them, on demand. And then these enzymes, FAAH and MAGL, they degrade these endocannabinoids so that they’re not hanging around our body very long. So, we make them fast, use them, get the job done. And then they’re gone. And so that’s really different than when we’re taking the plant-based cannabinoids from hemp, which work on similar receptors. But once we ingest, those are circulating in our body for like six to eight hours or so and then they kind of naturally degrade. So, they have a little bit longer presence. So those endocannabinoids that I mentioned, these are the two primary ones that we have a lot of research on and that we know the most about. The first one is anandamide. I’m really thinking anandamide is cool because it’s also called the bliss molecule. So, as you can imagine, it helps give us a positive mood. It makes us feel happy and content. It also supports our development of our brain and cognition, and it helps in the formation of memories. Research shows that anandamide has a nice anti-inflammatory effect. It supports our heart and the cardiovascular system. It helps regulate pain sensation, and also helps with the reward sensation. Now there’s some research that kind of exemplifies what an anandamide does. And what scientists did was they suppressed the mice ability to make anandamide. And then they put those mice under a stressful situation. And what they discovered was they had a lot more symptoms of anxiety and stress as compared to when they then let them make anandamide and put them under stressful situation, their stress was reduced quite a bit. So that would just demonstrates how anandamide helps create balance under certain situations.
Now, this other endocannabinoid is called 2-AG and it has a lot of overlapping functions and that also regulates energy metabolism. So, it has to do with weight balance. It helps with inflammation and anxiety and depression and it also helps repair the brain after trauma. So, it’s been shown that after a TBI when there’s brain damage, that our levels and production of 2-AG goes up significantly. And so, researchers think that that is the body’s mechanism to protect the brain. And that is one of the functions of the endocannabinoids, is to protect the brain and neurotransmitters. So, the way the system works is kind of simple. It’s a lock and key system. So, you can think of the endocannabinoids and the phytocannabinoids as the keys. And then the receptors are the CB1 and CB2 receptors primarily. And so, these endocannabinoids work either directly with those locks or indirectly, cause triggers an action which works with that receptor. And in the end, the result is that it’s causing balance. So, a little bit deeper dive, the CB1 receptors, these are all over our body, but you’re going to see them really concentrated in like the brain and the central nervous system, the spinal cord and also the cerebellum. And THC is what works predominantly with the CB1 receptors and causes that euphoric effect. And so, the fact that it works on the cerebellum, that’s why you might see people who are smoking too much, and they have too much THC in their body, they might have a little bit of instability or not well coordinated with their muscles. And then the CB2 receptors. These are everywhere but you’re going to see them more concentrated in the peripheral nervous system, the immune system, even in our gastrointestinal tracks and in all the organs like the heart and the eyes and the kidneys and the lungs. Now, some other things that these endocannabinoids do besides just working on those CB1 and CB2 receptors, they work on some other receptors that we know neurotransmitters work on. So, they work on like the 5-HT receptors which is where we produce serotonin. There’s a lot of those in our gut. So, we know that the endocannabinoid system has to do with gut balance. And they help with GABAA production. So that’s a very common neurotransmitter and they interact with the TRP receptors. And one of those functions is to send pain signals to the brain. So that’s why endocannabinoids can help with moderating pain sensations. And so of course, CBD works similarly to these endocannabinoids. And so, it works on all of those receptors to have those reactions as well.
Now speaking of those TRP receptors for pain, some other cool natural things that work there are menthol and camphor. And so, menthol and camphor help mediate sensations of pain and temperature. They’re both considered OTC drugs because they were approved by the FDA that they have these particular effects. And as a result of that, that allows us to say directly what they do. So, you can say directly that menthol helps with pain, arthritis, muscle stiffness when used topically. And so, menthol and camphor, they are basically analgesics and anesthetic properties and they work like counter irritants. So, they’re working on those TRP receptors and they’re basically blocking the message of pain that’s going from your cutaneous nervous system to your brain. And so, the pain might still be there but you’re not registering it or noticing it because of the way that these act. And they can last a long time and provide relief for quite a while. And these menthol and camphor work on those TRP receptors. And they also have a cooling sensation. They cause vessel dilation; they cause an increase in blood flow and they can really cool you down. In fact, if you applied this all over your body, you would be shivering. So, the endocannabinoid system I was talking about it in our whole body, but we also have it concentrated in our skin. And this is almost like its own little microcosm. So, within the not so deep layers of the skin, we have CB1 and CB2 receptors and they’re located everywhere like the sensory nerves. They’re in the sweat glands and the immune cells and the Langerhans cells of the skin and in the epidermis and the sebaceous or oil secreting glands and in the hair follicles. And our skin also makes its own endocannabinoids. The 2-AG and the anandamide are made there. And so, they help regulate and create balance within the skin. So, this cutaneous endocannabinoid system, it helps regulate skin growth, skin cell growth differentiation. It helps regulate the skin’s immune system and the inflammatory response. And if that endocannabinoid system isn’t functioning very well, you might get really dry skin. You might get dermatitis, you might get acne, excessive oil production and also the opposite dry skin. You might have excessive hair growth or maybe no hair growth so because this endocannabinoid systems help regulating all these functions of the skin.
Now, the thing about using CBD on the skin or menthol and camphor, they’re working really locally, wherever you’re applying it. So, they’re just working on those receptors in that one area, and they’re not getting absorbed and penetrating so deeply that they’re going into circulation so they’re not getting distributed through the body. So, these things only work right where you put them. And then what causes that dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system when things go wonky? Well, unfortunately it’s very common things like stress and we’re all dealing with that lately. So chronic stress, especially, that increased cortisol that can trigger an imbalance. Drinking alcohol consistently or in large quantities is going to cause an imbalance and environmental toxins like pesticides or plasticides or phthalates. These things can interfere with endocannabinoid production and they can also interfere with the receptors themselves and also reduce the amount of receptors. So, all these things can reduce our ability of our body to naturally create its own balance. So, things that you can do to counteract that of course is to reduce stress in whatever way that you prefer, whatever your favorite thing is, exercising or meditation. Yoga is great, deep breathing. In fact, we know that that thing called runners high is increasing our endorphins and that’s why we feel really good when we’re done but it’s also increasing that bliss molecule, anandamide and that’s another reason why things like exercise and meditation make us feel really good. It’s the production of those compounds. Also, massage increases the production of endocannabinoids. So that’s always a good thing to tell your clients and acupuncture as well. At least those are the two things that were researched. I’m sure there’s a lot of other modalities that help as well. And then of course you can take CBD, plant-based cannabinoids to boost that endocannabinoid system. So next, Pamela is gonna jump in and she’s gonna tell you a little bit about how you can use this in your massage practice.
Clinical Applications of CBD MEDIC for Massage Therapists
– [Pamela] Thank you so much, Dr. Palmer. So now that we have a much better idea of how the endocannabinoid system functions in our mind, our body and our skin… Sorry about that. I think I just got cut off there. So, let’s take a look about why you might want to consider adding CBD massage to your menu of services. So first let’s take a look at what statistics have to say about our industry and its role in pain management. So according to the, this is 2019, this was the most recent consumer survey that I could find for AMTA and the YouGov survey, there’s actually an average of 24% of consumers that have received a massage from a massage therapist in the past year. So, I always kind of like to think of this number on a more personal level. And if you would do that, let’s look at where I live in the state of Virginia. We have a population of just over 230,000 people that live in our area. So, using the 24% statistic, then that would mean that there’s an average of over 55,000 people in my community that received a massage last year. So that’s really over 1,000 clients a week that are looking for a massage.
Next. Also, according to these same surveys, the prime reason that people received a massage was for health and wellness reasons. Let’s see. Hey, Jen, can you switch to the next screen for me? Oh, you did. Thanks. So according to these same surveys, the prime reason that people are receiving a massage was for health and wellness reasons. And 70% of those said that they got a massage for medical or health reasons like pain relief or pain management, also injury rehabilitation. And then we had 58% of the consumers that had a massage for relaxation or for stress management. And I know in my clinic, we’ve seen a really sharp increase in the number of clients that we’ve been seeing that have been receiving a massage to help them manage their anxiety and chronic depression. So now that we know that massage has proven to be highly effective for our clients in managing either chronic or acute pain, especially when it comes to inflammation, muscle soreness or peripheral neuropathy, and with such a large percentage of consumers looking for pain relief or pain management, it really just makes good business sense to combine the incredible benefits of massage therapy with the powerful effects of CBD massage and oil creams. So next, let’s take a look at a few case studies that we’ve had in my clinic. These are actual results from people that we’ve seen.
So, our first client is a 65-year-old female and she’s been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was suffering with generalized body pain. Go ahead and hit the next screen for me there so they can read over that with me. Thanks. So, she’s 65 years old, she’s a female. She has fibromyalgia and she was suffering with generalized body pain. And I’m sure if your clinic is like mine, we see this almost daily. She also was complaining of fatigue, sleep, memory and even mood issues. So, one of the things that she shared was that anti-inflammatories had really helped reduce her pain in the past. However, she couldn’t take them because she had concerns from her doctor because she had a stomach ulcer. So, whenever we have clients that mention that insides have helped them, then we know that we’re dealing with some type of inflammation. And we also understand that the endocannabinoid system helps moderate inflammation. And since we had witnessed this powerful anti-inflammatory response with our other clients that had used CBD oils previously, then we really strongly believe that using a mid-level topical oil would bring her pain relief without the fear her doctors had of her taking any kind of an oral anti-inflammatory. So, the treatment that we settled on was we performed a 90-minute therapeutic massage and we used a mid-level oil that also contained camphor and menthol. We applied that to her back, neck, shoulders, hips and her feet, which were all some of her trigger point her pain areas with her fibro. And the results that we saw was the client was thrilled actually with her immediate results she expressed how good it was to be free from pain, said she felt amazing and said she wasn’t hurting at all. And it was interesting to watch how her mood even changed. She went from being kinda angry and sad to a more happy, really cheerful countenance. She was absolutely thrilled with the results that she got from her session. And she even purchased a jar of cream to take home for use and to hold her over until her next massage. So, she’s scheduled to return in two weeks, and she left a really happy client, which was nice.
Our next case study we’re gonna look at is a 39-year-old male. And he worked at least 40 hours a week on his computer. And due to poor posture, he found himself sporting a very common condition that we see almost daily known as forward head posture. So, this client presented with really severe neck pain and he mentioned that he was having headaches. Those were a real concern for him. Now we know as therapists that over time forward head posture, it can lead to a muscle imbalance as the body really tries to adapt and find a more efficient way to hold your head up. So, some of the muscles like the deep cervical flexors, they can become elongated, and they get weakened where other muscles can become shorter and they get tighter, and neck pain can happen when soft tissues of the next like your ligaments or your muscles or tendons, they can become strained or sprained from overuse or this overextension. So again, we went through the process of what we were looking at and we decided that a high-level CBD massage cream was a great option for treatment in this case. And really this was for two reasons. First of all, we wanted to use the higher levels of menthol and camphor, especially the menthol to bring fast relief for any of the nerve pain that this client was experiencing right away cause we know that menthol has a really strong topical analgesic and anesthetic property. It falls in the category of counter irritants that work by exciting and really subsequently desensitizing the sensory neurons. And that creates a cooling sensation on the skin. It also offers pain relief by interacting with the TRP receptor channels. And Jen mentioned that earlier. The other reason we wanted to use a higher level was for the higher CBD levels, because we really wanted to target the pain that was being caused by inflammation from the injury that he had or even if it was healing, the healing process itself. So again, knowing that the ECS moderate’s inflammation, the higher levels of CBD would really target that response that we were looking for. So, we did a focused 30-minute massage with a higher-level menthol camphor oil. We applied that to the anterior and posterior neck the shoulders and the back. We had incredible results with this client, pain reduction post-treatment immediately. We also noticed because he wasn’t in so much pain, we also had improved range of motion, improved head posture because we were able to activate some of the muscles that were elongated and lengthen some of the ones that had shortened. And again, we see this client purchase products to take home for home use.
All right. And our third case we’re gonna look at is a client that was experiencing what looked like SI joint dysfunction. So here again, we see another pathology that involves some type of inflammation. And this case study, the client was also experiencing some referred nerve pain. And I don’t know about you guys, but we commonly see several conditions that really seem to mimic SI joint dysfunction. Like for example, when you have a client that comes in with a bulged or herniated disc at around the L4 or L5, they have very similar symptoms. And in any of these cases, really inflammation is often at the root of the pain. So, for treatment, in this case, we needed to address the inflammation and the nerve pain. So, we applied a mid-level CBD oil all over the lower back, the hips, the posterior thighs and we were really sure to use it on the other muscles that also support the SI joint function, including the gluteus maximus and the piriformis muscle. Again, the results, the client was really pleased that immediately there was pain resolution post-treatment and they also happened to mention that this particular client didn’t experience any discomfort while dressing or putting on shoes, which this had previously been a strong source of pain. And the client also noticed a reduction in swelling in their lower limbs. So that was also a surprise result that we were really thrilled with to get from his client. So now let’s take a look at adding this to your practice cause you’ve seen the incredible benefits.
You’ve heard three case studies where you’ve had people who come in with a particular pathology who’ve left with incredible results. So now you might really be interested in incorporating CBD massage into your practice. So, before you do that, there’s a couple of things that I would just like ask you to consider. So, if you’d like to add it, first of all, think about are you gonna add it as a standalone service or are you going to offer it as an add on? Also, what product line will you use? And I know I put that in there as an or but you could actually do both. You could offer it as a standalone service and as an add on. So, first of all, when you’re looking at what CBD product line that you want to carry, you’re gonna want to look over a few things. So, if you go to the next slide with me, I’ll go through a couple of things that you should look for when you’re choosing a product line. So, first of all, you’re gonna really want to get to know the company and the process of how they make the products cause trust me, all CBD companies are not the same and you’re gonna really want to take some time to get to know the company. Go to their website, read about their company. Another thing I liked to do when we were searching for products to carry was, I would actually call customer service and see how they helped me. How did they treat me? Could they answer my questions? You also should look and see how the CBD that they use is extracted. What method do they use? You should investigate where they source their CBD because there are a lot of different environmental factors like the soil pH and the climate that can really have an impact on the quality of the CBD product. Also, do they use a good manufacturing practices facility? That’s a rating that they can get that ensures that the products that they’re making in there and the manner that they do it are a consistent quality and that it’s safe for their intended use. You really have a right to know that’s everything inside your product. So, make sure that the company you choose conducts very rigorous third-party testing on every batch of product that they make, and then make sure that you can also see those results online. Sometimes they’ll post them on their websites. So, make sure that you have access to them. Those results are called a COA or a Certificate of Analysis. And those tests are gonna show you if there are any amounts of like heavy metals, pesticides, mold, if there’s any other kind of foreign substance like that in the extracts, those COA test will show it. And you wanna make sure that you have access to those.
So, you might also want to look for a line that offers different levels of ingredients in their products. And that way you can accommodate a variety of client’s needs. You can offer levels based on their levels of pain, also, honestly based on different budgets that people have. So, it’s really important that they support you as a wholesaler. So, take time to kinda get to know the company and see if they can answer some of the questions that you might have about the products, or maybe if your clients have questions about the products, about the safety of them or really honestly even legal concerns and also see if they offer any helpful tips on how to grow your business. Do they offer you any useful marketing materials? Those are important factors to look at when you’re looking at the products to carry.
So, let’s move on next and look at, once you decide on the brand of product that you’re going to carry, next decide if you’re gonna offer it as an add on to your regular service or as a standalone service. So, if you’re gonna add it as an add on consider offering different level options. This is where we talked about earlier, where you can work within everybody’s pain level and everybody’s budget. So, when you have different levels, it just helps to suit the client’s different needs. So then when you create your add on, start offering your add on to clients during the booking process. Whether your front desk offers it or if you offer it on your online booking service, be sure that you feature it on your website. Also consider placing an ad on menu in your waiting room just like the sample that is pictured here. It’s a great reminder to your clients right before they go into their service. And honestly, this is really when they might be needing it most. They’ll be in there. They might be in pain and this would be a great time to say, “Hey, would you like to add this onto your service?” So, keep a menu out there where they can see it.
All right. Next, how do you know how much to charge for the service? So, there’s a few things to keep in mind when you’re trying to determine how much you should charge when you’re adding a CBD service to your practice. So, the first thing you’re gonna need to do is determine how much the product itself is gonna cost you. So, whenever you sit down to try and determine your costs, make sure that you’re including any extra expenses into your costs before you start doing this math. Like, for example, if you have a shipping cost or if you have a use tax that’s associated with it, although most of your vendors, once you set up your wholesale accounts some of them will offer you free shipping. But if you do have that in there, make sure you include this in the total cost. So, to determine your product cost, we need to break it down. So first let’s look at, I’ve got two samples up here but let’s look at the one on the left, the mid-level oil. So, let’s say with this product, our costs landed which will include your shipping or your use tax, let’s say to us, it’s $46.50 for a 12-ounce bottle. So, to determine how much an ounce is we’re gonna divide 46.50 by 12, which gives us $3.88 an ounce. So in my clinic, we use a half an ounce for one add on service. That equals about four pumps. And that’s just through trial and error. We’ve learned that’s a pretty good average. Sometimes people use a little bit less, sometimes people use a little bit more, but it’s about a half an ounce for one add on service. So therefore, for us, a half an ounce is $1.94. So next let’s look at if there’s any additional supplies costs. So, there might be some other additional costs that you need to include other than shipping or use tax. For example, if you’re trying to control the backbar supply by distributing out pre-measured amounts, then there might be a cost for the containers that you use. I did a really quick Amazon search to give a couple of different options for these containers with lids. We actually use the one-ounce containers and they only cost us 0.5 each. Also, this is a time to mention if you’re an employer and you have a staff of therapists, you might want to consider also offering a commission on the upsell of these add on services. This is a great way for your therapist to make an additional income. Also, while they’re encouraging it for their customers, it helps you also increase your revenues. But for this example, we’re just gonna look at the product and the supplies cost.
So next slide. So, once you add up your cost for the container and the product, you’re gonna be able to determine what your cost is per session. So, in this case, we’re using a one-ounce container and a half an ounce of the product. So, it’s going to cost us $1.99 per add on session. So next slide. So, if you charge $15 for this mid-level add on service and your product costs are $1.99, then your profit is gonna be $13 and that one extra cent. So, let’s look next if we’re gonna add it on as a standalone service. So, if you’re gonna do that, make sure when you put this service into your menu, that you use some kinda power words in your service description, for example, using words like pain reduction, rapid relief, interrupts pain signals, maybe soothing for your aches and pains, some kind of power words like that in your service description, that’s going to really attract more customers to the service.
Also, please be sure to include exactly what the clients can expect from the service. Let me give you an example. When we first started doing this, some people had in their mind that they were gonna come in and we were gonna rub CBD lotion all over their whole body from head to toe, which we wouldn’t want to do that cause one of the products we use has a lot of menthol in it. And as Jen said earlier, they would leave freezing if we did that. So, we had to go back and be very clear and mention that we’d be spot treating their areas of discomfort. So after we talked to them in the beginning, we decided where those areas were and then we would treat them during the service, during the session. So just make sure that you’re very clear in what their expectations are for the service. So next, our standalone CBD massage in my clinic, we also include a little take-home bag. You can see it pictured here. It’s got a little mesh bag and a little three-gram container with a card in it. And we give this to everybody as part of the standalone service for a take-home. And we’d really do that for two reasons. One of them, people absolutely love to leave with something that they can take home. It adds a lot of value to the services that you’re offering, which is incredible for a small amount of costs. You can really have people feel like they’ve received a whole lot more. And the second thing which we have loved about this is it really gives them a chance to fall in love with these products at home. And another really huge benefit that we have found from doing this is that they often share it with their friends or their family members who might be in pain or have an ache or something wrong. And then their friends and family members fall in love with it and they also come in to purchase it from us because they can’t buy it online. So that’s another benefit of us being a brick-and-mortar store. They have to come to us to get it. And having the full store in our clinic, that really just helps us boost our overall clinic revenue. So those two reasons really help benefit by adding those onto our standalone service.
So, our costs with the mesh bag and the little container and the pain relief cream in it that we use, it comes out to $2.46. So, the next one is a little sample of what we write on the card, the sample card that we put in there, and I’m gonna make this all available to you when this is over. So, you don’t feel like you have to try to write anything down or anything. I’ll send you a copy of it if you’d like. So, if you decide, on our next screen, we’ll look at if you decide to use, let’s say, a mid-level pain relief oil that average that we saw earlier, if you decide to use that in the service and then after the service you send your clients home with this little take-home sample, then the two of those together, your cost would be $4.45. So, let’s look at the next screen and look at our profits. So, if you are spending $4.45 for both of those, your product during the session and the take-home and let’s say you have charged $40 for the standalone service, then your profits would be $35.55. Again, that’s before you might offer any commissions to your therapist or your front desk or whoever’s promoting it. And again, one of our goals with this service is to sell product in our store. So, this additional cost to let clients try it at home and fall in love with it and its pain-relieving benefits are just totally worth the cost to us.
Summary for incorporating CBD into your massage practice
So, this has really been a brief overview of how to add CBD massage to your service menu. Just remember to consider your goals when you think about adding this. Will you be offering it as both a standalone service and a service add on or maybe just one or the other? Also, are you gonna be carrying a product line that you’re gonna wanna sell to your customers? And be sure to include all of your costs when you’re trying to determine what it costs you to offer this service, especially make sure you’re including your shipping, your use tax and any commissions that you might offer your staff and then set your price and make sure you add it to your service menu on your website, your online booking everywhere, and really just watch these bookings and your extra income just come pouring in. If you would like a digital copy of any of the items that we shared today, I have a copy of the service description so that you don’t have to worry about writing one, the sample menu of services that we showed earlier, the take-home little sample card and also we have a CBD massage protocol booklet. That way you have a copy of it in your own practice or your spa so that you can learn how to add this into your practice. So if you’d like a copy of any of those, that’s my email address. So just shoot me a quick email at hello@brandbarstudio and I would be happy to send you a copy of that.
– [Jen] I think we have to wrap up now, but there’s my email. I am happy to answer any questions if I didn’t get to yours. Please feel free to email me and please do join us next time on our followup email for this webinar. We will share with you the dates and the registration or information about the next one and so that you can join us again.
– [Pamela] Thank you so much.
– [Jen] Yeah. Thank you, Pamela, for being here. We really appreciate all of your support and hope you all had a great time, and we will talk to you soon. Bye bye.
