Is Pay What You Can a "Healthy Boundaries" Problem?

Two years ago I radically changed my pricing policy -- while I have “list prices” for my massages my policy is that all my massages are Pay What You Can (PWYC). Now that I’m back in the US I’m re-building my practice, working hard to attract new clients, I’m discovering that my PWYC policy is causing some consternation, oddly enough.

I spoke to a psychotherapist about this recently. She said she’s known a number of psychotherapists who have tried a PWYC approach as well and have abandoned it. She suggested I do the same.

For many people a PWYC policy is too much pressure. It moves the responsibility for deciding the monetary value of my work from me to them. Clients can end up feeling they are walking a tightrope between doing what’s good for them and doing what’s right by me. In that way, I’m making them take care of me instead of me taking care of them.

Of course, I didn’t think of it that way. I thought of it as giving my clients freedom and control over a situation. I thought of it as offering them a gift. But for some segment of the population, I was wrong.

Having well-defined and consistently-observed business practices and rules can be a way of taking care of our clients, of extending the massage room into the front office. When we are clear and up front about how we work – both in and out of the treatment room – our clients know what to expect, know what they have to do and what we will do. They know how things are going to work. There should be few surprises.

Given the intimate nature of the relationship with our clients, that’s a good thing. Solid business policies (including rates) provide clarity, consistency, dependability, and reliability. Those are the kind of words we use for companies we value and respect.

As a culture, Americans are generally uncomfortable with bartering. A lot of Americans are not comfortable in markets in other countries where they have to “haggle”. Having a wide-open pricing policy can feel like the client is going to have to bargain or haggle.

There’s one other wrinkle to having a PWYC policy. I’m looking into new ways to promote my practice. A lot of popular options are based on discounting my prices to entice new customers. I can’t hardly discount “pay what you can”, can I?

So, what do I do if I’m still committed to giving my clients a financial break if they need it? I’m considering a couple of options.

Oklahoma MT Sandi Kissane instituted a min/max policy last year. She’s in Norman OK where the going rate for an hour massage is hovering around $60. She lists a minimum of $30 and a maximum of $50 for an hour session. She says it’s been very very popular with her clients.

The psychotherapist who suggested I drop the PWYC plan suggested I might offer several levels of payment. For example, full price ($80), small discount ($65), and large discount ($50). Maybe I could call them bronze, silver, and gold like the Olympics?? Maybe still offer PWYC days to keep things really flexible?

On the other hand, I had a new client yesterday who is a student, just coming off an extended period of unemployment, and could only afford $40 for her massage. I was delighted that she'd heard of my PWYC policy and was able to take advantage of it.

Money can be such a tricky thing, can’t it? It’s more than numbers and pieces of papers, that’s for certain. It comes to reflect so many things for us – value, standing, worth, respect, etc. I should not be surprised by how complicated this pricing business is yet, after almost 12 years in practice, it can still confound me.

How about you? Have any of you tried any creative pricing policies? How successful were they?