Opportunity doesn’t always knock on the front door

Some of the best opportunities I’ve gotten in my business endeavors have come from some of the least expected sources. Take today, for example.

I spent the morning in the dentist’s chair.

Yes, it was my bi-annual check-up and cleaning.  I have a new hygienist who has been practicing for a year now.  As she was preparing the autoclaved kit from hell dental instruments, I asked her if dental hygiene was everything she thought it would be.  She replied, “Yes, and a lot more.”

One thing she mentioned was that she found the work more physically demanding than she had anticipated.  She thought she should probably get a weekly massage to help with her back pain.

Now, I’ve been at this long enough, 4 years, to see an opening when it’s presented to me and to make the most of it.  I could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn’t happy with her current massage therapist(s).

Happy customers are easy to spot

You can always tell someone who has a therapist they love.  They will tell you.  Just like that.  “Oh, I get massage all the time and my therapist has made a HUGE difference.”  When I talk to someone like that, my response is always along the lines of:  ‘I’m really glad to hear that you’re getting regular massage.  Can I ask who you go to?  I sometimes need a great massage, myself, and it always helps to know who I could refer some of my clients to if I can’t help them.’  Then I quit selling my services to them because it would feel pushy and spammy to me and disrespectful to the other massage therapist.

She hasn’t found a therapist she loves, yet

She’s seen several and they were good, but she wants DEEP tissue work and none of them are really doing that.  I do.  I also mentioned that I do intraoral massage (a special endorsement from the state of Washington is required to do that here) and her eyes lit up!  Why wouldn’t I mention that?  I’m in a dental office, duh.

“Do you have a card with you”

If you can’t answer yes to this any place but the swimming pool at the “Y”, you need to just get out of business now.  I always carry cards with me.  ALWAYS.

So after 60 minutes of cleaning, scraping, measuring and polishing, in comes the dentist.  My dentist is awesome.  She’s expensive and I’m not insured, but she makes it worth going without any lattes to afford her.  She’s also a good, kind businesswoman. She also happens to be in a complex that has a massage therapy spa in it.

So my hygienist says, quite enthusiastically, that I’m a massage therapist, I do intra-oral massage and she can’t wait to come see me!  My dentist knows I’m a massage therapist and she’s excited about the endorsement because she’s been looking for a massage therapist to refer patients to.  The therapists in her building don’t have the intra-oral endorsement and aren’t interested in it.  Would I bring some cards so she can send her patients to me?

I’ll be taking a stack of cards down there tomorrow!

This is a great opportunity.  I love doing intra-oral work.  I love doing work on carpal tunnel syndrome, I love working on dental hygienists.  So my bi-annual trip to the dentist is going to bring me some new clients.  Which I’ll be needing because one of my oldest and biggest fillings is giving up the ghost and I’m going to have to save up for some expensive (but worth it) dental work this fall.

Have you ever had a moment like this where an opportunity just opened up for you?  I’d love to hear about it!

photo credit: j lord