Marketing doesn’t have to be cheesy and selling doesn’t have to be pushy. Here’s the therapeutic way to grow your practice…
Back in January, I was talking with the CEO of a non-profit that helps children in 3rd world countries who have ASD.
This CEO lamented that not only kids in 3rd world countries, but also children right here in the USA, need more help.
Why? Because therapy clinics weren’t getting the message out to parents that their kids could get help. Think of how many children there are on the spectrum who would be better off if only therapy clinics did a better job of convincing their parents to get help!
If you’re a therapist, you probably won’t be surprised that most people don’t become therapists expecting to run businesses, or trying to make millions.
And it’s not as if business management is taught in your Masters or Doctoral program.
Then all of a sudden you look up one day and – hey! I have employees. And bills. And paperwork. And stress.
Lots of stress…
But on the other hand, you have lots of opportunities.
As a therapist, if you’re making lots of money and growing your business, you’re also helping a lot of people who need your services.
You make a lot of difference in the lives of your patients, and the world.
Many people think that making money is “bad” or “dirty.” I say that’s nonsense- making money is neutral. It’s your means and motivation which makes the difference. Cigarette companies that want to hook people on tobacco to make more money are doing something bad. Therapists who want to help a lot more people and make money in the process are doing something good.
So that being said, what can therapists do to grow their businesses?
Without being salesy?
Well, here at Reputation Elevation, when we’re not working on things like emotional intelligence and empathetic listening, we’re helping therapists grow their practices.
In fact, a clinic that we work with in LA had so many new patients after three weeks of our program that she was already looking for new staff.
Now, if there’s one thing that I know about my clients in the therapy field, it’s that they are not born salespeople.
So one challenge has been coaching our clients to help prospective patients make good choices for themselves without being pushy (more on that later).
For now, I want to focus on something that comes before you ever start making non-salesy sales.
Marketing that Gets Lots of New Patients Interested in Your Therapy Clinic
The first step in growing your clinic is attracting lots of prospective patients (or their parents) to come talk with you.
The way we do that does not involve any of the following things which I don’t like doing (I am somewhat introverted):
- Giving public speeches
- Hosting webinars
- Spending hours on social media
- Giving out coupons
- Networking
Since I really don’t like doing those things, I put together a system which means that you don’t have to do them either.
More Sales For Your Clinic Is Really About Giving Good Therapy
A good therapist develops a deep connection with the patient. Sometimes it’s the personal connection more than anything that helps the patient make positive changes.
Well, the way that I help therapists get more patients is by deeply empathizing with the people who need their help.
If I can get inside the heads of the kinds of people you want to work with, I can help them take action and seek out your help. It’s really that simple.
Here’s how it works:
- Figure out what your prospects are thinking and feeling.
- Meet them where they are with an opportunity to see some positive changes in their lives by talking with you.
- Have a phone call.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0|0px|9px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.106″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.106″]
That’s it in a nutshell.
My favorite tool for getting inside the heads of prospective therapy patients is called the “Empathy Map.”
The Empathy Map helps us imagine what it’s like to be our prospect. What do they see, hear, do, say, feel, and think?
We take our findings from the Empathy Map and translate them into a short free consultation to help prospects find solutions to their problems.
If you can empathize with your prospects, craft the right offer, and put it in front of them… you can generate all the new business that you want. We even have a case study about a therapy clinic that we helped to generate over $936,000 in revenue in 6 months (up from around $250k the year before).
Here’s a link to get the case study if you’re interested.
What to Do With All Those Prospective Patients On the Phone
Above in this post, I promised I would talk about how to make sales without being salesy.
Once you have lots of prospective patients on the phone… what on earth do you say to them?
Well, the main thing is listen a lot more than you talk. You want to ask compelling questions that get people to figure out on their own that they really need help.
For example, “what’s the #1 thing you want to see improve for your child?” “What effect is that having on your other children?” “How does that affect you personally?”
Make sales without being salesy is almost like… being a therapist.
We have a script on hand that we customize to each client’s needs. Then, we train their staff to use the script so that they close more therapeutic sales.
Our script is designed to work even for people who aren’t natural salespeople, because it’s not about selling. It’s about listening
Once your prospective patient starts opening up about what’s going on in their lives, what you want to do is help them build resolve to change.
For example, “Cindy, if we could help you learn to help Lisa have fewer temper tantrums, but in order to do that you had to practice some new techniques, is that something you’d be willing to do?”
The idea is to get people to step up to the plate of proactively solving their problems, while communicating that as long as they can meet certain basic conditions, they will see the changes they want to see in their lives.
Make sense?
Cool.
Now It’s Time to Grow Your Therapy Clinic… the Therapeutic Way
At Reputation Elevation, we have the process of growing therapy practices down to a science.
We attract the prospective patients you need so you don’t have to worry about it. And we train your staff to close the sales (therapeutically, of course).
If you’re interested in adding at least $500,000 in revenue to your practice in the coming 12 months, then we can help you.
Choose a time on our booking calendar and we’ll get together on the phone to discuss your practice and explore some good options. We don’t accept every potential client because we only provide our services to the people we know will be able to really grow with us. But even if we don’t end up working together, you’ll still get some valuable insight and fresh new ideas just by hopping on the phone.
There’s no obligation or hard sales pitch.
Choose a time and we’ll be in touch:
What is working for you to grow your practice? Leave your comments below…
