Marketing Your Practice - Part IV

Here’s how to find out if a specific marketing strategy is working for you:

• First of all, what do you spend per month on this marketing tactic (either in terms of money, or time, or both)?

• Do you track new client referral sources?

• How many inquiries per month do you get from this marketing source? (You probably only track how many become clients, not total inquiries.)

• How does the number of new clients from this marketing source compare to a year ago?

• What your the top referral source overall? How does this tactic compare, in terms of number of referrals?

• Do the kinds of clients I get from this marketing source match my “ideal” client profile? Do I enjoy working with these clients?

• Are these clients profitable? Do they pay, on average, a reasonable fee for the services?

Next, do some simple math. Multiply the number of clients you got from that marketing strategy last month times the number of sessions you saw them times a reasonable fee (what you actually get paid, not what you charge).

For example, you might have gotten two new clients from the Yellow Pages last month, and saw the clients a total of 4 times. You charge $100 an hour, but collect an average of $85. So take 85 x 4 x 2 = $680.

Next, look at how much you, individually, spent on your Yellow Pages ad last month. Let’s say the ad costs $475 total each month, and you and the other therapists in your practice split it 4 ways. That’s about $120 for your investment.

Your return on investment is 11-to-1 ($680 + 120 = 5.66).

Your return on investment (or ROI) should be at least 5-to-1 for any advertising you do.

If you’re not getting at least a 5-to-1 return on your Yellow Pages investment, you can do 2 things:

– Improve your Yellow Pages ad by redesigning it

– Spend the money elsewhere

Marketing Your Private Practice - Part III

You are already successful in getting SOME new clients, otherwise you wouldn’t be in practice, right?

But are you getting the right kind of clients? Ones that appeal to your clinical skills and strengths? Ones that can pay your fees — or whose insurance lists you as a preferred provider?

My goal when working with therapists is to help you identify what you’re already doing well that attracts your ideal clients and to encourage you to do more of that — but to do it consistently, so you don’t have that “feast or famine” look to your appointment books.

The temptation is to take as many billable hours as you can right now and worry about marketing later, but that’s exactly what leads to feast or famine.

The problem I find with most therapists is that when you put something on your to-do list that has to do with marketing, you’re the only one making sure it gets done. If a client emergency comes up, marketing is what suffers. That’s okay once or twice, but marketing has to be a priority — you need to be consistent. It’s better to do one thing consistently than to do four or five things only once.

I conducted a survey of therapists recently and found that the majority of therapists responding spent one hour EACH MONTH on marketing their practice. That's not really enough to build your brand. An hour a week will get you closer to filling your practice.

Some therapists nationally have done an excellent job creating their personal brand. Their name is synonymous with the work they do. What kind of work do these therapists do?

– Dr. Ruth [sex]

– Michele Weiner-Davis [relationships]

– Frank Pittman [affairs]

You can either build your brand yourself, or capitalize on a national brand … especially a well-known one. For example, you might be “Omaha’s Dr. Ruth.”

Even if you only want a handful of new clients each month, you can attract your ideal client by conscientiously choosing what kind of clients you want to work with, and using some specific strategies to attract those kinds of clients.

For example, if you want to work with clients on stress management issues and you like the way Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) insurance reimburses, put together a brown bag lunch talk on “Reducing Stress on the Job” and pitch it to an employer who has BCBS as their insurance provider.

Read more in Part Four.

Using Michael Port's Book Yourself Solid 4-Part System

A few months back, I had the opportunity to participate in a call with Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid.

I like his 4-Part Sales Formula -- and recommend therapists use these principles in talks with prospective clients.

Question #1: What is your goal? What do you want out of therapy?
- Once you feel certain you know what they want to accomplish (and what their timeframe is), ask:

Question #2: How will you know when you've accomplished your goal? What results will you see? What feelings will you have?
- Once you feel like the prospective client has articulated these outcomes, ask:

Question #3: Would you like someone to help you accomplish this goal?
- If they say "No," wish them the best of luck and keep in touch with them.
- If they say, "Yes," then ask:

Question #4: Would you like that person to be me? Because, you know, you are my ideal client.
- When they say, "What do you mean?" respond with, "Because you are someone with whom I can do my best work, because you are ..." (and then list the qualities that make them who they are.)


For more information, read his book: