Growing your Client Practice
I’ve had several conversations lately with people who are interested in expanding their client practices and generating more income. They want to generate revenues that get them beyond simply paying the bills, and into a lifestyle that includes savings, discretionary income and the freedom to pursue additional learning or take time off without feeling financially stressed.
These good people work hard, have a deep understanding and practical application of their modalities, serve their clients effectively, and have a nice stream of referred clients. Yet they have not reached the income level that gives them much financial freedom.
These recent conversations were focused on determining key next steps, including business strategy, office location, partnering or flying solo, and program and practice launch initiatives. Important decisions, indeed.
What’s that got to do with the title of this post — What’s in a Name? More than you think. Bare with me, I’m just getting started.
‘I’m just going to simplify and be a healer’
Each practitioner uttered these words as they waded through their thoughts on their important key decisions. Listening to the backstory, the issues, pros and cons, risks and opportunities that each cycled through, I observed them becoming confounded by all of the data and options, eventually stating, ‘I’m just going to be a healer’, followed by these defeatist ideas:
- let my licensure lapse
- avoid raising prices for fear clients will abscond
- take a smaller, cheaper, less attractive, office space
- find a part-time job to make enough money so they can take the course, close the income gap, afford the trip, take time off from their practice.
These are skilled professionals, not weekend workshop wannabes
I’m going to go out on a limb here, and I may even piss some people off. I’m ok with that.
If you’re a highly skilled practitioner and you’re collapsing into calling yourself a healer, you’re sabotaging your expertise, your professionalism and your income.
Calling yourself a healer will not help you make important decisions, or generate the income and freedom you’re actually seeking.
Those of you who grok what I’ve just said are the people I can help.
You understand that the term ‘healer’ creates a nebulous perception of your qualifications, and can even evoke images of the mysterious, wizened elder steeping potions in a kettle in a rundown house at the edge of the village! (Do not for one second believe I’m taking a pot shot at herbalism. I believe strongly in herbal medicine and use them to support my health and wellness.)
Practitioners are professionals
As I talked with each practitioner, and asked a few pointed questions, the light bulbs came on. Each of these good people were trying to make a decision without a strategy to guide their thinking, choices and actions.
The collapse into calling themselves ‘healers’ was not what they wanted, it was where they believed they’d landed!
Who are these people?
- A licensed acupuncturist with two other integrative modalities, totaling 10+ years of study, and 8 years in practice
- A practitioner with 8+ years of cranio sacral study, homeopathy and energy healing, 5 years in practice
- An herbalist with 25+ years of study, 20 years in practice
The word ‘practitioner’ conveys their expertise and qualifications. Healer does not.
Professional Practitioners Need a Sound Strategy
This is where the rubber meets the road. Without a sound strategy, practitioners are at the whim of their choices and their checkbook. Their choices are determined by the volume of their client & network referrals.
They often lack:
- An inspired business strategy that guides their actions
- A website that attracts clients – often because they wrote the copy themselves
- A networking and outreach plan that generates visibility and brings their name to top of mind
- A consistent, effective messaging strategy that attracts new clients
- A visible and powerful presence in their community
- An actionable understanding of the business aspects of running a successful practice
- A weekly schedule that fosters time to grow their practice
- Effective, simple systems and processes that simplify their work, increase client compliance
- Sound policies that ensure client compliance and commitment
Is this you? Are you toying with simplifying and becoming a healer?
Stop. Brew a cup of tea, sit down and answer these questions:
- Do I make decisions based on (a) where I am now or (b) where I know I want to be?
- Does my website get results? (How do you know?)
- Do I have enough clients to schedule time away, sign up for a course without using my credit card, pay my bills and save money?
- Do I have a content and messaging strategy that increases my value, visibility and impact with clients, colleagues and potential clients?
- Do I spend time on repetitive tasks that keep me in the office after hours, or working when I could be living my life?
- Do I spend 35-50% of my weekly hours productively working on growing my business or do my clients consume all of my time?
- If I had roughly 35-50% of my time available to grow my business, would I know What To Do With That Time to Generate the Results I Want and Need?
Your problems have solutions. But if you don’t have a strategy, you can’t find your way out.
There is nothing more exciting than watching skilled practitioners rise through the ranks to successful business leader, completely bypassing the ‘healer collapse’.
Choose wisely. How your frame your work is just the beginning! People pay a premium for professionalism.
If you’ve got the years of training and proven expertise that should be yielding greater success, let’s talk. I have space for one more client in my consulting practice. Is it yours?
