Any therapy practice – whether a veteran company or a start-up – knows that referrals are the true lifeline of the business. Referrals are often the best way to quickly fill a practice with clients.
However, the importance of getting new referrals doesn’t stop once the practice is full. Sometimes clients drop sessions for reasons that have nothing to do with the therapist or the quality of the sessions. No practice wants to find itself in a drought because several long-term clients no longer use their services.
Proactively getting referrals should always be happening, and it’s important to know how to continually get more referrals. Here are a few tips for increasing therapy client referrals for practices that are just starting up and those that have been in the business for years.
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1. Craft a Strong Unique Selling Position
The first step to getting more client referrals is to define the practice’s Unique Selling Position, or UPS. To do this, therapists need to determine what makes them and their practice stand out from the crowd. Starting by diving and asking questions, such as:
- Who is the ideal client for this practice?
- Why would a client choose this practice?
- How can this practice help the ideal client?
- What does this practice want to look like in 5 years?
- What makes this practice different from competitors?
- Who are the competitors?
A UPS helps therapists better understand their practice’s ideal client and how it can uniquely help that client. Once this has been defined, it will be easier to market services and get more referrals. Generally, a practice should revisit its UPS every 2 to 3 years and, if necessary, refine or update it to reflect where the business currently is.
Tip: What’s the first step of creating a UPS? Start with the ever-popular SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. A SWOT analysis encourages therapists to not only look at the threats and weaknesses of the practice but also the strengths and opportunities. This deep dive can help practitioners identify the positive aspects of the practice and consider how to better highlight these positives to clients and referral sources.
2. Build a Referral Network
Having people in the community that will refer clients to the practice is key. Referral sources can include medical doctors, religious leaders, other therapists, and even friends and family. Investing some time and effort to make those personal contacts can help boost a practice and quickly fill slots.
Therapists should leverage their current network and constantly be on the lookout for new relationships that could be beneficial.
- Medical Professionals: Clients who receive referrals from their doctor are far more likely to follow through with setting up an appointment. Being connected to a group of local doctors or nurses is a great way to keep a nice trickle of referrals. Some ideas to connect with medical professionals are attending healthcare industry conferences or joining a local meetup group. Posting flyers at local clinics or hospitals is also an effective way to passively reach a large group of people.
- Patients: People trust recommendations from friends and family over other forms of advertising. Therapists can use this to their advantage by encouraging existing patients to refer them to friends and family members. Asking clients to leave reviews for the practice online is another useful tactic that naturally brings in more leads.
- Other Mental Health Professionals: Talking to and meeting with other mental health professionals is a great way to unlock a new potential referral source. Some therapists receive requests from clients they cannot or choose not to take on for various reasons, such as the client does not fit into their specialty. These mental health professionals will refer the client to other therapists whose practices are better suited to help.
Tip: Be sure to define the type of client that should be referred to the practice. This clarity of who the ideal client is and how the practice can help them can allow you to zero in on who the best referral source for the practice is. The UPS form above can help define who the practice’s ideal client is.
3. Make it Easy, and Worthwhile, for Sources to Make Referrals
Being clear about how to refer clients to the practice is the surest way to increase the number of referrals.
- Provide Language: Give referral sources an idea of how they can refer clients. An example would be: “When you run across people who might be good clients for me, tell them I specialize in helping adolescents suffering from depression and anxiety.”
- Create Share-Worthy Content: It’s often easier for referral sources to share useful content than to make a sales pitch. So having a website or social media presence that contains share-worthy content can help referral sources get the word out in ways they are more comfortable with.
- Reward Clients: Since many referrals come from existing clients, it’s a good idea to think about how to reward clients who make a referral. Rewards could be anything from gift cards to free eBooks to discounts on future sessions. Therapists should also send thank you notes to clients who made a referral to acknowledge their efforts.
Tip: Having a professional, modern website with optimal Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is another referral source. Being at the top of a search for therapists in the area will give the practice greater visibility and more referrals.
4. Find a Niche
Building a practice around a specific niche is a great way to garner more referrals. Clients do not randomly decide to go to therapy. They seek out mental health services because they are dealing with something specific in their life – relationship problems, anxiety or depression, or struggles with addiction, for example. If a practice focuses on a particular issue, it’s easier to ask for and receive referrals from existing clients or other therapists.
Tip: Clients are more likely to go to a therapist who specializes in their specific needs, but insurance is an important factor for them as well. Many insurance companies market their preferred providers by listing them in a directory, so an insurer can be a steady source of referrals for a practice.
5. Join an Online Network
Therapy-specific directories are one of the easiest ways to get referrals. There are both local and national directories that therapists can utilize. Some are free, while others require a membership fee. But by simply being listed in these directories, prospective clients will be introduced to the practice, and therapists can easily identify the right patients who their practice can help and express their availability for taking on new clients.
The return on investment for joining a directory is often worth any membership fee. If a paid directory brings in one or two new clients, the practice can expect to see their money back plus a profit.
Tip: Had a bad experience with directories in the past? Ravel Mental Health is a directory and booking system that can help you narrow down your efforts to your ideal client and streamline the onboarding process.
Getting more referrals is about clearly defining who the practice can help, making the practice easy to find, and communicating clearly with potential referral sources. It is also about making the practice stand out to potential clients.
It’s also important for practices to have diverse referral sources. No one referral source can maintain a practice forever. So having relationships with multiple sources is essential for longevity in business.
Make it Easy for Clients to Find You
Once a referral has been made, the client still has to decide to book a session. Ravel Mental Health makes it easy for clients to find a therapist and book sessions. Most people would rather go online and choose the exact date and time of their appointment instead of sitting on the phone. People are busy, and the faster they can get something done, the happier they’ll be.
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