Private Practice Success Newsletter
June 2009, by Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC (Master Certified Coach)
www.privatepracticesuccess.com
It's tough out there! Therapists, coaches, healers, and consultants report that their businesses are in a downturn. Psychology Today reports that 55% of therapists surveyed say that their practices have been negatively affected by the recession. But you can stay profitable and viable, even during this difficult economy. During the past year, I have been helping professionals maintain and often increase their income and client count. How do I do this? I help my clients rethink their practices. Here's how I start.
Rethinking Your Practice
First, I have a plan that helps me to focus. The plan is now the basis of my new book, Crisis-Proof Your Practice: How to Survive and Thrive in an Uncertain Economy to be published this summer. You see plan spelled out within the contents of the book online and hear me reading from the book at my website homepage: www.privatepracticesuccess.com With the plan in mind, the strategy I use next is one that ALL service professionals know and use. I listen. I hear what a client reports about a specific problem and then with questions and suggestions, I begin to clarify and challenge his or her view of reality, to see if there is a way to rethink the practice and motivate the practice owner. By rethinking with a client, change happens, even during a single coaching session.
"An amazing thing, the human brain. Capable of understanding incredibly complex and intricate concepts. Yet at times unable to recognize the obvious and simple." (Jay Abraham)
Rethinking your practice doesn’t require a reinvention of your practice -- sometimes the most powerful and financially effective change is a small tinkering with an established way of doing business. Identifying and then implementing small, doable steps can help a practice stay viable and grow. These small steps can keep you, the business owner, hopeful and in motion. In today’s business climate, moving forward in small steps is the best path to real success. As a change-agent, you know how to rethink situations with your clients. With the perspective of being one-step removed, you see what might be possible. But when it comes to rethinking your own practice you may need help. It's hard to be in 2 places at once, both inside and outside your practice. If so, can you give yourself some help for the sake of your practice's well-being?
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Rethinking your practice is hard to do alone. To get some help with this you can hire a coach or you can also ask a peer (or several peers) to help you think through your challenges. I know that asking for help is not always easy, because we feel vulnerable. It means admitting that we need support, that our practice needs another perspective to get back on track. But once we ask for and get help with our practices, shifts happen. Here is an example of rethinking a common challenge:
"There's no good idea that can't be improved on." (Michael Eisner)
Do you wonder about the usefulness of attending business meetings, such as the Chamber of Commerce or other established meetings, for networking and marketing purposes? Does going to meetings ever result in getting new clients or referrals? Prior to talking with therapist Pam Morgan, LCSW, I had not heard many success stories from therapists in terms of getting referrals from business groups such as Business Networking International (BNI.) But Pam and her colleague, Judy Heidrich, LMHC have a strategy that works very well for them and they wanted to share it. Judy tracks her referrals and she gets 63% of new clients from her participation in BNI. How does she do this? Here are some tips. (Please note that I have adapted and edited Pam and Judy's long list of suggestions for the purposes of this brief newsletter.) Pam and Judy's Marketing Tips for BNI
1. Understand the nature of group dynamics so that you can integrate easily into the group. (Google "Yalom" or "Tuckman" for info on group dynamics.)
2. Remember that business people and licensed professionals are at an equal level.
3. Set good boundaries for confidentiality issues and dual relationships, as group members may become clients.
4. For the purposes of the meetings, see yourself as a business person first, therapist second.
5. Niche yourself with a specialty area and/or position your expertise.
6. Get involved in the chapter group as soon as possible. Participate and be active. Connect to the group and offer service.
7. Do whatever it takes to be a good fit in the group: Make a commitment, follow through.
8. Find a chapter you like.
9. Have a presentable and professional office and good self presentation. Appearance counts!
10. If encounter another therapist in the group, make sure you speak to that person and introduce yourself. Don’t worry about competition. Network with other professionals!Nice rethinking of a challenging situation, ladies!
Individual Coaching with Lynn
Individual business coaching can help you define, set, and achieve whatever goals you have for yourself and your business. Become a better businessperson, take action more consistently, and have someone to be accountable to. A few sessions can make a significant difference. Take the first step by answering these questions: Are You Ready for Coaching? Some people say that just answering these questions helps them to rethink. Need more help? See the logistics and policies about coaching at the website for more information.
LYNN'S ebook is only $19.95! Order at the website or click on the book:
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Private Practice SOS: Solutions and Strategies for an Up and Down Market.
An eBook By Lynn Grodzki
It's a tough market out there! You don't need to face the future of private practice alone. Here is a lifeline -- my solutions to the difficult economic challenges we all must respond to today. This eBook is my newest thinking and offers you specific tips and ideas to help you create demand for your services while you minimize your costs. Learn the strategies to higher profits in today's recessionary market. Click on the eBook, order it, and get an immediate download to read on your computer or print out.
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Books by Lynn Grodzki, published by WW Norton. To order, click on each book.
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The Business and Practice of Coaching
By Lynn Grodzki and Wendy Allen (2005)
Reviewed by author Richard Leider as "Nothing less than a radical rethinking of the essentials of building a coaching practice. A must read for all coaches, master and novice alike."
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Building Your Ideal Private Practice
By Lynn Grodzki (2000)
The best-selling guide to what you need to do and who you need to be in order to have a highly profitable, personally satisfying private practice. Often called the "private practice bible" this book has become a resource for tens of thousands of your colleagues.
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The New Private Practice:Therapist-Coaches Share Stories, Strategies and Advice
Edited by Lynn Grodzki (2002)
A groundbreaking look at the profession of coaching through the eyes of 16 successful therapist-coaches who tell you how to become a coach, what to charge, and show you how they coach their clients.
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12 Months to Your Ideal Private Practice: A Workbook
By Lynn Grodzki (2003)
This planned, motivational workbook will help you build the practice you desire. The workbook incorporates fresh ideas, new exercises, further skill sets and much more to give you a direct experience of being carefully coached by Lynn, month-by-month, for a full year.
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More next time,
lynn@privatepracticesuccess.com
See the website for additional articles, information about individual coaching, and upcoming classes.
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