How to Get More Private Practice Clients Through Referral Marketing
Interested in referral marketing, but don’t know where to start? You’re in luck! You can consider this blog post your crash course on the topic.
Not too long ago, I had a great conversation about referral marketing with the amazing marketing and business coach, Kat Love. She explained how to start the process if you’ve never done it before, what an effective follow up looks like, and how long it takes to see results. Let’s dive into the key points from that podcast (Episode 85, if you want to listen) so you can start referral marketing ASAP to get more clients and grow your practice.
First things first, I’ll start with the basics:
What Is Referral Marketing?
As Kat put it in our conversation, referral marketing is fostering a network of meaningful, authentic relationships with individuals who can refer your practice. These referrals may come from your acquaintances, current clients, other therapists–and more. For successful private practices that last long term, building up a strong referral network where they are sent clients on a regular basis is a must-have.
Side bar: I totally get it if referral networking sounds daunting and strange. After all, you’re a therapist, and many of us don’t want things to be all about us! It can be especially daunting if you are running a newer private practice and aren’t well-known in your community yet. I’m here to tell you it is totally possible, less scary than you think–and can even be a fun and meaningful process.
Referral Marketing: The Process
Step 1: Start With Who You Know
When I asked her the best way to begin the process, Kat’s first piece of advice was to start with who you know. Think about your closest circle who lives nearby, which will probably be your family and friends. They are all excellent resources for you, because they all have their own individual network of people they know and can refer to you.
From there, think about the next level of people you know, which could include acquaintances or professional relationships–maybe someone you went to school with or even another mom you love talking to at your kids’ soccer games. Be creative! There’s no “wrong answer” for who to connect with, so long as you enjoy talking to them.
Step 2: Have Some Conversations
Once you’ve identified some people to connect with within these two circles (maybe list them out to stay organized), have some conversations. You don’t have to go in and give an elevator pitch for your practice; in fact, I would advise against that! Instead, keep things natural and authentic. The main goal of these initial conversations is just to build rapport and let them know you’re accepting clients at your private practice.
As Kat shared, one of the best ways to bring up your practice is simply by asking the other person good questions. By showing genuine interest in their lives, asking about their current job or family or passions, they will most likely reciprocate by asking you the same kinds of questions. This will allow you to bring up your practice naturally. Again, you don’t have to perform in some way when you’re talking about your private practice; instead, tell the other person what you enjoy about it or why you’re passionate and express excitement about helping your clients.
Once you’ve gotten comfortable talking to these people in your closer circles about your practice, consider reaching out to other therapists or going to a networking event in the same or related field where you can gain some professional contacts. This is the part of referral marketing that may seem more intimidating, but by building up that conversational muscle with people you already know beforehand, you’ll be all the more prepared and confident.
Step 3: Follow Up
Once you’ve made some initial connections, your next step is going to be following up. Kat advises being picky with who you spend your time and energy focusing on during this stage of the process. Not everyone you had a conversation with will strike you as a good fit, so if there is someone you’re unsure about, consider focusing on other individuals you had the most meaningful connections with instead. And of course, if you don’t think the person will refer you, a follow up is probably not worth your while.
When it comes to the actual follow up, this can manifest in many different ways. It could be a simple text you send a friend that says you enjoyed your coffee together: “It was great to catch up! Best of luck with XYZ (mention an upcoming thing in their life).” Or, it could look like a forwarded article on a shared interest you discussed with someone you met at an event: “I thought of you when I saw this.” The key is, again, to be genuine and focus on your points of connection, as established from your first meeting or conversation.
Step 4: Stay Patient!
It’s easy to get discouraged when you aren’t seeing results from your hard work. But Kat and I both agreed that it might take three to six months to see the fruits of your labor! The good news is that once you establish a solid network of genuine connections with other community members and therapists, you will pretty much be set. You can still do some maintenance of your network, and bring in a few more people as time goes on, but the majority of this work is on the front end.
Step 5: Show Your Appreciation
This is very important! Once you have built your referral network and are regularly receiving referrals from people, make sure you show them you’re grateful (and haven’t forgotten about them!). This can look like an end of year follow up with a gift card, thoughtful note, or even a phone call. Do whatever feels authentic to you to honor and thank the other person.
If you’re ready to set your private practice up for success, don’t sleep on referral marketing! This is a fantastic way to meet other community members and people in your field who can have a huge impact on your business by recommending you. And like I mentioned before, it can be a highly enjoyable experience–after all, you’re getting to form meaningful connections with interesting people who also care about mental health and helping people. Rather than thinking about it as a chore, think about it as a privilege. From there, stay patient, stay persistent, and I promise good things will follow!
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Want to hear my conversation about referral marketing with Kat Love? Check out Episode 85 of my podcast The Entrepreneurial Therapist. (And, for more information about her, I encourage you to visit her site!)
The Entrepreneurial Therapist is the #1 podcast for ambitious female therapists and can be found on all the main streaming platforms.
Hi- I’m Danielle Swimm,
a Business Coach for Therapists
I’ve helped hundreds of ambitious therapists like yourself start, grow and scale their private practice. I love being a therapist, but hate the rhetoric that you need to sacrifice your energy and income to help your community. Let’s build your dream practice that allows you to make six figures and live the life you’ve always dreamed of.
