Discover how to get other people to fast track YOUR business!
publication date: Sep 14, 2007
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author/source: Olivia Stefanino
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You know how everyone tells you that the very best way to build a business is by word of mouth – and yet in reality things just aren’t happening as fast as you thought they would? Discover how you can get other people to fast track your business…
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Irrespective of what therapies you’ve trained in, you’re essentially running a people-based business. Your clients are people (unless of course you work with animals, and even then, it’s their owners who will be booking the session with you), and they need to connect with you.
If you’re like most therapists, you’ll have fallen into the trap of thinking that your potential clients want to know what you do. They don’t. They want to know what you can do to help them with their problems.
One of the biggest traps when setting up in practice is failing to identify which group of people you can help the most. When you’re serving a niche, you’re immediately setting yourself apart from the rest of the crowd by specialising.
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When you specialise, you automatically – in the eyes of your potential clientele – become a specialist! Not only does this increase your value in the eyes of the beholder, but it also gives people something useful to talk about with their family, friends and colleagues.
The next most important thing is to create a “message” that people can tell each other about you. While someone saying, “Betty is a great aromatherapist” is better than nothing, it’s far more powerful if they can really hook into the benefits you provide – for example: “Betty specialises in helping young mothers with migraines. Her aromatherapy sessions help clients to relax, which means that because they can sleep better at night, they get more pleasure out of spending time with their children.”
One of the easiest mistakes to fall into – and I’ve seen it more times than I care to mention - is to make it hard for people to find you! Ensure that your contact details appear on every single piece of promotional literature – from your business cards and website if you have one, through to your appointment cards and gift vouchers.
Of course, it goes without saying that your greatest advocates will be the people who’ve been delighted by your service! Ask them to help you – whether it’s by giving you a first class testimonial (which includes describing their problem, how you helped them, the primary gain from your solution and their full name, job title and address) and some referrals. Do you know why most therapists don’t get testimonials and referrals? It’s because their afraid to actually ask for them!
Finally, other businesses which are not in competition with you but who are targeting the same audience can help you build your practice far faster than you could do it on your own.
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Let’s use Betty as an example again. As an aromatherapist helping young mothers, she could create a strategic alliance with a local crèche for toddlers. Betty could offer a special rate for her aromatherapy services to mothers who use the crèche for their children – which means that the crèche will benefit by being seen to add value to their clients. Betty will benefit by gaining more clients, which she hasn’t had to look for herself.
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In return, Betty could give discount vouchers for the crèche to herclients – which again ensures that Betty is seen to be adding value to her clients and in turn helps the crèche to win new business. It’s a win:win system that’s one of the most cost effective ways of building businesses quickly.