If your practice is slow right now

I know the financial world- and the world world- is a bit of a mess right now. I’ve been talking with a lot of practitioners, and I myself have said, that it feels similar to the beginning of the pandemic. 

Like a big wave of lack-of-control over our ability to earn a living by seeing clients is hitting. 

Fortunately this time it’s not due to a public health crisis. 

Unfortunately, it’s at the whim of one nut who holds a lot of power. 

Which means that things feel precarious and unstable, and when things feel precarious and unstable, people usually hold onto their spending more tightly. 

Which can translate into our practices being slower right now. 

I am usually booked solid with a wait list for spots that open up. Starting in late February/early March my weeks were suddenly spotty- with sessions booked here and there. I’d say my calendar was at about half its norm. 

So what happened on my end? I got mad, I got scared, I got sad. Frustrated. Irritated. Tired. All the feels. 

Which I just pass along to say that even those of us who teach small business skills, and who have a long standing and very full practice, are not immune to the UGH of it all when client bookings start to feel more like a roller coaster descent. 

I’m also passing it along because my practice has recovered mightily, and that’s because I took my own advice. So here’s that advice! 

Start simple. This will always be my advice. 

Often, when we see a big giant dip in client bookings we start getting very scrappy and creative. Nothing wrong with that! BUT before you go applying for a PhD, or creating a new membership platform, or applying for a J-O-B (all things I considered when the despair hit me)- do the easy things. 

Reach for the low hanging fruit!

Here’s how: 

FIRST- reach out to all of your current and past clients. Send a group email that simply reminds them that you and your practice exist. You don’t have to play your tiny violin (I debated it)- you just have to be visible in their inbox with a very gentle nudge. 

Something like:

“Hi all, I hope you are enjoying our beautiful spring weather/I hope the change of season finds you all well… I’m writing to let you know that I currently have new availability on my calendar. If you wish to, you can schedule a session here [link to calendar/or simply reply to this email]. 

Because I have opened up more availability, I am also accepting new clients. If you know someone who might benefit from working with me, I’m always grateful for your referrals! 

Wishing you the best,

Simple to a silly degree, I know, but we often overlook this.  Or we complicate it, right? 

So I'm not saying that you have to start up a whole new email newsletter campaign, or to have a branded email newsletter with all kinds of dense, rich information in it that you're sending every week.

You don’t need to provide edutainment in your email- because you don’t want to bury the lead which is: “Book a session you guys!! And send your friends to me!!” 

Sometimes that does the trick. If so- easy peasy- yay!

If not, or if you are newer in your practice and don’t have many past clients to message, you’ll have to roll up your sleeves and do a little more fanning of the embers of your practice building endeavours. 

There aren’t really businesses that don’t require marketing. What I can say is that our types of businesses, solo private practices, require TONS less marketing than most. Because word of mouth referrals do, eventually snowball and keep us afloat pretty well. 

But word of mouth does not do this perfectly, or consistently, without some attention paid to making your practice more visible. 

Because we don’t have to do as much marketing as so many other kinds of businesses, and because we don’t care about marketing and just want to treat our clients (much like an artist just wants to make their art)- we often forget that we do, sometimes, have to put SOME effort into getting new clients in the door. 

How? 

By nurturing relationships! 

If social media has grown your practice- aka it reliably gets you new clients, I’m not talking about growing social media followers, likes or shares- then by all means go to your social channels and post away!

If it has not grown your practice in the past- ignore it completely. It’s not a you problem. You don’t need to post more or better- just bail on social completely and focus on your relationship building. 

Take colleagues you haven’t seen in a while out to lunch. Cheer them on when something good is happening for them. Offer colleagues who have referred to you in the past to come in for a free session (just ONCE). Pitch collaborations. 

Which brings me to the win-win-win strategy. I cover this in detail in the practice building course inside of HAPI, and the win-win-win does require some detail to fine tune it. 

But in short- what could you offer in a group format that relates to your 1:1 Sessions with clients? 

And where can you offer that where your right clients are already gathered? 

This is about borrowing somebody else’s clientele, and offering something of value to them- not about coming up with a workshop or retreat that you need to fill. 

Because then you are not only trying to fill your practice, but to fill a workshop or retreat- which doubles your work. We don’t want to double your work! 

What is the win-win-win?

Obviously, you win because you're getting in front of people who do not yet know that you and your work exist, and who would be a great fit as clients for you.

The people who attend win because you're not just talking at them, you are providing an experience of value. 

And then the person who is hosting you, the person who has your right clients already gathered in their space, they are benefiting because they're giving those people an extra bonus experience. As opposed to trying to charge them for an expensive workshop or something.

It’s more like a gift that they're giving by having you into their space to deliver something valuable. 

I sent a couple of emails like the one I quoted earlier and my practice is back to being full. I even had some clients who I haven’t seen in years telling me they were so glad I popped up in their inbox as a reminder to start seeing me again. 

And some of my clients sent their friends and family members my way- so I have a bunch of new people too. 

But if that hadn’t done the trick I know exactly what I would have done next- I would have gone back to my win-win-win teaching self-myofascial release and mobility classes at the local gyms and yoga studios that I have a relationship with. 

Because it filled my practice before. I love to do this group teaching, but stopped because I needed to focus on my busy practice, momming, and this other business here. 

But if I need clients- I’ll do what I gotta do to prioritize that in my schedule! 

So if your practice is slow ask yourself what my sister-in-law would always say to my son and my nephew when they would come into a room saying: “I can’t figure out the TV!” Or “I can’t find the fill in the blank”

She would ask, “What have you tried?”

If your practice is super slow- what have you tried? If something worked, rinse and repeat. If you haven’t tried anything- like I didn’t at first because I’ve been so spoiled by a full practice for so long- try the things I go over in the episode. 

Let me know how it goes!