How to get more clients as a Healthcare Professional in Private Practice

In my time as a therapist, the number one concern for new graduates entering the private practice realm is;

“I need to get clients”

“How do I get more clients”

“Why are some therapists busier than I am?”

In the private practice realm, having clients is literally at the heart of everything. Not just that it pays the bills, or that it justifies a reason for picking your profession, having clients to work with allows you to express your vision & passion on delivering healthcare.

Before we get into the study of how to get clients I’ve got some good news and bad news…

The good news is, I’ve spent plenty of time studying, experimenting and working on this topic. Dug through the hard trenches and waddled through the mud to get to this point. And I’m hoping to share it with you.

The bad news is, it not only takes time, commitment dedication. But the difference between a mediocre therapist and an awesome one is that you’re gonna have to do plenty of introspection and develop self awareness to be great.

When surveying clients, and asking them for what they are looking in a health professional they come up with the following answers.

What traits do clients look for in a Health Professional (Ranked)

• X Factor
• Empathy (Should be the focus of the Initial Consultation)
• Passion
• Clinical Knowledge

By X Factor. Clients are unable to find a suitable word to describe they just gravitate to a particular type of professional that paints the portrait of clinical excellence in their heart and mind.

We call the X Factor Clinical Excellence.

But what does Clinical Excellence really mean?

I know plenty of really smart brilliant qualified therapist who cannot for the love of god seem to build a sustainable “Private Practice”. I have seen many promising new grads who clearly have the knowledge and energy but still throw in the towel and quit after a year.

Here’s the truth. Clinical Excellence is not what most of us think about.

Clinical Excellence is NOT:

• PHDs
• Knowledge
• Evidence Based Practice
• A Spanking Clean Office
• State of the art equipment

As the saying goes, you can have money but you can’t buy class.

Having all of the above helps. But it’s not gonna buy you clinical excellence.

Clinical excellence is something intrinsically inherent in any great therapist, it is something that speaks for itself. It is something that automatically attracts clients.

When you see clinical excellence at work — you know it. You feel it. You are attracted to it. As a therapist you want to build on Clinical Excellence.

Let’s dig deeper. Having studied successful practitioners I have found that they have 4 unique traits that make up clinical excellence.

Clinical Excellence is these 4 traits:

• Clinical Philosophy
• Clinical Skills
• Clinical Communications
• Clinical Value Proposition

If you are strong in just one area — you can be a reasonably good practitioner.

If you are good in two you will have success.

Three you can be incredible.

If you are great at all 4 you are unstoppable.

Clinical Philosophy:

This is the hidden gem in our profession.

The downside of this is Many professionals and practices express great philosophy in their marketing (IMHO Marketing Gimmicks), they present it on their website, LinkedIn & social media profiles but never truly embody it. I call it superficial philosophy, anyone can read a self help book, memorize and regurgitate quotes.

Clinical Philosophy transcends the superficial, it is the source or the core of someone’s personal beliefs, values and internal moral compass. This is generally reflected in a professional’s personal reason why he/she/them picked their particular profession.

Clients innately sense this when they interact and get to know you as a person. And this can be a very powerful thing. I remember my first day in private practice, Dr Neil brought me into his office and said it doesn’t matter what you know, what you do and what people say. “Healing begins with intent”. It took me some time to figure it out and have now come to realize that a practitioner should first work on curating the right mindset/philosophy of helping & healing which is far more important than the latest techniques & tools.

Over the years I have seen this to be true, I have university friends who were never the top scorers, never the best communicators and business people. However they were truly kind and pure with their intentions — and have witnessed tremendous success in private practice solely because of their Philosophy.

TLDR is You can be the an average clinician, stutter with your speech, have an average looking clinic — but if you have a great philosophy it does make up for plenty of shortcomings.

I personally resonate with the Japanese Phrase “Ikigai” which is reason for being, and as best as I can try to remind myself about it daily.

Clinical Skills:

The next trait that great practitioners have is Clinical skills. These clinicians know what they are talking about, they have great awareness & medical knowledge and understand how to achieve results.

Because they have great skills they are always willing to take on challenges and challenging cases. Colleagues know this and tend to refer clients to them. Clients know this too and tend to prefer them when “shit gets bad”.

These are clinicians with great “technical skills” — clients feel it in their “touch”

They are research driven, evidence driven and clinically driven. People sense this because they always seem to know.

Clinical Communication:

There is a saying that communications shape beliefs… Beliefs organize behaviors… And behaviors create change.

Clinicians who have awesome clinical communications excel at telling the story. They are able to weave scientific facts, client symptoms and clinical experience into a compelling narrative that inspires clients to improve.

They can explain treatment plans, diagnosis, prognosis in a way that compels clients.

They win over clients within the first 5 minutes of meeting them.

Such is the power of great clinical communication.

If you believe that our job involves getting people to act and think differently 0 then the ability to speak into people and change their belief systems for the better is an invaluable skill to have.

Clinical Value Proposition:

This is the final trait of Clinical Excellence. And it is one that many practitioners fail to be great at.

There’s a reason that businesses that exist solely for the purpose of taking money out of people fail in the long run.

It is also a reason that many talented practitioners fail at maintaining a client base.

Private practice is really a Balance of maintaining a business Versus delivering a Service.

Therefore having a great value proposition that meets clients expectations, delivers on results and most of all is valuable in the eyes of a client is key. Clients have to see value in what we do and be willing to pay for services and clinical knowledge.

Practitioners that are great at this understand that their service, skills & knowledge come at a certain price. And they understand that they have to deliver on it to create value for their clientele.

These practitioners typically are great at managing treatment plans, marketing, attracting new referrals.

They usually have great client retention, and benefit from the lifetime value of client.

Above all they try their best to deliver value to the client at all times in whatever way possible.

Closing Notes:

The 4 Traits of clinical excellence are unique and distinct, I hope that you study them and notice that they complement on another.

They feed one another and conversely a weakness in any one trait will undermine your other traits.

Identifying your greatest strength can be a great source of leverage, however your greatness is limited by your weakest trait.

The 4 traits are like obedient dogs — they respond to training and discipline. They respond to nurturing and learning.

Action Items:

• Check Yourself against the 4 traits
• Identify your best and your worst traits
• Rank them from 1 to 4

Other things to ask yourself:

• When was the last time you attended a Technique Seminar?
• When was the last time you picked up a philosophy book?
• What are you filling your mind with daily? (Entertainment, Education, Hobbies, People Around You)

Building on the traits requires

• Experience -> There are some things that only come with time, painful experiences give the best lessons.
• Observation -> Learning from team members that are strong in particular traits.
• Academic Pursuit -> Being in a medical industry requires study, patience and the hustle culture of yearning for more knowledge.

Remember we are in the practice of helping people Predict, Change and Ensure their life outcomes. And in order to do that, we must first work on ourselves.

We want to have the opportunity to help reach more people and impact more lives. Therefore we have the responsibility to organize ourselves and turn inward and pursue Clinical Excellence.

Remember that clients are looking for a practitioner that can lead them, for someone that is proficient in the 4 traits of Clinical excellence. And that clinical excellence will make them feel like they are in the right place at the right time.

-Wayne