How to Improve Client Engagement and Convert New Clients

The honeymoon phase of beginning a private practice is always exciting, but nothing will take the wind out of your sails faster than seeing prospective clients not returning for a second session. This is a challenging problem to face and doesn’t have a simple solution. However, you’ll be relieved to hear that this problem isn’t unique to you. In fact, some of the largest businesses in the world struggle to maintain client engagement, and employ thousands of professionals to manage it. Rather than starting from scratch, here are some pointers on how to structure early interactions with prospective clients to maximize retention and accelerate the growth of your practice. Client Orientation The first session is an important benchmark to establish rapport and start building trust. The purpose isn’t to start diving into providing a diagnosis, but to figure out what you and your client are going to focus on tackling together. Setting expectations before getting started is extremely valuable, so here are some recommendations on what to communicate. Acknowledge that the first session can feel uncomfortable and that it is perfectly normal. Speaking to a stranger about your personal life isn’t easy, and explain that you are going to help alleviate these feelings of discomfort. Tell them about how they can ask to slow things down or ask for help when discussing during the time you spend together. Explain the plan for your first session, and what will happen in the next session if they decide to continue. Beyond the specific points mentioned above, make it clear that the purpose of this conversation is to build a relationship and get to know each other. Depending on the client your might feel the need to provide further context around how the rest of the conversation might look, in which case, the following points might be useful to add. I’m going to be asking some questions to learn more about you Do not be afraid to ask questions of your own if you have them I’m going to share my thoughts and observations as they become relevant I’m going to share an outline of how I think we could proceed towards the end I’m going to ask for your feedback on our conversation. Please feel free to let me know if you agree with what has been said, disagree, or would like to add further context Diagnostic Evaluations As the conversation progresses, do your best to identify the core clinical concerns. Having an understanding of the issues and the symptoms that were present along with their associated severity will help you build a plan to move forward with. Ask about the main concern that led them to seek professional help Do your best to normalize and validate their concerns Ask clarifying questions to gain a full understanding of the issues From here, it can be helpful to get some context on previous experiences with therapy, and understand what was helpful and detrimental to their experience from their perspective, so you can learn how they might respond to therapy with you. Make sure to ask if there are any major clinical concerns. This is also a good time to apply a diagnostic questionnaire or measurement tool to strengthen your evaluation and establish a baseline. Before concluding your conversations in session, remember to thank the client. Provide feedback and an initial direction for your diagnosis. This is something that does not need to be rushed, but your client will appreciate seeing that their time is being used to progress your evaluation and generate a treatment plan. Once your client understands where your professional inclinations are leading, empathize with them, leverage their own language to demonstrate your understanding while validating their core concerns, let them know that you understand why they sought help, and reassure them that you’ll do your best to support them. Share Your Plan In order to progress the relationship, it’s important to let them know how you plan to help them. The plan doesn’t need to be set in stone, but it’s important for a placeholder timeline to be available so your client can get an idea of what the treatment plan looks like, and how much time is going to be spent getting to the destination. Here are some pointers to keep in mind. Make sure to use “we” when discussing the treatment plan. This is a team effort. Share an honest timeframe. It is fine for this to be presented as an estimate. Incorporate what you believe was helpful about the session. Demonstrate your understanding of their issues, and avoid using jargon. Conclude the Session & Follow-up Most questions the client has will have been answered at this point, but do be sure to explicitly ask if they have any further questions. Be as transparent as possible about what your relationship will look like moving forward, and give them an option to book the next appointment if they would like. If they need more time to think about moving forward, let them know that is completely fine. Remember that you are not the perfect therapist for everyone, and some people need time to make that decision for themselves. Regardless of how the session ends, make sure to send a follow-up email within 24 hours (if possible). They will appreciate the reach out, and it will give you an opportunity to offer some value. Let them know how much you appreciated meeting them, and that you look forward to continuing to build your relationship if they decide to continue working with you. If you have any resources that can help them with the issues that were discussed (such as a podcast, article, etc), feel free to share a link with them. Experimentation is the KEY to client engagement Once all is said and done, you are the biggest advocate for your personal brand and business. If there are different strategies you want to try to maximize engagement with newer clients, don’t be afraid to experiment and see what kind of results you can achieve. If you have thoughts on ideas you’d like to share with the mental health community on how to improve client engagement, or want to provide feedback on this article, please feel free to reach out to content@speakbox.ca.

How to Improve Client Engagement and Convert New Clients

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