“If you are blaming the recession for a lack of clients, you are putting your attention in the wrong place. The reason you don’t have enough clients is nothing to do with the recession. It’s to do with your ignorance”

Peter Delves Gives Tips On How To Overcome This Major Barrier...

About Peter

Peter Delves has been a licensed trainer for the AMT since 1999 and has been running a successful therapy practice since 1990. On 5th February 2010 Peter will be providing a one-day workshop on “Getting Clients to Come to You”. Full details are on his website at www.delves.co.uk

.
Overcoming ignorance to build a successful practice

The ignorance we are talking about is of marketing. Ignorance comes for the verb to ignore; so let’s look at what you could be ignoring.

1.Yes the recession is a reality… but the problem is that you may have ignored responding to it effectively. Perhaps you have been trying to do ‘more of the same’ when circumstances dictate a different approach.

2.You may have got away ignoring your own marketing skills in the past. But not now. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The pressure could now be on.

3.You may even have ignored the fact that marketing skills are as essential to your practice as any other skill, if not more.

4.You may have ignored the fact that you dislike marketing and therefore have done nothing to change your feelings about it. Can you continue to do this?

There are plenty of potential clients willing to pay for the services that you offer. The problem is that they are ignorant. This is what they may be ignorant about:

1.That their problem can be helped at all. “I’ve just got to learn to live with it”. “This is normal given the circumstances”.

2.That you exist to help them. In other words, you are not reaching the people that matter.

3.That you can help them with their problem. Such potential clients may be looking for help but the way you present yourself is not convincing enough and leaves too many barriers still in place.

Typical People Barriers:

• People are sceptical - Offer a believable message

• People are procrastinators - Give them a reason to respond straight away

• People are lazy - Make it easy to reply

• People worry about making the wrong decision - Use case histories to offer reassurance

• People avoid risk - Give them a guarantee

• People say “I can’t read all this” - Give them all they need to make a decision and not a word more

Are you able to look at all of the above and be confident that you have addressed all the barriers?

If you want more depth to your marketing skills, then I hope to see you on my next one-day workshop in Warwickshire UK on “Getting Clients to Come to You”. Details at www.delves.co.uk