Part 4: A Different Marketing Method

I think that for most therapists looking to transition to coaching this could be the deal-breaker.

Offering phone consultations in addition to in-office consultations? Not a big leap. Writing a free report that summarize steps for a person to take, or explains something about thoughts and habits? It’s different from the formal language we had to use in grad school, but it doesn’t sound too difficult. Making a talk in front of a group? Some therapists do that on a small scale when they are building their practices, so it’s familiar if not comfortable. Learning to manage PayPal and keep track of business accounts? Hey, we got graduate degrees! It’s daunting but not impossible, especially with the help of a virtual assistant or bookkeeper or accountant.

But this marketing thing—that’s a whole ‘nother story. (For those of you not from Texas, “a whole ‘nother” is a regional variation on “another whole.”) Marketing is like this for therapists: we hate it. It’s “networking,” going to events and meeting people and hoping that magically turns into referrals. We want to find a couple of primary care physicians and a psychiatrist or two who will send their patients to us. And we set up relationships with therapists in related fields, so for example a play therapist will meet marriage therapists and work with the children of their adult clients.

The simplest “marketing” we do is to get on as many health care panels as possible. Most prospective clients want someone on their health care plan. They call the company and ask a stranger on the phone, who recommends a therapist on their panel based on location, often regardless of training or experience. So we sign up and wait for the phone calls.

Most therapists don’t do much with marketing after that. We write brochures the same way we write our curricula vitae. We list everything we’ve learned, everything we offer, and all our alphabet soup, like LPC, LMFT, LMSW-ACP, MS, MA, PhD, XYZ, and LMNOP. In fact, it’s hard to find a therapist who doesn’t “specialize” in most populations and all sorts of problems!

We write summaries for “Yellow Pages” styled web sites that list all our information, too, so no one can tell any differences between us. Few of us have our own websites, and those who do may only have a simple page or two that looks like a very bad brochure. (See SteveCoxsey.com as of this writing!)

Marketing for coaching services is completely different. It’s foreign to therapists because it’s like REAL MARKETING. You don’t get on a provider panel and wait for phone calls. You don’t meet a couple of physicians and expect them to send you clients. You have to go fishing. You cast your lure into a huge ocean of people and hope the ones who need your product or service notice. With experience and training, you learn how to target your casting and redesign your lure to interest the right fish.

Once they nibble, you have to start a process, often lengthy, of providing information about yourself and what you offer. It’s a monolog mostly, but it’s structured and paced to feel like a dialog to the fishies (prospects). You have to plan multiple steps, from the free tip sheet or report to the free newsletter to the stories of what you have done to help a specific person with a specific problem get clear and understandable results.

The prospects have to become comfortable with what you offer and see how it can address their needs. They have to start to trust you and overcome their initial skepticism and resistance. They have to see the real value in what you offer. This process can feel like insincere “sales” at first. It can feel like bragging. It can feel cheesy and awkward.

It can feel like promising outcomes or making exaggerated claims, which are forbidden by our ethical guidelines. The therapist making the transition to coaching has to find his or her voice to be able to explain, honestly and credibly and comfortably, what coaching is, how it works, and what it can and can’t do.

The best part of that process is the respect you build for your own skills, your unique talents, and your competence, not as a member of a professional group hiding behind their collective status, but as an individual who knows the power of your own ability.

May You Find Your Calling and the Courage to Follow It,

Steve Coxsey