Collaboration Marketing for Private Practice
From the time we are born, we have an innate desire to connect with others.
We human beings are hardwired to be social.
We all have our different personality types. Some of us are wired more as introverts and prefer to connect with people more one on one. While others of us are wired more as extroverts and are energized by being with lots of people and interaction. And regardless of those differences, we all still need to connect.
Our lives as human beings absolutely depends on connecting with others.
We are very interdependent as a species.
When it comes to succeeding in life or in business, we all need others to help us become successful. If you think about it, we have all had someone along the way to help us in our successes no matter how big or small. We have all had parents, teachers and other mentors in our lives that have shown us how to accomplish things or give us a boost.
When it comes to being private practice as a counselor, the people that are most successful have an uncanny ability to connect with others. After all, the most important clinical skill for any practitioner is an ability to develop a relationship with a client. They also know how to connect on the business side of things and develop professional relationships to draw on for support and knowledge.
In the business of being a private practice counselor, or any business for that matter, you absolutely need to be able to connect and collaborate with others.
I would say it is impossible to succeed in private practice without collaborating or connecting with others.
Early in my journey into private practice, some the best conversations I had were to talk with other counselors who had successful private practices.. I learned so much from those relationships and connections.
If you think about it, marketing is really simply developing a relationship with someone. And as we all know, the best relationships are the ones in which we feel valued and needed by others. When we get into relationships in which there is competition there seems to be sense of emotional distance. Those competitive relationships somehow feel like there can be only one winner. Collaborative relationships have a much different feel. Everybody wins and no one is left out.
Collaboration also builds trust.
When we collaborate with others we get to know them on a deeper level. If you think about it, would you ever recommend something to someone without knowing anything about it? Probably not.
So my challenge to you, is learn the art of collaboration in your private practice. Spend time getting to know other therapists and people that you can recommend. They in turn will want to recommend you.
And that is the very best form of marketing!
By L. Gordon Brewer, Jr., MEd. LMFT – Gordon is the President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is also a consultant and business mentor at The Practice of Therapy.
