For Therapists in Private Practice who Want to
Increase Their Referrals (as independent contractors)
As a therapist for over 35 years, I’ve struggled to keep a consistent flow of referrals and so I decided to do something quite different and realized I had to make a major financial investment to insure long term stability for my practice to prosper and it’s worked.
Over the past five years my site, YourMarriageCounselor.com. has attained a significant internet presence in New Jersey. It appears on the first page in several places on Google and other major search engines. To accomplish that I hired a specialist in Search Engine Placement, had an aggressive Ad Words campaign, regularly update my site and make use of YouTube, blogs, press releases, articles, and radio interviews. The result of these efforts generate about 4 – 7 inquiries a day providing me with on the average about 30 hours a week or more (five day week) of clients for my practice, and also supply the six therapists that work with me with referrals as well. The number of hours that a therapist gains from this internet effort can be as much as 5 hours a week, of course, depending upon retention.
Many therapists are not in a position to invest 1000’s of dollars a month, so the solution that I’ve come up with is to invite other therapist to grow along with me.
What therapists gain when they come aboard:
1. Each therapist has an exclusive area, around the area where their practice is located.
2. We launch a local internet campaign for a therapist which can include:
- listing them on my website (that can get over 300 hits per day) with both their biography and picture.
- posting their own articles to enhance their presence on the site, and/or post reviews from their clients.
- A 2 to 3 minute video that can also be connected to their biography. By the way, the reason a biography and picture are so important is that some of the referrals have gone directly to my site where therapists are listed and actually ask for a therapist that they connected their feelings to from their biography.
3. I or my Office Manager answers client’s phone calls ourselves or usually within an hour or two Monday – Friday.
4. We contact the therapist as quickly as possible so they can return the call to the perspective client .
5. On-going regular contact with former clients
6. Possible local marketing support. (Newspapers, Radio, & Cable T.V.)
7. At no charge to the associates, we will take credit card payments from your clients and I will put them through at my office. You will have an authorization consent form that is signed by your client each time before we run their credit or debit card. We will never run a card without the clients’ signature
8. I invite anyone who wishes to participate in additional services that I can provide (e.g. Anger Management, Intensive Jumpstart Sessions, and a new program, I am currently working on that will involve teaching couples negotiation skills).
9. To maintain a high quality of service. I offer free consultation about difficult cases.
Reimbursement for Therapists (independent contractors)
I hire folks as independent contractors at $50 below their customary fee, so if they bill $150 I pay them $100 per meeting and they bill $150.
How we provide a quality service with a strong business model
To provide a quality service, I answer all initial inquiries personally. Monday through Friday, I answer the phone myself, return calls within an hour or two, or have my Office Manager, Roberta, get back to them, if I am not available. This rapid response both recognizes the urgency of the call and helps assure that the client does not go elsewhere for the service, and most importantly, leaves them with a good impression that someone will be available to meet their needs once they become a client.
When I talk to the referral, I send them to a therapist most convenient to them. I also ask the prospective client to take a look at therapists’ biographies and pictures. I then call the therapist and let them know about a referral. I also provide a prospective client with a therapist’s telephone number and encourage them to call.
I recognized that unless you have a strong internet presence it is difficult to use just our talent and training and still be able to earn a consistently comfortable living.
I am looking for high quality therapists who feel comfortable and enjoy working with couples.
By working together we both can build our practices.
If you are interested, please give me a call at (732)246-8484 or email me at drmarty@comcast.net.
Thanks for taking the time to read this
I look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,
Marty
Marty Tashman, Ph.D. (Clinical/Organizational Psychology), M.S. (Counselor Education)
LMFT License #37F100094000 (Marriage and Family)
LCSW License #44SC00275900 (Clinical Social Worker)
