Written by: Ameeta Gangaram, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In the dynamic world of healthcare, allied health professionals play a pivotal role in promoting well-being. However, running a private practice is complex and many struggle to establish a sustainable marketing strategy that attracts and retains clients. The ‘Client Attraction Framework’, a practical and comprehensive roadmap, empowers allied health professionals to navigate the marketing landscape effectively. This four-part series delves into the framework's essential steps, guiding practitioners towards achieving sustainable growth and unlocking the full potential of their healthcare practices.
This article covers step one: ‘Define’. The image labelled: ‘Client Attraction Framework’ depicts the framework covered through a 4-part series.
Step 1: Define
Often, allied health professionals start their private practice, believing all they need are their qualifications to attract clients. However, the reality is quite different, as business longevity begins with a strong foundation you can rely on throughout the fluctuations of owning a clinical practice.
The first step for any business is to define these four key elements:
Business values
Vision
Mission
Ideal client
Define your business values
Business values are the guiding principles that help you make decisions, set goals, and build a culture that resonates with your team and clients. When defining your business values, start by reflecting on yours. Dr John DeMartini describes the significance of understanding your values as “your unique hierarchy of values are the cornerstone of your perceptions, decisions, and actions, and they ultimately define your identity and your destiny”.
Therefore, take time to analyse your business values. Next, include your employees. Because a cohesive team shares common values.
Before finalising your business values, remember to assess your competition.
Business values generally fit into these three categories:
Principles
Beliefs
Standards of Behaviour
Now utilise your research and finalise the business values to guide your clinic.
Define your vision
Defining your vision follows naturally from your business values.
The purpose of a business vision statement is to define what the business does and why it is important. Think of your business and why you decided to open it. Hold onto that reason when times are tough, or you lack motivation. Your vision can inspire and create a sense of optimism about the business for the future.
Consider the following when creating your business vision statement:
The business why—what is the purpose of the business? Why is the business important? Who thinks the business is important?
The business what—what products or services does the business provide? What do you want the business to achieve? What do you want the business to look like in the future?
Here are three examples of vision statements to inspire you to create one for your allied health practice:
LinkedIn: Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.
Mayo Clinic: To provide an unparalleled experience as the most trusted partner for health care.
Reckitt Benckiser: To protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world.
Define your mission statement
Mission statements for health professionals state why the business exists and what it does. Mission statements tend to be more changeable and reflect shorter-term goals for the clinic. Within your clinic, your mission statement can give you and your team a clear sense of direction. The key is to keep it simple. Remember to ask your employees for their opinions. This mission statement helps create a strong brand that adapts as the business evolves. Use these eight clarifying questions as you develop your mission statement:
What are you passionate about? What are the things that you are most excited about and want to make a difference in?
Who are your clients? Who are you trying to serve and what do they need?
What value do you provide? How do you make your client's lives better?
What are your unique strengths? What do you do better than your competitors in the health industry?
What are your goals? What do you want to achieve in the short term and long term?
What are your values? What principles guide your business?
How do you want to be known? What kind of reputation do you want to have?
What impact do you want to have? What difference do you want to make in the world?
Define your ideal client
You now understand the importance of defining your business values, vision, and mission. The fourth element in the defining step of the ‘Client Attraction Framework’ is defining your target audience.
Allied health professionals often think that they want to help everyone. However, without defining your target audience, you can struggle to attract and maintain clients. The simple reason is that your message will not resonate. When you speak to everyone you speak to no one. Having a target audience does not mean you turn clients away. You can still work with a range of clients and health issues. Defining your audience allows you to become known for an area of focus. Plus, it reduces the risk of burnout. In episode 26 of the Simple Marketing Solutions podcast, I spoke about how to identify your niche. Listen to it and episode 34 for a deeper analysis of this topic. However, here are the three essential elements to defining your target audience:
Conduct market research
Identify their needs.
Clarify your unique selling point.
Conducting market research is an area most allied health professionals avoid because they assume they already know their clients. Yet, this has proven incorrect every time a practitioner asks their target audience questions regarding their needs, wants, current problems and outcomes they are looking to achieve. Do not base your business success on assumptions. Arm yourself with knowledge and make informed decisions to achieve sustainable growth.
It is in their language, tone of voice, key phrases, and nuances where the gold lies. Your role as the health professional is to take this research to create a message that resonates and converts. If you’re looking for the exact questions to use when conducting your market research, download the guide: "7 Questions to Clarify Who You Want to Work With" here.
Once you have clarified who your target audience is and what they are looking for, you can move on to crafting your unique value proposition (UVP). Your UVP defines how you are different to your competitors. Use it to communicate the benefits of your products and services. Plus, how they are better suited to the needs of your audience.
Here is an example: if you are selling apples, a UVP might be "Our apples are sweeter and crispier than any other apple in the market" or "Our apples are organically grown and pesticide-free".
It is the reason why someone should choose your business over all the others.
As you have embarked on the defining step of the ‘Client Attraction Framework’, you have laid a solid foundation for your marketing strategy by establishing your business values, vision, mission, and ideal client. With this clarity, you are now equipped to delve into the next crucial step: ‘Assess’. In this upcoming step, we’ll guide you through a comprehensive evaluation of your competitive landscape, emphasising your unique point of difference and aligning your goals with your marketing efforts. Stay tuned for the next installment of this series, where we’ll equip you with the tools and insights to elevate your allied health practice to new heights of success.
Are you looking for one-on-one support to develop a marketing strategy that helps you grow your private practice? Book a free strategy call here.
Ameeta Gangaram, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ameeta Gangaram is known as the Chaos Whisperer. As a digital marketing consultant and coach, she helps health professionals and coaches who feel overwhelmed with everything digital to bring clarity and order to their business to achieve sustainable growth. She does this through private coaching, her online group coaching program called “She Succeeds”, done-for-you marketing services including marketing strategy, web design, email marketing.
