CranioSacral Therapists - 4 Steps to a Client-Rich Relationship

Do you ever feel stuck at the thought of marketing and filling your practice? Do you find yourself tied up in knots whenever you try to tell someone new what you do?

That's a symptom of TMI: sharing Too Much Information too early in the practitioner-prospect relationship.

Compared to most services, hands-on therapy is an intimate relationship. And like any relationship, this one requires you to nurture your potential client's trust before she'll lie down on your table.

Here are four important steps to creating the client-rich trust that fills your CranioSacral practice with ease.
Step 1: Flirting
Here you're catching your prospect's eye with passionate marketing messages that attract her attention and inspire her to select herself as a potential client of yours.
Marketing at this step includes compelling business cards, informative articles and speaking engagements, eye-catching flyers, small-space ads, and your CranioSacral Sound Bite. That's the 10-second story your share whenever someone asks, "What do you do?"
At this point, you shouldn't even try to get your potential client onto your table. You'll scare her off. It's just too soon. Instead, you simply want to invite her to the next step in your relationship...
Step 2: Courting

Now that you've caught your prospect's eye, deepen the intrigue by demonstrating how clearly you understand her healthcare needs and desires.

Offer her a well-written web page or website that instantly shows her "What's in it for me." When your prospect feels deeply understood by you, that's when she's willing to give you permission to stay in touch with her.
And staying in touch is the most powerful privilege you can gain in step 2. Once again, anything more is simply too much and too soon.
Step 3: Bonding

Bonding occurs when you court your potential client over time by sending her valuable information that demonstrates your compassion, wisdom, education and expertise.
As you treat her to regular gifts like health tips, hand-written cards and news she can use right away, she begins to see you as a compassionate, trusted partner in her well-being.

Then the moment she's struggling with the issues you help with, you're the first therapist she thinks of. And that's exactly who you want to be.
Step 4: Commitment
This is it. The moment your potential client calls for a brief telephone consult to make sure you're as compatible as she already thinks you are.
If you've done your job bonding with her over time, all she really wants at this point is to hear your voice, connect with your energy, and confirm her hunch that you're the right therapist for her.
All you need to do now is verify your rapport. How? By listening deeply. Reflecting back what you hear. Assuring her you understand. And joyfully offering her your support with a gentle hands-on session.
This leads directly to that beautiful moment when the prospect relationship ends ~ and the client relationship begins. Now you can give her the gift of your touch. She can thank you with the gift of a healthy fee for your services. And the opportunity to serve her even more.