Attention All Therapists!

What is going to make you stand out from the crowd this year?

How are you going to entice customers to visit YOU as opposed to your competitor down the road?

If you're a Physiotherapist, Osteopath, Holistic therapist, Chiropractor or Psychologist, the services you offer are going to be much the same as your competitors so you need to think of a way to retain your current clients and entice new clients to visit your practice.

The key to success is very simple ...  GREAT CUSTOMER CARE.

• Be friendly: this is the most obvious point and goes without saying.  

• Offer a personalised service: get to know your clients by sending out a questionnaire for them to fill out before their first appointment.  51% of customers say that companies are generally impersonal and don't even get their names right, which gives the impression that they're unimportant.

• Reward schemes: try and incentivise your customers to re-visit you by offering rewards of some description.  

• Website & social media: 66% of new customers are influenced by a professional looking website and positive social media.  This point can't be stressed enough going forward, particularly with social media - you need to be interacting with your clients across various different platforms.   

• Personal recommendations: 82% of people will do business with a company that has been recommended to them by a friend.  They will even pay more for a better customer experience than go to a cheaper competitor who leaves them feeling undervalued.

• Complaints: if an error is made (and we all make errors) put it right straight away and turn it to your advantage by offering a gift or free treatment.  

• Be available: one thing that annoys most people is the inability to speak to somebody in person when making enquiries of a company or service.  Your customers will always appreciate speaking to real people on the phone.  An example of what not to do is illustrated on the right!

You Don't Have Time?

Most therapists I've spoken to have said they don't have time to address some of the issues above. 

So here are a few solutions: 

There are various apps available today which could assist you in streamlining your business and organising client appointments.  Some of these have payment options included so clients can book and pay for an appointment at the same time - no more chasing up unpaid invoices.

Out of all of these apps I would recommend having a look at:-

• "Booking Bug" 
• "Book it Live"
• "Cliniko"

If you want to solve the difficulty of missing phone calls whilst you're busy, there are many telephone answering services available today.

I believe Moneypenny and their sister company Penelope are the most reliable and professional.  They're not cheap, however, so make sure you shop around first to find a company that suits your budget.

Alternatively, you could consider hiring a Virtual Assistant.

Expensive you might think?

No.

If you have a budget to stick to you can decide with your Virtual Assistant how many hours a week you'd like her to work for you.  You might only need her help for 3 mornings per week whilst you're in clinic.

You may want her to do some marketing on social media platforms such as Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook to generate some more business leads, or perhaps you'd like her to design some eye-catching new business cards or flyers to put up on noticeboards?

You will simply be charged for the time it takes to carry out these tasks and no more.  

Why not give Nicky Pasquier, Founder | Director of Virtuoso Assistant, a call today for an informal chat on 0118 324 0197.   You won't be put under any pressure to follow through with a booking.  We will return your call to save your phone bill.   

Alternatively, if you want to make some enquiries via email, you can contact us at hello@virtuosoassistant.co.uk.

We very much hope we can be of assistance to you in the near future.

Find us on Twitter @VirtuosoAssist, on Google +Nicky Pasquier, on Pinterest or LinkedIn. 

Speak soon!