First Time Clients How To Turn A First-Time Client Into A Referrer
You can actually turn a first-time client into an enthusiastic babbler about you - if you pay attention to a few basic rules of human behavior. Then, when you finally ask for referrals at the end of your first appointment or first few appointments, you may discover that many are already referring. So study these carefully.
- Rule #1 - Most new people have post-purchase dissonance. This psych Term refers to the uneasy feeling that the person may not have made a wise choice in seeing you. If their first visit is unpleasant or even neutral, the feeling persists. It's a certainty that you won't get referrals and some may not return.
- Rule #2 - People must consider you to be an expert since people only refer to "experts."
- Rule #3 - If you exceed people's expectations, they'll be extraordinarily happy. To do so, you must do the unexpected.
Based on these rules, here are the referral-producing tactics to use:
- On their fist visit, make a big deal of their coming. Give them a short tour of the facilities. Introduce them to the receptionist and others that you may think appropriate. Everyone should give them an overly big hello and smile. In order to do this well, you must think of it as theater because, in fact , it is. It is proven to make people like you much more.
- To position yourself as an expert, you'll need to educate people about you. When they come in for the first session ask the receptionist to give them one of your personal practice brochures or resume along with the introductory forms. Your personal practice brochure should discuss your areas of expertise. If you have won any awards or diplomas of specialty, mount them in a desk top stand and set them up in the office to be seen. Don't be afraid to discuss with them your areas of specialty, especially if it one of the areas they want to work on. Finally, make sure they understand that one of the things that separate you from other hypnotherapists is your expertise at testing Emotional and Physical suggestibility. Make a big deal of the test and the results.
- In order to exceed people's expectations you'll need to give them something they didn't expect. A strong arm raising induction can be that very thing. A strong arm raising induction sends the clear message that hypnosis works and is powerful. Suggestions that they are going to start dreaming more and remembering their dreams is also a great way to trigger the suggestion a few days later that the hypnotic suggestions work and that "change is starting to take place." Lastly, sometimes a small gift for the first-time paying session is a wise investment. Dr. Kappas' E&P book or Mental Bank book is a valued gift and a powerful inference about the depths that hypnotherapy can go. A crystal ball for a child client is a great idea especially when you tell them that it is special and they are to bring it every time the come in to see you.
As you can see the techniques for turning the first-time client into an immediate referrer are easy and things that you can begin implementing immediately. The key is remaining area of these techniques and the yield that they can produce when practiced consistently."