Why It’s So Much Easier to Get Client Referrals if You Specialize: A Real Life Example
Let’s stick to our theme of specialization that was started last week.
Interestingly, this topic sparked a phone call between myself and Attorney Leanna Hamill. She specializes in estate planning and elder law and is looking to coordinate with therapists who specialize in working with the elderly and their families. Do you know anyone who owns this specialty? And I don’t mean someone that sees elderly people once in awhile, or could work with someone who is caring for a parent with dementia. Leanna wants to work with those who specialize.
In her words: “I get so discouraged when I look to refer a client or family for therapy and all I can find is therapists who say they see everyone: kids, adults, elderly. If they don’t clearly specialize with my target clientele, I don’t want to waste my, or my client’s, time working with someone who does not have a firm grasp and understanding of their concerns and issues.”
So if you are looking for referrals from lawyers, physicians, or other professionals it seems they are looking to work with specialists, not generalists.
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Imagine if Leanna has a full client load of families working out elder care issues. Within that legal domain comes stress, anxiety, depression due to caring for an elderly parent, or the need to take on guradianship or a health care proxy. Leanna shares that many of the families she works with present with emotional issues she is not equipped to manage. She wishes she had a competent specialist to refer to.
In fact, a healthy referral to Leanna’s law practice would mutually benefit the therapist and Leanna. Do you ever have clients in your office with legal questions you aren’t qualified to answer. I do.
Leanna and I took this conversation further and envisioned workshops, speaking opportunities, and information products that could be generated between a therapist and a lawyer working together on elder care issues. Exciting stuff!
Now if only Leanna could find that specialist she wants to partner with……
Susan, you are absolutely right! People want services that feel like they are designed specifically for them. The more narrow the niche the more likely a customer is to feel it’s exactly for them.
Having been through some of these issues as a family, I think your ideas are right on!
Good luck! It is much needed.
Hopefully if there are therapists in eastern Mass. that work in this specialty, they won’t be shy about reaching out to me.
- Leanna
I shared this post in my BizSavvy e-newsletter today, so maybe someone will read it and contact you. I included a link to your blog.
Let me know!
As a newer therapist, it is scary to claim a specialty. I worry about the huge swath of the market I may be cutting out.
How do you say, “My specialty is couples, but I’ll pretty much see anyone(because I need enough clients to pay the bills)?”
Joking about the last bit, but I need to figure out how to specialize and yet diversify!
Lindsay
http://www.portlandfamilytherapist.com
Susan, great point. Also, given that the Boomer generation is a HUGE demographic, eldercare therapists are going to be in high demand. One of the best things I did over the last couple of years was get together with a group of 3-4 therapists regularly and go through Lynn Grodzki’s 12 Months to Your Ideal Private Practice. That forced me to claim my niche (the three A’s: Aspergers, Autism, ADD/HD). I am so glad, because that niche, in and of itself, is huge. Now I can put in the 10,000 hours it takes to become a true expert in that area.
Hello Susan,
Thank you for posting this article. I agree that a niche can make a huge difference in distinguishing one’s practice and becoming knowledgable about a particular area. I started my practice focusing on all types of transitions, including loss and life stage transitions, particularly young adulthood and midlife, which are all areas I love working in.
After taking some fantastic workshops on grief, I’ve decided to create a niche in grief/bereavement counseling and am in the process of working towards a certification in thanatology. Choosing this niche has helped me feel more organized and focused. It addresses the types of issues clients frequently bring to their work with me, and includes therapeutic issues that I find personally and professionally compelling–transition, loss, relationships and spiritually.
Thank you again,
Maxine Sushelsky, LMHC
http://www.transitionstherapist.com
http://www.transitionstherapist.blogspot.com
Hello Leanna,
“Ask and you shall receive.”
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor providing individual and group counseling for people who are experiencing grief and for people acting as caretakers for ill and dying individuals.
I sent you a more detailed email through your website. Would to chat with you.
Maxine Sushelsky, LMHC