5. Why Clients Choose You (Or Don't)

When a potential client is searching for a therapist, what actually makes them say, “Yes, this is the one”? In this episode, I break down what really drives client decisions—and spoiler: it's not your credentials or your list of modalities.

I’ll walk you through how specificity in your niche and messaging creates connection, trust, and the kind of clarity that makes you easy to choose (and refer to). You’ll also hear why being “for everyone” is actually a fast track to being forgettable, and how choosing a niche isn’t a forever decision—it’s a powerful starting point.

If you’ve ever struggled with the fear of boxing yourself in or wondered why your website isn’t converting like you hoped, this conversation is going to shift how you think about your marketing.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

1️⃣ Why specificity—not credentials—is what actually makes you memorable and referable

2️⃣ A reframe of niching that removes the pressure and opens up more connection with your right-fit clients

3️⃣ Real-life examples of niche statements that move clients from “just looking” to “this is the therapist for me”

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Magnetic Niche Method: walkerstrategyco.com/mnm

The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com

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Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website

About Marketing Therapy

Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey there.

(00:00):
Welcome back to Marketing Therapy.
I'm Anna Walker, and today we'regetting to the heart of something
that's really easy to overlook, butabsolutely essential in this climate.
Why do some therapists getchosen and others get passed by?
Now we know that potential clientsare looking at between five and

(00:20):
seven different therapy websites indeciding who they're gonna work with.
So who do they decide to work with?
Why are they choosing therapistB and not therapist A?
Why are they choosingsomeone else and not you?
When a client is scrolling throughthese websites, clicking out, thinking
about it, scheduling consultations,what's actually making them reach out?

(00:44):
To certain ones and to pass others byspoiler alert, it's not their credentials.
It's usually not the list of modalities,and it's definitely not how many
years they've been in practice.
It's whether they are memorableit, whether they feel seen, that

(01:05):
moment, that instant where a clientthinks, oh, this person gets it.
That comes down to specificity.
If you haven't yet experienced theabsolute euphoria that comes when a
client calls for a consultation and said,I read your website and it felt like
you were speaking directly to me, thenyou're missing out on this opportunity.

(01:30):
Specificity is what makes youmemorable, and I cannot overstate
right now the importance of beingmemorable in your marketing.
An interesting thing that haschanged in how we look at.
Buyer behavior.
So the decisions people are making withtheir money, so this is particularly
relevant if you are looking to bookmore private pay clients, is they're

(01:51):
taking longer in their decision making.
So it's not that they're not going totherapy, but they are thinking about it
for longer before taking the next step.
So they're doing research about you,about your colleagues, about your
peers, and then they're taking moretime to ultimately make that decision.
So in that amount of time, in thatgap between considering therapy and

(02:13):
pursuing it, are you coming to mind?
That is why being memorableis so critical right now.
Specificity is what does that specificityis what makes you referable easy
to refer to with your networkingconversations, and it's ultimately what
makes your website convert when youare not specific in your marketing.

(02:37):
When you are vague, when you aretrying to be all things to all
people, you are watering yourself downwhen what you say in your marketing
could ultimately apply to anyone.
If it could be slapped on anytherapist's website and be true, then
you're risking becoming forgettable.
We can't put the burden on your clientsto figure out if you're the right fit.

(03:01):
We need your marketing to show them.
I want people to land on your websiteand to interact with your marketing
and know instantly that you are thetherapist that they've been looking for.
When we think about what's making clientschoose you, it's coming down to your
specificity and how memorable you are,how much you connect with your marketing.

(03:24):
You've heard the word niche thrownaround here, there, and everywhere
in the private practice space.
In this market, your niche is moreimportant than it has ever been.
But let's talk about this idea of niche,what it really is and what it's not.
Because there are a lot of misconceptions,and I coach hundreds of clinicians per

(03:45):
year, specifically on their niche, andone of the biggest things I hear is that
they're afraid of boxing themselves in,is that you right now, when you think
about a niche, you're afraid of closingyourself off to potential clients.
What if I change my mind, but I likeworking with different kinds of people.
I don't want to excludeanyone and hear me.

(04:07):
Those concerns are valid, butthe truth is, niching isn't
about boxing yourself in.
It's simply about positioning yourself.
It's about carving out a pointof view and a message that your
ideal client can resonate with.
It is about becoming that person who iseasy to refer to and easy to say yes to.

(04:30):
But what's so important to rememberis your niche is not forever.
You are going to evolve as aclinician, and so too will your niche.
So when you quote unquote choose a niche,and I don't even know if that's great
language, because choosing your nicheimplies that you have to stick with it.
It is simply a starting point that helpsyour RightFit clients understand what you

(04:52):
do and who you do your best work with.
It's not about being stuck.
It's not about boxing yourself in.
It's actually liberating because it'shelping you focus on who you do your
best work with and then attractingthose folks because it is in that
specificity that people will findthe connection that they are seeking.

(05:13):
It is in that specificity thatyou will become memorable when
they are considering who they'reactually going to proceed with.
I really like to use the neurosurgeonversus general surgeon metaphor here.
Now, if you needed brain surgery, youwouldn't go to a general surgeon who
might be able to help, who got sometraining in neurology in his residency.

(05:36):
You'd go to the neurosurgeon who does thisexact procedure every single week, right?
It's the same in private practice.
When someone is struggling withsomething specific and they view
their needs as very, very specific,they are probably the same types of
needs you see in all of your clients.
They don't know that, right?

(05:56):
Their need to them is veryintimate and very specific.
When they're struggling with that, theywant someone who specializes in that need.
Not just someone who quote unquote workswith adults or does couples therapy or
treats trauma, it's about being specificto what they think they need help with.

(06:19):
We've been talking about memorability too.
Specialists are easier to remember,they're easier to trust, and they're
easier to pay premium fees to.
You would expect to pay more to aneurosurgeon than a general surgeon.
And you'd be willing to, because you werelooking for that level of specificity.

(06:40):
So what's actually making a websiteor your marketing convert, right?
It's one thing to know your niche.
It's one thing to have aspecific type of client.
It's another for that toactually work for you, right?
It's another for you to actually geton the consultation with someone who
said that the website spoke to them.
So this isn't just about having a website.

(07:00):
This isn't just about havingmarketing, but it's about clearly
communicating who it's for, whatyou help with and how you get there.
It's about having messagingthat mirrors what your client
is already thinking and feeling.
I like to imagine it as your marketingjoining the conversation that is
already happening in your idealclient's head, they have already

(07:24):
been thinking about how anxious theyare for weeks, months, or years.
How can you join that conversation?
How can you sort of create thatfeeling of, are you in my head?
How did you know?
You only do that through being specificwhen your words make someone think.
That's exactly how I feel.
It is at that moment that they reach out.

(07:46):
So it's about using your marketingto speak to those very, very specific
challenges and helping create thatsensation of how did you know?
Are you?
In my head, that's exactly how I feel.
That's the power of this.
Let me give you a few examples ofreally powerful niche language.
Instead of saying, I work with people whohave anxiety, I want you to imagine this.

(08:10):
I help overthinkers who look puttogether on the outside, but feel
constantly on edge underneath.
If you were realizing your overthinkingwas getting you into trouble and
keeping you up at night, thatwould be far more compelling than.
Quote unquote, anxiety or insteadof, I help people with trauma, I

(08:31):
work with adults, navigating theaftershocks of childhood experiences
they thought they'd already dealt with.
Okay.
That's speaking to someone who'sself-aware enough, who's already
done a little bit of work, but isready to dive more deeply in, or
instead of, I do couples therapy.
I help two successfulpeople who love each other.
Okay, so we're speaking to highfunctioning people there, but feel like

(08:52):
they can't quite connect, start speakingthe same emotional language again.
For those people that feel like roommateswhose careers have gotten in the way
of their relationship, I'd be far morecompelled to reach out to that one.
Can you feel the difference here?
This is the power of aclear and specific niche.

(09:13):
Now, what's important here is that yourniche doesn't just help your clients.
It helps you too.
When you know who you arespeaking to, your confidence
goes up, your referrals improve.
Networking gets easier.
Your boundaries around who is the rightfit and the wrong fit, get clearer.

(09:33):
Your burnout goes down becauseyou're attracting people.
You actually enjoy and light you up.
You open up your calendar andget excited about who's there.
You stop wondering if yourmarketing is working 'cause
people are telling you that it is.
They're saying your website feltlike you were talking directly to me.
But this cannot happen if youare not focused on being specific

(09:55):
and memorable in your marketing.
This is exactly why clientschoose us at Walker Strategy Co.
This is exactly why I've had the chanceto serve thousands of therapists.
Our niche isn't justsmall business owners.
Our niche isn't even just therapists.
It's therapists who are strategicand self-aware and ready to do things

(10:16):
differently, and that specificityshows up in everything we create.
From our website templates to ourcoaching, to the words, you're hearing
me speak right now in this episode.
Now, if you want help, puttingwords to your niche in this
way, in a way that connects andconverts and makes you memorable.
That's exactly what our magneticniche method was built for.

(10:41):
In that mini course, I go step by stepthrough my signature niching process.
And the feedback I've gotten on thisprogram has been absolutely incredible.
It has blown me away.
It's really gonna guide you toward nolonger overthinking your niche, and
finally nailing the words that aregonna make the right clients say yes.
Check out the show notes for the linksto the magnetic niche method, but please

(11:03):
hear me when I say you have a niche.
When we figure out what it is, youwill unlock the rest of your marketing.
I'll see you in the next episode.