Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Have you ever said
to yourself, I'm just not good
(00:02):
at sales?
If so, you're not alone.
Most business and practiceowners feel this way.
They don't want to become slimy.
They don't want to be one ofthose people who are too pushy.
And so what ends up happening iswe just kind of step back and we
lose a lot of business in theprocess.
And not only that, we are losingand letting a lot of people slip
(00:22):
through the cracks, not gettingthe help that they need.
So today I'm going to guide youthrough a process that we use
and that we teach our clients tohelp you make your consultation
process smooth and close moreclients.
My name is Craig, and I'm theowner of DAC Financial Coaching.
Our team is on a mission to makeyour therapy practice
permanently profitable.
(00:43):
If you own a solo or grouppractice, we're here to help you
build a business that createsmore time, makes more money, and
serves more people.
This is the Therapy BusinessPodcast.
When I first started mybusiness, I genuinely was
concerned because I was like, Ijust don't want to be pushy.
(01:04):
I don't want to be a salesy kindof person.
And so I would get on thesecalls with people who were
struggling with money.
And it was this constant battleof, I can help you, it's going
to cost you money, and you'restruggling with money.
And so I took that battle onmyself.
And what ended up happening wasthey could tell that I was
insecure about what I wasoffering them.
And so I wasn't getting thesign-ups, the conversions that I
(01:28):
was really needing in order togrow and sustain my business.
And not only that, these peoplewere coming to me for help and
walking away without helpbecause I wasn't confident
enough in what I was doing andconfident enough to encourage
them and ask them to sign up andwork with me.
What I found was people werecoming to me hurting for money.
And again, I was concerned thatI'm going to be asking them to
(01:50):
pay me money to help them withmoney.
But what I need to do was flipmy mindset on this and realize
that they're coming to me with aproblem.
And am I going to let the reasonthat they're on this call
prevent them from getting help?
Meaning they're coming to mestruggling with money.
Am I going to let their moneystruggles prevent them from
getting help with getting moneylike improving their finances?
(02:14):
It's this kind of paradigm likethat we find ourselves in.
And so that little shift reallypushed me into you know what?
If if I was a doctor andsomebody was dying, or if I'm if
I'm out in, let's say somebodyhas an allergic reaction, they
get bit by ants, and I have anEpiPin and they're and they're
about to die.
And it's like, ooh, I don't wantto be too pushy and offer my
(02:35):
EpiPin.
I don't want to, you know, stepacross any boundaries.
No, I'm going to run over thereand inject that thing in them
and save their life, right?
So it's this idea that thesepeople are coming to me, they're
coming to you for help.
They're they're drowning in asense.
And are we going to throw themthat life preserver?
Are we going to help them?
Or are we going to be too shyand too concerned that we're
(02:56):
going to be too pushy and notoffer them the help that they
need?
So, what I want to do is guideyou through a sales process on a
consultation that we useinternally.
I've taught this to my team.
It's something we've used thathas worked really, really well.
It has drastically improved ourconversion rates.
This year, right now, we'resitting at about a 43%
conversion rate on ourconsultations, which is up from
(03:19):
previous years where we weresitting maybe between 20 and
30%.
And it's because we are takingtime going through each phase of
this consultation.
Now I want to give some creditwhere credit is due.
One of my colleagues, BarbStackhouse, talked me through
her process, and I adopted a lotof what she taught, what she
coached me through and createdcustomized it to the industries
(03:40):
we work with.
And how can I customize this toour clientele?
And I believe it's going toconvert really well into the
therapy world.
In fact, I know it is becausewe've taught it to our clients
as well.
So I encourage you to takenotes.
Uh, this is gonna be super,super impactful.
Take some notes on the process,the slides.
Uh, if you watch on YouTube, I'mgonna go through the slides,
(04:01):
I'll share my screen.
If you are listening to this onApple or on Spotify, you're just
listening to the podcast, in theshow notes.
I will link to the slide deckand even on YouTube.
You can download the slide deckto this so you can see the
process and you can take thesenotes and put them into
practice.
All right, because I'm a formerteacher, I'm all about acronyms.
(04:21):
So we're gonna be using theacronym PrEPS today.
That's P-R-E-P-P-S.
How can we engage?
How can we prepare, best preparefor a consultation?
Now we're gonna be bridginggaps.
So each of these is a coresection in the process.
And so again, Barb Stackhouse,who taught me her process, was
using the analogy of islands.
(04:42):
And so we're gonna view eachone, and we're island hopping.
We're we're starting in onepiece, really vital to the
consultation process.
And then before we move on, wewant to make sure that we have
fully done what we intended todo in this one island, and then
we're gonna bridge into the nextone.
So the first P is gonna be forpurpose.
What is the purpose of thiscall?
(05:02):
This happens before we even geton the call, before the
consultation.
So you you look at yourcalendar, you've got a
consultation call with somebody,and again, or you're teaching
this to your team, whoever'sdoing the consultation.
What is the purpose of this?
We want to reflect and put theprospects' needs ahead of our
own.
What I found a lot of times withmyself was that I was so
(05:25):
desperate for the sale thatmaybe I was coming in really
thinking about myself or mybusiness.
Like, I need to get this client,I need to close them.
But what I want to do is I wantto stop and reflect on the pros
my prospects' need, the persongetting on the call.
What do they need from me?
How can I best serve them?
(05:46):
They're getting on this calllooking for help, and I want to
do that.
So before I get on the call, I'mgonna mentally prepare.
I'm gonna whether if you'respiritual, you can pray during
this time, you can meditate,even if it's just for five
minutes, just get yourself to abaseline, a calm baseline,
especially if you find salescalls are a point of anxiety for
you, or if you're feeling thepressure to close those clients.
(06:08):
Get into a ritual or a habit.
What do you do before everysingle call?
You know, I always like tostand.
So I always have my standingdesk when I'm on a sales call.
I put that standing desk up.
Sometimes I might just do alittle bit of exercise in my
office before getting on just toloosen up, get my heart rate up,
uh, kind of get prepped.
I also like to review my client.
So this one is specific to us.
(06:31):
You your clients are notnecessarily gonna have a
website, but review their atleast their notes and their
information.
So reviewing those details ofwhat is what do you know about
the client?
So for me, I will, if it's apractice owner coming to us, I'm
gonna go to their website, I'mgonna get familiar with what
they do, who they are, whatservices they offer, uh
different things.
(06:52):
This is gonna help us come intothe call and it's gonna help us
with some of these other steps,these other key elements of the
consultation.
So for you, any intake form, anyquestions that they filled out,
review those.
Get comfortable with.
What are their pain points?
What are they struggling with?
What are they hoping toaccomplish?
What are they hoping to change?
What are they looking for?
Really hone in on these becausethis is what you're speaking to.
(07:15):
This is what you're, and again,putting their needs before own.
This is what you're gonna tryand reassure them on, you're
gonna try and provide insighton, you're gonna try and take
some of that weight off theirshoulders.
If nothing else, the goal withthis call is to get off the call
with them feeling better,whether that's them having uh a
counseling schedule or a therapysession scheduled with you, or
(07:37):
if that's them just coming offme and like, you know what, just
the fact that I even took thisstep to talk to someone makes me
feel better.
And then if you're not yet, getcomfortable with the quote.
So if you're private pay, maybeyou're you're just people can
sense when your body tightens upwhen you come out and say that
what it's gonna cost, right?
So we want to just getcomfortable with it.
(07:59):
Get really comfortable, say itto yourself over and over,
reassure yourself of your value,of why it's worth the money, how
it's gonna change their lives.
Can almost like sell yourself onit before you go sell it to
them.
And here's the deal if you'reover if you're not comfortable,
if you can't sell at the rateyou're wanting to sell, maybe
for a short season, roll it backa little bit, sell confidently
(08:21):
at that rate, and then slowlyraise your rates as the time
comes.
But we want to get comfortablewith whatever you're gonna
quote.
That's the first section.
It's just before the call.
Once we get on that consultationcall, we're gonna get into the
next piece, which is buildingrapport.
This is an essential, essentialpiece of the consultation
process.
And it's so easy for us to wantto skip this part.
(08:43):
It's so easy for us to just wantto jump in straight to business,
but you're in a relationalbusiness.
They're they're looking for arelationship piece with you as
the therapist, with your teammembers.
So we want to really hone in onthis.
We want to build trust and findsome common ground.
We want to be agreeable,likable, trustworthy.
So engaging, and this is wheremaybe reviewing their notes,
(09:04):
even as simple as where are theyfrom?
Are they from your town?
Are they from uh somewhere elsewhere they might be coming in
virtually?
Where are they from?
Get to know them there, get totalk about uh, hey, I see that
you're in this next town over oryou're in this neighborhood.
Um, I used to grow up there.
That's where my aunt lived overthere.
Whatever it is, find those areaswhere you can bridge that gap.
(09:27):
If you see, if it's a videocall, if you see things on their
background, um, reallyhighlighting, hey, I see that
you got a Dallas Cowboys posterin the background, whatever it
is, finding those sharedinterests to just bridge the
gap.
Really, the goal of this pieceis to ease their tensions.
This is the time to help bringthem at ease because they are
likely anxious getting on thissales call.
(09:48):
I know our client prospects arewhen they get on calls with us,
they're coming to speak aboutsomething very vulnerable, which
is their money.
So the goal of rapport is tohelp drop their shoulders and
help them realize, okay, I'm ingood hands, at least on this
20-minute, 30-minute phone call,I'm in good hands.
So that's what we want to do.
Don't let them skip this part ifthey're trying to jump straight
(10:10):
into the nitty-gritties.
I think it's important tomaintain control.
The person asking the questionscontrols the conversation.
So that's what we want you todo.
Control that conversation, askthe questions.
And if they're trying to jumpahead and be like, oh, first of
all, like I just want to ask youand ask about themselves, ask
about their family, their kids,ask about those things and get
to know them a little bit so youcan bridge that gap between the
(10:31):
two.
Then, speaking of bridges, thisis some key phrases you can use
to pivot from each of these coreislands, right?
Where the bridge from one islandto the other.
So the first bridge fromrapport, we're gonna go into the
next piece.
So this is something we like tosay, maybe not always verbatim.
I don't want it to sound tooscripted, but here's what I
(10:52):
would say to a client who iscoming to me for help with their
profitability and theirfinances.
So after we've built thatreport, let's dive right in and
learn about what's working,what's not working, and where
you're trying to get.
So tell me your business storyand how you got where you are
now.
So we're getting to know alittle bit about their history.
And that's our next key, whichis evaluate.
(11:14):
We're learning about theprospect.
We're learning about them.
We want to know what broughtthem here today.
Now, again, your industry is alittle bit different.
I want to know how what doesmoney management look like for
them to this point?
What got them to be businessowners to begin with or to start
their own therapy practice?
That's what I want to find outfor you.
It could simply be getting toknow their their history.
(11:36):
If they're coming to you formarriage counseling, getting to
know their marriage history,what brought them here?
What's how long have they beentogether?
What did the early years looklike?
Getting to know those pieces,what we're trying to pull out,
and the goal of evaluate is tolisten and take notes and get to
know.
(11:57):
Are you sick of the overwhelmthat comes with managing the
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going, pay yourself what youtruly deserve, and have a rock
solid game plan to grow yourpractice without the financial
stress?
Well, that's exactly what ourprofit coaching program is
designed to do.
We specialize in helpingpractices like yours achieve
(12:20):
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Our profit coaching program isenrolling new practices right
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(12:43):
consultation attherapybusinesspod.com.
More about them.
So getting to know more detailsabout their story, what their
pain points are, and whatthey're trying to achieve.
That's what we want to know sothat you can address that.
Now, for us, this is a chancefor us to figure out okay, uh,
(13:03):
what's what are the what sizebusiness are they?
What how many moving pieces arethere?
This part doesn't necessarilypertain to you as far as the
size of the business for us.
The bigger the sale, the longerit can take because the bigger
the business we're talking to,the more moving pieces there
are, and the more things we needto evaluate and ask more
questions about.
All right, from there, oncewe've evaluated, we've gotten to
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know their backstory, whatbrought them to this point in
time, we have our bridge.
This is a chance to say, andagain, not necessarily scripted,
but this is what I like to sayto help take us from the
evaluate phase to the nextphase, which is thanks for
sharing that with me.
It helps me to know about thehistory of your business, or it
helps me to know about yourhistory.
(13:46):
So let's focus on the big thing.
What's the most important thingthat you feel is the biggest
issue right now?
What are they here for?
And this is our our next piece.
So we've gone through the P R E.
This is problem finding outtheir biggest pain points that
we can help solve.
So they've probably word vomitedon you.
All the things that, again, ifthey're here for marriage
(14:08):
counseling, maybe they have justdumped on you, all the little
things, all the annoyances, allthe things that they argue
about, all the uh fill in theblank.
We want to know what's the bigthing, what's the one thing that
you could use help with?
If they're coming to you for uhjust individual counseling,
maybe they've talked about theirtheir par how their parents are
dealing with this and how theyhave anxiety and how they have
depression and how they uh fillagain, fill in the blank.
(14:30):
What's the one, what's thebiggest pain point that they're
dealing with?
We want to fully understandtheir need.
Why are they here?
If they went to your website,there's probably a list of
different services andspecialties that you do.
This is gonna allow you to do acouple things.
One, address that you can helpthem, or two, figure out which
team member can handle it, or ifyour team doesn't specialize in
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what they're looking for, maybea referral opportunity to send
them out and serve them in a wayby saying, Hey, we can't help
you with that.
However, I think this therapistover here might be the best fit
for you.
But we want to fully understandtheir needs to say, okay, I can
absolutely help you with that.
That's the reassurance piece.
We're getting to know theproblem so we can reassure them
that we have dealt with itbefore.
Well, it's we eat this stuff forbreakfast and we can absolutely
(15:17):
help them.
So we want them to understandthe problem.
We want to make some emotionalconnections.
How is it showing up in theirlife?
Uh, what's basically what's theworst piece of it?
How is it kind of affecting themin general?
Um, if they don't connectemotionally, then the problem
isn't big enough.
Again, that's for them.
If it's therapy, there's likelyit's probably all emotional
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connection, right?
So now we come to the bridge.
We're gonna bridge into the nextpiece.
This is where we say, now thatwe figured out what's not
working, let's find out what youwant.
So let's say that you and I worktogether through therapy and we
solve this problem.
What would life be like for you?
Um, this again may be a piecethat you're gonna have to tweak
(16:00):
and hone in being therapyspecific.
This is for us, we want to knowreally ultimately what are they
hoping to achieve?
What do they want life to looklike for them?
This is be this is the other P,which is project.
Help the prospect see the valueof solving their problem.
Um, so again, help them see thevalue of therapy.
What are what is the value ofgetting help with what they're
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dealing with?
So find your way of phrasingthese things.
Because as I once again, I'm I'msharing my process with you.
I just I like to be an open bookwith how we approach sales and
what's worked for us.
For you, it's just a matter ofgoing in and refining.
What can I say here that fallsin the bounds of what we do,
that falls in the bounds ofbeing ethical without
(16:44):
pressuring, without thosethings.
But this to me is not apressuring tactic.
This is literally we're tryingto help them see things
differently.
We're helping them reflect onwhere they are, and we're trying
to help them see and understandand realize that there's a
there's opportunity forsomething to be different, for
to solve this problem and tolive a life that looks
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different, that's fulfilling,that is everything they want it
to be.
So help them visualize what doesthat look like?
What would life be like if youwere to overcome, you know, if
you were to, if you were to beable to figure out the tools to
deal with and live with or evenreduce anxiety, what would that
be like?
So finding those key phrases ofwhat can what would it look like
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to have the solution?
We want them to have clarity,confidence, and certainty that
you can help them.
That's really the the goal ofthe project phase.
It's here's where I am, here'swhere I want to be, and then
have the confidence that you canprovide that pathway, you can
provide that solution.
All of these pieces that we'vejust gone through, those are the
(17:50):
bulk of the consultation call.
I would say if you're on a30-minute call, 20 minutes of it
is gonna be doing all of this,going through the getting to
know them, getting to visualize,getting to project, getting to
see what's ahead.
Then we want to bridge into whatdoes it look like to work with
you?
Now, typically I like to open itup for questions.
(18:13):
So before I even bridge, I liketo say, you know, I've asked you
a ton of questions.
Is there are there any questionsthat you came with for me that I
can answer for you?
Typically, uh, this is they'regonna jump right into what does
it look like to work with you,what does it cost, how
frequently, etc.
Um, sometimes they might have aclaim, a question like specifics
(18:35):
that you can help with.
Sometimes it's a specificquestion that you're like, you
know what, I I can't answer thatwith for you until I get to know
you better, until uh we know thefull situation.
It wouldn't be beneficial toyou.
So uh if somebody came to me andwas like, and I was like, hey,
do you have any questions?
They go, Yeah, should I cash outmy 401k to pay off all my debt?
It's like, whoa, um, I don'tknow enough about you, your
(18:57):
goals, your situation, any ofthat to say whether that's a
wise decision or not.
And honestly, and I even if wewere through coaching, I
probably wouldn't answer thatanyway because I'm not here to
tell you what to do with yourmoney.
However, my answer wouldprobably be through our process,
I can help you figure out whatthe best decision is to
accomplish that goal of payingoff your debt.
(19:17):
And we're gonna look at all thedifferent options so that you
can make a decision confidently.
So it's providing that answer,but if it's a quick question,
like you know, I can't think ofone off the top of my head, but
it's something that's just veryeasy to answer, then we're gonna
answer that.
Most of the time they don'tknow, they don't know what
questions they want to ask.
So usually the question is whatis what does it look like to
work with you?
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What does therapy look like withyou?
So for us on the coaching side,once we've gone there, here's
where I bridge it's I'm 100%confident that I can help you.
And here's why.
This goes back to the beginningof this episode where I talked
about that confidence piece thatthey can sense it if we're not
sure.
If we're not sure that we havethe solution, they're not going
to be sure that we have thesolution.
(19:59):
So I Like to come out and sayI'm a hundred percent confident
that I can help you, and here'swhy.
For us, it's that we have aprogram that addresses exactly
what they're talking about.
So for you, this is the stuffyou're describing, is what I'm
licensed in, this is what Ispecialize in, or this is what
this clinician specializes in.
It's reassuring them that we seethis all the time and we eat it
(20:24):
for breakfast.
This is what we do.
Okay, this is where we sell.
We're gonna confidently offerthe solution to the prospect.
So we're gonna give them anoverview of what therapy looks
like.
We're not gonna get into theminute details of it.
It's just, you know, I wouldrecommend meeting once once a
week.
It can be an office or virtual,these are last 50 minutes,
50-minute sessions.
(20:45):
So just kind of giving them thatidea.
Go over what a therapy sessionmight look like.
You know, they're give thempeace of mind.
Let allow them to picture whatthat session could look like.
So really describe, and again,we're not going to go into the
weeds.
I don't want you spending 20minutes talking about this.
It's just, hey, here's what it'slike.
(21:05):
Here's how I operate, here's thefeeling you'll have, the safe
space we create.
It's all confidential.
So whatever you need to say toreassure, um, this is an
opportunity to do that.
And then from there, you sharewhat the fee structure is, what
it looks like, um, the meetingrhythm that you would recommend,
all those things is where we'regonna go in here.
And we're gonna ask them to signup for their first session.
(21:25):
What I find is a lot of timeswe, and this was even in our
internal trainings with ourteam, um, we had one of our team
members who was super brave inthat uh we were she recorded one
of her her sales calls um withclient permission, of course,
and she asked me to listen toit.
And she's like, you know, I'mnoticing I'm not closing as many
as I would like.
(21:46):
So we listened to it, andtruthfully, she was crushing it.
She was serving them well on thecall, she was doing everything
right.
But what there was one thingthat was missing was she wasn't
inviting them into the coachingprogram.
Uh it wasn't super clear.
I think uh she thought she wasbecause she mentioned the price
and she mentioned what it lookslike to get started.
But it's some even something assimple as do you want to
(22:09):
schedule your first appointment?
Are you, you know, let me pullup my calendar, I'm ready.
Let's plug you in for your firstappointment if everything sounds
good.
So being real direct, what wesay sometimes in sales is we're
seeking out the no, we're askingquestions that they could say no
to, uh yes or a no.
Sometimes we're so afraid of theno that we phrase things in a
(22:32):
way that they can't say no toit.
But the problem is they can'tsay yes to it either.
So when we seek out the no, thatcauses us just mentally to ask
direct questions that's going togive them the opportunity to say
no or to say yes.
So, are you ready to scheduleyour first meeting?
I have opening next week.
Uh, would you like to schedule ameeting?
Would you like to schedule yourfirst therapy session?
(22:54):
Let them know what that lookslike, give them the opportunity
to do it.
If they say, uh, let me, I needto think about it, or I'm
meeting with a couple othertherapists, um, then what you
can do is what I like to do isget some kind of commitment out
of them.
So, uh, and I've even calledthat out sometimes.
I tell them, you know, the worstplace, and again, I'm speaking
on profitability and finances,but the worst place we can be is
(23:16):
stuck in between.
So I don't want that's what Idon't want for you is to get
stuck in that limbo.
If it's a no, that's okay.
If it's a yes, that's amazing.
But what we don't want is foryou to get stuck where you're
you're not making moves in anydirection.
So my commitment to you is thatI'm gonna follow up with you.
I'm not gonna let you slipthrough the cracks.
(23:37):
The one commitment I ask fromyou is that on this date, by
this date, you give me ananswer, yes or no.
I'm in or I'm not.
That's how we proceed.
We like to give them directionin a deadline.
Otherwise, what we have found ispeople are stuck six months, a
year, two years down the road,and they've done nothing.
(23:58):
They've done nothing becausethey sat on their hands.
They they they were afraid tomake a decision one way or the
other.
We are driving them to a no.
For us, uh, we like to schedulea follow-up call.
So if they need to think on it,it's like great.
How about we schedule a15-minute call for X date?
And we schedule that.
And it's literally on that call,come with if you have any other
(24:19):
lingering questions, bring them.
Uh, if you're ready to go, we'llsign you up on the call.
Um, if not, then come to thatcall ready.
Basically, come to that callwith a yes or no answer that
you're ready to sign up oryou're not.
Uh, I also give them theopportunity to say, if you're
ready sooner, just shoot me anemail, we'll get you scheduled.
Don't feel like you have to waittill that call to actually get
some action taken.
But getting some kind ofcommitment out of them, letting
(24:41):
them know you're not gonna hurtmy feelings if you decide to go
with another therapist.
If you decide we're not a goodfit, it's not gonna hurt my
feelings.
I want the best care for you.
However, because I'm socommitted to you, like I that's
my commitment to you is I'mgonna follow up.
We want to follow, we're we wejust want to know an answer,
basically.
We don't we don't want to be, Idon't want to be emailing and
calling you.
I don't want to be thatdesperate therapist who's just
(25:02):
calling and texting you all thetime and you're just ghosting
me.
So uh that's really what we'reultimately wanting is some kind
of commitment from them.
And I think that's reasonable.
And what we found is people arevery much willing.
And honestly, us giving thempermission to say no, because
I'll tell them that, like Iwon't take it personally if you
decide it's not the right fit.
Uh that gives them gets them tosay no to me.
(25:24):
I would much rather them say nothan be a maybe again for their
sake, but even internally for mysake, because then I'm gonna be
following up with them foreveruh when in reality they're at
home thinking, I'm not signingup with this guy, I'm not
interested.
So an answer is better than noanswer.
That is our sales process.
Again, I will link uh the slidesin the show notes for you so
(25:45):
that you can download them, takea look at them.
Remember to tweak them to thetherapy industry.
The reason I'm just sharing youmine because I know there's a
bunch of different therapypractices out there.
We got physical therapists wholisten to this podcast, we got
mental health therapists, we gotmarriage counsel, we got a bunch
of different types.
And so what instead of trying tocustomize it to each specific
(26:06):
industry, I'm just sharing mine,and then you can just go in and
tweak areas.
Take out what you feel likedoesn't isn't relevant to yours,
add in what you think is, andtry it out and then let me know
how it goes.
I would love to hear how thisconsultation sales process
worked out for you.
Thanks for joining us on theTherapy Business Podcast.
Be sure to subscribe, leave areview, and share it with a
(26:28):
practice owner that you mayknow.
If your practice needs helpgetting organized with its
finances or just growing yourpractice, head to
therapybusinesspod.com to learnhow we can help.