MHM#47 Say no, so your therapy practice can grow

An important component of a successful practice (or any business) is the ability to say “No”. 

No to new opportunities that distract you from staying focused and consistent.

And saying no to wrong-fit clients. 

When I started my business, I struggled with saying no to potential opportunities and to clients who weren’t the right fit. 

My gut tried its best to tell me it was the wrong decision, but it was frequently ignored, and I was frequently reminded that I should have listened. 

But once I overcame my fear of that tiny but scary word “No”, it became a very empowering experience, and I filled my business with not just clients I really enjoyed working with, but more importantly, clients with whom I was best suited to help.

Endless marketing shiny objects

There are lots of shiny objects in marketing - people emailing you with new opportunities that will result in new clients overnight, new marketing tools and trends being developed, and cool-sounding partnerships.

The “early mover advantage” used to be seen as an essential component of business success, but being a strategic adopter is increasingly recognised as the smarter approach. Instead of jumping on every new platform or tool, it’s smarter to sit back, observe and see if it actually gains traction. Why waste time and effort when you can let others test it for you? A good example of this is Instagram’s Threads. 

Threads had a strong launch, but it never quite became the “Twitter killer” it was hyped up to be. It had initial momentum with 100 million sign-ups in less than a week, but retention was a different story. Engagement plummeted after the initial rush, with estimations that user activity dropped by over 70% within weeks. There seem to be a few reasons why Threads struggled. One thought is that the Instagram audience is very different to the Twitter/X audience. Many Instagram users probably signed up out of curiosity, but Instagram’s audience isn’t necessarily the same audience that loves Twitter/X for news, debates, and live conversations.

My recommendation to my therapist clients at the time Threads launched? Don’t distract yourself with Threads; stay focused on creating content for Instagram and building connection and trust with your Instagram followers. 

You could be doing many marketing activities, many of which can get you in front of prospective clients and build connection and trust. You could be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, X, etc. The challenge is that you start spreading yourself too thin.

Consistently doing one marketing activity long-term is how you fill your caseload. The challenge with trying to do too many marketing activities at once is that you either become inconsistent, jumping between different marketing activities, or doing them all consistently becomes unsustainable and unenjoyable. Growing a practice takes work, and as much as we can, we also want the experience to be enjoyable and to not feel like you’re constantly drowning in tasks you can never get on top of.

Saying no to non-fit clients

Filling your caseload with clients you love working with means saying no to those who aren’t your ideal client.

Once you’re clear who your ideal client is, and your website and marketing messaging are speaking specifically to that ideal client, you should start to get fewer non-ideal clients contacting you. It should be immediately clear when a prospective client lands on your website or directory profile, or checks out your Instagram profile, who you work with and what you help them with, and therefore also who you don’t work with. But you’ll always get some people who aren’t the right fit reaching out to you. 

However, I also understand it can be challenging to say no in the early days of growing a practice. Stress around client numbers and money can mean you feel like you can’t really say no if a client wants to book an appointment with you. The money conversation doesn’t happen a lot, but a practice is a business, and growing any business comes with stress around revenue and paying bills. Especially in the early days of business growth, when cash flow can be inconsistent.  

The reality is, in the early days, it’s normal to make compromises about who you’ll accept as clients. Sometimes, you just need to keep the money coming in to survive and continue on your path of growing a private practice. Once you feel more financially secure, the ability to say no becomes incredibly valuable. Turning down clients who aren’t the right fit is crucial to building a practice you love. It allows you to focus on working with clients you genuinely enjoy working with, creating a more fulfilling and sustainable practice.

In September, I’m launching Marketing School for Solo Therapists.

If you’d like some help knowing what marketing to focus on, so you can start increasing revenue and saying no to wrong-fit clients sooner, you’re welcome to join the priority list and be the first to know when enrolment opens.