What To Do When Your Booking Numbers Decline
The two paths that practitioners are likely to follow, and which one leads you to sustainable success.
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On the journey of practice building and management, there are plateaus, lows and career stagnation that any practitioner will deal with at some point - and the ones who are able to get past it with intentional investment are the ones that manage to build a lasting career.
So, the first plateau I see happen shows up after you’ve completed training. It’s the period after you’ve been treating friends and family to get started, topped that up with some clients through word of mouth which seems to work for a while - and then all of a sudden you hit a wall. Booking numbers decline, your confidence gets a hit, and you get anxious. And that anxiety might even turn into a full-blown panic.
Other plateaus at later stages in your career most often happen because old marketing efforts no longer work as the world, and consumer behaviour, is in a constant state of change.
So what do you do? When hitting a plateau in practice building, there’s two paths that I see practitioners follow.
On one path they try out every marketing trend they come across, they pay for new training and courses because they fear their professional profile isn’t strong enough to attract new clients, or they look at colleagues to see what they’re doing and blindly copy them. They’re reacting vs responding. In these cases practitioners often burn out. Or even worse, they lose interest in their work because things aren’t working out.
Those on the other path, respond to the career plateau with intentional effort and a long term plan to turn things around. They take consistent action paired with some calculated risk, set up solid business foundations to build their practice on for years to come, and they invest in their business skills.
It’s the latter that I see succeed, and it takes an entrepreneurial mindset to keep going in these situations. They don’t quit during a low period, because they know that practice building naturally comes with ups and downs, and it requires flexibility, adaptability and a growth mindset.
Nobody teaches you this real-world business stuff when you’re training in medicine. And as you’re focused on providing your clients with the best care and treatment experiences, you might not identify as a business person, or entrepreneur. But I’m here to tell you that you all have CEO skills inside of you!
Whether you’re building your own practice solo, working for a clinic that does your marketing for you, or you’re collaborating with others to start a new clinic space - this newsletter edition serves as your dose of encouragement to nurture the skills and mindset that brings you that long lasting career.
If you’re looking for practical support in cultivating this entrepreneurial mindset, and get clarity on how to build solid business foundations, design marketing strategies that suit your style, and get systems in place that support your ways of working - come join me for Digital Practice Building, you can watch the pre-recorded sessions any time, anywhere.
So here’s my encouragement to you; carve out time to work ON your practice and not just IN your practice. Even if it’s one hour a week, that’s a great start. You have all the expertise you need to provide brilliant care to your clients, now make sure to supplement that by investing in the business building side of your practice. Design your personal branding, get out of your own way to market yourself, and create a strong presence online to help more clients find you, build trust with you, and book their treatments.
And remember that nobody’s practice was built overnight. Whatever you’re seeing on social media, or the quick-fix formulas and one-hit-wonder coaching programmes promise you. The truth is, it requires (simple) routines and consistent investment of your time and energy.
And however much time you’re able to invest, make sure that it counts. To give you a taster, you can read this article on how not to waste time on social media.
December is just around the corner and it’s a perfect time to reflect on the wins and losses of this past year, and create a plan for 2025. So create a clear vision of where you want to go, and find the guidance that helps you figure out what it takes to get you there. And be realistic. Us humans tend to overestimate what we can achieve in the short term, but underestimate what we can achieve in the long term. So set realistic goals and go easy on yourself. Decide today, what is realistic for you? And how can you continue building your practice to get you where you want to go?
Let me know how you get on, I always love receiving your updates and practice building stories!