Word of Mouth Referrals for Practitioners

Lately in the Hub we’ve been talking about how to leverage word of mouth referrals to get our message out to more people.

The discussion is about “How do I get referrals? How do I ask for referrals from clients?” and the big, juicy one – “How do I get referrals from doctors and other practitioners?”

Word of mouth referrals are actually about having conversations with people. It doesn’t mean trying to win people over so they send you lots of clients.

Word of Mouth Referrals for Practitioners

The first step in getting word of mouth referrals is the person right in front of you. If they’ve come to you more than once, it’s because they’ve received some benefit from you. They are using more of their precious time to come see you again because they found value in what you are giving.

If they find value, it’s very likely they know somebody just like themselves who will find value as well.

If they happen to know someone else who needs the same kind of benefit, you’re actually doing a disservice to everyone who doesn’t know you exist yet if you hold back and say nothing.

There are umpteen people with chronic conditions out there. People getting sicker and sicker every day. By you not saying anything, you’re actually holding the type of health care – the type of skill that we’re really good at – back from the people who need it.

Instead of staying quiet, or hoping or manifesting that they will talk to somebody else, it’s as simple as a conversation.

The conversation goes something like this:

“Hey, isn’t it amazing what we’ve done in such a short period of time? For you to go from here to here.”

Reference the goals they’ve achieved through working with you – they might have lost a couple of kilos or doubled their amount of energy. Review their follow up sheets for the measurements you’ve registered. For instance, when they first came to you, they were a 2 out of 10 and now only X amount of time later they’re an 8 out of 10 for sleep or energy. Congratulate them on those improvements and say,

“Do you know anybody else who would love the same kind of help? Because if you do, here’s my card for them. It’d be great to see them. I’m really committed to helping more people on the planet feel as good as they can, and you’re an amazing example of that. I’m so glad you’ve done the work you needed.”

Don’t say,

“I’m a referral-based business and can you please give me referrals – here’s all my business cards.”

Because isn’t that icky? It’s kind of weird and not a conversation you want to be in.

A conversation where you are applauding the work someone else has done for themselves is another story. Because it’s not up to us to fix somebody – it’s up to them to take their journey. It’s their choice to take those tablets, take that medicine, make those lifestyle choices, to choose to look after themselves. So applaud them for what they’ve done.

If you really like that client, it’s very likely you’re gonna like their friends. So suggest that if anyone else in their life has similar stuff going on and would love to feel better, they can come see you.

For instance, “I really want to help more people just like you, and if you know someone who could do with the same kind of help, if you feel at all moved, please give them my card. Feel free to let them know I’m here and what we’ve done.”

‘What we’ve done together’ is a very different conversation. It’s actually inviting them to tell their story. Having the opportunity to celebrate your health is such a cool thing for anyone who has lost weight or done anything specifically for their health and gotten benefit from it.

So that’s how to have a conversation to help more people.

Ask Other Businesses for Referrals

The next one is helping more people through a partnership, another practitioner, a business owner, or through a doctor.

This week in the Club, we’ve had an amazing challenge to go and introduce ourselves to the local peeps. Interestingly enough, they are people and human beings too. They’re human beings that have health-related issues and families with health-related issues. They have workplaces that have health-related issues. We know stuff about health-related issues that we can share with them.

If they know we exist, then we can really, truly help them. If they don’t know we exist, then we are holding back our gifts and talents and essentially, deliberately not helping them.

So what happens when you want to go and introduce yourself to the local doctor?

Have any of you guys heard the Brule (“bull**** rule”) that doctors think we are all quacks?

It’s time to break that mindset, because, in actual fact, one of my favourite referrals was a general practitioner. Multiple specialists refer to me and it continues to be the case with many practitioners.  At every single capital city I went to for the Revolution Series, there were multiple people in the room who had their best referrals from doctors, or even worked in integrative medical practices.

So it’s a load of rubbish that they all think we’re quacks. Just as some of us are a little standoffish on doctors, some of them are a little bit standoffish on us. It’s because we don’t know each other yet as human being to human being.

How do we get to know one another?

Well, sending an email probably isn’t going to cut it. Instead, we introduce ourselves. You have to actually show up to the practice and speak to the practice manager.

A practice manager is the person who matters within a practice. They look at the comings and goings of clients, doctors, reps, and everything that happens in and out of a medical practice. They are the person that you need, to get to talk to the doctor.

The practice manager is usually extremely busy and pressed for time. So being able to connect with them in a quick and easy manner is key. You need to be able to say, quite easily and quickly:

“Hey, this is who I am, this is where I am. Here is something I would love to be able to help the practice with. I’d love to be able to meet with the doctors, and here is more about me.”

And you’re going to hand them a brochure or letter describing what you do.

Then it’s up to you to ask if the practice has a ‘Lunch and Learn,’ or is there a staff meeting every week. Is there a time when you can visit most of the doctors at the same time, to help their clients? NOT for you to get referrals. It’s about helping the clients of the practice.

Again, the practice managers have seen all the clients and patients. They’ve very likely been there quite some time and know all the families. If you’re genuinely there to help them help those families, then it’s more likely you’re going to be able to get them to allow you to leave your literature. And perhaps even let you organize an appointment.

The fantastic bit is in the follow-up. The follow-up is where it happens for everything. The follow-up is where it’s at.

So you’ve left your bits and pieces. The practice manager will usually say they’ll try to organise a time.

Follow up with an email saying,

“Hey, it was so wonderful to meet you the other day. I love the practice. I got online and researched and you’re the only practice in the area that does this (whatever their specialty is).”

You are actually starting a conversation, just like you would with a human being. Instead of putting your business hat on and doing the business, business, business thing, and then coming out weird and asking for referrals.

When you get into a conversation with a person, you might say,

“Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you do that thing (whatever it is). I’m so excited about it. I actually have similar clients. I’d love to help the people that come to you. These are the types of things I do. Can I come in and have a chat?”

When you go into a medical practice, they are used to freebies and free lunches. So, for example, if you take them a nutritious lunch you would stand out because they are used to getting bakery goods and a bunch of coffee. So if you bring in something nutritious that is in alignment with your practice, that would stand out in their minds.

Maybe you can make their life easier by bringing in a green referral pad with your information at the top so that they can just write a little note to their clients. Maybe it’s a pen from your business. Maybe it’s tea. Think about things that are quick, easy, and don’t cost a lot.

When you get your in and go have your Lunch and Learn, you’re going to share with them in a succinct way, in about 15 to 20 minutes, what you can help them with. You are not there to ask them to send you clients.

What you talk about is how you can help them and the people they serve. They are just as time poor as us, they have families just like us, they need to look after themselves just like us, and they care a lot for their clients the same way we do. How can you help them help their people, and how can you help their people.

You’ll be talking in medical speech but not going overboard with case studies and blah blah blah. Your talking in a way that gets your message across without going full academia or full layman on them.

The quickest way that I have found is by sharing an experience. Don’t present them with a full academic version of the problem, instead share the experience.

For instance, I had a client recently who was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. She was stopping six times on the way to work to use the public toilets. After we connected, we talked about her diet, got really deep into her lifestyle and some of her stress issues. I gave her some easy things to do that helped her microbiome and some other things. Now she only stops once on the way to work.

That kind of conversation is going to stick in someone’s mind more than anything else because they going to instantly think, “Oh, yeah. I had 20 of those last week.”

Then, because you know that their optimal amount of time to spend with a patient on Medicare is seven minutes (every minute past that, they’re getting paid less), you can mention that you spend a whole hour diving deep into a client’s stressful situations, their family history, and all that stuff. You’re able to help them on a lifestyle level, which lifts a weight from them. They don’t have the opportunity to do that and can pass it to you. Then you can refer back and forth to each other.

So apart from sharing food, share a story. Share your knowledge about their particular speciality and what they love to treat. Then ask them what types of conditions they have the hardest time with.

We have a “golden area.” We don’t treat acute situations where people are in hospital, and we also don’t want to deal with the black and white kind of situations that are diagnosable. We want the bit in the middle where there’s ongoing care and complementary care that comes along with helping symptom relief.

Particularly for mental health, gut-related conditions, stress, and long-term pain or sleep issues. These are all grey areas where a patient will be at the office every week wanting to talk to the doctor. So we have this amazing chance to help in those types of areas. You have to get that across, and at the same time get across that you want to know who you can refer to them.

What is the main focus of the clinic? Ask them what they have the most amazing results with, and they’re going to tell you about their specialities.

That’s when you mention you have some clients to pass on to them. For instance, if they say they handle fertility issues, you tell them about some fertility clients you’d love to pass on to them. Ask who else you could refer to them.

Most likely, they will be happy to accept your referrals and will naturally offer to refer back to you as well.

What did I say at the beginning? The fantastic, the fabulous, and the funds are in the follow-up.

Push Through the Fear

You don’t get these opportunities if you don’t step up and push through the fear.

Remember that there’s going to be nine people in that room, four of whom are madly writing up reports or diagnoses, and trying to keep up with all of their work. So they might not be a hundred percent listening to you.

Don’t get offended if they’re not. It might be they have a million other things to do and the thing that stands out for them is that story you told about the IBS client, the insomnia client, or the allergy client.

Whatever it is that stands out for them, the next person they see just like that, they’re going to remember and maybe say,

“Hmm, well I can give you this for now but it would be great if you go and see the naturopath down the road.”

So go ahead, feel the fear, lean in and have the conversation anyway. Don’t get offended and don’t take it personally, because it’s not about you. There is so much else going on in a medical practice that you don’t see in an everyday situation. If there’s one person in the room that sends you one other client, guess what? You’ve helped one extra person that you weren’t going to help.

It’s not about the referral. It’s being able to help that one other person that wasn’t going to get help the way that you can give it. That one other person that wasn’t going to get access to the natural health information that you have.

Because you stepped up and felt the fear and had the conversation anyway, you can help that person. And that person could help one other person by telling them about their experience and sharing it. You just never know what could happen from that.

So it’s not about you being a quack or getting the referral or winning or failing at this conversation. It’s about being able to help one extra person.

I love this idea so much that it always gives me goosebumps thinking about it. If you guys could just have one extra conversation where you didn’t think you could, and it turns into one extra person being helped, that’s 2,000 extra people who could get helped.

Then if they were to tell one extra person, that’s 4,000 people who could get help just by you being brave enough for three seconds to stand in front of a practice manager and say,

“I’d like to have a conversation and bring some sushi or blueberry chocolates and I’d love to find out who I can refer to your medical practice.”

Having the fear and doing it anyway, and then being able to help somebody. That’s what it’s all about. Don’t get yourself tripped up on the idea that it has to be perfect. You are gonna fumble on it at first. Don’t get yourself all worked up that not everybody in the room is going to love you. Focus on the one that does, and don’t get fearful about the word referral. It’s literally a conversation to help somebody more than what you were going to help before.

Take the Challenge

My challenge for you guys – you know there’s always an actionable step! – is to have a conversation with somebody. Maybe it’s the hairdresser down the road – I bet you she’s had a stressed-out client or a client who’s had menopause or a client who’s just had babies. Maybe it’s talking to a beautician, maybe it’s talking to the medical practice that you know is in your mind right now.

You talking to people about what you do is the first step in getting other people to talk about what you do. That’s how word of mouth works for practitioners.

I hope you guys have an amazing week! I hope this has been really beneficial. If you know somebody who needs to hear this as well, please share it and take up the challenge!

Hugs,

Tammy x