Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center

International Eating Disorder Referral Organization

Marketing Ideas for Eating Disorder Professionals

(Print this page and read it several times)

Website Promotion: If you have a web site, make sure you have a link to www.edreferral.com and make sure we have a link to your site on your profile.  The search engines look for cross-links to popular sites such as EDReferral when determining what order to place each listing in their directory.

The Business Side - the most effective way to turn referral calls into paying clients: Referrals from EDReferral.com can turn out to be very lucrative and often a source of business income for a lifetime. But these referrals all start out differently than the referrals you receive from another professional. Callers to a referral service frequently start out as shoppers. They want to feel secure in their choice of a therapist and they want to feel that they have selected a therapist who will be able to help them with their problems. Understanding the mind-set of the network caller will help you become more successful in turning that caller into a client.

First, talk to the caller as soon as possible. Set aside some time throughout the day that you can speak directly with potential clients, possibly between appointments. After you have made the initial contact with the caller, let him or her know that you would like to allocate some time in order to talk further when you both are free. Taking 5 to 10 minutes out of your schedule per day will make all the difference in building your practice. Remember that it is always a good idea to devote some time to a new potential client no matter if the referral came from a referral service or another professional.

Second, treat the initial call as a mini therapy session. This mini therapy session has different rules from those of your everyday practice. You want to LISTEN to the caller’s main area of distress and OFFER HOPE that the situation will improve. Ask questions: you do not need to spend 20 minutes talking on the phone to each caller, but you do need to obtain a good overview of the caller’s problem so that you can suggest a mode of therapy that you feel would be helpful. The caller is shopping around and wants to find some professional that will listen and understand the problem and offer some direction to a solution. If you do not offer any hope that he or she will be able to find relief, while some other therapist does, guess where that potential client will end up. Realize that a caller’s self-diagnosis may not be accurate. The caller may have just viewed a program on eating disorders and call you saying, “I am obese.” Remember that whenever a caller gives you a self-made diagnosis over the phone, most of the time they are incorrect. Instead of losing those clients by referring them to someone else, determine for yourself with an initial consultation whether you are able to provide that person with effective therapy.

Third, suggest making an appointment during the initial call. Callers are looking to you for guidance. If you are being very “client-centered” and thus leave the options open, the caller may be at a loss as to what to do. He or she may be waiting for you to suggest a plan. There is no harm in confidently suggesting a beneficial course of action. Remember, the caller is contacting you for help. Be sure and provide an easy path for that caller by suggesting a particular time and date for the first evaluation appointment. Following these suggestions will help you to turn callers who would otherwise be lost into long-term clients.

Professional Email Etiquette: Email is a significant form of communication for personal and business use. Knowing how to use email effectively will help you present yourself in a much more professional manner. If you already use email for business, then you may not be surprised that we at EDReferral often receive emails with no subject, no signature and no reference to the previous communication.  Hopefully, this article will help us all to communicate more efficiently.

Email allows fewer context clues to its meaning as compared to face-to-face and telephone conversation. Any written communication must be carefully considered so that it is not misunderstood. The potential for real misunderstanding is significant. For instance, if you email, “Don’t call me on Friday.” When talking in person, this communication may be clear, but when emailing, the recipient may not know whether you mean not to call this Friday or ANY Friday. When you compose an email message, pause and read over it again before you send it. Once it is sent, you can't get it back. Remember that your grammar, spelling, and vocabulary send a message as clear as the words. You want to look polished with your email communication since this reflects on you as a professional.

DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS!!! By convention, capital letters in an email message are considered shouting. If you write all in caps by habit, all the people you email will think you are shouting at them. It is considered rude.

Be very careful about using humor in email. Without the context cues of other forms of communication, humor can very easily be misconstrued. Often something you think is funny will insult the recipient.

Email is not a secure form of communication. By nature, the Internet is not a very private place. Messages float all over the place. It is hard to know who will see your messages, and where they may be forwarded.

Some people use emotion symbols in order to make email (especially jokes) more readable. Often, people will interject little parenthetic comments in their writing to help you understand the meaning. The following example will illustrate the principle. The boss is a PIG. As compared to…The boss is a (wink) PIG (grin!). Another way people try to interject little emotion hints in email messages is through smileys (sometimes called emoticons). These are special combinations of symbols that are supposed to convey emotion. :-) stands for happy. :-( is sad. People have made entire dictionaries of smiley symbols. The best guideline is to remember who you are writing to, and what your message is supposed to be-- this will help you decide if smileys are appropriate.

It is also important to use an appropriate subject line. While it might be nearly impossible to handle 200 phone calls a day and still get anything else accomplished, many people receive hundreds of email messages a day. To improve the odds of your message being handled correctly (or even read at all) be sure to use a short and appropriate subject line such as 'Regarding EDReferral Membership” or 'Question for Dr. Kevin Grold.' If you don't use a subject line or use an inappropriate one, you run the risk of your mail being discarded as junk mail.  Don't put a long list of addresses in the TO: or CC: field These are seen by everyone you send your email to and can offend all of the recipients. Copy the significant part of the email you are responding to back to the person you are emailing. Again, if the recipient is reading hundreds of emails a day, then the details of your personal conversation may not be foremost in his or her mind. If you reference part of your conversation in your email, then the conversation will flow more smoothly.

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Ask how EVERY referral found your number.  Most members of EDReferral, when they begin to ask clients where they heard about their services, are surprised to learn the high numbers of clients who discovered them on EDReferral.com.  You should never be surprised where your clients found you. This is important information you need to build your business.  If you were referred by a local professional, then a thank you card stating that you appreciate their trust, will do wonders for future referrals.

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Understand the value of each referral.  One referral can open the door to referrals from friends and family and can be "the tip of the iceberg," in terms of income. Each individual can lead to many thousands of dollars in income over the life of your treatment. You should understand what each referral can mean to your bottom line which in turn will help you to make decisions about the amount you want to spend for your advertising.

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Follow Success.  If you see a business repeatedly doing the same advertising, take notice. Nobody likes wasting money and if whatever your competition is doing is working over time, then consider that this advertising may also be a good place for you to advertise.

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Understand the value of each referral source. Be sure to make an extra effort to thank the people who refer to you with a follow-up call, email, or a card. Something that says, "there is no compliment better than a referral, and I appreciate the trust you have placed in me."  Many times the person doing the referring is left wondering if anything happened. Don't let this take place in your practice. Small gestures can make a big difference in other's view of your treatment. Also sending some flowers during the holidays to your good referral sources can go a long way toward making you stand out in their minds when they are deciding to whom to refer.  Even if the referral source is giving out three names, they are always emphasizing one over the others.  Make sure it is you.

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The 5 Most Common Email Mistakes made by Online Professionals:

1) Not putting a clear, descriptive title in the heading of your email.  Remember that today professionals are receiving hundreds of emails and spam a day and need to separate out your important email from the junk.

2) Not having a signature line which is both professional and descriptive including your contact information  You put a return address on a piece of mail--why not make it easy for the recipient of your email to contact you?

3) Replying to emails without referencing the previous conversation. It is easy to highlight the conversation before hitting the reply button. This will put your conversation into the email and the reader can be reminded about your previous conversation.

4) Keep the tone in your business emails extra professional and polite. People cannot read your intonation over email and anything that can be taken the wrong way will leave your reader confused.

5) Responding to the whole list of people who were sent the email when you should respond to only one person. If someone sends an email to a group of people and you hit the REPLY button and say something to only one person, then the whole group will read your response.

5 Mistakes made by Eating Disorder Professionals:

1) Assuming that since you receive our newsletter, you have a current membership with EDReferral.com and your information is listed on the site. (Just because you receive this newsletter does not mean your membership is current.)

2) Not updating your profile on EDReferral.com. We have new categories listed on our application and the more you can say about your practice, the more clients can find a good match with you.

3) Not understanding that clients use our site to see if a professional such as yourself is legitimate.  Even though there is no way we can personally screen each applicant, some professionals do not feel that they need a listing and do not realize that clients are checking our site to see if they are listed with an internationally respected organization.

4) Not having a professional phone message system.  The first contact is by phone.  If it is not professional, then clients will move on. Be sure to ask each caller how they heard about you.

5) Not saying anything additional on your profile.  Adding a paragraph about yourself, helps to personalize your information and sets you apart from other professionals. When a client is looking for a good match, they want to find someone with whom they can connect before they make the first call.

The 3 Most Common Mistakes made by Professionals Filling out the EDReferral.com Application:

1) Not updating the profile.  We have new categories added all the time. The more you can say about the types of clients you work with, the more people who will call you for an appointment.

2) Not personalizing your profile.  We ask for a paragraph about you at the end of our application.  We want to know what sets you apart from other professionals.  Clients look to your profile to try to feel more comfortable with giving you a call.

3) Not asking for feedback. Have another professional take a look at your profile on our site.  Ask about impressions and ideas for improvement.  You will be surprised what a second opinion can do to improve the impression you make with your profile. Also take a look at the other profiles on our site.  You may find some ideas to improve your own listing.

The good news is that you can always update your profile at no additional cost.

Place Business Card in your Waiting Room  Your clients WANT to refer their friends and family.  Make it easy by placing friendly, warm, business cards in your waiting room.  A sign over the cards could say, "The trust you show in me when you refer a friend or family member is appreciated and will be honored."

The importance of setting business goals. Goal setting can help you:
1) focus your efforts. 
2) see what you need to do to accomplish your goals. 
3)  get motivated to reach your goals. 
4)  focus your mind on the necessary tasks. 
5) create a game plan for reaching your goals.
6) obtain a sense of accomplishment when you reach your goals.

WRITE YOUR GOALS DOWN NOW!

Your professional email  Make sure your email looks as professional as possible. Have a signature line at the bottom of your email with all your contact information. Your email program has a way to automatically add this signature at the bottom of your emails.  The information will make it easier for your clients and potential clients to contact you. 

Need More Clients? Consider opening a second office.  Look for a location where there are not many professionals treating eating disorders.  Then partner with a busy therapist who can rent out their office on an hourly basis.  Next, contact EDReferral and sign up for a complete second listing (at a reduced rate).  Once your hours pick up, you can get your own office!

NOTICE: GET PUBLISHED! Members--Send us an article you have written which would be of interest to our readers and we will publish it on our site.  We can accept one article per month.  Indicate whether it is directed towards professionals or clients. Email the article to edreferral@aol.com. For examples see: http://www.edreferral.com/Latest_Developments_in_Eating_Disorder_Treatment.htm