MFM#65 The two core reasons affecting client numbers

Not getting enough clients can be very stressful. It often leads to ongoing financial pressure and a sense of having little control over consistently reaching your desired number of sessions each week.

The two core reasons affecting client numbers tend to always come down to visibility and trust.

Not enough prospective clients know you exist.

And prospective clients aren’t seeing themselves in what you’re saying.

If people aren’t finding your website, it makes sense that enquiries would be low. In that case, proactively getting more people to visit your website through referrer relationships, directories, Google Ads, Instagram, etc., will make a big difference.

However, increasing website visitors in itself won’t automatically result in your caseload filling up. Your website needs to resonate and build trust with your ideal clients.

As soon as someone lands on your website, do they know exactly who you work with, how you help them, and how your approach to therapy can support them to move forward from their pain and challenges towards their desired future?

The essence of marketing is connection and trust. Once people are aware of you and land on your website, your website’s job is to connect and build trust. The best way to do this is to show them that you work with people just like them. Give them insight into what a session is like with you. Show them that you understand their experiences, and that you're passionate about helping people like them.

Clients are trying to decide who they can trust to share their most painful stories with. They may have never shared this with anyone before. They need to quickly feel confident that you won’t judge them, that they won’t have to explain everything from scratch, and that they will feel safe, cared for, and supported. They need to trust that reaching out to you won't be a mistake.

Think about what your ideal client needs to think, feel, and believe about you to trust that you’re the right therapist to help them. Then make sure your website content creates those thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

The more your website connects with and builds trust with your ideal client, the more likely they are to move forward and book an appointment.

When you get more of your ideal clients to your website (visibility), and they trust that you’re the best therapist to help them, enquiries and appointments go up.