Converting from a solo therapy practice to a group practice is an increasingly popular strategy for therapists in the current economic climate. It’s an exciting growth opportunity! Especially when born out of a successful individual therapy practice. Although, we’ve seen many solo practitioners run into a common pitfall when expanding to a group therapy practice. Their potential clients only want to book with one therapist: them.
Set Your Group Practice Up For Success
Imagine a world where your practice is consistently booked, and you’re ready to hire a couple of new clinicians to help with the influx of client interest. But there’s a snag. You’ve marketed yourself so well that your potential clients develop tunnel vision. Regardless of how many others are part of the practice, the only one getting calls for appointments is you. Whoops!
You can avoid this by focusing on some key changes to your website.
Your home page, about page, and contact page make a significant difference in how potential clients browse your site and how they are introduced to you and your partners.
Leveraging Your Website To Market Your Clinicians
Think about the last time you shopped at a department store. Now try to recall a particularly stylish outfit you noticed while you browsed. Was it on a mannequin?
Display outfits at a department store often look a lot more appealing than the folded shirt and slacks on the table right next to it. It might even be the same exact outfit, but your mind perceives it differently. Not because the outfit is worth less or because it’s not a nice outfit. It’s just folded.
The display outfit is purposefully presented differently. It’s meant to be shiny, to catch the eye, to get someone excited about wearing it. The same rules of display apply to your website to get potential clients excited about your new clinicians.
Two Do’s (and One Don’t) For Your Group Practice’s Website
When designing your website, it’s important to consider how a potential client will use your site to learn more about your practice. Once they’ve skimmed the homepage, they will likely click through to your about page, seeking more information about the therapists who work within the group practice.
Do Blend In
Heights Family Counseling practice leverages its contact pages so that a website visitor will receive an equal impression from each therapist. Can you spot the founder?
A potential client sees that the founder works at each location, but think about how someone would browse this information. Potential know that the founder is one option, but they’re going to look at the information most relevant to their location, based on where they live or possibly where they commute.
If they skim the site according to their location, though, each clinician gets equal focus and attention, and the entire team gets spotlighted.
Do Use “We” Language
Using “we” language gives a potential client the immediate impression of being addressed by more than one person. While “I” language gives the impression that they’re getting to know a single person. It’s a subtle but powerful way to direct the journey of a website visitor.
All of the copy on FIT Counseling’s website embraces “we” language. It addresses a potential client as if they’re greeting and getting to know the entire team, not just one person.
They make very good use of their about page by guiding potential clients to learn more about individual team members, but only after they’ve skimmed through the information about the entire team or started seeking information about one of the many practitioners they have available.
Don’t Make Yourself Stand Out
New Day Group uses their homepage to spotlight one of their clinicians. The potential client is immediately invited to connect with one person by reading and connecting with a direct quote from that particular therapist.
We don’t advise this for group practices.
Part of growing a group practice is stepping out of the limelight. That means prioritizing minimalism for your profile.
Remove the focus from you. Most specifically, lessen your footprint on your home page, contact page, and about page. Instead, use that real estate to put all that focus on your other clinicians