Client retention is more cost-effective than new client acquisition. For private practitioners, it involves balancing clients’ needs and goals. Unlike public settings focusing on getting to basic function due to budget constraints, private therapists aim for complete treatment if clients can afford it.
Building trust and gradually introducing additional goals are key. Educating and involving clients’ families in the therapy process enhances outcomes and engagement. Measuring and showcasing progress keeps clients motivated and highlights therapy’s value. A family-centered approach, trust-building, and clear communication foster retention and encourage client referrals, contributing to a successful practice.
Balancing client retention and new client acquisition
When building your private practice, it is important to understand that retaining your clients usually is better return on investment than seeking new clients which can require signification effort.
When thinking about the ethics of retention, it is a delicate balance between the needs of your clients, their goals as well as what is strictly necessary.
A speech and language pathologist working for a hospital or in a public health system will have very different client retention goals than a speech therapist. In a hospital or public setting, often due to budgetary constraints, the goal is usually on restoring basic daily functions rather than comprehensive treatment. A client is typically discharged once they’ve shown substantial improvement and meet standard guidelines.
Should the client require more support, they would thus work with a private speech therapist to continue progress until full resolution.
In a private practice, if a client’s financial situation allows, the focus can be more on achieving the client’s specific goals, often aiming for complete treatment rather than just functional improvement.
This is why it is essential to always first seek to qualify your client’s goals and outcomes.
Building trust as a currency for client retention
Clients however may not always identify all their needs. Your experience becomes valuable in suggesting additional goals as therapy progresses.
From personal experience, I find that with some clients with extensive needs, it may feel overwhelming to list all goals upfront. Instead, as you build trust and showcase progress, build up new goals after addressing some fundamental issues.
Giving your clients options while also explaining the potential consequences of not addressing an issue is vital. This allows families to make educated decisions about their therapy.
For example, I had a young client whose parents sought help for an articulation disorder. During our sessions, I also noticed a voice disorder. We initially focused on the articulation issue. Over time, as the family’s trust in my approach grew, I was able to suggest some additional work on voice disorder.
The early interactions are particularly impactful in setting a strong first impression and beginning to build that trust.
Educating and Empowering your clients & their families
Educating your client and their families about the therapy process is crucial. For instance, in pediatric therapy, there is a fine balance between conducting therapy and engaging the client to make progress. Parents might not understand the purpose behind activities like playing games such as Uno.
Get parents to sit in during the session and possibly actively involved by taking a go at the activities. Explain the reasoning behind what you do. Break it down step by step. Show them how you try different approaches to keep the young client engaged.
Taking time to engage the parent has the extra benefit of enabling them to try some of the steps at home as homework. It serves also for the family to gradually integrate some of the methods in day to day.
Parent training is a proven method to improve children’s outcomes and increase parent use of support strategies1
Measuring progress as metric for the value of investment in speech therapy
Encourage parents to keep simple records of the current state. As therapy progresses, take note of these measures and include them in your reports. Remind clients and their families of where they started and where they are now. Celebrate the progress.
Though, parents need to be guided in how to take simple measures. For example, when they are doing homework with their child, for example count the number of times that the child has been able to elicit the correct sound in a specific sentence. Measure the correct number of elicitations.
When the client can elicit the correct articulation consistently during a therapy session, then count the number of correct elicitations in a spontaneous play session.
Showcase that improvement to your client and their family to reframe the investment and value in your services as well as keep them motivated during sessions and over time.
As we conclude, strong foundations and client retention for a successful business starts with a family centered approach and motivating your clients to carry through their journey. As you build trust and help your clients towards their goals, you might even be lucky and get future referrals to new clients from satisfied families.
1Roberts MY, Curtis PR, Sone BJ, Hampton LH. Association of Parent Training With Child Language Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2019 Jul 1;173(7):671-680. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1197. PMID: 31107508; PMCID: PMC6537769.
