Tom Rauch

Building a Structured Program

The best coaches, the best teachers, the best businesses, the best organizations all have a process, a system for getting their clients breakthrough results.  The kind of results that turn their students, clients, and employees into active promoters who have an emotional connection to the person or the organization, sometimes both.

Building a system that generates those kinds of results is hard work — it takes a lot of reflection and creativity.  But consider the pay-off, you get a process that’s repeatable.  You can see more clients in a month without burning yourself out.  You can increase revenues AND lower costs which raises profitability.

That’s why I created this video, to show you how the “best” bosses and coaches and teachers and businesses get outstanding results for their clients.  After you watch the video, I encourage you to download the template (below) to help you get organized.

Adobe Acrobat version

Microsoft Word version

I’d love to see what you come up with, so when you finish the template, send me a copy and let’s talk!

Building a Web Presence for Your Virtual Practice

(the first in a series of how-to’s and tutorials to help you decide what web-based technologies make sense for your virtual holistic practice).

What is a blog, exactly?

Blog is short for “web log.”  Not the most elegant name, but it’s here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

A blog is a website, just like any other website accessible through an Internet browser.  Blogs many of the same basic technologies as many other websites you’ve visited.  They have pictures, buttons, fill-in boxes, hyperlinks, etc.  You can embed video clips, process customer orders, have people opt-in for newsletters – all the things you would expect to find on a fully-functional, high powered website.

Blogs are unique in how they organize content, especially content created by the owner of (and visitors to) the blog.  Blogs are highly interactive.  As you may know, blogs got started and became popular because they were a simple, easy way for a blog owner to create the equivalent of their own personal online newspaper or magazine.  In fact, I was introduced to blogs through my good friend Jim Pire about the time of the second Gulf War.  Residents of Iraq who had Internet access started posting blog entries that were many times more accurate (and compelling) than the late, often-sanitized news dispatches from the Western new agencies.

Blogs allow visitors to the site an opportunity to post comments about an article that the owner/author has written.  I’m sure you’ve seen this feature in many websites (lots of “traditional” newspapers now allow readers to comment on articles posted.)

Blogs became popular in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s because they are so simple to set up and make functional “out of the box.”  Also, the most popular blogging software (Wordpress, which I use) is free.  You just download to a server, install it (which takes about 5 minutes), apply a theme (of which there are literally thousands to chose from, many of which are also free), and your now blogging.  Posting is easy, responding to comments is easy.

Then, of course, it gets a lot more complicated after that , depending on what you want your blog to do for you, your business, and most important – your clients.

Next Post: The Pro’s and Con’s of Using Blogging Software for Your Site

Got Strengths?

Of course you do, we all do. But how much time do you set aside every day to build on your strengths? Be honest!

For most people — myself included — building on their strengths is something they “should” do or do when they have the time. In reality, most people never do. They don’t even know how to talk about their strengths in meaningful ways: how to build on them, continue to develop them, see them in action. Perhaps most important, many people continue to engage in activities and pursue careers that do NOT play to their strengths, which leads to stress, disappointment, feelings of resignation (“oh well, that’s just the way life is.”)

If I had to guess, around 10% of the people in the US spend time working on their strengths. A 2008 study conducted by Marcus Buckingham (author of several books about strengths-building) noted that about 14% of employees believed they played to their strengths everyday.

The benefits of playing to your strengths, and continuing to build on them, are now well documented. People who focus on what they do really well report higher levels of engagement with their work, and greater overall satisfaction with their lives. They love what they do, and they do it very well. They don’t get caught up doing things they hate doing and aren’t very good at it — they figure out ways to manage around their “weaknesses” not just to avoid unpleasant tasks but as a way of eliminating distractions.

People who build on and play to their strengths make more money. They are experts, league-leaders, authorities in their field. They attract new clients and keep existing ones through what I call an “infectious enthusiasm.” People in their presence want to experience that inspiration, the belief that significant, meaningful change is possible — even probable.

People who know their strengths and take care of them are — happy. I mean think about it: if you were able to go to work (at a business or as a solo practitioner) doing what you love each and every day, and have others be grateful that you are — how would that change your life? The stuff you hate doing? You give it to people who love doing it, because it plays to their strengths.

There are several places you can go to identify and cultivate your strengths. I encourage you to read books by Tom Rath and Marcus Buckingham.  The “godfather” of positive psychology — Martin Seligman — has also written extensively about the relationship between strengths and living a fulfilled life.

Here’s a list I came up with based on the work I’ve done helping people (especially leaders, managers, coaches and holistic practitioners) describe their strengths to themselves and other people.

Which one (or two) resonate with you?

1. I’m a relationship strategist
2. I help people get unstuck
3. I get to the story behind the problem
4. I get people to push themselves harder and further
5. I help people get what they want
6. I help people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be
7. I help managers be better leaders
8. I take the pain out of managing people
9. I help people contribute and connect
10. I get people to learn from their problems

Just like anything else involving growth and development, consistency and focus is key.

Online Client Intake Forms

I know many of you are interested in creating on-line Client Intake Forms.  Working with clients in a “virtual” environment virtually (ha!) demands it.

But setting up online forms can be tricky, especially if you want to do it right (i.e., have your clients’ information saved to a database or spreadsheet for easy querying and reporting; have different kinds of inputs on the form itself — text boxes, multiple choice, list boxes, etc.)

Well, would you believe I created this  simple online Client Intake Form in about 15 minutes, and it does all the “right” things — saves data to a spreadsheet, can accommodate different types of inputs, and you can choose from over 60 different “themes” to give the form itself a unique and professional appearance.

Oh — and wait, there’s more!  It’s all free.

I’d love to create a tutorial that shows you how to do this — if you’re interested, post a comment!  If enough people ask for it, I’m happy to do it!

And many thanks to Kristin Hoppe at Food Therapy,  a San Francisco-based holistic nutrition coaching and education company for letting me use this Client Intake Form!

Check out the form by clicking here.  (after you view the form, if you want to come back here, hit your browser’s “back” button)

Client Loyalty

How client loyalty “happens”

Turning just a couple of paying clients into loyal and raving fans of your business can do wonders for your profitability, as I showed you in this brief video.

The question is this:  how do you go about turning clients into active promoters of your holistic practice?  Companies that have – both large and small – follow these simple guidelines consistently, day-in and day-out.

First, they see the world through the eyes of their clients.  Every business has a set of solutions (products and services) to solve a client problem.  But when those solutions don’t fit the client’s experience  a huge and costly disconnect appears.  Businesses with many active promoters know that they must truly understand their client’s reality, and that it’s always changing.

Second, businesses that have high client loyalty make it easy for customers to do business with them.  They anticipate needs.  They offer options.  They listen.  They change their minds when they see that a policy or process really isn’t working.  They take care of the little things – the thoughtful amenities – that add up to huge value in the eyes of their clients.

Third, they tell the truth.  Businesses that grow through referrals (because they have many active promoters) say when they can help, and when they can’t.  They also tell their clients about other businesses that may be a better fit for them and their needs.  Businesses that turn down business – for the right reasons – engender a lot of loyalty and engagement.  Truth telling in business is the real bottom line, because it builds trust, and the strongest relationships are always built on trust.

Bringing client loyalty into your practice

Those are the guidelines.  Now, if you really do want to increase the loyalty of your clients, I recommend you do these things:

Think about what your client needs to do (or be) to take full advantage of your product/service offering.  Do they need to gain support from the people in their lives (family and friends) to make the changes necessary to lose the weight, eliminate the pain, ease the condition?  Is there something in their daily life that many times gets in the way of them following through on the plan you create with them?  What can you do to help them address these issues?  Businesses that really understand their client’s reality are usually the one’s that end up with much higher client loyalty.

Also think about how easy it is to do business with you.  Take a step back.  Look at your business and operations from your client’s perspective.  Would YOU want to fill out all that paperwork?  Would YOU find YOUR program engaging?    Sometimes we hang on to procedures and processes in our business that we like, or have always used, or a teacher/mentor told us that they were the best available.  But if they are burdensome and unappealing to your client – do you really need them?

Finally, clients want to hear the truth.  They want to know when you don’t know.  They want to know if you are the right fit for them and their health condition and issue.  They need to know what’s really holding them back from getting what they really want in life.  You are in a position to help them hear that truth – gently, respectfully and clearly.

A fun exercise to get you started…

Here’s a fun exercise to help you create even greater  loyalty among your paying clients:

Think about the two or three businesses that you have recommended (and continue to recommend) to family and friends.

• What do these businesses do that sets them apart?
• If you can think of two or three , what do they all have in common?

You might find that your own experience as an active promoter of a business (or two or three!) will help you create active promoters in your own.

I invite you to share your experiences as a loyal and raving fan with our growing community!

Who’s the Best Boss (or Teacher or Coach) You Ever Had?

Was it your fourth grade teacher?  A high school tennis coach?  A college professor?  Your boss in your last job?

Whoever it was, think about them for just a moment.  Take yourself back to some of the more memorable interactions you had with them.

When I think of the best teachers, coaches, bosses I’ve had, I remember several things:

First, they knew their stuff, whatever it was.  They were experts in their field, and had a way of explaining things that were simple, direct and actionable.

Second, they got “me” — they understood my opportunities and challenges, those things that made me unique and different.

Third, they held me to a higher standard — my own.  They saw in me great potential to do good work and give something of meaning back to my community.  They never compared me to other employees or students or players — they asked me (in their own way) to live up to my own potential.

Your clients come to you looking for help, whether they are addressing a health issue of unknown origins, or a very specific health condition that’s been identified but won’t go away.  Either way, they are — whether they will admit it or not — scared that this issue or condition will become permanent, a part of their life, part of their identity forever.

But when people find themselves in the presence of ‘greatness — the kind of greatness we have ALL experienced in the best bosses and teachers and coaches we’ve ever had — something miraculous happens.  Because we believe in them (because they believe in us), we begin to believe in ourselves.  And when we believe in ourselves, our healing not only begins, it accelerates.

Don’t you want to be the best health/healer/holistic practitioner your current and future clients ever had.  That when I ask them “who’s the best boss/coach/teacher they ever had?” your name comes to mind?

By knowing specifically what that person did, you can model their approach, and begin to (or make more consistent) the belief they brought into your life and remains today.  Honor their legacy by making it a part of your practice.

I invite you to start by paying a homage to the person you thought of when I asked the question at the beginning of the post:  “Who’s the best boss or teacher or coach you ever had?” — and — share with us what they did (specifically) to make them the best.

By sharing your story about them, you not only honor their gift to you, you can start bring their methods into your practice AND help other practitioners learn what it takes to be the “best.”

Things that Make Your Target Market Go Hmmmmm…

NOTE: Read “Targeting Your Market” and “Doing the Demographic”

In my previous two posts, “Targeting Your Market” and “Doing the Demographic,” I encouraged you to think about your target market from a slightly different, less-traditional perspective.

Health Condition vs. Health Issue

I believe it makes a lot of sense to think about whether you want to focus on a health issue or a health condition.  Health issues, as I explained, tend to be less specific — a client just feels run down, or they have a pain that their doctor can’t identify.  A practitioner who focuses on a health issue is going to have to do a lot of detective work, ask lots of questions, run their clients through a couple of tests before they can identify the root cause.

A health condition on the other hand, is something that client has (correctly or incorrectly) identified and is now actively seeking to address.  These clients have either been diagnosed and/or confirmed through their own research and intuition that they have a specific and known condition — an autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, lupus.  A practitioner focusing on a condition will still need to do some digging (asking questions, etc.) but they are going to start down a particular path with their client at the beginning of the engagement.  This practitioner may discover that their central challenge is helping their client understand they really don’t have lupus, but something else and/or get them to change a treatment protocol that isn’t helping but has become “safe and familiar” to their client.

So, deciding whether you want to work with an issue or a condition is important, and should reflect your preferences in terms of working with different clients — do you prefer helping people discover the root cause of an unspecified health issue, or do you like working with people who know what they have?  Again,  these are two very different clients.

Demographic profiles: age and gender

In the next post “Doing the Demographic” I pointed out the importance of knowing the demographic profile of our client — especially gender and age range.  I encouraged you to be honest about whether you prefer working with men or women, because marketing to them is very different.  Also, I think it makes a lot of sense to think about the needs and expectations of your target market as way of knowing what age range to focus on.

Writing a preliminary profile of your target market

After reading those two posts, you should be able to write a preliminary profile of your target market that sounds something like this:

I prefer helping men between the ages of 40-48 who are in need of clear, factual information about BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) and expect to have a simple., focused and effective plan that helps reduce this health condition’s impact on their lifestyle within a three month period.  They also need and expect on-going support from a well-trained holistic practitioner to monitor the efficacy of their plan which they are now self-managing.

or, you could write a profile that sounds like:

I prefer helping women between the ages of 22 and 29 who are suffering from a range of health issues that center around frequent loss of energy.  These clients need unconditional support and understanding (many of have been told by their doctor that “it’s all in their head”).  They expect to have a practitioner who listens well, is patient, and understands that their issue will be most effectively resolved by strengthening the mind/body connection.

So far so good, right?  You can be even more detailed in this preliminary profile, adding additional needs and expectations (e.g., young women who are preparing to have a family).  Keep in mind that the more needs and expectations you build into this profile, the narrower your market.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing!  But you also don’t want to be so specific that you end up with 10 people in the world who have that health issue or condition!

Final note before we move on:  You may want to be specific in your profile description about how long they have had the issue or condition.  Do you want to work with people who were recently diagnosed with a condition, or have had it for many years?  Same condition, but the clients will have very different needs and expectations depending on how long they’ve had it.

Things that make your target market go hmmmm….

This next step is the most important — and most creative — piece in your analysis of your target market.

You want to come up with a set of facts or insights that this target market you have identified will find interesting.  Interesting enough to click on whatever call to action button you have on your website.

Let me explain, but first I need to back up.

When your potential client (that male between 40 – 48 with PBH) goes searching for information on the web, they are going to be bombarded with information about what they should be doing (and not doing), taking (and not taking), thinking (and not thinking).  Much of the information won’t be relevant to them, or they won’t find it useful or understandable.  Some of it will generally make sense and seem “good enough” to act on.

Your opportunity is helping them see their condition from a perspective they “get” (because its written specifically to them and about them), and goes one better than the “good enough” information that’s already out there.

You want them to say (or think): “wow, somebody understands me…” Maybe its something about their embarrassment about having it in the first place, or that its an “old guy” disease or its affecting their relationship with their spouse or partner.

You also want them to say (or think): “I never thought of it that way before…”

You know, the things that make you go…hmmmm….

People love having their curiosity aroused and satisfied — just like the proverbial cat.  People with health conditions or issues are actively seeking; 1) someone who gets them (not just their condition or issue) and 2) has a unique insight or perspective or process that they HOPED or FELT INTUITIVELY that existed but were worried that didn’t exist or that people would think they are nuts.

Does this make sense?  I hope so.  Because this is what’s going to make you highly attractive to your target market.  They are going to be inspired and motivated to click on your call to action button on your website which hopefully leads to a phone conversation about their condition or issue, which then leads to you landing a new client.

But it all starts with appealing to a very human desire (enabled and facilitated on a massive scale through Internet search engines) to discover new information about a condition or issue that they are actively seeking to resolve.

Think about it as a client yourself: don’t you just love coming across a website posted by a professional, well-trained authority who says (in effect): Hey, you’re not crazy.  I get it.  I get you.  Let’s work together using a plan and a process that’s worked for other people just like you.

Getting your target market to say/think….hmmmm….I never thought of it that way is a key piece in your development of a busy, thriving holistic practice.