Building a Thriving Practice--Part VII

Corporations are looking for you.

Corporations are looking for you. Most of them don't know you exist and, even if they did, they may not believe that you can support your claims. At least not at first. Nonetheless, they are looking for you. They need what you can provide, badly. And they have no problem paying for it.

Why? Because you can substantially increase the productivity of their employees. You can relieve traumatic memories and PTSD and thus eliminate or reduce intrusive memories that inhibit productivity. You can relieve headaches (including migraines) as well as numerous other physical maladies that keep employees from performing well. You can provide relief for dyslexia, asthma, depression, phobias and a long list of other ailments. This leads to a reduced use of the company medical plan. You can also (and this is big, really big) relieve the fear of rejection and sales call reluctance from the corporation's sales force. That translates to more revenue in the door--very important to every business, including yours.

All of this is critical to the corporation's profitability. Every sizeable business on the planet is acutely aware that their bottom line is directly dependent on employee output. The larger corporations have whole departments dedicated to the betterment of the workforce quality. Many have Human Resource Departments (HRD). Others have Employee Assistance Professionals (EAP). Some have both.

Less than 1% of all the healing professionals in the world are even aware of EFT or any of the other energy based healing modalities. You are among that 1%. If you attended our advanced seminars, you are among the elite 1/10 of 1% that are on the cutting edge of what is really possible here. Many corporations are out there paying big money to the other 99+% for results that are nowhere close to what you can provide. In time, this will change, of course. But, for now, you have a HUGE OPPORTUNITY knocking at your door.

The possibilities here are endless. For example, you could be a consultant to several corporations and go from company to company as an independent contractor. Or you could be a full time employee of one corporation and receive retirement benefits, medical plan, sizeable salary, etc. In either case, your concerns about getting new clients would vanish. You would have a captive audience. Another possibility is to act as a trainer for the EAP departments of various companies. You could also establish a newsletter that would go to hundreds or thousands of corporations.

I know. I know. This all sounds good. But how do you do it? How do you break out of an existing paradigm and go out into the (gasp!) business world where, perhaps, you have little experience and are out of your comfort zone? How do you get these people to recognize your talents? What is the magic formula for doing all this?

Sorry, there is no magic formula. If there was, others would have overused it by now and made it ineffective. To be successful in any business venture you must be willing to stub your toe. You must try something and keep that part of it that seems to work while discarding the rest. Then add new ideas to what works until you get better and better at what you are doing. The business world offers great rewards for those who have a first class product and are willing to persist. You have the first class product. Are you willing to persist?

Borrowing on the experiences of those who have had some business success is a good place to start. I happen to be one of those "business success" people so I'm going to share an idea with you that should get you started. It has several parts:

• Make a list of at least 30 of the larger corporations in your area.
  
• Call up the corporation and find out who the decision maker is (usually the president). You don't necessarily need to ask for an appointment but you do need to get the name of the decision maker. I would be pleasantly persistent and pursue the president of the company even if s/he tries to push you downstairs to the EAP department. The president is ultimately the decision maker. Typically, that's who you need to see.
  
• Send each decision maker one letter a week discussing a success you have had in your own practice. That's 30 letters a week. That's the same as 30 sales calls. This should be easy to do with the modern mail merge facilities that are included within most word processors. Compose one letter and it is automatically customized for 30 people. An example of a letter is given shortly.
  
• Send the first letter by certified mail. This gives it an air of importance. They need to sign for it and are thus more likely to remember your name. This is important. Future letters will be more easily recognized and accepted.
  
• Follow up by phone as you deem appropriate. Even if you don't follow up, however, sooner or later some of them are likely to call you. If your letters truly portray what you are doing in a professional manner, they will have interest. Be informative. Be helpful. Be factual. Be low key. Also, be aware that the ones who will contact you are most likely to be those for whom your letters have a personal meaning. If the recipient of your letter has a given problem which needs relief (or if a family member has such a problem) this is likely to prompt their call. It will be your opportunity to prove your claim. Expect this.
  
• Don't stop sending your letters until they ask you to stop. Keep them coming. Each time you send a letter they see your name again. That helps with rapport and familiarity. After awhile you become a friend. A sort of pen pal. That means when you eventually call them, you are not a stranger. It is not a cold call. It is a warm call. Very important. Don't stop sending the letters. Each one builds your credibility and helps establish rapport.

Here's a sample first letter. Adjust it however you deem appropriate.

Hope this helps, Gary Craig

P.S. May you know the blessings on your shoulders.

Harry Corsover comments on the
client being available for calls

Gary Craig writes....

For your interest, here is a recent case I completed with Cindy. [Now discuss the details of the case using a before and after scenario. If Cindy agrees (usually she will), invite the recipient of your letter to call Cindy to discuss how she feels about the result. This connection between Cindy and the letter recipient is very powerful. The mere fact that you make it available sets you apart from the crowd.]

Hi, Gary.

Thanks for the info, pep talk, and suggestions. Personally, I need that, along with a specific structure. I probably (still) have some tapping to do on my reluctance to enter into the business world.

As for the above paragraph, I feel a need to point out some ethical guidelines and restrictions that apply to asking a psychotherapy client or even former client to be available for such calls. As far as I know, in all the professions, doing so would be considered unethical. The power differential, and thus the potential for exercising undue influence even makes it difficult for us to gently suggest that clients refer others to us. To do anything that is designed for the benefit of the therapist and not the client is stepping onto the proverbial slippery slope.

Now, to do the above with a consulting/corporate/coaching client is a different story. The distinction (from what I've gathered in consulting with attorneys, grievance board and attorney general's office personnel) is that there must be no expectation of or experience of a psychotherapy relationship in order to do some of the things that have been discussed here.

So, it may appear to be a Catch-22: you've got to have some non-psychotherapy clients in order to be able to point to specific people/results as a way to gain non-psychotherapy clients. Perhaps one way to develop that would be to do some free introductory work, and offer that in the letters?

Regards,

Harry Corsover, PhD

Gary Craig responds to Harry Corsover

To Harry Corsover and the list,

Harry, your thoughts about there being some possible ethical difficulties with having a psychotherapy client answer calls, give testimonials or referrals, etc. are well taken. Everything written on this forum is meant strictly for the use and perusal of the readers but only to the extent they choose to use the ideas presented. If one's state, country or licensing boards would frown on a given suggestion then one must act accordingly.

However, even if it is not possible to have a live testimonial (such as I suggested), you could always offer to play any of the sessions on the EFT videotapes or audiotapes. They are loaded with live testimonials and actual sessions. Further, you could still write up one case history per week without disclosing any identifying information. That is very compelling, especially when it shows up in your prospects' mailboxes week after week after week after week after week after week....

You could also refer them to the Case Histories section of our web site. That should help open their eyes.

The bottom line here is that everyone using EFT or any of the energy therapies can do things that are, to date, unheard of in the corporate world. Corporations need these services for their employees (and executives) and sooner or later will be using them. That is inevitable. Whether or not you are on board when the train is speeding will depend on what you do now. It is a HUGE (and obvious) business opportunity. We are all on the ground floor of a healing high rise. If you want to get on the elevator, start calling on corporations.

Hugs to all, Gary

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