Ep 50 - Why consultations are out and selling outcome driven solutions is better

Episode Show Notes

Hello, hello and welcome to episode 50 of Beyond the Clinic! I can’t quite believe we’ve hit this milestone, and I’m so excited to dive into one of my absolute favourite topics today – doing things better. Better for you, better for your clients, and better for your business. If you’re a healthcare professional or a dietitian like me, this episode is going to be a game-changer. Let’s uplevel together, shall we? 

Episode Summary

In this milestone episode, I’m exploring how to expand your business beyond the traditional one-to-one clinic model. We’ll talk about how you can extend your reach, improve accessibility to your services, and diversify your income streams. I’ll guide you through the challenges of private practice, why single sessions just don’t cut it anymore, and how to embrace the creative online space to scale your business without burning out.

By the end of this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why the traditional clinic model might be limiting your growth.

• The biggest problems with selling single sessions.

• How creativity in online practice can boost your income and improve client outcomes.

• Practical steps to get started today.

And don’t miss the details about my free three-day mini-course, The Freedom Formula, coming this May!

Key Takeaways

The traditional one-to-one clinic model caps your income, limits your reach, and can lead to burnout.

Clients need more than single sessions to achieve lasting transformation – they need structure, accountability, and ongoing support.

Creative business models like group coaching, hybrid programs, and automated pathways allow you to scale your business and improve client outcomes.

Positioning your business as a premium solution helps clients see the value of the transformation you provide, not just the cost of your time.

Resources & Links

Join my free mini-course, The Freedom Formula, in May 2025 – I’ll walk you through how to expand your expertise into creative, alternative income streams while avoiding burnout.  

So, what’s one creative change you can make today? Could you set up a group coaching session? Create an automated email sequence? Or design a resource to guide clients between sessions? Let me know – I’d love to hear what you’re working on! And don’t forget to grab your spot in The Freedom Formula mini-course – it’s completely free and packed with value.

I'd love to hear from you, click the link to 'text' the show directly

Mindset Programme Waitlist: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/mindset-waitlist

Freedom Formula: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/freedom-formula

The Master Plan:

Helping you build the business of your dreams. Get your 22 point step-by step workbook here: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/master-plan

Connect with me:

Website: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dietitiansinbusiness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondtheclinicbusiness

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

Episode transcription:

[00:00:00] Sarah Almond Bushell: Hello, hello and welcome along to episode 50. I feel like this is a bit of a milestone episode, and so I wanted to dive into my favourite subject, which is all about doing things better, better for you, better for your clients, essentially just upleveling things. And so this episode is gonna be a really great one for you.

[00:00:24] So if you're a healthcare professional or a. dietician like me You might be wondering how to [00:00:30] expand your business beyond the traditional one-to-one clinic model. You might be wondering how you can extend your reach to get in front of more clients. You might be wondering how to improve accessibility to your services to get better results or outcomes for your clients, and also to diversify your revenue streams and income.

[00:00:55] And so in this milestone episode, I wanna say, we're gonna cover all of [00:01:00] that. This is exactly for you. So we're gonna be diving into the creative online space, how you can leverage it to really scale your business whilst avoiding burning out. And by the end of this episode, I hope that you will learn why the traditional clinic model might actually be limiting your growth.

[00:01:24] What the biggest problems are with selling single sessions. How [00:01:30] creativity in online practice can increase both your income, but also crucially improve our client's outcomes. And then some practical steps to get you started today. As always. And if you are ready to take action after what you've listened to today, in May, 2025, I'm gonna be delivering the Freedom formula.

[00:01:53] So this is a free three day minicourse that will walk you through expanding your expertise [00:02:00] into more creative alternative income streams. We're gonna be harnessing the power of automation in your marketing so that you don't feel swamped. In work and that you've got time to go off and do other things.

[00:02:13] So stay tuned and I'm gonna tell you more all about that towards the end of the show today.

[00:02:20] Okay, so most of you listening will have a private practice, or at least are aspiring to have one. And so I wanna start this episode [00:02:30] by outlining the real challenges that you have or you will have in private practice. So I think the number one thing that we can probably all relate to is your income is going to be capped by how many clients you can see one-to-one.

[00:02:46] So even if you've got a thriving practice, you likely won't wanna work more than, I dunno, 40 hours a week. And hopefully it's less than that as I want you to have a bit of a life too. But my point is, you are by the number of [00:03:00] hours in your working day. What will happen is you're gonna hit a ceiling, which either means running a waiting list or bringing in an employee.

[00:03:09] And of course, if you do that, you reduce your profits with one-to-one clinics. It's really unlikely that you're gonna replace an employee's salary before you burn out with exhaustion. The other challenge is that if you need time off, it can mean no income. If you are sick, [00:03:30] it can mean no income. If you go on holiday, there's no clients, and so it's no income.

[00:03:37] And if your private practice happens in real life, as in clients actually physically come and see you in a geographical location, your reach is also gonna be capped. It's gonna be limited to those who can actually physically travel to get to see you. And then finally, burnout is real. I know I've experienced it myself, but [00:04:00] when you are running long clinic days with back-to-back sessions and then client related admin on top of that, it leaves very little wiggle room for flexibility.

[00:04:10] And you know what? Just enjoying life outside of work. Essentially what happens when you get to this stage is you've created a job for yourself. And I'm pretty sure that's not why most of us go into private practice. So let's talk about why. I believe single sessions just aren't [00:04:30] enough. They're just not fit for purpose anymore.

[00:04:33] So the new consultation plus follow-up model is actually very rarely enough to get clients real true results. Decent lasting outcomes. And we know this from the NHS model and how that operates. So when there's a lack of continuity or a lack of long-term support, clients come in for that initial consultation and they leave feeling motivated, but then real life [00:05:00] happens.

[00:05:00] They forget the advice, they struggle to implement those changes, and by the time they come back for a follow up, even if they do. They've made little progress, so without having structured support in place, many of our clients just simply give up. They might start out with great intentions. They might think that they can self-manage in between sessions, but the reality is that health behavior change is really very complex.

[00:05:29] Without [00:05:30] accountability, without reminders, and a system in place to support them. It's really easy for our clients to revert back to old habits, and when they do come back, they often need to start over again making their overall progress much slower than it could be. The other thing here is clients need more than information.

[00:05:51] These days they can get information from chat GPT instead. What they need is transformation. And as [00:06:00] healthcare professionals, we don't just provide knowledge, we. Help clients implement real lasting change, but change doesn't happen instantly. Clients need structured guidance over a period of time with coaching with check-ins, which their questions answered as and when they arise with progress tracking and personalized adaptations.

[00:06:25] When I was doing my PhD with my supervisor, [00:06:30] he was head of the health psychology department at the university that I was affiliated with, and his team had explored this in depth. Advice alone isn't enough to get people to make lasting changes to their health. Clients need ongoing access to you, but actually not always in real time.

[00:06:51] What happens between sessions? If a client has questions or doubts or struggles and they don't have a way to reach you, they will probably fall [00:07:00] off track. So I like to think of this, this way. If you wanted to train for a marathon, for example, let me ask you this. Would a single session and two follow-ups with a running coach be enough?

[00:07:13] No, of course it wouldn't. You need a training plan. You need regular feedback. You need accountability, all to keep you on track, and health changes require that same level of structure and commitment, something that single sessions alone just cannot [00:07:30] provide. And then I think actually that insurance companies make this worse because many of the health insurance companies will only cover three sessions, you know, a new one, and then two follow-ups, which forces both you and your client to a bit of a rushed timeline.

[00:07:48] Three sessions might be enough to diagnose a problem and make some recommendations, but it's nowhere near enough for clients to create the sustainable habits that they need for long-term [00:08:00] success. And it's really interesting because insurance company don't think twice about authorizing 12 sessions for a therapist, and yet it's often only three for AHPs.

[00:08:12] And when the insurance runs out, often those clients disappear. They're unable to self-fund even if they still need support. They're left struggling on their own. While you are left feeling like you could have done more and you've lost revenue as well. So we know that without [00:08:30] structured regular support, our clients lose motivation.

[00:08:34] They fall off track and they fail to see lasting transformation. And we don't want this for our business because that means bad reviews. So. Here's why the traditional consultation model is actually gonna hurt the future of your business. If you are only offering news and follow-ups, you are missing out.

[00:08:57] Clients who can't find [00:09:00] flexible options will just go elsewhere, and sadly, it's to unqualified health coaches and influencers instead. So nowadays, clients expect convenience. Are you providing it? People are used to doing everything online now. Shopping, banking, even their therapy. If they can't access your expertise in a way that fits around their lifestyle and meets their preferences, they will find somebody else who offers it.[00:09:30]

[00:09:30] Health coaches and non-qualified influencers literally are taking our clients because potential clients are already searching for a health advice online. The problem is they're not actually looking for a dietician or an OT or a physio. What they're looking for is a result, like, how can I stop my bloating?

[00:09:52] Or how can I get rid of this lower back pain? And what that means is that they're potentially getting unqualified generic advice from [00:10:00] influences and self-proclaimed experts. So if you are not showing up in their search results, they're gonna be spending their money elsewhere. You are working harder and not smarter because as mentioned, if you take time off for whatever reason, your income stops.

[00:10:18] So this business model is in fact really quite fragile because what happens if you get sick? What happens if you want to take a holiday? Your income is tied directly to client [00:10:30] sessions. There is no financial buffer. You are leaving money on the table. By not incorporating more creative or innovative offerings.

[00:10:39] You are placing a limit on the amount of money that you can receive by basing your availability on your working hours. But when you add in more scalable revenue streams, you can help more people without actually maxing out. So when I first started my business coaching [00:11:00] business back in 2020, the model that I used with my colleagues was this, it was 12 weeks of education.

[00:11:08] I taught it live. My clients would show up to a Zoom call and I'd share my screen and present a bunch of slides, educating my colleagues on business and marketing. We would have some time for questions at the end, and then everyone would leave and show up a week later for the next installment. Very few of these original clients [00:11:30] made any real progress in their business.

[00:11:33] Now, dietetics is a very small world, so it's fair to say that I know most of these OG clients, and while I can say without a doubt that they know more about online business and digital marketing now, how we have great conversations, most haven't implemented what I've taught them. And of course, five years on most of what I taught them is now out of date.

[00:11:57] What I realized is that information [00:12:00] alone is not enough, and so after a couple of years, I took my mastermind as it was called then offline. I changed the program. I rerecorded a library of information, updating the original and adding in lots more to create a reference library. So not a course. It was something that my clients could access and utilize whenever they needed it.

[00:12:25] I added in done for you templates, [00:12:30] things like sales sequence emails where they could literally download them, fill in the blanks to match their own businesses and upload them into their email service provider and run with it to save them some time, and instead those weekly calls became pure coaching live and in the moment.

[00:12:50] I extended the length of time from the 12 weeks that we originally had to 24 weeks with an option to continue on afterwards, and I've recently added in a [00:13:00] 12 month option, and I've also upped our time together to twice weekly coaching calls. No one I know in the business coaching world does that. And now this program's got a new name.

[00:13:11] It's called Accelerate because that is a true reflection of what I've observed my clients achieving. So now my clients get results. They set goals and they achieve them. They get new clients, they make money, they arrange their time so that they can take Fridays off if they want [00:13:30] to. It's taken away the information overwhelm and instead given them a clear pathway.

[00:13:37] So yes. Now and again, a client tries to binge the entire content library, and yes, they do end up in overwhelm and panic, and sadly, I can't control that. But you don't need to know everything all at once. You just need to know what you need at that particular time in order to move your business forwards.

[00:13:55] But my point is that the bog standard model of information [00:14:00] giving, like when you have new assessments and follow up appointments, isn't really enough in this day and age. And so what I'd love for you to do is consider how you can get creative in how you deliver your services. And I have a. Four step process to help you do just that.

[00:14:18] So step one is redesign your services for scalability. So instead of relying solely on new and follow up appointments, you can redesign your services to [00:14:30] deliver your expertise in multiple ways. While giving your clients the structure they need. So for example, rather than one-off consultations, imagine providing a program that supports clients over time.

[00:14:44] So a group coaching program where you host weekly or biweekly calls to serve multiple clients at once is a good example of this. With this, you make sure you have equal amounts of time for teaching and the [00:15:00] coaching. It could be a hybrid model where clients get access to self-paced content like videos and guides and templates paired with live coaching sessions, and even a community of like-minded individuals, much like what I do in Accelerate, you can have hybrid one-to-ones as well as hybrid groups.

[00:15:20] Essentially, it's a combination of a course, a support network, and live calls. And when you combine educational modules and [00:15:30] group coaching or structured follow-ups, your clients don't feel lost. In between sessions, they can watch pre recorded content to reinforce key lessons. They can check in via. The chat or the online community that you've set up, and they can even receive automated reminders to keep them on track.

[00:15:51] And it's this that keeps them engaged, it keeps them motivated, and it keeps them accountable. And ultimately this leads to better [00:16:00] long-term results. You could have a membership or a subscription model given clients ongoing access to materials Q and A sessions in a private community for as long as they continue to pay.

[00:16:14] Now these tend to be lower costs, so you'll need a large audience of bias to make it feel worthwhile, and you'll need to refresh the content regularly to encourage people to stay. So this. Restructure, allows you to help more people at once while [00:16:30] reducing that overall workload, and most importantly, it improves client outcomes.

[00:16:37] Step two is create a unique methodology and client pathway. Now, to truly make your program successful, you'll need to establish a really clear journey for your clients. And this is where your unique methodology comes in. So every successful program, whether it's one-to-one or a group, follows a structured pathway, a roadmap essentially, that [00:17:00] clients can follow with key milestones that help them see their progress.

[00:17:05] So ask yourself, what are the main stages of transformation that your client goes through when they work with you? For example, if you help people with IBS, their journey might look like phase one, understanding their triggers. Phase two, implementing the adjustments and testing different foods and tracking symptoms.

[00:17:27] Phase three might be the long-term maintenance, [00:17:30] learning how to eat flexibly without triggering symptoms. If you're in the weight management space, it might be step one is just establishing a routine or a schedule for eating. Step two might be food and nutrition education. Number three, shopping and understanding food labels.

[00:17:47] Number four, healthier cooking methods. Number five, understanding appetite and hunger. Cues six, hydration seven movement, and exercise eight. Managing emotional triggers. [00:18:00] You get the picture. There's key things that your clients go through in order to achieve the result that they want to achieve at the end of the program.

[00:18:10] So when you have this clear progression, clients always know where they are in their journey, and they always know what the next steps should be. And this helps them stay engaged. It helps keep them motivated and accountable to the methodology, reducing drop-offs, and also [00:18:30] improving their long-term success.

[00:18:32] Because your job isn't just to give advice and information. It's to guide your clients through a process and encourage them to stay the course so that they do get real transformation. Step three is automate and streamline your support. Now you know me, I do like a bit of tech and a more creative business model doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be available all the time.

[00:19:00] You can take advantage of this tech. In fact, when you do, it allows you to be at your client's beck and call far less. It's all about being available, but in a really structured way. So to reduce the need for constant one-to-one interactions, you can use automated onboarding. So this is really to set expectations, to answer really common questions that you know that they're gonna have.

[00:19:28] So I like to [00:19:30] do this via daily short emails. Each one shows them something new that they can go and explore within the program or the members area and research a good onboarding experience encourages clients to actually take action, which of course is what we want. You could also create pre recorded lessons so that clients can learn at their own pace, but consider different learning styles when you're doing this.

[00:19:57] Some people like videos, others just wanna pop in [00:20:00] their earbuds and listen to you as a podcast, transcripts, templates, downloadable worksheets, et cetera. Are super, super handy and like I mentioned, I have a fill in the blanks done for you resource, which my clients love. So is there something similar that you can offer your.

[00:20:18] You can use email sequences and automated messages as well to provide touch points without having to manually reach out to every single client. Likewise, in my business, a [00:20:30] month before my clients six months expire, I have an automated email to introduce them to the idea of continuing on. You can set up FAQ hubs or resource libraries to answer those really common repetitive questions without needing extra calls.

[00:20:48] So I've got a really great example of this in the children's nutritionist my other business within my membership called the Happy Healthy Eaters Club, where I've got. A short two to [00:21:00] three minute library of videos that answer all of those common questions that parents ask when they're just trying to get their toddler to actually sit down and eat.

[00:21:09] And then finally, you could have a pre-scheduled office hour that clients know about in advance, and they can drop in with their questions, or they can send them into you in advance for you to answer. We have a Google calendar in my business where clients can integrate it with their own online calendar, and that has all of our coaching calls listed.

[00:21:29] All of our [00:21:30] office hours, our live events, all diarized with the correct Zoom links. And these are all designed to save you time whilst ensuring that your clients feel supported but not overwhelmed at every stage of working with you. And then finally, number four is to position your business as a premium solution.

[00:21:51] So. Everything I've said to you so far has given you some ideas on the logistics, but I really wanna talk about positioning of your [00:22:00] business because when you sell a solution or a transformation, an outcome, rather than single consultations, clients see you as a premium service. Now the majority of health professionals that I've worked with over the last five and a bit years have been underpricing their services when they first started working with me, and that's because they were only charging for their time rather than the value of the transformation that they provided.[00:22:30]

[00:22:30] If your business helps people get a life changing result, you need to increase your price accordingly. I'm gonna say that again. If your business helps people get a life-changing result, you need to increase your price accordingly. I've said that twice because I really wanted to sink in. So instead of selling a one hour session or a bundle of three, package your expertise into a [00:23:00] complete transformation, something that's worth far more to your client than an hourly rate.

[00:23:06] And when your service is structured as a comprehensive solution to a big problem, they have clients see the big picture on how this can improve their lives and the impact on their loved ones, and they are far more likely to invest at a higher level as a result. So as we come towards the end of this episode, my action step for you today [00:23:30] is just to identify one creative change that you can make today.

[00:23:35] Could you create a resource to guide clients between sessions? Could you set up a group coaching session? Could you set up an automated email sequence triggered when you get a new client that supports your client's onboarding automatically? So what we've talked about today is the shift from that traditional clinic model to a more creative [00:24:00] and innovative business model.

[00:24:01] One that removes the cap on your income, helps your clients achieve better results, and frees you from the burnout of constant one-on-one work. So instead of relying on single sessions, you can structure your expertise into scalable programs and automated pathways allowing you to provide ongoing support without adding more hours to your schedule.

[00:24:26] When you have that unique methodology and a clear client [00:24:30] journey with milestones along the way, your clients stay engaged. They see their progress. They achieve better outcomes, and with automation, you can serve them efficiently whilst creating more freedom and flexibility in your life. So this isn't about working more or working harder.

[00:24:49] It truly is about working smarter because a small change today can completely transform how your business looks in the long run. So [00:25:00] if this is appealed to you, I really want you to come along to my free of charge mini course called The Freedom Formula. I'm running it in May, and I will pop the link to book your seat in the show notes below.

[00:25:14] Bye for now.