Ep 97 5-Step Checklist to Get More Clients

Getting more clients is the most common problem many of my colleagues have.

Whether you are a dietitian, registered nutritionist or any other type of healthcre professional, when you start a private practice and put your services online, clients will naturally find you. But after months of posting on social media and tweaking your website you often find yourself still asking the same frustrating question.

Why is my private practice not getting clients?

The truth is that getting clients is rarely about one thing going wrong. In most cases, it is a small bottleneck somewhere in your 'client getting' journey. Somewhere between a person discovering you and becoming a paying client, something is breaking down.

The good news is that when you view your marketing process as a system, it becomes much easier to diagnose what is happening and fix it.

This five step checklist will help you audit your client getting process so you can pinpoint exactly where to focus your time and energy.

Step 1: Check Your Traffic

The first place to look when you're not getting clients is traffic.

If people are not finding you, nothing else in your marketing process can work. You could have the best programme, the best service and incredible expertise, but if nobody sees it, they cannot become clients.

Traffic simply means how many new people are discovering you each week or month.

Ask yourself:

• Are enough people discovering my content?

• Am I reaching new audiences consistently?

• Are the people finding me actually my ideal clients?

It is easy to assume the problem is sales or pricing when the real issue is visibility.

The best way to assess this is to look at your numbers.

• How many website visitors are you getting each month?
• How many new followers or subscribers are joining your audience?
• Is this growing over time?

You do not need a huge audience to get clients. But you do need a steady stream of the right people discovering you.

If your numbers are very low, your priority should be increasing visibility through things like:

• Search friendly content

• Podcasting

• Guest appearances

• Strategic social media content

• Partnerships or collaborations

Without traffic, the rest of your client getting journey cannot function.

Step 2: Check Your Lead Generation

Once people discover you, the next question is this.

Are they taking a step towards you?

This is where lead generation comes in.

A lead is someone who has shown interest in your work. They might:

• Join your email list

• Download a free resource

• Sign up for a webinar

• Reply to your content

• Ask a question

If people are seeing your content but not taking any action, your process is stuck at the lead generation stage.

This often happens when:

• Your free resource is not valuable enough to your potential clients

• The problem it solves is not specific enough to them

• The opt-in page where they leave their name and email address, does not communicate the outcome clearly

Think about the difference between these two examples.

A free guide called “5 Top Tips for Fussy eaters”.

Versus.

“A 7 day meal planning kit for busy parents who want stress-free family dinners”.

The second one is much more likely to convert traffic into leads because it solves a specific and relevant problem.

If your not getting clients, improving your lead generation method can make a significant difference.

Step 3: Check Content Consumption

The next stage in the client journey is content consumption.

This is where your leads start engaging with your content and experiencing the value of your expertise.

Examples of content consumption include:

• Opening your emails and clicking on the links

• Watching your videos beyond the first few seconds

• Reading your blog posts and leaving a comment or reply

• Attending your free webinars (not just signing up for them)

• Participating in your 5 day challenges

This content consumption step is crucial because it builds trust.

People rarely book with a healthcare professional the first time they discover them. They usually need to see your work several times before they feel confident enough to invest. In marketing we call this 'touchpoints' and just a few years ago the rule of thumb was that people needed and average of 7 touchpoints before coming a client, recent research say's its as much as 30!!

If your leads are not engaging with your content, ask yourself:

• Are my email subject lines compelling enough fo them to want to open them?

• Are my topics relevant to my audience’s real problems?

• Am I providing good quality long form content like blogs, podcasts and YouTube videos that people actually click through to consume?

• Is my content practical and actionable?

Sometimes small adjustments can dramatically improve consumption. For example:

• Clear outcomes in your webinar titles

• More relatable storytelling in your long form content

• Actionable tips, not just knowledge, so that people can apply it immediately and see results.

If your audience is not consuming your content, they are unlikely to move further along the client journey.

Step 4: Check Your Sales Event

The fourth stage is your sales event.

This is the moment when someone seriously considers working with you.

For many dietitians, this happens when someone:

• Books a discovery call

• Clicks a sales page

• Watches the end of a webinar where the offer is presented

• Reads and acts upon a sales email

If people are engaging with your content but not taking the next step when you mention your services, the issue may lie here.

Again, look at the numbers.

• What percentage of people who receive your invitation actually book or buy?
• How many people click through from your emails to your sales page?
• If you do discovery calls how many people go ahead and book the free call?

If the numbers are low, consider whether:

Your offer solves a clear and pressing problem for them (we are so good at offering what we know our clients need, but it also must be what they want).

Your messaging communicates a specific, tangible outcome that reflects their daily life.

Your audience clearly understands who your offer is for (i.e. preciciely them) and what it helps them achieve.

Offers that feel vague or more of a 'nice to have' rarely motivate people to take action.

People are far more likely to say yes when they see a clear path from their current problem to the result they want.

Step 5: Check Your Conversions

The final stage is conversion.

This is where someone moves from interested to actually parting with their money and becoming a paying client.

For example:

• Saying yes on a discovery call and booking there and then

• Purchasing directly from a sales page on your website

• Joining your programme after a webinar presentation

If people are reaching this stage but not converting, the issue is usually in how the final decision is handled.

For example, during discovery calls you might ask yourself:

• Am I clearly explaining the benefits the outcome of working together will have on their lives?

• Am I confidently guiding the conversation so it doesnt turn into a free advice session?

• Am I addressing their objections to saying yes, properly?

• Am I actually inviting the person to work with me? 

Sometimes HCP's avoid clearly making the offer and asking people to book or buy because it feels uncomfortable (we're not natural salespeople) or they worry about sounding pushy. But without a clear invitation, people often leave the call unsure of the next step.

Your sales page may also need refining if people are visiting it but not booking or buying. Strong sales pages clearly communicate:

• The problem thye relate to

• The transformation working with you brings to their lives

• Who the programme is for, specifically

• What results clients can expect

When those pieces are clear, conversion into clients becomes much easier.

How to Diagnose Why Your Not Getting Enough Clients

If you feel frustrated about not getting enough clients, this checklist can act as a reset point.

Instead of assuming something is wrong with your business or your ability to run it, step back and look at the system.

Ask yourself where the bottleneck is. Is it:

1. Traffic
2. Leads
3. Content consumption
4. Sales events
5. Conversions

Every stage builds on the one before it.

Improving the final step will not fix the problem if the earlier stages are not working properly.

Once you identify the weakest point, you can focus your energy there instead of trying to fix everything at once.

Want Help Fixing Your Client Getting Process?

If you want support figuring out how to get more clients as a dietitian, this is exactly what I help with inside my programme Accelerate.

Accelerate is a business coaching programme designed specifically for dietitians, registered nutritionists and healthcare professionals who want a clear, structured plan to attract clients consistently.

Inside the programme we work on building a client getting system that includes:

• Consistent visibility

• Effective lead generation

• Trust building content

• Confident sales conversations

• Strong conversions

If you would like help identifying where your process is breaking down and what will move the needle in your business, you can book a free 20 minute call with me.

Book your discovery call here
https://thechildrensnutritionist.as.me/discovery 

On the call we will look at what is currently happening in your business, where things might be getting stuck and what the next best step would be for you.

Even if we decide the programme is not the right fit, you will leave with much clearer direction on what to change in your client getting process.

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:

Do you need more clients for your private practice? Then sit down, relax and grab a cuppa and maybe a notepad and a pen too, or have your notes app on your phone to hand. Because in this episode, we're going to go through five simple self audit checks that you can do in your business to find out where things might be slipping through the cracks when it comes to your process for attracting and converting clients.

So whether you're new to business or you've been in business for a while, this episode will be relevant to you because no matter how long you've been running your private practice, there are always parts of the client getting process that need to be tightened up. You might be in a position now where you feel like you're doing everything you're supposed to be doing and yet you're still not seeing the results in your business. You know that people need your help. You know that you could make a huge difference to their lives.

And yet the clients just aren't there. And the worst part of all of this is you don't actually know why this is or what you're doing wrong. The thing is, if you're not getting enough clients, it isn't because you're bad at business or that you're not cut out for any of this. So this is your reminder firstly, to stop telling yourself that it's usually because something in your process isn't quite clicking somewhere between people seeing you for the first time and actually booking.

In other words, parts of your client journey need a little bit more attention. So in this episode, I'm going to walk you through a five self audit steps to help you spot exactly where things are getting stuck. I'm going to help you notice these bottlenecks in your process so that you know where to focus your time and your energy. And you can start finally moving people from strangers to leads to paying clients. So are you ready?

We're going to dive straight in. The first check in the self audit, we are calling traffic. So this traffic check is the very first step because if people aren't finding you, nothing else in the client getting process can actually happen, can it? You can have the best programs or services in the entire world, but if nobody is there to even find you online, you're just not going to get the clients. So this first check is all about visibility.

and making sure that the people who need your help can actually find you. So let's take a look at this traffic check a bit more closely. The first question I want you to ask yourself here is, are you getting in front of enough people? Now, of course, having a huge audience isn't everything. You do not need a massive audience to get clients. However, of course, the more people you have in your audience, the more people you ultimately have to sell your stuff to.

The second question to ask yourself is, are you getting in front of the right audiences? So are these people who are finding you actually your ideal client? You always want to make sure that your traffic is intentional, not just visitors to your website or random followers on Instagram, but actually people who would benefit most from your services and are looking for what you offer and would likely become clients if they see value in what you do.

So what I find happens a lot of the time is people's followers on Instagram are either full of other healthcare providers or other people, but not those who are their ideal client. Now it's totally fine to have a few of these on your follower list. In fact, you can't prevent it, but you want to make sure that you have mostly ideal clients on this list.

Now, if you're running ads to try and grow your audience that way, it's important to also ask yourself, are these ads actually getting a good amount of clicks? If not, chances are that the creative. your images, your videos, and the copy, the captions, words are just not appealing enough and they need a little bit of work. But even if they are getting clicks, it's important to check who is clicking and whether they're the right type of potential client, because high click numbers don't always mean high

quality traffic.

So the question you're probably asking yourself now is, how do I know what enough traffic looks like? Now it's not about hitting a magic number. will look different depending on lots of different factors, including what stage your business or your practice is at. The first step is just to look at the numbers that you currently have. How many new people are finding you each week or each month?

Are you consistently reaching new people or is it mostly the same small group that see your work over and over and over? How many website visitors did you get each month for the last six months? And is this growing? How many new followers have you had each month for the last six months? And is that growing? Now, if these numbers feel low, that's your sign that you need to focus on increasing your traffic and your visibility. Another reason why traffic is important is

that it not only does it mean more people to sell to, it also gives you the foundation to see what's actually working in your process. So it's important to have a sample size big enough to see results. So for instance, if you only get a handful of new people who are finding you each month, it's really hard to tell whether your client getting process is working or not, because there just isn't enough data. So step one, take a look at your numbers.

You don't need to obsess over the exact numbers, but you do need a consistent flow of people seeing your work. The bigger and the more intentional your audience, the more opportunities you'll have to turn any interest you get into bookings. Okay, we're now going to move into the second of the self audit checks. And this second check is called leads. So this next step.

Really important because once people are noticing you and you're getting the traffic, the next question is, are those people taking a step forward to show some interest? In other words, are they becoming leads? So this could look like signing up for your email list, downloading a free or reaching out to ask you questions after finding you online. Having leads consistently coming into your business is 100 % crucial because traffic without leads

It's like casting a net into the ocean but never catching any fish or like planting seeds in the garden and then never watering them. Pretty pointless, right? You could have plenty of people noticing you, but if they're not moving closer to working with you, your process is hitting a bottleneck.

The moment that someone takes that first small step with you, whether it's signing up to a free resource or reaching out to you after finding you online, then you've got a chance to nurture that relationship, to provide more value and to guide them towards becoming a paying client. So for this step in your self audit, take a careful look at your numbers from traffic to leads. In other words,

How many people who are finding you are actually taking that next step with you? So for instance, opting in for that free resource or reaching out via an email. If these numbers are low, it's a sign that something in your lead process needs attention. Maybe your free resource isn't clearly showing the value that it provides. Maybe the sign up page for your freebie needs a bit of tweaking, could be clearer. Or the free resource itself,

isn't actually hitting the problem that your ideal clients care about enough. So some small tweaks here can make a really big difference. Okay, now let's move on to check number three. And this next part of the self-audit is called consumption. And it's another really important stage. This is all about whether your leads are actually engaging with the content and the value that you're putting out.

because getting traffic and turning them into leads is great, but if those leads aren't consuming your content, they're not actually moving closer to booking a call with you or purchasing your services. So ensuring that your leads are actively consuming and interacting with your content is essential to moving them through the client getting process. So what does consumption mean in practice? Well, it's all about how your leads interact with the content that you're sharing.

So for example, you might host a webinar, so an online training session where you teach or explain something valuable about your area of expertise and your leads might register to attend live or they might choose to watch a recorded session. Consumption here means they actually attended, watched most of the session and stayed engaged with what you were teaching. Or say you might do a...

Five day free challenge. So five days of giving a small amount of free value or tips or mini lessons each day to your audience. So for example, it could be a five day gut reset challenge or five day keto challenge, whatever your area is. Consumption here means that participants actually showed up for the tasks each day and interacted. Or you might send weekly emails.

And consumption here means that people are opening your emails. They're watching your videos. They are clicking on the links. All of those count as engagement. So the key question here is, your leads engaging with your content? If they're not, this is a bottleneck.

So how do you spot the bottleneck? Well, again, we look at our numbers. How many people are actually opening the emails? How many people are clicking on the links in the emails? How many people are showing up to your webinars or your five day challenges? If these numbers are low, it tells you that something isn't landing. And then of course, the next step is to look at why. Maybe the topic of your webinar didn't resonate or your challenge wasn't addressing a real problem for your audience.

or your emails haven't been enticing enough to make people want to open and read them. Some small adjustments like making the content more practical and actionable or relatable or clarifying the outcomes can significantly improve consumption. Now, if you're listening to this and you're thinking, my gosh, I don't do any of this type of stuff. I don't send emails. I don't write blogs. I don't record videos. don't host.

webinars, then this is an indication to you that you've got a big bottleneck in your client generating.

pathway.

Remember this step is crucial because it's about making sure that your audience actually experience the value that you provide. And this is how you build trust. So it really is essential for moving them forwards along the client journey towards becoming a client. Okay. We are now moving on to the fourth check-in of the self-audit, which is your sales event.

This is where people take the next step to consider working with you. So whether that's booking a discovery call, clicking a link in your sales emails or staying to listen to the pitch in your webinar. Now, if the numbers are low here, that's a sign that there's a bottleneck in your sales event. To identify whether this is the stage where people are dropping off in the process.

Again, you need to look at your numbers. So what percentage of people are clicking the link to your sales page? What percentage of people have been sent your discovery call link who are actually going forward and booking that call? If these numbers are low, then you need to identify why. Could the problem be the offer itself? You always need to make sure that your offer solves a real pressing problem for your clients and delivers a clear, tangible outcome that they actually want.

Or it could be the offer positioning in your sales emails. People need to see the value in the offer. It needs to be positioned as a total no-brainer in a way. If the results of your offer feel vague or more of a nice to have than a need to have, then people won't feel motivated to take action. Or it could be that the right audience isn't actually coming through the pipeline.

So you need to make sure that the people reaching this stage are genuinely your ideal clients, people who recognise the problem, they want it solved and they are ready to invest in support. And then last but not least, the final and fifth check-in in the self audit is called conversions. And this is where someone moves from being interested to actually becoming a paying client. So the question here is, are people converting?

And by this, mean, are people clicking to buy your programme after reading your sales page? Are people saying yes and joining your offer after a discovery call? If people are reaching the sales event stage, meaning they're booking calls, they're reading your sales page, they're staying on the webinar till the pitch and they're showing interest, but they're not actually saying yes, then the bottleneck is likely to be in your conversion process.

And this is important because if they're interested enough to get on a call or stay and listen to the pitch, that means your traffic, leads, content and offer are likely doing their job. The issue probably isn't visibility. It's what happens at the point of decision. So now you need to look at how you're handling that final step. So for instance, on discovery calls, are you confidently guiding the conversation?

Are you clearly explaining the outcome of working with you? Are you handling objections properly? Are you actually making a clear invitation to work together or are you ending the call with something fairly vague? And actually, is your sales page enticing enough? Are people interested? So they're visiting it. You can see traffic on your Google Analytics report, but they're not actually converting.

might be time to brush up on your sales closing skills.

And if you're someone who does do discovery calls in your business and you think that they're possibly not converting as well as you want them to, then I'd love for you to listen to last week's episode, episode 96.

called Say This on Discovery calls for more yeses because I guide you through exactly what you need to say.

So that's it. We've gone through the five key checks in your client getting self audit. So here's what I want you to remember from this episode. If you're not getting the number of clients you want right now, it doesn't mean your business isn't working. It usually just means that part or parts of the process need a bit of tightening up. So when you look at your business through this lens, it becomes just a system. The second thing to remember is that

every stage builds on the one before. So if something isn't working, resist the urge to jump ahead and tweak the final step before checking in on the earlier ones. Because great sales skills will not matter if not enough of the right people are coming through to find you. So if you've been feeling frustrated about not getting enough clients, I want you to use this self audit as a reset point. Take a little bit of time after this episode.

sit down with your numbers and be honest, identify the bottleneck and focus your energy there. Now, if you want some support actually figuring out where your client getting process is breaking down and fixing it properly, well, that's exactly how I can help you inside Accelerate. So you're not trying to work out on your own or guessing what to change.

Accelerate is my business coaching program designed specifically for registered dietitians, registered nutritionists and registered healthcare professionals who want a clear structured plan to get clients consistently. There are different tiers of support inside the program depending on your budget and how much hands-on support and accountability you need and you can find all the details in the show notes.

including the link to book a free 20 minute call with me so we can have a proper chat about your specific needs and your business goals. This call isn't about trying to sell you into something. It's about making sure that this is genuinely the right fit for you. I don't just let anyone join Accelerate. That's why we have the discovery call. The link just isn't there on my sales page.

It has to make sense for where you're at, your goals and the kind of support you actually need. So this conversation gives us both a chance to explore that properly. We'll look at what's currently happening in your business, where things might be stuck and what would realistically move the needle forwards for you.

There's absolutely zero obligation. And even if we decide it's not the right time or not the right program, you leave with clearer direction and a better understanding of what needs to shift in your client getting process. So if that sounds helpful, I'd love for you to book your call today using the link in the show notes. Bye for now.