Texas Counselors Creating Badass Businesses

99 Types of Business Systems: How to Streamline Your Practice AND Take a Vacation

September 13, 2024 • Dr. Kate Walker Ph.D., LPC/LMFT Supervisor

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Picture this: You're on a stress-free vacation in Costa Rica, with your private counseling practice running smoothly in your absence. How is that possible? Join Dr. Kate Walker as she reveals the transformative power of systems in managing your business. Through engaging anecdotes, Dr. Walker explains how the lack of organization can lead to overwhelm and imposter syndrome, and how robust systems can alleviate these feelings while boosting your productivity. Learn about key performance indicators (KPIs) and how tracking essential metrics like phone calls, connected calls, booked appointments, and first session attendance can offer actionable insights to streamline your operation.

Moreover, discover the significance of personal phone calls in building connections with clients and the role of excellent scheduling software in eliminating phone tag. Dr. Walker shares her positive experience with Full Slate, a HIPAA-compliant tool that enhances efficiency and communication. Plus, get strategies for creating relevant content tailored to your ideal client, using tools like Trello and Google Drive for organization and long-term planning. Whether you love speaking engagements or prefer blogging, Dr. Walker emphasizes a consistent and strategic approach. Don’t miss valuable tips on creating resources that attract potential clients and turn them into loyal advocates for your services.

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

Speaker 1:

A good system means you can take a vacation. You can take a day off. When I went to Costa Rica this summer, my systems saved my bacon. Because of the prep work I had done, I had gotten systems in place. This is the Texas Counselors Creating Badass Businesses Podcast with Dr Kate Walker, where I teach you, texans and non-Texans alike, the latest research-based information to hit your income goals, stay out of trouble and make a bigger impact in your community. Join me and let's fill the gaps in access to mental health care and create a counseling career you'll love. Let's get to work. Welcome to Texas Counselors Creating Badass Businesses, where it's all about working smarter, not harder. And here's your host, dr Kate Walker, who needs a dartboard and a map at this point? Walker, who needs a dartboard and a map at this point?

Speaker 1:

Welcome to September Blast-Off, episode 99, the number one, most underrated system you must have in place when you're getting started in private practice. This September Blast-Off series is the place to learn quick tools to hit the ground running. But don't forget about your HIPAA training. The Kate Walker Training HIPAA course includes FERPA and a special section for Texans on House Bill 300. And to celebrate our upcoming 100th episode, we're offering you a special deal. You'll save $100 when you go to katewalkertrainingcom forward slash bonus to grab the course. Get yourself squared away and only pay $16 for a course everyone who handles protected health information needs to have. Go to katewalkertrainingcom slash bonus.

Speaker 1:

Now let's get to work. Hey, I'm Dr Kate Walker me, I'm dr kate walker. Welcome, whether you're listening to this or you're watching this, go you because you're doing something amazing to learn something and make your practice a better place. So systems why do we need them? I can think of a billion reasons why you need systems and it's not a big mystery. I mean, think about, like, we all have a house to clean or a space to clean or a room to clean, something that we have to keep ship shape. And if you don't have a system for that, then every time you look around and you're like this place is getting kind of cluttered and cluttered space, cluttered, mind, whatever it is, it's like you're starting over from scratch. And if you have any sort of ADD which I've got and if I look around and I think I have to reinvent the wheel every single time for the same recurring task, I get really overwhelmed and it messes with my mood as well. I start to feel that overwhelmed kind of turns into this gosh, why isn't this getting any better? Why can't I do it right? Oh, look at so-and-so over there. They seem to have it all together. So there's the imposter-itis, and on and on and on. So systems are just a business thing. They are really a mental health thing and they work wonderfully for tasks that repeat.

Speaker 1:

So things that we have to do again and again and again. In fact, when I talk to business owners, you know one of the things that we usually it's a really common theme. As a matter of fact, it comes down to these things that maybe they heard they're supposed to do and they know they should start doing it, and they do for a little while and then they get overwhelmed and they don't do it. For example, I don't know blogging or writing a newsletter, something like that, where this business owner has perhaps heard it was the thing to do to build business, and so they started and they did a couple and they just got overwhelmed and, oh my goodness, and then they beat themselves up because they didn't do the thing they thought they were supposed to be doing and then they feel like, okay, my business will never thrive because I won't do this thing. So I'm going to take you back to the basics, right? This is one of our last Step it Up meetings, step it Up coachings. That's part of our summer bootcamp, and remember, we started this bootcamp and even if you don't remember, don't worry, I'm going to I'm about to tell you.

Speaker 1:

We started off this boot camp with four KPIs key performance indicators because I want you to test me, like, if you're going to go back and listen to all of these, I want you to hold me accountable, like I really want you to give me feedback. Like, kate, none of this stuff works, or, oh my gosh, this stuff really works, and the only way it's going to be meaningful is if we can count it. So, kpi number one was more phone calls. Kpi number two was more connected phone calls, like you actually made contact with the person. Kpi number three was made appointments, like they got on your calendar. Kpi number four was showed up to the first session, right?

Speaker 1:

So all of these things we are able to count and I assert that if you do all the things that I'm telling you to do during this boot camp, you will see more phone calls. You will see and when I say phone calls, I know I always have to do this. I'm going to make my quote marks, because if email is your thing or texting is your thing, this can work for that too. And let me pause just a second. If you hear a bird in the background, that's because I'm still in the woods in Michigan and it's like 70 degrees outside. So, texans, don't be jealous because it's still August. But I digress. So, number one if you don't see an increase in phone calls, then what I'm telling you isn't working. If you don't notice that you're connecting with these potential clients, then what I'm telling you isn't working. The same for booked appointments, the same for made appointments.

Speaker 1:

So today I'm going to talk about systems, not just because we want those four numbers to go up of course we do but we also want those of you out there who are distracted by birds in the background and who are looking at a beautiful forest or whatever it is you're looking at. Maybe you're looking at a sink full of dirty dishes. You don't need one more thing on your mind. This is going to help you offload these tasks so that they actually do the thing you want them to do, and not just make you feel guilty because you're not able to do them. Also, if somebody hold me accountable, I will talk about other things you can do, because I saw on Instagram the other day one of my former associates and I remember she had the toughest time blogging.

Speaker 1:

So it was, you know, type type, type type. I'm actually, you know, pretending to type on a keyboard here, right, and she would get writer's block and it would be frustrating and she would put out a blog and it would be amazing, but it would be so hard for her to come up with the next one and the next one. Well, I just saw her on Instagram yesterday. Actually, I see her like every day and she does these amazing explainer videos and she's got such a cool way of presenting things and I listen, she speaks in a way that I pay attention to, and so if I'm saying things like blog and I'm not making my quote marks with my fingers go ahead and translate that to something that you love, like. If you feel more comfortable on video, then think in terms of that. If you feel more comfortable on audio, think in terms of podcasts. So just because I say blog doesn't mean you have to do that, right, I'm thinking, or I'm talking in terms of just easy language for me.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about what is the purpose of a system. So, number one, I want you to imagine you're going to whatever we talk about today. You're going to offload it to somebody else, right? So a good system means you can take a vacation, you can take a day off. I had the greatest experience when I was planning my trip to Spain this past spring. So I was really stressing out, I was getting these systems in place and I did a pretty good job. And then I figured out oh, I can take my computer to Spain and it was great, like I was able to work from Spain. So I didn't really need the systems. But then, when I went to Costa Rica this summer, it was like, oh, no internet, no computer. My systems saved my bacon. I was able to do the thing in Costa Rica without internet, without my computer, because of the prep work I had done for Spain. I had gotten systems in place. So let's look at KPI. It's actually KPI number one and two.

Speaker 1:

And yes, I am going to talk in terms of phone calls, and there's a reason why. So if you haven't heard me say this before, you're going to hear it now. I believe clients connect with your voice. I believe that it's like your photo. You know, when you're surfing and you're looking for the perfect website and the perfect counselor, or even the perfect whatever. We connect with faces, we're human, so a fabulous photo is a first emotional connection. Well, a phone call can be the same thing. They're going to hear your voice.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to talk about the script today. You can go back and look at previous trainings. I go into super specific detail about what to say. But wanting more phone calls, wanting more connection, no phone, that means we have to get rid of phone tag. So what am I talking about here? I'm talking about excellent scheduling software. That's your system, no mystery, no code here.

Speaker 1:

I am simply talking about amazing scheduling software. Simply talking about amazing scheduling software. And you may say but Kate, it's too expensive. I'm just a one-man show here and I don't have that many clients. I don't care, I don't care if you just have two clients. If you start now with fabulous scheduling software, here's what it's going to do for you. It's going to allow existing clients to take care of booking their own appointments Great. It's going to allow you to create a product called an initial consultation and set the time. So it's not an hour long freebie, it's a 10 minute consultation and you can work that in to your working day. Here's the special sauce Excellent scheduling software will give your potential client reminder emails, reminder text messages.

Speaker 1:

I just saw today in one of the threads that I stalk on Facebook, somebody had said look, I'm using this x program you know well I'm not going to say the name and it didn't send out the reminder. It didn't send out or I don't know if it did, I don't know if it sent out the text and the consultation was a no-show. I just started using this. I don't know if it's working or not. So you already know that excellent scheduling software isn't just going to say that it sends out a reminder, it's actually going to let you look and see ah, I see a reminder was sent out. Oh, look at that, I see that a text message was sent out. And I hope your wheels are turning so that you see that when this person actually becomes your client and if they know, show as they are your client down the road and they say, oh, I never got an email, and you're able to look and you go yeah, nope, I see you got an email at 425 on January 15th, and right. So this is part of an excellent system.

Speaker 1:

So if you're paying for something and it's not doing the job, get something that does the job. If you're trying to still scoot by on something free and you're having to come in and do the email or double check to make sure it went down, or send text messages from your private or your business account, that's still what we call a touch and we can't send you on vacation. If you still need to touch and micromanage, that's it. You still have to micromanage your machines. You are not removing yourself, right? We call that mental load. Sometimes it's when you delegate a thing, but you know you have to keep checking to make sure it's working. And it's actually more stressful to carry that mental load because now it's taking twice as much time. And so many times we over functioners will just say you know what? It's too much trouble. I'm just going to take it back and do it myself. Don't do that.

Speaker 1:

So for KPI number one and number two and look at this we're knocking two KPIs off with one system and that is excellent scheduling software. Now the scheduling software has to be HIPAA compliant, and that means a certain level of encryption and, ideally, a business associate agreement. Now the scheduling software that I use is called Full Slate and, as of this recording, they are HIPAA compliant. They will sign a business associate agreement. It's wonderful. I can do the 10 minute consultations on my time. That's convenient for me and it keeps a record of every single text message and email that goes out so I can see the reminder emails and I can even craft the reminder emails and I can schedule automatically when those emails go out. So I want you to blast off into a successful September. But you got to know it's not just about business. You've got to get your clinical skills up to snuff too.

Speaker 1:

Our free monthly webinars are great, whether you need the free continuing education or you don't, and this month Dr Patrice Dunn will be teaching us about unveiling code switching, implications for mental health and what counselors need to know. Happening September 25th at 5 pm, central Time. Tickets are free, as always, and if you're a Step it Up member, don't worry if you have to miss, because members always get the replay. You can grab your ticket or see the schedule of our upcoming free webinar experts at katewalkertrainingcom forward slash free webinar. That's katewalkertrainingcom slash free webinar. So let's say I want to send a reminder email and then after the last session, say six months after the last session, I want to send out an email that says hey, how you doing? Here's some resources. Just thinking about you, I can create that and do that so you don't have to do full slate, slate.

Speaker 1:

But a good scheduling system will save your bacon mentally, emotionally and numerically. I guess. Right, we're looking at KPI number one. It will help increase your phone calls because you can schedule that 10 minute consultation. You can help people understand why you're a good fit and book that first appointment, or, if they're not a good fit, why they should become a raving fan and tell their community about you, right? So it takes care of KPI number one and number two. So we've got more phone calls, more connections, because we have excellent scheduling software. So that was easy. Now let's look at the more phone calls, more connections, because we have excellent scheduling software. So that was easy. Now let's look at the more phone calls. So there's no easy way to get around this. You're going to have to market and even if you take insurance you're going to have to market.

Speaker 1:

Now I just did a presentation, or I recorded it, pre-recorded it actually for the Texas Counseling Association Annual Conference coming up at the end of October. So, excited about that, I'm going to have a booth, I'm giving presentations. Well, one of the presentations that I'm giving they asked me to pre-record and it's all about the ethical implementation of SEO, search engine optimization, and I cannot emphasize this enough. If you want the phone to ring, if you want to get booked for speaking gigs, if you want your community to see you as an expert, you got to put content on your website or you have to get out in the community and speak. Right, people have to have a way to interact with you, to see you, to hear your voice, even if they're reading the words and hearing your voice in their head. Right, that's what a blog is, that's what website copy is. So for you to start to rank in your community I'm talking website language here right, you want to be higher in the Google searches. You have to have content that Google loves, and Google is fickle, it's true. Right, but people are still going to search for counselor. People are still going to search for counselor. Insert specialty here near me, and how you respond to that will determine that KPI number, one more phone calls. So let's talk about a system for that.

Speaker 1:

I want you to imagine you're a school teacher, right? If you're a school teacher, and school just started and all the kids came back and here we are and that school teacher shows up and she gives an amazing lesson plan and it's a great day. And she goes home that night and she's like oh, great day. And then she wakes up in the middle of the night. She goes oh no, I have to wake up tomorrow and do it again. Okay, that's actually a story on myself, because I used to be a school teacher. I used to be a general music teacher. So I remember when I first started teaching, like, oh, this first week is great. And then literally waking up in cold sweats because I was like I had to do this again tomorrow and again.

Speaker 1:

And so after time goes by, I recognize oh, you know what September comes every year, you know what October comes every year. I could look and see that my lesson plans could be recycled. I could take my plan from last year, use it again for this year. All I was doing was I was practicing my role as an entrepreneur and creating content. Right, this was way before Google, way before computers, really, so I didn't know that, but that's what I do now.

Speaker 1:

I have to create content. I have to create content every single week, for weeks in advance, and because I love traveling and I'm not always assured of my internet connection, I must be able to hand this off to someone else. So that may not be you, you may not be there, but I want to plant that seed because, remember, you're awesome. You're awesome and your community needs you. They need counseling. You will grow. And so for you to About Me, page your services right, you don't need a system for that, you just create it one time and you're good to go for a while.

Speaker 1:

And I want you to think about okay, what does my community need in September? What does my community need in October? And when I say community, I want your wheels turning, because not just your community those are the people who are going to refer friends and family to you but your ideal client, that client who is your sweet spot. You know it's going to be a good fit for all the right reasons. And so what does that person need in September? What do they need in October, november, december and as you go through the year. Just get a piece of paper or some sticky notes and write down a theme. October's theme is this, november's theme is that and just and the theme is too hard, don't worry, it's okay just kind of re-associate what do you think of when it comes to October? What do you think of when it comes to February?

Speaker 1:

Then go back and see how that relates to your ideal client. Then think of four things how to? What is your guide? Two and three steps and you can create content for each one of those months based on those four concepts. And if you can get one month ahead, that's a system. Now I don't know what you're going to do with that content. If you love getting out and speaking, I hope you're reaching out to PTOs and Kiwanis clubs and Toastmasters and you're putting together flyers, virtual flyers, press kits with that content throughout the year so people know to hire you and you can get out there and show yourself to your community.

Speaker 1:

If you're more of an introvert and you're like, no way I'm getting out there, well, hello friend, welcome to blogging, and I forgot to make the air quotes. Here we are. Blogging could mean you doing a video blog on Instagram like my former associate you could be you actually blogging right, you've got your sticky notes, you've got your system, you've got your ability to look at October and say, okay, that reminds me of maybe Halloween or spooky stuff. And what's my guide to navigating conflict? That might be a little scary. What are my steps to navigating conflict that my ideal client might be afraid to do? You see what I'm doing here. I'm taking my system, I create content, I'm talking about it out loud with you guys and I'm making a recording. I could literally take this and use it for content. Hello, that's what I do Now.

Speaker 1:

I have lots of systems. I don't use sticky notes as much anymore I use, but I do have a visual that goes on my wall. I have one of those huge year calendars that I get from Home Depot or Office Max or one of those places Amazon actually where I put up the calendar and I can put down my ideas for the year. Then I have a Trello board. You guys have heard me talk about Trello. If you haven't, just go to the search bar at katewalkertrainingcom podcasts and put in Trello and I guarantee you I've got a podcast or a blog post about Trello. Trello is my brain. It's how I organize ahead of time and I use Google Drive. In fact, I was doing that just before I got on with you guys. I have a folder called emails throughout the year and everything has a theme and it has a, an offer, it has some kind of a download, it has some kind of a resource.

Speaker 1:

So you can imagine, if that's you and you're thinking through this and you're like, okay, kate says I got to get a system, I need more phone calls, I need more connections, I need more booked appointments. Then you have to create content that's relevant. Not just relevant. It's got to be relevant to your ideal client. Not just relevant to your ideal client. It has to be relevant to your ideal client and go out at a particular time of year right, for certain situations, right. So maybe it's not even about a season, maybe it's about something that's going on in the news or the weather or something that's impacted the community that you wanna interact with, right.

Speaker 1:

So I just talked about two systems today. I may have said I was gonna talk about three or more. Please tag me. I wanna make sure that we brainstorm systems, but remember it starts with this idea. This is for your mental health as well as your business health, and you want to think in terms of the teeniest steps you possibly can, because if you were to hand this off to someone, you could do that and you could do it confidently without having to take back the mental load. And we want to look at these systems in terms of your KPIs increasing calls, decreasing phone tag, booking first appointments and then having clients actually show up to those first appointments.

Speaker 1:

So, for example, I haven't talked about systems for resources. Right, if you have a website and you're going to do a download for parents who are sending their adult kids to college with their 504 accommodations but there's no 504, but there is, but there has to be one and your student I'm sorry, your adult kiddo has to learn how to advocate for themselves and you have a great guide that you want them to download. All right, let's get a system for getting that into your ideal person's hand Because, remember, even if they don't become your client, they will become your raving fan who will send people back to your website to grab all those resources. Starting and succeeding at private practice can be lonely and expensive. Even if you have a question as simple as what should my client rate be, you may end up spending too much money for outdated information that doesn't even apply to you and the community you want to serve. You already know that if you're in the Texas Counselors Creating Badass Businesses Facebook page, all of our resources are free, and the group is full of kind mentors who will answer your questions no strings attached.

Speaker 1:

If you're looking for more, though, I have a resource for you. It's a resource that will give you actionable steps today, and inside the free resource it's got a QR code for a $14 course that will help you set your client rate today, no matter what client community you want to serve. It's called the Essential Guide for Self-Employed Middle Health Professionals and Supervisors, and I want you to grab it today. It's easy to do Just go to katewalkertrainingcom. Forward. Slash today. That's katewalkertrainingcom. Slash today. Today, I'm Dr Kate Walker. Thank you so much for listening to Texas counselors creating badass businesses. Thank you to Ridgely Walker for her lovely voiceovers at our introduction, and do me a favor when you get a second, please like, share and subscribe and write us a review. That's really how we get picked up by other RSS feeds and we get this information out to the mental health badasses who need it. Thanks again, and keep saving the world with excellent therapy. You.