I know some practice owners will not keep a waitlist and will refer clients to another provider. This is a good process if you are a solo practice and know you will not have any openings soon. However, if you are a group practice or a solo practice that is looking for another revenue source, a waitlist can be an excellent way to bring your practice to the next level.
Let's go over the information you should collect to have an active and effective waitlist.
- Basic contact info- Name, DOB, phone number, and, email.
- Presenting issue- the reason they are seeking therapy
- How they found out about your practice
- If they are looking to use insurance or self-pay
- What availability are they looking for
- Have they ever been in therapy before
Now let's discuss in detail why all of this information is significant in helping you grow your practice.
Basic Contact - info is imperative. However, the most important part you need to collect is their email address. This will allow you to send them email communications about any updates on your waitlist, and it also opens the opportunity to share any other offers you have available to them.
Presenting Issue - This helps you determine if there is an issue that is common enough, that you can create an offering for. Some examples are group therapy, podcast topics, blog post topics, paid workshops, support groups, and much more.
How They Found Out About Your Practice - If you are not currently tracking how people are finding you, you should consider starting now. This will help you in the future when it comes to your marketing efforts.
If They are Looking to Use Insurance (what kind) or self-Pay - The reason for this is not all insurance companies pay for group therapy. You will be surprised to find out how many do. This way you can determine if you can offer a group depending on what insurance most of your audience is looking to use.
What Availability are They Looking For - If you are trying to form a support group or group therapy, knowing when your potential clients have availability will help you decide when the groups should be held. This is only helpful sometimes, as everyone's schedule is different. However, you may see some similarities that will help with this decision.
Have They Ever Been in Therapy Before- If they have not been in therapy before this may be a good opportunity to educate them on the process so that when you do have availability they are more willing to go in your direction. This will also let you know if any group-related offers are right for them. Sometimes people new to therapy may be a bit anxious to participate in a group setting. So you may move more in the direction of individual-based offers.
Only you will know what direction is best for your practice. Having a waitlist may help you to come up with other income-producing opportunities. If you decide not to go in that direction you can use the information collected for marketing purposes. If you are a group practice, you may find that a waitlist is a guide to knowing when to hire and who would be a good fit based on what your client is telling you they need. Either way you look at it there is an opportunity to use your waitlist details to help grow your practice.
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