Marketing Voc Rehab Services in Changing Times

Friday, July 9, 2004 | 0

When your customer-base changes, it's time to review your marketing approaches. In voc rehab, I think it would be an understatement to say that our customer-base is changing. Soon-to-be gone are the days when you could rely on referrals from attorneys (if you are a counselor) and counselors (if you are a school). Over the next one to two years, the phone will ring less and less with a familiar voice saying, "I have a client for you."

In this short article, I hope to share some ideas from some pretty savvy marketing people. My hope is that as you transition to new business opportunities and/or a new customer-base, this article will provide you with a couple of ideas that will help you grow your business more rapidly and much more profitably.

Identify Your Target Market

This is an excellent time in our industry to choose with whom you want to spend your life. Let's face it. Most of us see more of our clients than we do of our families. With the retooling that is taking place, this is an excellent time to identify with whom you want to spend your precious commodities of time and effort. In the marketing jargon, this is known as identifying your target market.

Richard Cruz, an outstanding trumpet player and music instructor, once told me to spend my time doing what I really wanted to do. He said, "If you follow your heart, the money will come. If you go for the money alone, you may destroy your heart."

If you are a vocational counselor, you have many paths to pursue. You can be an expert witness, you can be a guidance counselor for at-risk youth, you can transition to marriage and family counseling, you can be an ergonomics consultant, and the list goes on and on.

The same goes for school personnel. Each path has its ups and downs. You get to choose whichever path or paths that most appeal to you.

The next step in identifying your target market requires you to get more specific. Who is your ideal client in your chosen area? Do you like working with youth, women, men, immigrants, etc. Remember, you will be having to look at these clients day in and day out, so be as specific as possible about who you would like to work with. List the demographics (age, salary, sex, education etc.) for your newly-intended client- base. Next, list the psychographics of that client-base. This includes their concerns, culture, values, social issues, etc.

Identify Your Competitors

Once you've decided what to do, ask yourself, who are my competitors? What do they charge? How many are there of them? What can I do to differentiate myself in the marketplace? (In other words, what can I do better than them?)

In identifying your competitors, find out where and how they get their clients. How do they advertise? Do they use newspaper ads, free introductory workshops, yellow page listings, TV ads, person-to-person, referrals, mailings, chamber meetings, leads groups, internet, coupons, radio, etc.? In school, this was called cheating. In business, this is called benchmarking and it can save you hours and hours of effort and thousands of dollars by telling you what to do and what not to do.

Determine a Marketing Mix

Generally, two or three of the aforementioned marketing approaches will be the best combination for you. At this time, you may wish to consult with a marketing agency to help you to design ads, brochures, etc. Your materials should be professional looking and they should make it easy for your potential clients to find you and know why they would want to find you.

You should have a lot of say in how your marketing materials look, but don't get caught up in developing them yourself, unless you are experienced in developing those materials. Your time can be better spent elsewhere, like calling referral sources, polishing free workshop presentations, etc.

Implement and Follow-up

Once you are ready to go, GO! Keep track of leads from referral sources, potential clients, and important information about them as if they are gold, because they are. Get to know your referral sources as individuals with individual needs and desires. Each contact is a chance for you to help them get something they want, so really find out what they want and why they want it.

Use a contact management database such as Act! or Goldmine. These are specialized programs that track appointments, contact information (address, phone, birthdate, favorite food, spouse's and children's names, etc.). Harvey McKay, author of Swimming with the Sharks, says you should know at least 44 different facts about your customers, if you want to be truly at the top of your game and ahead of your competitors. These databases can also greatly reduce time and costs of mass mailings and e-mail as they greatly automate those processes.

Follow-up also means keeping track of which of your marketing mix items are working best for you. If you or an assistant always asks new clients, "How did you hear about us?" you will find which approaches are effective and on which you can stop spending money.

Conclusion

Marketing works, especially when a holistic approach is taken. There is more to communicate about marketing than can be shared in a lifetime of CARRP articles, so go to free or low cost seminars hosted by your Chambers of Commerce or the SBA. Browse your favorite bookstores for marketing books. Or, better yet, come to the CARRP Statewide Convention in San Francisco from October 15-17 and attend the Business Development Workshops. We have a great marketing session planned to help you grow your future.

Article by Thomas H. Gilmore, President, California Association of Rehabilitation & Reemployment Professionals. Reprinted with permission from the California Association of Rehabilitation & Reemployment Professionals, Keeping California Working since 1975!

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The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of workcompcentral.com, its editors or management.