How To Get Referrals

The Mental Health Professional's Guide to Strategic Marketing
Linda L Lawless and G. Jean Wright
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000

"A step-by-step guide to building dynamic referral networks that nurture your professional practice"

• Offers concrete practical advice on effectively marketing your services
  
• Provides unique approaches to dealing with the changing mental health marketplace
  
• Contains dozens of sample exercises and templates for creating effective business and marketing plans.

Now more than ever, it's critical for mental health professionals to find new ways to succeed in today's competitive marketplace. Written by health niche marketing specialists, Linda Lawless and G. Jean Wright, this book provides step-by-step guidelines to get referrals by building and leveraging relationships with other professionals, community leaders, and the media.

You'll find out how to develop three primary skills that are essential to weaving a sustainable practice:

How to interact with and relate to the local community and region.
From setting up community forums to creating discussion groups, you'll discover new ways to gain clients in your area.

How to work with managed care organizations and professional associations.
Find out how to help your practice grow by taking advantage of the services provided by other professionals and organizations.

How to network with the World Wide Web community.
Learn which sites to visit and how to best reach potential clients.

Each chapter is organized to assist mental health professionals in developing a strategic marketing plan for getting referrals from:

• Physicians
  
• Attorneys
  
• Religious Leaders
  
• Educators and the Educational Community
  
• Managed Care Organizations
  
• Mental Health and Complementary Healthcare Professions
  
• The Community

How to Get Referrals is an excellent guide for getting the referrals necessary for a successful practice. With its concrete, practical advice on building networks and securing client recommendations, this book is a must for any mental healthcare professional!

Book Dedication

To our colleagues and other professionals who are working hard to survive in the midst of global change, a national re-shaping of the healthcare field, and personal and professional challenge.

Table of Contents

1. Building Blocks for Success
… The Mental Health Practitioner as Business Person
… Visioning and Affirming Your Status as a Business Person

2. Strategic Niche Marketing

• Identifying and Assessing Your Market Niche
  
• Current Trends
  
• Identifying the Niche Market Needs
  
• Presenting Your Products & Services
  
• Positioning Yourself in the Marketplalce
  
• Creating a Marketing Strategy
  
• Developing a Niche Specific Marketing Plan
  
• Choosing Communication Vehicles
  
• Creating an Action Plan
  
• Resources

3. Strategies for Getting Referrals from Physicians

4. Strategies for Getting Referrals from Attorneys

5. Strategies for Getting Referrals from Religious Leaders

6. Strategic Marketing with Educators and the Educational Community

7. Strategic Marketing to Managed Care Organizations

8. Strategies for Marketing to Mental Health and Complementary Healthcare Professionals

9. The Community Connection

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