With this blog thing, I get a lot of emails from readers asking for injury rehabilitation referrals. When I receive an email, I know that I have interested someone in what I have to say about the subject, and they took time out of their day to write me back with comments or questions.
I thought I would pop you a message. I just got this one on referral sources for post-injury personal training clients. It is great. I also hear from fitness professionals from around the world as well. I would love to hear your ideas about referrals from chiropractors and physical therapists to myself and my employees.
Right now, the medical network I am with is looking to make the hand-off a little smoother. We are working together to put together a more clearly defined avenue. This is for clients to transition from acute care to a chiropractor or physical therapist. To a more aggressive strength and conditioning program.
Currently, some fitness coaches are just handing cards/pamphlets out and are finding it frustrating to see the client again because they didn’t do anything to correct the initial reason for the visit. Do you have anything standardized in place, or is it just a time thing, and people know who you are now, and it’s automatic?
I look forward to chatting with you more on this topic.
Thanks for your time, Rick.
RJ
This is more of a business question, but let me help you out.
Have You Trained the Doctors, Physical Therapists, and Chiropractors?
Many health care professionals do not clearly understand how you can help them and their clients. You can educate them on how to help by training them or giving a presentation explaining what you do. This will help them better explain why you are a vital step in injury recovery.
As a fitness professional, you must educate doctors, nurses, and others on how the injury rehabilitation process works. They can’t always be expected to know these things! This will help them understand your role in their care plan. The more they do what they’re supposed to so others heal faster and better, the less pain there’ll be for everyone involved.
Some health care professionals won’t always have time or patience with clients who struggle: instead of blaming themselves for not doing enough when this happens – which may discourage them from trying harder next time – try explaining what steps he or they could take to assist; their patients toward recovery!
What is Your Incentive for Prospective Clients to Call You?
You need to give clients a reason why they should call you. It would help to establish your credibility before getting them on the phone. This showse4 that you are an expert in this field by providing testimonials or any of the following:
- You can offer them a 15-minute phone consultation on transitioning from the doctor’s office to the gym.
- You can offer them an ebook on the keys they need to remember when starting an exercise program after an injury.
This will allow you to connect with them and see if they are an appropriate client for you.
Study Selling to Healthcare Professionals
We spend so much time learning all the exercise techniques, but putting 20% of your time into selling and the sale process is essential. There are several books out there on this. Many of the ideas in this book can transfer over to post-injury personal training, even though it is targeted at pharmaceutical representatives.
I hope this helps. Take care.
Rick Kaselj, MS
