Keeping cash-pay clients in tough economic times

Recent, dramatic increases in the costs of gas and groceries have left many private practitioners with fewer clients who can afford to pay directly for services. Of course, it can help to offer payment options, such as reducing frequency of services, working on a sliding fee scale, or offering a payment plan. But in difficult economic times, how can you keep the flow of new cash-pay clients strong? Here are three things we have seen work:

- Change your strategy. This is less about what you change to, and more about being willing to try something different. If your old marketing strategies are starting to fall flat, then doing more of the same is not likely to work much better. Do you have a web site? Are you advertising on Google AdWords or Microsoft AdCenter? Are you marketing toward a specific group?

- Work your niche. If you focus your efforts on serving a specific population and then market directly to that population, you can increase your incoming clients while actually saving marketing money.

- Think about accepting insurance – or at least some insurance. Yes, we hate excessive paperwork as much as you do. But many insurance plans will pay a portion of your fees (clients just pay their co-pay) without requiring massive amounts of administrative time. Talk with other therapists to see which plans they would recommend accepting, and which they would not. (As a cautionary note, we suggest you avoid joining panels that charge you a fee to join.)

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