WP 51 | How to Hire and Fill Client Caseloads - Live Consulting with Heidi Schnakenberg
In today's episode, we delve deep into one of the most pressing challenges faced by therapy practices: hiring and effectively integrating new therapists. As practices grow and evolve, ensuring a steady influx of skilled therapists becomes paramount. Yet, the journey from identifying potential hires to ensuring they have a full caseload is riddled with complexities. Join Whitney Owens as she offers invaluable insights and practical advice to Heidi Schnakenberg, navigating the intricate maze of hiring and filling caseloads. Whether you're a seasoned practice owner or just starting out, this episode promises to shed light on the intricacies of expanding your team and ensuring success for both your practice and your therapists.
The Challenges of Insurance in Practice:
Navigating the world of insurance can be daunting. From the tediousness of benefits checks to the demands of insurance companies, practitioners often find themselves grappling with late payments and sometimes even earning less than they deserve. However, platforms like Alma aim to simplify this process. With Alma, practitioners can get credentialed within 45 days, access enhanced reimbursement rates, and ensure timely payments. As Whitney highlights, "Once you've joined Alma's program, you can see clients in your state of licensure, regardless of where you're working from."
The Evolution of Hiring in Practice:
Hiring remains a pivotal topic within group practice ownership. Whitney shares her insights on the transition from solo to group practice ownership, emphasizing the need for clarity in defining the mission. Through live consulting with Heidi, a friend and fellow practitioner, the episode sheds light on the hiring process and the challenges of filling therapists' caseloads.
The Role of Faith in Hiring:
Faith-based practices bring a unique perspective to the hiring process. Whitney reflects on the scarcity of faith-based practice podcasts and underscores the importance of faith in shaping the mission of a practice. As she aptly puts it, "It's important when you're thinking about hiring to hire people that can cultivate the culture and mission that you're creating in your practice."
The hiring process is multifaceted, with considerations ranging from insurance intricacies to the role of faith in shaping a practice's mission. As practitioners navigate this journey, it's crucial to remain anchored in their mission and values, ensuring that every hire aligns with the envisioned culture and ethos of the practice.
The Hiring Challenge for Therapists
Hiring the right therapist is a challenge many group practice owners face. Heidi shares her experiences, saying, "I feel like when I have a person who has openings, then the referrals aren't coming." Whitney offers valuable advice, emphasizing the importance of feedback: "I love how you're following up with people and asking them why they didn't want to work at your practice."
Hiring Advice for Therapists
Feedback from Potential Hires: Whitney appreciates Heidi's approach of following up with potential hires to understand why they chose not to work at her practice. This feedback can be invaluable for making necessary changes. Whitney mentions, "I love how you're following up with people and asking them why they didn't want to work at your practice."
Benefits for Employees: Whitney acknowledges the importance of offering benefits to employees. While it might be challenging for Heidi's practice size to offer benefits now, it's something to consider for the future.
Increasing Current Therapist Hours: Whitney suggests considering asking current therapists, like Rebecca, to work more hours if they are willing and if there's a demand. This can be a temporary solution while looking for the right hires.
Client Acquisition through SEO: Whitney emphasizes the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for acquiring clients. She mentions that her practice gets over 50% of its referrals through Google. She advises Heidi to ensure she has a well-designed website and to focus on SEO as it's a long-term investment that keeps giving returns.
Google My Business and Reviews: Whitney stresses the importance of having a Google My Business account and accumulating reviews. She suggests Heidi to get reviews from family, friends, and colleagues (but not clients) to boost her practice's online reputation. Whitney says, "Google my business. Do you have that for your business? ... Get reviews. Heidi, it would be easy."
Insurance Panels: Whitney suggests considering adding another insurance panel that's well-known in Heidi's area to attract more clients. She mentions, "One thing you could consider, because you already have all the systems in, or the processes in place for taking insurance, is adding another panel that's well known in your area.
Community Engagement: Whitney emphasizes the importance of engaging with the community, such as offering training sessions, speaking at schools or churches, and cultivating relationships with local entities like school counselors.
Balancing Referrals and Hiring: Whitney acknowledges the challenge of balancing client referrals with hiring new therapists. She mentions the difficulty in predicting the number of clients a new hire might get and how this uncertainty can deter potential hires.
This episode provides a treasure trove of insights for therapists looking to navigate the challenges of insurance, client referrals, and hiring. As Heidi reflects on her journey, she says, "I did the whole SEO thing. So I'm hoping it just takes some time." Whether you're a solo practitioner or running a group practice, the wisdom shared by Whitney and Heidi is sure to resonate and inspire.
Show Sponsor
Alma - Your private practice support system
Mentaya - Use the code “Wise” for a free month. As a therapy client, we help you understand your out-of-network benefits and take care of superbills/insurance claims to get you on average, 70% of your money back on therapy.
Links and Resources
Social Media Handles
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Check the podcasts on the PsychCraft Network: PsychCraftnetwork.com
Podcast Production and Show Notes by Course Creation Studio
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WP 51 | How to Hire and Fill Client Caseloads - Live Consulting with Heidi Schnakenberg
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[00:00:00] Whitney Owens:
[00:00:04] Whitney Owens: Going in network with insurance can be tough, such as benefits checks, catering to the insurance company needs of your clients, late payments, or sometimes making less than you deserve. Filling the paperwork out correctly can be time consuming and tedious. And even after you're done, it can take months to get credentialed and start seeing clients.
[00:00:22] Whitney Owens: That's why Alma makes it easy and financially rewarding to accept insurance. When you join their insurance program, you get credentialed within 45 days and access enhanced. Reimbursement rates with major payers. They handle all the paperwork from eligibility checks to claim submissions and guaranteed payment within two weeks of each appointment.
[00:00:45] Whitney Owens: Once you've joined Alma's program, you can see clients in your state of licensure, regardless of where you're working from. I find this particularly amazing when I'm traveling with my family to conferences or to Disney world. Learn more about building a thriving private practice with Alma at helloalma.
[00:01:03] Whitney Owens: com. You can go to the show notes and grab a special link that you can tell them that you heard about this on the podcast. So that's hello. A. L. M. A. dot com.
[00:01:37] Whitney Owens: Hello friends. Thanks for hanging out with me today on the podcast. As you might know, hiring is a very. Big topic within group practice ownership or solo to group practice ownership and the month of October. I'm doing a special series on live consulting on the podcast. And today you're going to hear another question as we talk about the hiring process.
[00:02:02] Whitney Owens: We had 1 on October. 3rd, I believe was the date. Um, and then we have another 1. So. I do think that hiring is something that's important for us to really question and think through and defining our mission. And so on today's podcast, I'm gonna do some live consulting with my dear friend, Heidi, who I've known for years, and I watched her practice grow from a solo to a group practice.
[00:02:24] Whitney Owens: And we talked through the hiring process and. Filling caseloads of therapists, so if you are thinking about hiring, or, you know, someone who's thinking about hiring another faith based practice owner, please share the podcast. All you have to do is copy the link, send it in a text, let them know about the podcast.
[00:02:41] Whitney Owens: I remember when. I was 1st, getting in the podcast well, really 1st, starting a group practice, and I started listening to tons of practice podcasts. I couldn't find 1 that was specifically about being faith based. And when it comes to the hiring process, our faith is really important because when you're looking at your mission of your practice.
[00:03:02] Whitney Owens: Faith is usually a part of that mission and it's important when you're thinking about hiring to hire people that can cultivate kind of the culture and mission that you're creating in your practice. And so this is important when we're talking about the hiring process. So please make sure that you share the podcast with other people so that they can learn and grow with us as well.
[00:03:21] Whitney Owens: So, um, and if you haven't already, you take just a minute to go and rate and review the podcast. It helps people find it. It helps. Don't grow their practice to tell you the truth. I really enjoy doing it. Um, and look, the more the podcast grows, it allows me to get sponsorships to help me pay for the cost of producing the podcast.
[00:03:40] Whitney Owens: And I mean, it means a lot when I can do that. And I do love to partner with organizations that I believe in. I'm not going to just. Throw people up there just because they're giving me money. Like these are organizations I've met with that I've talked with. And so you should have listened to the Alma statement.
[00:03:56] Whitney Owens: And I think almost doing some really great work in the world. I've heard lots of practice owners, um, work with Alma and find a lot of benefit. So make sure if you are interested in working with them, that you use the link in the show notes. Um, to be able to access Alma, because that's a special link for me.
[00:04:12] Whitney Owens: And I also wanted to comment here when in this podcast episode, I do offer a few suggestions to Heidi of different products that she could be using in her practice. And one of them is a company called Mentia. I had someone from Mentia on the podcast back in. September, I believe earlier in September and entire as a company that helps with the billing of what helps with kind of doing out of network super bills, um, for practice centers and with billing insurance companies.
[00:04:41] Whitney Owens: So they have a calculator that you can load to your website. And you either yourself or your admin can use that calculator live on a call with someone to calculate what their benefits are and do a quick benefits check or clients themselves can go to your website and do a benefits check. That way they can find out if insurance is going to be able to cover their out of network or not.
[00:05:04] Whitney Owens: It'll give them a good idea when they're moving forward therapy. So it's a really great tool to have. And graciously, Mantaya offered to do one free month for podcast listeners. And so if you go to mentiah. com and you go to do the calculator, if you put in the code wise, W I S E. You'll get 1 month free to be able to use the calculator.
[00:05:24] Whitney Owens: That way you could try it out before you're making a commitment and see if you like it. So I want to encourage you as you listen to the episode, when we talk about menti, I think I wasn't really certain what it was the code when we're on the show. So I just wanted to give you that in advance and I appreciate you listening.
[00:05:38] Whitney Owens: I'll throw it in the show notes and I hope you have an awesome day and you're going to really enjoy my interview here with Heidi on hiring and filling caseloads of therapists.
[00:05:51] Whitney Owens: Hello friends. This is Whitney Owens. And you're here on the wise practice podcast. We are doing a special special mess. My word's up there series on consulting. And I just absolutely love doing live consulting and bringing in some amazing therapists and get to share about the work they're doing and also answer their questions.
[00:06:09] Whitney Owens: Cause you know what? You probably have the same question. So today I have my dear friend, Heidi, and she started her practice in 2020. Um, and she's been a group practice journey now for about 15 months. She loves a challenge and this has certainly been one having a group practice. She's passionate about helping clients identify and change problematic habits, cognitions, and relational dynamics, and helping them achieve their best life.
[00:06:33] Whitney Owens: On the side, she loves God, exercise, travel, and having fun with family and friends. Heidi, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me, Whitney. It's great to be here. Yes. And when I was reading your bio, it's only, you've only been 15 months as a group practice center? Yes,
[00:06:50] Heidi Schnakenberg: because I started solo and then I did that for about a year ish, year and a half.
[00:06:56] Heidi Schnakenberg: So I really went group practice route. Yeah, about probably 15 months
[00:06:59] Whitney Owens: ago. You are doing great and learning a lot. I feel like you've been a group practice owner for a long time. So you're, you're doing the work and, uh, excited to have you on the show today. Um, so tell people kind of where you're from a little about your, your family.
[00:07:13] Whitney Owens: You have a child and you know, just a little about yourself before we jump in the question.
[00:07:17] Heidi Schnakenberg: Sure. Well, I'm from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I've been here my whole life. I did my undergrad in Boulder, but other than that, then in Colorado Springs, um, I have a husband, I have a five year old daughter and a 16 year old stepson.
[00:07:30] Heidi Schnakenberg: Um, and my, my dad lives here also. He's very close with us. My husband's family lives in town. Um, so yeah, we're pretty close knit little group here in the Springs and we love to spend time together, travel. We both work a lot, so it's busy. Our daughter's a fiery one, as you probably know, with five year olds,
[00:07:51] Whitney Owens: she keeps us busy.
[00:07:52] Whitney Owens: Yes, definitely keeps your hands full. Well, great. Okay. So. Tell us about your question today. Cause I think it relates to a lot of people in group practice. Alrighty.
[00:08:01] Heidi Schnakenberg: So my question today is how do I hire therapists that are able to see clients and stick with the practice? So I want to keep them. I want some longevity and I want, um, people that are motivated to keep their clients and see clients.
[00:08:17] Whitney Owens: Okay, great. All right. And so when you think about this question, I'm guessing it come, it's coming from a place of difficulty in this. What were some of the challenges that you've had Maybe with hiring or with therapists staying at the practice. Um,
[00:08:32] Heidi Schnakenberg: I feel like some challenges have been just like life people that some of the people I've hired have had different life transitions come up.
[00:08:39] Heidi Schnakenberg: They were excellent therapists, but really couldn't stay around very long. One lady went on maternity leave and then had a baby and decided to stay home with it's totally understandable. Um, somebody else was doing a PhD program and then ended up getting really busy with that. So it's been hard to find people that.
[00:08:57] Heidi Schnakenberg: Can meet the flexibility of having like a full time job being a therapist. I feel like I have 1 awesome clinician right now, but she is part time. And so it's been a struggle to find that full time person who can really. Meet
[00:09:10] Whitney Owens: the needs. Yeah, great. I mean, I think a good thing for us to look at 1st, when we're tackling a problem is what has been the challenge in the past.
[00:09:20] Whitney Owens: You know, how could we have prevented those because that might help your answer moving forward. So it sounds to me like the problem has been hiring people who couldn't fully commit to the work. Probably. Yes. Right. They had other things they were doing personally or professionally that made them have difficulty being available to see clients at your practice.
[00:09:43] Whitney Owens: That sounds right. Yep. Okay. Yeah. I might've been a little too strong saying committed to the work. I'm like judging people, but the point is, yeah, you need people that are going to be willing to see your clients at your practice and be available for that. I mean, hiring someone who has a full time job somewhere else.
[00:10:00] Whitney Owens: Yeah. They're not going to have a lot of availability to help you and they will always put their full time job first. Right. Because it's their full time job. Understandably. That's right. That's right. Okay. So some of it is maybe sifting through the beginning and, you know, it's their ability to be here and setting your expectations clearly at the beginning with your team.
[00:10:23] Whitney Owens: I think a lot of group practice centers at the beginning. They're just. Wanting to hire. So they'll say, you know, work whenever you want. I got an office here. It's going to be fun. Well, then they do that. And then the group practice owner struggles because they're not seeing enough clients to make ends meet, or they're not available in the evenings when clients are wanting appointments and it becomes a problem.
[00:10:40] Whitney Owens: So I think really setting out your expectations on hours required number of clients that they see would be really helpful.
[00:10:49] Heidi Schnakenberg: I think you're absolutely spot on with that because I, I think with one of my clinicians that ended up not staying. I was too flexible in the beginning. I was that person like use the office when you want.
[00:11:00] Heidi Schnakenberg: This is great. We're downtown. Um, it's so flexible. And then it didn't end up working out the
[00:11:06] Whitney Owens: way I'd hoped. Yeah. Yeah. And you're not alone in feeling that way as a group practice center. Well, and actually that
[00:11:14] Heidi Schnakenberg: was some changes. Yeah, right. Exactly. And that was some feedback that he gave me, which I think was really valid was that I hadn't been really clear with the expectations.
[00:11:22] Heidi Schnakenberg: So that is my goal is to change that for sure.
[00:11:25] Whitney Owens: Great. Great. Okay. So let's go to the hiring process. Okay. When you do put ads out, how does that usually go for you? Do you have people apply? Yeah.
[00:11:35] Heidi Schnakenberg: Normally, especially we've had more people apply when they're, when I'm looking for an unlicensed therapist, it's, we do have quite a few applicants.
[00:11:43] Heidi Schnakenberg: Licensed is a little bit harder, but even then we still get quite
[00:11:46] Whitney Owens: a few people. Okay. Wonderful. Um, and so you're able to hire, it's just retaining them at the practice. Would you say that's what the problem is? Well, even,
[00:11:57] Heidi Schnakenberg: I don't even know if I'm, if I'm able to hire is the right word because I'm, we interview a lot of people, um, but sometimes we have people that already are working with a, or have their own private practice.
[00:12:09] Heidi Schnakenberg: That's what happened recently. I interviewed a girl who was wonderful. I really, really enjoyed interviewing her. And she had, she says a small private practice on the side. And I was like, that's a little bit sticky. Um, other people have. Not so there was 1 person that I had offered the position to and she had wanted something that was more like a team environment, which right now our office is just 1 office.
[00:12:40] Heidi Schnakenberg: It's very little. So, you're really working by yourself when the other person isn't there. So she was looking for more of that. Um, so actually we haven't hired anybody in a while, but we've been screening a lot of people on interviewing.
[00:12:55] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I would definitely use some of these, these, I don't know if concerns is the right thing, but some of the challenges that are coming up and the feedback you're getting to really hone in on what you want to ask people in their interview process.
[00:13:09] Whitney Owens: Right. Right. So for example, if someone has their own private practice, we do that in the sometimes even through email before we even allow them to have a phone screen, we will make it super clear. Hey, I see on your resume or I saw online. You also have a private practice. We do not allow people to work at other practices.
[00:13:27] Whitney Owens: That's just a rule. I've made it my practice. Not a rule. Everyone has to follow. Right. But if you want to move forward with this application process, know that we're going to ask you, Okay. To only work here, because I have enough clients to feed you, um, and kind of see what their response is. And that way, you're kind of save yourself some time in the long run.
[00:13:46] Whitney Owens: Right,
[00:13:48] Heidi Schnakenberg: definitely. And maybe 1 thing I can work on, because I'm having my practice manager do a lot of that screening is just working with her on more clear that, like, not boundaries, but for us to sit down together and really clarify some of this stuff. Because we could probably filter out quite a few people if we were a little more clear in the beginning.
[00:14:10] Whitney Owens: Yeah, great. And I love how you're following up with people and asking them why they didn't want to work at your practice, because that's going to give you what you need to make the changes. So some people, it doesn't sound like you're hearing money as an issue.
[00:14:24] Heidi Schnakenberg: Um, not regularly. The, the one person I interviewed who I really liked had wanted, she wasn't licensed and she, that seemed to be one issue for her was she was looking for a higher, higher pay per hour.
[00:14:37] Heidi Schnakenberg: Um, But she, but also my practice manager had known that and we had sort of talked about it, but she was really excited about her. She was like, she's so great. And she was really great. But in the end, she ended up, she was the one that said, I think I'm not going to move forward with the process because I was considering giving her a higher wage because I really liked her.
[00:14:57] Whitney Owens: Do you know why she decided not to move forward?
[00:14:59] Heidi Schnakenberg: I think part of it was benefits. Um, and then part of it was the wage because I don't know that it would have been as high as she had expected.
[00:15:09] Whitney Owens: Okay, so benefits would have been helpful. So it's something to be thinking about. You're kind of still at a phase.
[00:15:14] Whitney Owens: It'd be hard to offer benefits at your at your size, but it's something to kind of put on the docket for the future.
[00:15:20] Heidi Schnakenberg: Definitely. Because I feel like in the past, that was feedback from 1 other person might have been the benefits also.
[00:15:26] Whitney Owens: Yeah, I'm also a firm believer on going to the therapist. We already have and asking them to work more if you like them.
[00:15:35] Whitney Owens: So, is Rebecca, um, willing to work more hours your current clinician. She's
[00:15:41] Heidi Schnakenberg: been really flexible and she has been. More than happy to work more. Yes, when I've asked her to. Yeah. And right now she actually has openings, which that's the thing. It's like, I feel like when I have a person who has openings, then the referrals aren't coming.
[00:15:55] Heidi Schnakenberg: And then when the referrals are coming, we don't have the person. It's
[00:15:57] Whitney Owens: this hard balance. It is a hard balance and, um, this the face that you're at, you know, you have 1 therapist at your practice and you and so that you're hiring is challenging because what do you say to somebody how many clients you're going to get?
[00:16:10] Whitney Owens: And then at least when I was in your phase, what I saw happening often was they. They didn't want to work at my practice because they didn't think they'd get enough clients. They didn't think there'd be consistency. So then they go work at a different agency. Now that I've grown a lot, I don't get that as often, right?
[00:16:27] Whitney Owens: But yes, it's a challenge for sure. So maybe talk, we could talk a little bit about, um, filling caseloads. Because I think that kind of goes hand in hand when you're hiring, right? For sure. For sure. Okay. Um, did you have any other questions though regarding hiring? It sounds like you kind of know your process.
[00:16:46] Whitney Owens: You have the, the, you know, Zoom call or whatever, the phone screening, the interview, you know, you kind of have all that down. Um, it's just a matter of getting the right fit. And it sounds like we tailored some of those questions to help for that. Did we kind of answer your concerns on that? I think so.
[00:17:03] Whitney Owens: Okay. Yep. Wonderful. Okay. Well, let's talk a little bit about filling caseloads. Um, before we started on air, you were talking about a different, um, system you've been using to help fill caseloads that now is oversaturated. And so we can kind of, what are your next steps, um, in filling caseloads? So we could definitely talk about marketing if you want to talk about marketing a little bit, but you also have an insurance based practice, correct?
[00:17:27] Heidi Schnakenberg: Correct. We take a couple different insurances. And part of what we've been working on is, um, because I feel like I'm in this
[00:17:34] Whitney Owens: limbo where
[00:17:36] Heidi Schnakenberg: I think my original goal was to get away from insurance. But I don't know. I also feel pretty strongly about being able to be available for people that can't always afford the private pay rate.
[00:17:48] Heidi Schnakenberg: And, and we do have a lot of referrals from insurance. So yes, to answer your question. Yes. Right now we accept two insurances.
[00:17:56] Whitney Owens: Okay. Great. And can associate level therapists get on those panels? For sure, one of
[00:18:02] Heidi Schnakenberg: them. And I'm unsure about the other one. We're following up to figure out
that
[00:18:07] Whitney Owens: process. Okay. So one thing you could consider, because you already have all the systems in, or the processes in place for taking insurance, is adding another panel that's well known in your area.
[00:18:19] Whitney Owens: Right.
[00:18:19] Heidi Schnakenberg: Absolutely. Yep. And we're looking at adding TRICARE, because we have a really big military influence here in Colorado Springs.
[00:18:26] Whitney Owens: Wonderful. Well, I think that would be helpful and to be able to share that with new hires. You know, getting on panels and stuff like that, I think will make a big difference.
[00:18:35] Whitney Owens: That's true. That's true. Now there are other companies out there that you could start exploring that have systems that you could add in. So for example, example, um, like cash pay practices that offer out of network benefits for companies you're not in network with. So like a company like, um, Mentaia, you know, they have like a.
[00:19:01] Whitney Owens: I have a calculator that you can put on your website. I actually just interviewed someone from there. That podcast is coming out. I see we're recording now on September 14th. It's coming out next week. So I guess, uh, whatever date that is like the 19th, actually. So anyway, people could go back and listen to that episode on September 19th, but anyway, so they have a calculator that you can use.
[00:19:24] Whitney Owens: And you can put it on your website for out of network benefits. So at least for people who are cash pay, if they want to try to submit for out of network, if it's an insurance that you don't take, some people like to have that as an extra option. And so
[00:19:37] Heidi Schnakenberg: what is, what exactly does that do? Like it just calculates what their copay would be
[00:19:42] Whitney Owens: or that's correct for out of network.
[00:19:44] Whitney Owens: And then the person can submit their own claims through Mentia and you don't have to do anything. Interesting. Other than confirm, other than kind of confirm that they were a client, there is an initial setup, but after that, now I haven't personally used them yet. Um, so I'm just letting you know that. But I hear great things and, um, you should go back and listen to that episode.
[00:20:04] Whitney Owens: You can get a month free. Okay. I, um, of the cal of the calculator. I think if you That's funny. We're talking about it now. , right. Um, I, I could email you all the details, but I think if you use the code wise, You can get a month free on that calculator. So now I'm talking about it
[00:20:20] Heidi Schnakenberg: again. So other than the calculator, what does the Mentia company do?
[00:20:25] Heidi Schnakenberg: Like if somebody comes to me, they don't have insurance that I accept, then
[00:20:30] Whitney Owens: what happens? Yeah. So your admin can do it on the phone and do the calculator to find out if they have out of network benefits and what they would be. Or the client themselves can go on your website. If you add the calculator on there and they can check for themselves.
[00:20:44] Whitney Owens: So maybe they, maybe you don't take blue cross blue shield or whatever. And then they see, Oh, I have out of network benefits, blah, blah, blah. They can come see someone at your practice and the Mataya does all the work to submit the claims. For out of network, I mean, the client like has to like confirm things, but yeah, I see there are some companies out there that are helping clients with payment.
[00:21:06] Whitney Owens: And when it comes to things like this, I think it's a matter of, you try things out to see what works. Right. I mean, I say that about everything in your practice, you know, um, obviously there are other companies that, um, like headway and Alma that you can partner with and they can get you on a lot of panels.
[00:21:25] Whitney Owens: You know, and it goes through them. So that'd be something else. Are you familiar with those companies?
[00:21:31] Heidi Schnakenberg: I'm not. No, I haven't heard of them. But is it like a general like credentialing company? Yes.
[00:21:37] Whitney Owens: Okay. Yes. Not general. Well, I don't know if I should say it like that. You, you kind of like contract through them almost actually a partner with the podcast.
[00:21:46] Whitney Owens: So, um, yeah, so they're a company that you can go, um, you get part of a community by joining them. So you have other therapists that you can like interact with, ask questions about, and they partner with insurance companies and do the credentialing for you. And then all your pay comes through Alma, which is really nice because you have to contact all these different companies.
[00:22:06] Whitney Owens: I think it's great for practice owners, especially solo or smaller group practices that are wanting to get on a lot of panels. And it's a lot of headache and structure, right? To get that assistance in that. And then they mail you all the checks, which is really nice. And because there's such a large company, a lot of times they can get contracted rates that are better than you can get being a small company.
[00:22:27] Whitney Owens: Interesting. Okay. Yeah. So it's worth, it's worth, um, setting up calls with them. And when we get off air, I can help you with that. Okay. Yeah, that would be great. So what I'm saying is there's a lot of different options out there when it comes to getting clients and using insurance. Okay. So if that's something that you want to pursue, It's out there and you can just try some of those.
[00:22:50] Whitney Owens: Now, I obviously have the steps that I take people through that are just my tried and true marketing go tos, you know, and a lot of these are things you've probably heard, um, my favorite, of course, is SEO. Like, yes, get a good website, make sure you have good design, make it easy for clients to find you.
[00:23:11] Whitney Owens: I've done podcast episodes. I interviewed Daniel Fava. I think he talked through the five or seven best parts of your website, you know, so people can go back and listen to that. And then once you have a good design, making sure you have good SEO and that's a whole nother can of worms, you know, you're going to be working on your website.
[00:23:28] Whitney Owens: SEO is the gift that keeps on giving. Okay. You always have it. And it's wonderful. My practice. Thank you. Hands down gets over 50 percent of our referrals through Google and always has as a cash pay practice. So that's my go to. Um, and then you have the other things that you need to make sure that you're doing.
[00:23:49] Whitney Owens: Google my business. Do you have that for your business? I do. And do you have reviews? I have a,
[00:23:57] Heidi Schnakenberg: I don't know, like three. No,
[00:23:58] Whitney Owens: I mean, not a lot. Get reviews. Heidi, it would be easy. Go and hit the link. Send it out to your family and friends. Do not send it to clients. Send it to Rebecca. Tell her to send it to family and friends.
[00:24:12] Whitney Owens: Ask people to spend five minutes or less writing a quick review about you or your practice. They don't have to say their clients, they don't need to lie. They can say, um, Heidi does a great job running this practice. She works with military families. Blah, blah, blah,
[00:24:30] Heidi Schnakenberg: blah. That's funny. This, this has been on my list of things to do for probably two or three months and we haven't done
[00:24:38] Whitney Owens: it yet.
[00:24:38] Whitney Owens: That is a free thing to do. It doesn't take a lot of time and it will be game changer for you. Okay. Okay. I remember when I hit 13 reviews, it was like immediately people, and that's not even all that many, but it was like, immediately people were like, Oh yeah, you know, I heard about you and I saw you had five stars, you know, and also Heidi, one day you're going to get a bad star.
[00:25:00] Whitney Owens: You're going to get a bad review from a client and you're gonna be glad you had those other ones. Right. Definitely. So, okay. Um, definitely do that. And then make sure that you're hitting referral sources. You know, places that are your ideal clients and where they're hanging out, you know, if that's churches, if that's connecting to military bases, if that's going to schools nearby, you can't underestimate the value of that personal touch.
[00:25:27] Whitney Owens: In fact, we've been on this podcast, I've been getting phone calls from a school counselor. I'm like, Oh, she's calling me, you know, because I have a good relationship and I've given people my cell phone number. And so they feel like they can reach out to me. Um, and so it's important that you are cultivating those relationships.
[00:25:42] Whitney Owens: Thanks. Absolutely. And when you can do things in the community, like tomorrow we're doing a suicide prevention or like a suicide awareness training for school counselors and they're coming to our practice and getting breakfast. And so I'm excited about that. It's the first time we've done something like that at our practice.
[00:26:01] Whitney Owens: Usually we go to other places, um, or we go speak at schools when they ask us to come or speak at churches, you know? And so I think doing those things really does up your game, right?
[00:26:11] Heidi Schnakenberg: Because you put your name out there. I agree. For
[00:26:13] Whitney Owens: sure. Mm hmm. Yeah. So how is this feeling for you?
[00:26:18] Heidi Schnakenberg: Those are all great ideas.
[00:26:19] Heidi Schnakenberg: I love the Google My Business because that's been on my list forever. My admin and I've been, did I lose you? No, I'm right here. Oh, that's weird. It all disappeared. Anyway, um, my admin and I've been talking about a lot of the marketing things that you and I, that we just talked about. So it's just a matter of, Taking time to put them all into action, so I feel good about it because it sort of reinforces what I already had kind of kind of on my list.
[00:26:45] Heidi Schnakenberg: I did the whole SEO thing. So I'm hoping it just takes some time, which is
[00:26:51] Whitney Owens: what I've been told. Yes, it does take time. That's that's for sure. I would give it at least 6 months after you've done it before you see a lot of change with it. And it is you have to keep on top of. You got to keep posting blogs every week, keep optimizing, um, and doing the work on
[00:27:07] Heidi Schnakenberg: that.
[00:27:08] Heidi Schnakenberg: And that's the part that I'm not super good at. So that's probably something organizationally that I just need to make sure I work into my schedule as the blogs
[00:27:15] Whitney Owens: and all of that. Yeah. And when you can guest blog for other people, get on the radio, get on TV. It's not about You know, being famous, it's about getting the backlink right from a wet from another source.
[00:27:30] Whitney Owens: So anytime that you're on someone's website or anything, always ask for a backlink. Okay. We'll help your SEO. Okay. So awesome. Well, Heidi, tell me. A little bit about Y's practice membership and what do you love about it?
[00:27:49] Heidi Schnakenberg: Oh man, I really love a lot of different aspects. I really enjoy getting to hear, well, so I like the organization in terms of having the different topics.
[00:28:01] Heidi Schnakenberg: So I really enjoy like the Y's questions because Most of the time people have the same questions I have and I'm like, oh, this is so interesting the way they decided to handle this. Um, and maybe I could do that. I really enjoy this, the, the training part, the guest speakers, and then the trainings that you do, Whitney.
[00:28:19] Heidi Schnakenberg: I think I'm really proud of myself because for a while there, I was like. Missing them here and there. And then I finally just like put it in my calendar every Wednesday. And then, of course, it doesn't always work every Wednesday because we're out of town or whatever, but I feel like I have actually really prioritized it to some degree.
[00:28:38] Heidi Schnakenberg: And I think. That I've gotten a lot out of it, because I've been able to attend quite a few of the different meetings. So I think it's great. It's great to have a community of other people that are in the same boat as you
[00:28:50] Whitney Owens: and to learn from others. Definitely. Yeah, I agree with you. It's like putting it on your calendar on a regular basis is game changer.
[00:28:58] Whitney Owens: And the people who come regularly are the ones that see their practices grow faster and we can't put, we have to put more value on taking care of our business instead of being, you know, we've got to work on it, not in it. Right.
[00:29:10] Heidi Schnakenberg: Absolutely. I mean, I think all of this has been so helpful. Just learning from people that are doing it every day and doing it.
[00:29:18] Heidi Schnakenberg: It's better than me. And one day I'll be at that level too.
[00:29:21] Whitney Owens: So yes, you will. It's inspiring. I love it. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. And I think, you know, another thing about the community, that's just my passion is We're faith based like it's really cool to not only talk about our faith. I mean, not only talk about our business, but we can talk about our faith and how that influences our work.
[00:29:39] Whitney Owens: And I never have had a group that I was able to do that. And so then we created this one and I'm like, all right, like we're doing it. And so that's really cool to me. And so I appreciate you and other faith based practice centers being a part of
[00:29:51] Heidi Schnakenberg: it. Oh, absolutely. I agree. I love that. There's the faith based component.
[00:29:55] Whitney Owens: Yeah, definitely. Well, Heidi, I'm excited for you and these steps that you're going to take. I look forward to hearing about your new hires and filling up therapists. And I appreciate you taking the time to be on the show today. Well,
[00:30:08] Heidi Schnakenberg: thank you for having me, Whitney. It's been really helpful.
