Making Referrals
There is a tendency in service based businesses to attempt to accommodate every client or customer. The truth is…these businesses are not meant to serve everyone. Sometimes we need to refer people to other service providers. So what leads to difficulty when the need arises to refer cases elsewhere?
- Sometimes we don’t know the right referral resources.
- We may truly believe that we can provide the service.
- We might overestimate our competency to provide the service requested.
- We may fear not receiving enough incoming referrals to fulfill our numbers and meet our financial demands.
- We may be discouraged by our employers. They may have a policy that says “don’t refer cases to our competitors.”
- Lastly, we may not fully understand the ethical implications of accepting the referral.
Selecting Clients
It is critically important that we put the interests of the client or the potential client first. We must ask these types of questions of them and of ourselves:
- What service are you looking for? Then we must assess whether or not what they are requesting is also a match for what we think they need based on our professional opinion.
- Am I the right provider for this person based on my competency and services offered? If not, why not? Remember we can’t refer out in a discriminatory manner.
- What are the resources at this person’s disposal?
So how do you know which cases you should take? Below are some considerations.
- Do I/we offer that service? Is it couples, group, individual adult (adolescent or child)? Do they need play therapy or geriatric specialties, etc…?
- What is the severity of the case and do we have the right coverage to accommodate their needs?
- Does the case involve the legal system? Am I or is my agency contracted with the state or with the court to provide this service? Do I/we have the expertise and skill set involved with forensic evaluation? Is the client seeking treatment or assessment for court? Do I/we provide that service?
- Does the case involve substance abuse? If so, do I/we have expertise in that area? Do they need detoxification prior to your services?
- Does the case involve domestic violence? If so, and if couples therapy is requested, it is important to know that couples therapy is contraindicated for domestic violence. Instead both parties need individual therapy. In fact, they specifically need domestic violence based individual services.
- Is the person imminently suicidal or homicidal? If so, they need hospitalization for crisis stabilization. If you do not provide that service, then of course you need to refer out.
First Point of Contact
In certain settings, the person receiving the initial call, e-mail or referral contact may not be a clinician. This person may or may not be asked to do any type of triage to determine who should be kept in house and who should be referred out.
It is my recommendation that private settings assign clinicians to rotate with regard to fielding incoming service calls and scheduling clients. This is how it was done at the agency where I was trained many years ago.
In my experience, this reduced no-shows by cultivating a bond with the incoming client. Whether they saw that provider or not, they were ushered into the practice/agency. Therapists – or those trained to think like therapists as it relates to intake – were better able to determine how a request for services would be handled.
Ethical Practice
Additionally, one of the hallmarks of ethical practice is “beneficence”, which means to “do good.” What I am describing is a practical way to do good. It also aligns with the principle of “non-maleficence”, which means to “do no harm.”
Referral Based Marketing
When potential clients need to be referred out…it is a unique opportunity to provide what I call a service based referral. In other words, the services you are providing are “information and referral.” The manner with which that process is handled can lead to many future referrals from the person that you are assisting, as well as future referrals from the provider or organization that you recommend. If it is not handled properly, the referral process is a lost opportunity to provide excellent service.
Excellent service is a hallmark of marketing. So even if you don’t have openings or don’t offer that service, it is vital that you make contact with the person who was seeking services.
Marketing, in my experience, is anything that increases the profile of your business. Especially if that profile is raised in a positive manner.
A person for whom you were not able to provide other direct services will remember how you (or your organization) treated them. They will come away feeling valued and cared for if you are very intentional. If not, they may come away feeling discarded and frustrated.
A person who felt that they had an excellent experience in the referral process will feel comfortable telling others about your services and they will also have a better understanding of what it is that you provide. In fact, not only will they feel comfortable, the will likely feel that they were helped by you or your organization.
A person who has had a positive experience will tell others about it when the opportunity presents itself.
The Abundance Principle
One of the best ways to market is to let other people do it for you. Let your work and your good deeds speak for you!
There are more than enough providers and clients to serve. It doesn’t matter what type of service you provide. Your marketing effectiveness is determined by factors other than frequency. Your marketing efforts and effectiveness are determined by what people remember about their experience of you.
Check out my video below for more helpful information on this topic.
Copyright © 2016 Ruby Blow. All rights reserved.
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