[00:00:00] Libby: If you're looking to grow your business as a registered dietitian, you've come to the right place. If you're not sure what to do or what steps to take next so that you can create flexibility and freedom in your life, then you're going to learn a lot from tuning into our podcast here at DietitianBoss.
[00:00:17] Libby: I'm Libby Rothschild, the founder of DietitianBoss, a [00:00:20] fellow registered dietitian and business owner. And in our podcast, I share some The highs and the lows. And I talk all about how to grow your business, get it started. And I interview our clients to date. We've had over 200 interviews from clients who share their journey on our podcast, dietitian boss.
[00:00:39] Libby: So many of [00:00:40] you are excited about growing your business as a dietitian, but you're not sure how to build out your dietitian services for your practice in today's episode, I want to give you some tactical steps that you can take away and apply immediately. If you are looking for more support, I encourage you to join our membership [00:01:00] called The Library.
[00:01:01] Libby: You can learn more and sign up today at dietitianboss. com. The first step I want you to consider when it comes to building out your dietitian services for your private practice includes assessing your current services. If you happen to be a beginner and you don't yet have any services that you're [00:01:20] selling, I want you to think about selling something easy so that you can get started and build your confidence.
[00:01:25] Libby: For many of us, that would be single sessions, right? If you're starting and you've never sold anything, You want to sell a few single sessions, get those under your belt before you can move on to selling bundles and packages, meaning you [00:01:40] sell several sessions at once, or you sell a longer term package, which is usually more expensive.
[00:01:46] Libby: So the point I want you to take away is before assessing your current services, think about selling anything. And what's really important as a registered dietitian to build out your dietitian services for your practice, [00:02:00] because that's how you're going to make money and help people. So you really want to be thinking about what are you selling?
[00:02:06] Libby: Why are you selling it? And how does it work? Are you offering virtual in person or a hybrid? So when it comes to your services and assessing your services, I don't want you to worry too much about having your. [00:02:20] Services perfectly arranged at first, because when you're getting started, you just want to sell something before you figure out how you want to package your services in the future.
[00:02:31] Libby: So for those of you that are listening and already have a business, I want you to review your existing services, identify what you currently offer, like [00:02:40] Probably individual nutrition counseling, or maybe some group workshops. I want you to evaluate any feedback that you've gotten. This is a step that many of you miss.
[00:02:50] Libby: You forget to look at feedback that people have given you through surveys or direct conversations so that you can find any gaps. Maybe there are some unmet needs that [00:03:00] you weren't aware of. For instance, if a client frequently asks for meal planning, that might indicate a need for an additional service that you can build out.
[00:03:08] Libby: Okay. Now, if you're not sure and you're thinking, you say, gosh, I just don't know if I have any feedback. I encourage you to look back at any conversations. If you're using an EMR, an electronic [00:03:20] medical record, such as practice better, you might have some conversations through that platform that can help you evaluate any feedback.
[00:03:28] Libby: It might be indirect. You might have not realized that you were getting feedback as you were working with a client. Or there might be some email communication that is pretty obvious that there were some gaps or something that someone really [00:03:40] liked and they praised from your services. You also, if you're not already doing this, you want to be sending out regular surveys to ask your clients, how are they feeling?
[00:03:49] Libby: Do they want anything different? Do they have any feedback for you? And you can gather that information and look for themes so that you know what might be missing. You can also ask [00:04:00] for recommendations and referrals and ask people, if you enjoyed my service, can you tell me what stood out to you? What did you like about my service?
[00:04:06] Libby: What did you like about working together? And you might get some feedback that can help you learn what to create. For example, maybe people are telling you that they really want something affordable, or they would really like some education or [00:04:20] community based options. So that might be where you would bring in a group.
[00:04:23] Libby: Program or you might offer some workshops. So the first step is reviewing what you currently offer and looking at any feedback that you have from existing or past clients. That's if you already are offering services. And if you're not offering services, I want you to start with single sessions and not [00:04:40] worry too much.
[00:04:41] Libby: About getting ahead of yourself, you just want to first sell something before you can advance what you're selling in terms of identifying new service areas. I want you to explore additional services. For example, maybe you offer one on one consults, but you could also add a virtual group coaching session.
[00:04:57] Libby: And that might help you have a broader reach now [00:05:00] looking at emerging trends that I've discussed on this podcast, like plant based nutrition can help you come up with specialized programs or workshops. You might be able to work with your population and come up with a, you know, six week program on educating about plant based meals.
[00:05:15] Libby: And that might be something that merges a trend with what your [00:05:20] population, your niche is asking for so that you can get some ideas by looking at emerging trends in the field. You can also look at technology integration like offering telehealth consultations if you're not already or developing something with meal tracking or meal planning that might be a virtual piece like offering meal plans or doing meal plans with them [00:05:40] and offering some type of add on service to what you're offering already could be helpful if that's something your population requests.
[00:05:47] Libby: Again, you also want to go to the feedback for your individual practice and see what people are telling you. And you can help reach clients who prefer virtual services and need support between sessions by offering different types of services that fit their needs. [00:06:00] Now, when it comes to developing and implementing new services, you want to create a detailed plan for each new service.
[00:06:06] Libby: And that means you want to outline the structure of the content and your delivery methods. For example, if you're launching, let's say a cooking class on. Plant based meals. You want to develop a light curriculum that includes recipes, cooking techniques, [00:06:20] and that nutrition education. Now you want to keep this light because you're going to get feedback and you'll adjust your service offering with time.
[00:06:28] Libby: So that plan that you have is going to be a loose plan. So you don't want to spend too much time on creating the detailed plan. You want to spend just enough time to have something that you can get started and make sure you modify as time [00:06:40] goes on. And it's really important you modify your work with feedback from your pain clients.
[00:06:45] Libby: You want to set clear goals in a timeline. This is something most of our clients miss. So a clear goal can include how many sales you will make or how many times you will pitch your offer and a timeline. Let's say you create a smart goal and you're going to set a goal [00:07:00] for a certain amount of time in the next six months.
[00:07:01] Libby: You want to put your services X time or in the next six months. X amount of dollars. And so that's going to help you not only launch your new service, like your virtual class or plant based cooking class, or enroll a certain amount of people within, let's say the first month or the first few months. So when you make your goal time down and [00:07:20] smart, then you're more likely to stick with it.
[00:07:22] Libby: I think that's what we want to be teaching our clients to do as well. And you want to determine the resources needed like software. Maybe you're going to run. Your virtual cooking class through practice better. And so you're going to need to determine how many sessions and how do you create this program with your [00:07:40] nutrition software, which is pretty easy.
[00:07:41] Libby: And we help walk you through that inside of our library. You can also look at some free tools, like looking at practice better on YouTube to see how you can use that tool. To run your, let's say cooking plant based workshop, you want to a budget for additional expenses and plan how you're going to manage the [00:08:00] resources.
[00:08:00] Libby: So practice better is very affordable and it's free for your first few clients, but there is a nominal fee if you have multiple clients on that software. So just keep in mind, there are some logistics that you will have to determine if you're using technology for this example, for your new service.
[00:08:17] Libby: Thanks. I want you to think [00:08:20] about pricing options and payment methods. So in terms of pricing options, you can offer a tiered pricing for different levels of service. You might be able to say for an individual session, you can offer one price versus a package of multiple sessions, or maybe even a subscription based service.
[00:08:36] Libby: So depending on what you're offering, there can be different price points. [00:08:40] If this feels confusing, I would just stick with a simple one, offer one thing at a time. And then as you get, build your confidence, then you can start offering tiered pricing. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, just start with something simple and build up with your confidence.
[00:08:53] Libby: You can also provide options like pay per session, or you can have people do a one time fee. You can even have people. Breakup [00:09:00] payments. Like if you have, let's say a package that you offer for 2, 000 for three months, you can offer 2000 upfront, or you can have them pay monthly until for the total of the three month package.
[00:09:10] Libby: So there are different ways that you can offer how they pay and different pricing tiers. But keep in mind that keeping it simple at first with the least amount of options [00:09:20] is a good way to get started. Now, of course, I want to briefly touch on cash versus insurance. So insurance, if you accept insurance, which many of you do ensure that your new services, if they're covered by insurance and the plans you accept, do some research to see if that's possible.
[00:09:34] Libby: Verify with your insurance provider. You [00:09:40] also want to make sure that your services are not covered by insurance. Now, if you're cash pay and you want to offer competitive cash pay rate for your clients who prefer not to use insurance or if insurance doesn't cover what you're offering in terms of how you're packaging your new service, you can [00:10:00] consider what that price point would be based on again, what's competitive and keep it simple.
[00:10:04] Libby: Simple and build up as you get feedback. So you don't want to offer too many things at once. That's the fastest way to overwhelm you and your potential clients. And when it comes to attracting cash paying clients, you want to market the benefits of cash pay, like flexibility, scheduling, and personalized [00:10:20] attention and streamlined billing without insurance constraints.
[00:10:23] Libby: But keep in mind that. Accepting insurance and working with clients who are able to use insurance has a multitude of benefits as well. So you can also attract with cash paying clients that there's convenience in valuing your services and your promotional materials. Like you might emphasize personalized care and quick access to [00:10:40] appointments for cash pay offers.
[00:10:41] Libby: You're going to have to test that. that and see what resonates with your audience in terms of marketing, these expanded services that we're talking about today, right? Beyond, let's say your single sessions, you want to promote your new services. If you have a website, that's a good place to promote your services, social media channels, and in your email [00:11:00] newsletter.
[00:11:00] Libby: So you should have an email list that you're growing and send emails regularly to the people who voluntarily subscribed to your email list. Now, when you're sending regular emails. emails, you can talk about these services and ask people to join by pressing a link that you've created inside of your newsletter.
[00:11:16] Libby: That's a great way for you to get people interested is to use your email [00:11:20] list. If you're not already using your email list, we walk you through exactly how to with templates so that we've already written the copy for you inside of our membership called the library. I encourage you to go to dietitianboss.
[00:11:31] Libby: com to join our membership as an affiliate. Affordable monthly membership to help dieticians like you grow your business. So in this newsletter and in on [00:11:40] your social media channels and in your website, you're creating engaging content that highlights the benefits of your new offering. Like, you know, you can use testimonials from existing clients or even beta testers if you get people.
[00:11:51] Libby: To join your service, just to get some feedback at first. And you can even do a video or overview of your new offer. Like let's say your plant based [00:12:00] cooking class, you want to consider promotions, special promotions, or maybe introductory rates to attract clients. So that might mean that the first few weeks.
[00:12:07] Libby: Five clients are going to get a lower rate just so that you can start to get the ball rolling in terms of enrolling adequate clients. And you also might be able to run promotions. Like maybe you do a cooking class and you might run a promotion if you choose [00:12:20] for November, right? You might do that for Black Friday or for other events.
[00:12:24] Libby: Times of the year, you might decide you want to run promotions. You can also collaborate with other professionals or influencers in the field of nutrition or related fields to expand your reach, and that can really help you increase your visibility. Like maybe you can partner with a local fitness trainer or [00:12:40] facility or a local gym, or you can co host a workshop with another dietitian or someone who has a niche that might be adjacent to yours, but not the same exact niche as yours.
[00:12:50] Libby: And you can also guest post with on someone else's blog. Or you can even talk on someone else's podcast. The last tip I want to give you with how you [00:13:00] can create your additional services would be for you to monitor and adjust. This is the part that many of you forget to do. You want to track their performance after you've set that goal, right?
[00:13:12] Libby: Like let's say you want to make a certain amount of money in three to six months or enrolled a certain amount of people. You want to track this.[00:13:20]
[00:13:23] Libby: So if you're not yet using surveys or reviews, now is the time. So you want to be sending out surveys and asking people open ended questions. And you can also ask them multiple choice questions about how you can ask them how satisfied they are using a like heart scale. And you can ask them what feedback they have and what they've learned and how they're using We'll [00:13:40] show you exactly how to set up surveys inside of our membership called the library over at dietitianboss.
[00:13:44] Libby: com. You can monitor key metrics such as client satisfaction, retention rates, and engagement levels through monitoring and adjusting. Now you might want to keep it simple at first and you're only tracking any written feedback, but then you, You also, over time can start tracking client [00:14:00] satisfaction by asking people on a scale of one to five, five being the highest, how satisfied are you with this service in this experience?
[00:14:07] Libby: And then you can look the total of, let's say you have five clients, you send out that survey five times and all five people fill it out and they'll give you a five. That would be a hundred percent satisfaction. So you want to get into the habit of. Asking people for feedback [00:14:20] and asking people for feedback in different ways, such as asking them and surveys, and you can use email and other methods and then make sure that you're taking that feedback seriously.
[00:14:32] Libby: But remember that not all feedback is constructive. Then you want to be prepared to make adjustments based on what you're hearing. If clients are saying, I really [00:14:40] want this to be longer, or I want this to be more affordable. You want to take into consideration what percentage of people in total are giving you similar feedback and what additional resources can you incorporate or change to improve your program and enhance your services.
[00:14:54] Libby: Lastly, I want to leave you with today that you want to continually seek new ways to improve and improve. Innovate your [00:15:00] business. You need to stay updated with industry trends, both in business and in dietetics to be, and be open to experimenting with new ideas to keep your services relevant and effective.
[00:15:10] Libby: And we do a lot of that heavy lifting for you inside of our program, the library, which is our monthly membership. I encourage you to check it out and join over at dietitianboss. [00:15:20] com. Looking for support to grow your dietitian business or even get started. I invite you to join the library. Our monthly affordable membership that shows you exactly what to do every step of the way so that you can create the business of your dreams.
[00:15:35] Libby: Not sure if it's the right time. The membership gives you an option to go at [00:15:40] your own pace. We have modules, a road map to show you exactly what to do and monthly live calls as well as new content that we released. every single month based on requests. Inside of the library, we have four stages of business.
[00:15:53] Libby: So whether you come in getting started or you want to enter the membership and grow or scale your business, we have the appropriate resources [00:16:00] for you and our team, including myself available to answer your questions. Head on over to dietitianboss. com and check out the library today. We'd love to see you there.
