Establishing a profitable post rehab program is the goal of most Post Rehab Professionals (PRP’s), and there are 7 key drivers to accomplishing that goal. I will explore how you can put yourself in the driver sear to build your post rehab practice to its rightful profitable place.
1. First, you MUST have a passion for rehab. A passion for any activity is a must for success, and the same is true of post rehab. If you have a preference for post rehab clients – it’s a pretty good bet you have a passion for rehab. A “passion for rehab” will make it easy to develop the skills and knowledge needed to be a successful PRP and develop a profitable practice. It will also make it easier to understand the post rehab client and to manage the conditions you will encounter in this specialty.
2. When working with post rehab clients, there is little margin for mistakes or misinterpretation of post rehab guidelines. Completing post rehab workshops and training as a Medical Exercise Specialist, Post Rehab Conditioning Specialist or Medical Exercise Program Director is required prior to offering post rehab services. Having a clear understanding of the anatomy, pathology, healing process, assessment and progression techniques are essential for all PRPs. Our PREPS protocol manual and PostRehabWorks 2.0 infoware will provide you with safe and effective post rehab guidelines for more than 60 medical conditions.
3. Marketing is the key to success for any business. Developing and distributing brochures, business cards and making presentations must be done to build your post rehab practice. Presenting your post rehab program services to local medical support groups and medical practitioners is paramount. Your goal should be to make one to two presentations per month. Be sure to follow-up each presentation with a thank you note. Most clients require hearing and/or seeing you or your product at least seven times before they purchase. So don’t get discouraged. It may take several months – sometimes years – to develop and nurture a professional relationship; but the pay-off is well worth the effort.
4. Establish yourself as a part of the local medical network by attending local medical conferences that are open to the public. Meeting medical professionals at meetings and conferences will allow you to approach them in less threatening surroundings, thereby setting the stage for you to establish and build relationships in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
5. Establishing a referral relationship with at least three medical professionals (RPT’s, MD’s, and DC’s) in your community is a very important way to start your practice. If you send too many referrals at once you may get more referrals than you can handle. Try targeting specific medical professionals and seek out those who mesh with you the best. If your area of expertise is sports conditioning establishing a relationship with an obstetrician is probably not a good idea. Establishing a relationship with the OB/GYN may be beneficial, but getting referrals from them is not likely. Chose three medical professionals in your area that you would like to develop a referral relationship with and start marketing your services. A one-person practice will be plenty busy with three referral sources. When your business starts to grow and you hire new staff members, add one new referral source for each new employee. Having too many referral sources can be overwhelming and the referral source will refer their clients to other trainers if you cannot accommodate them. Remember, it is necessary to cater to and nurture your referral relationships in the early stages of your practice.
6. Establish yourself as the fitness expert in your community by speaking at local events, writing articles in the local newspaper and getting on the local free cable access channel. There are many other methods of establishing yourself as the post rehab and fitness expert, but using free media is a great way to showcase your talents and establish credibility. Strong writing and presentation skills are a must to grow a profitable post rehab practice.
7. If profitability is your goal, working with clients one-on-one is a great revenue source, but basing your practice on one stream of revenue is limiting your profitability. Look to establish multiple streams of post rehab income by developing fitness products to sell to your clients; developing post rehab group exercise programming and/or learning to obtain insurance reimbursement for post rehab sessions. Always think of ways to develop additional revenue streams for your practice.
Establishing a profitable post rehab program requires comprehensive strategy, a clear tactical plan to implement that strategy and hard work. Opportunities for post rehab professionals are growing as our population ages. Post rehab is growing and medical professionals are starting to understand the role and importance of post rehab programs in the long-term management of their clients. If want to learn how to make your practice more profitable join us for a ‘Post Rehab Profits and Protocols’ teleseminar by visiting www.profitsandprotocols.com http://www.profitsandprotocols.com.
Get started creating a profitable and successful Post Rehab Program now. We have the tools and manuals available to help you succeed. Also published at 7 Requirements For Building A Profitable Post Rehab Program.