Changes

A private practice, whether it be a legal, medical, or engineering, is a business.  It’s a big mistake to assume that just because you are a professional, business will automatically come to you.  It’s nice when that happens but, the reality is that you have to work at attracting clients.  That means that you have to know what your potential clients need and then filling that need.  Changes come when anything that affects economic activity causes business to increase or decrease.  When business changes, adjustments sometimes have to be made in personnel, methods, management, and product.  This list is by no means all-inclusive.  Marketing is one of the most important functions in any business.  As business fluctuates, sometimes adjustments have to be made in marketing strategy.  Where direct mail campaigns were once enough to stimulate orders, direct contact with clients might now be necessary to bring in those orders.  However, marketing a professional practice is a little different.  The product is a service.  When I first started, marketing to potential clients consisted of making phone calls and direct mailings.  As business increased and time became more precious, the marketing strategy changed to a quarterly newsletter  that was mailed (not emailed) to clients.  That strategy worked for several years.  From client feedback, the strategy worked because the time interval between mailings seemed to be very acceptable to the majority of the recipients.  As a result, the name of the business was kept in front of the client and at the same time, the client was learning of news that potentially affected the client.