Thoughts on a sliding scale 🪴
+ 2 new homeopathy webinars
I hope you’re enjoying the sunny afternoons we’ve had lately and your practice is going well as we move into the autumn.
If you are new here, welcome! I’m Tracy, a homeopath in east London. I’ve been in practice for 17 years and have been writing this newsletter since 2014.
Every month I share some practice reflections, together with tips and links to inspire you.
Thank you to everyone who joined myself and Sarah Hyatt on Supporting Pregnancy with Homeopathy. If you didn’t manage to join, this webinar is still available to watch on replay.
Next month I am excited to be re-recording my homeopathy webinar on Gut Health and Antibiotics on Friday 8th November. 🍏
Gut health is an area I’m often asked to treat with homeopathy, and this webinar covers it in depth, including how to approach it using a structured prescribing method.
(Students and new graduates please email me for a discount code.)
Autumn webinar dates for your diary 🍁
Friday 8th November 2024
Homeopathy for Gut Health 🍏
Join live or watch on replay
Friday 6th December 2024 - Save the date
Homeopathy and Counselling Skills for Grief and Loss 🕊️
Thoughts on a sliding scale 🪴
This time next month many businesses will be starting to promote Black Friday on what is traditionally the busiest quarter of the financial year.
It took me a few years to realise that my practice would always be quiet at the end of November, and more recently I’ve tried to ‘lean into’ it by setting aside time to write new articles for my blog or simply to take a break.
I never offer discounts or promotions for Black Friday, nor generally on my practice newsletter (which is the way I keep in touch with current and past clients).
However, I do have a range of concessions that I offer on an individual basis, either at the start of treatment or ‘as and when’.
I try to be proactive in this type of conversation as I always want to support my current clients through life changes.
Here are some recent examples.
A change to work health insurance
It’s quite normal for me to have homeopathy clients who are also seeing a talking therapist.
One client who is having weekly psychotherapy told me she was able to claim back her homeopathy treatment from a work health insurance package.
Before we started working together I offered her a reduced fee.
This worked well for six months but then her work health insurance changed and she could no longer claim for homeopathy.
Sadly, she sent an email to say she had to discontinue treatment.
I decided to offer her a sliding scale, which she was happy to accept.
We've agreed on an affordable monthly payment to cover a homeopathy session every two months.
Changes to work and income
I spoke with someone else this week who is leaving her salaried job and going to be extending her self-employed work.
I asked her how she felt about her homeopathy being affordable?
She said that she thought it would be fine, as she had several large self-employed projects extending into next year.
I asked her to let me know if her situation changes in the future.
Working with friends
I’m lucky to have friends who appreciate and value what I do, and they know I’m always happy to offer homeopathy if needed.
One friend recently reached out for support for her daughter who has been experiencing high anxiety about her exams.
I was happy to offer a consultation on the phone and just charged a small fee for the remedies.
They are a single-income household and she also has a son with special needs, and I was happy to help.
When someone says they ‘Can’t afford it’
Sometimes someone will have treatment for a while and then they’ll cancel saying they ‘can’t afford it’.
I’ll be honest, I always feel a bit upset when this happens.
However, this has happened many, many times over the years and I know that I’m not responsible for people’s circumstances or choices.
They may have had a bill come in unexpectedly, or they may be going on a big holiday and they realise they need to put all their money towards that.
How I respond in this situation depends on the person, how long I have known them, and other factors too.
If I have been seeing them for a while I may offer them a free catch up call and a repeat prescription instead of a paid appointment.
Or I may simply thank them for letting me know and wish them well.
Concessions as a strategy
If you want to grow your practice you might want to consider offering concessions as a strategy to gain more experience and to promote homeopathy.
If you have recently graduated, offer generous concessions and make that obvious and visible on your website and in any other places you are marketing your practice.
Tell all your friends and family that you are offering concessions for students, single parents, or seniors.
Suggestion: Make sure there is a clear difference between your standard and your concessionary fee. If there isn’t much of a difference between the two, it won’t feel generous to the person seeking the concession.
Tell your concessionary clients that if they are thinking about cancelling an appointment because they can’t afford it, to get in touch. I am not advocating you treat people free of charge as a rule, but I have done this at times, and the person has always been very grateful. Sometimes people’s circumstances change, or they refer you to people who can pay your full rate. Sometimes it’s just good karma. Trust your instincts.
When your concessionary clients do well on homeopathy, ask them to write testimonials or leave you a review.
How about you?
Are you having conversations like these with your clients?
Please do share in the comments if you would like.
I promise to reply. 💫
Brain food ✨
Ten strong suggestions for surviving the age of misinformation - a useful framework for thinking about information
If you care about someone, show them – and put away your phone - the Guardian has some great articles on counselling and therapy like this one
Give yourself a raise - a true story of a Pilates teacher who realised she needed to increase her fees to avoid burnout
What makes women clean - an interesting analysis of the social inequalities of cleaning
The Browser Company - I’ve been using this new browser for a couple of months and love it
Homeopathy and gut health - early bird - if you are student or new graduate please email me for a discount code
As always, thanks so much for reading.
If you found it useful please feel free to forward to a friend if you think they’d like to see it.
Tracy 👩🏼💻