Summer is upon us, and for many of you that means the dreaded summer slump. This the time of year when clients are traveling, kids are out of school, and families want to spend their time enjoying the weather. What does this mean for you? Well, for many of you this means that you’ll be hearing crickets chirp in your office for a few weeks.
I remember my first year in practice, I panicked in August. I had a week with NO client sessions. Not a one. Zero. I was sure this was the end of my practice. My clients all decided that I wasn’t the right therapist, and not only were they not coming back, they were spreading the word throughout town not to call me.
My second year in practice, I panicked again. My third year in practice, I panicked again. The summer slump was upon me. Notice the trend? (I know, I’m a bit of a slow learner sometimes.)
By the fourth year, I was determined to fix this, so I started running special promotions for August. I even came up with one really cool month-long series of promotions for Romance Awareness Month (August). The results were predictably dismal.
Finally by about the 6th or 7th year, I decided not to fight it anymore. People’s energy is elsewhere in August. Now this isn’t true for ALL practices, but it is true for many.
Here’s how I finally overcame the Dreaded Summer Slump (in 3 easy steps)…
- Don’t fight it and don’t panic. If this is a reality in your practice, just roll with it. Put a note in your calendar in August that says, “Don’t Panic”.
- This is a great time to take your own vacation. Why not take some time all to yourself and forget about your practice for a while. You’ll be amazed at what this does to your energy.
- After your vacation, get to work ON your practice.When you are busy, busy, busy with clients all year, you can lose sight of your goals and your plan to get there. Schedule three days all to yourself, no scheduling clients allowed. You’ll come up with enough new ideas to fuel you all the way to the Dreaded Holiday Slump. (Why not put a note in your December calendar that says “Don’t Panic, Things Will Be Fine in January.”)
If you’re expecting to have a full client load, you’ll probably feel the effects of the slump. However, if you’re blocking out that time to take care of yourself and your business, August will become one of your favorite months!