I’m very grateful for the work that I have in San Diego. In the Drum Call with Christine Stevens, a listener asked the question “How do you get clients?” What a great question! There are a million and one ways to get work and clients. I answered “When you do what you love, work just comes.”
I’d like to add to that idea. I’ll use my experience in speaking with NICU administrators and older adult community directors as examples.
1. First, you have to be the person you love to be. This is at the core of selling. When you are living authentically, you come across to others as authentic and genuine. There are many resources available on living authentically. Read any book by Osho, Wayne Dyer, or Leo Babauta (blogger) to get started living an inspired life. Living an inspired life allows your purpose, drive, direction, and motivation to naturally become available. Don’t go “looking” for your purpose. It’s already there. I recommend simply and effortlessly unveiling it~ Start peeling off the layers, and yourself will be revealed. I do this partly through transformative movement sessions with Draza Jansky.
2. Know who you’d like to work with. If you set out to offer music therapy and drum circles to everyone, your marketing energy will be too scattered. Start by pinpointing one niche, one population that you really love. Then expand from there.
3. Speak the customer’s language. One example I bring up with regards to NICU music therapy is that in some ways, the treatment is similar to overdrive pacing. The iso-principle that we use in music therapy is basically overdrive pacing (a cardiologist’s term) in a non-invasive way. This has been very successful when presenting to cardiologists and neonatologists.
4. Point out how your service makes the customer’s life easier. For instance, we know that insurance reimbursement is available for certain NICU music therapy treatment protocols. We also know that a hospital can pay the salary of a part-time music therapist in a 40-bed NICU strictly through insurance reimbursement, costing the hospital nothing.
5. Have the research-based benefits at the tip of your tongue. For skilled nursing and Alzheimer’s/dementia communities, I always mention how much easier it is to bathe and feed and pamper their residents after music therapy. Music therapy is a natural mood enhancer. There’s evidence that music therapy decreases agitation, decreases sense of isolation, and promotes positive social interactions. When it’s easy to take care of the residents, staff burnout is reduced, too!
6. Do something experiential to stand out. If you are meeting in person with an administrator, then provide examples, bring a keyboard and drums to improvise, and get ready to provide a clear mashup between their experience and their residents’/patients’ experiences. For the NICU, bring a baby doll with blanket to literally show how music therapy integrates developmental care.
7. If you have other clients within the same niche, give testimonials. Mention your other clients’ success stories and statistics (if you have permission).
Throw down a comment if you have more suggestions! I’d love to hear whatcha got!
Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman.
Catch me if you can–