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48 | The Summer Slowdown
Is summer feeling sluggish in your practice? Never fear. This is normal. In this episode, I've shared a few thoughts on tuning into the rhythm of your practice and moving with the flow of the season.
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Transcript
Camille (00:00)
Well. Hi there. Welcome to in the clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman. I am a licensed nutritionist and registered herbalist.
Camille (00:08)
And in this podcast I share little tips and tidbits that might be interesting or helpful for other practitioners.
Camille (00:21)
If you're in clinical practice, you may have noticed over the last last month or two that things are a little bit slow. Maybe you don't have as many current clients coming in for follow ups as usual. Maybe you don't have as many inquiries about new clients who are interested in your service. Maybe you've noticed that not as many people are signing up for your newsletter or reading your newsletter or following you on social media as normal. I want to let you know that this is to be expected for almost everybody who's in clinical practice.
Camille (00:51)
This is what I call the summer slowdown. It happens almost every year. Unless you happen to be in some sort of field. For example, you focus on summer camps or something like that. But unless you've got a specific reason that your practice gets really busy in the summer, most people find the opposite.
Camille (01:08)
Most people find that things really, really, really slow down over June, July and August. And it can be really scary. Especially when you're in the beginning of your practice and you start to think, oh, things were going pretty well and now it's almost stagnant. Have I done something wrong? Is this sustainable for me?
Camille (01:27)
I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do. These are all really common things to think. I want to let you know that this just happens. People get really, really busy in the summer.
Camille (01:39)
If people are parents, they've got kids having unusual schedules. If they are teachers, professors, things like that, their schedule can be off kilter. A lot of folks are going on vacations. Here they are and everywhere. And of course, now we've got COVID layered on top of everything else.
Camille (01:54)
And that means that it can be a real challenge for people to schedule. I also find that at least in certain parts of the country, just the heat and sometimes the humidity feels oppressive to people. They're less motivated to do things. It feels like harder to get things on the books, to think about it, to get motivated to make changes, all of that kind of stuff. And all of it adds up to people not scheduling.
Camille (02:21)
So what does this mean for you? How should you think about this? First of all, just don't think about it as something you've done wrong. This didn't happen because you didn't reach out enough, or didn't do this, that, or the other. With that being said, there are some strategies you can use to at least bump up a little bit during the summertime.
Camille (02:43)
So if you're really thinking like, oh gosh, I need to get some more people in here to make this sustainable for me, you can offer some kind of summer special. You can put a little extra time into reaching out to current clients and telling them, oh, I'm free the whole week of this. If you have any openings during that time, let's schedule our follow up. Can make it really easy for people to schedule the follow ups. You can offer a little bonus during certain weeks of the summer, et cetera, so you can put a little bit of extra effort and attention into getting folks coming through.
Camille (03:17)
So that can help. Also, just knowing that it's coming helps you're not going to beat yourself up as much. And you can do some of that work in advance in terms of scheduling people in, working around vacations and so forth. Sometimes people will offer a special summer program of some sort, either with rewards, kind of like the library reading challenge. Sometimes people offer some special classes in the summer to boost the income a little bit and to kind of stay with the momentum.
Camille (03:47)
So you could just brainstorm about what you could do that's special, light and fun for the summer. That's one option. Another option is if you plan ahead and you know this is coming, you could rest, you could take some downtime in the summer. Anytime we have any kind of endeavor, there's going to be busy times, there's going to be slow times. And when you know that, you can predict them, when you know that, oh, in late August, almost nobody is going to come in and have a visit.
Camille (04:15)
Or maybe for you it's late July, depending on your schedule, your population, the schools, all of that kind of stuff. But if you know that that's a good time for you to take a vacation, take some time away from your practice. The other thing I like to do is, since I know for me, especially late summer tends to be a really, really slow time, as does the period between mid November and the end of the year, I like to plan bigger projects for those times. So if there's things you've been wanting to do that you've been putting off because you never really can find the time such as maybe you're trying to move to a new EMR or redo your intake form. Or you've been meaning to change the fonts on your website or get a handle on your taxes or whatever it is.
Camille (05:02)
Plan it for those slower times when, you know, you've got a little bit of buffer time. You can also plan for this financially and say, oh okay, I need to make a little bit more money in the other months, because I know that August and December are going to be very, very low income months. For me, it's not a problem if you plan for it as long as you kind of figure out that balance. This is probably not going to happen in the first few years of your practice because you are still learning what the rhythms are. Money is probably still pretty tight and so forth.
Camille (05:33)
But as you notice these bitters, you can start to account for them and make the most of it. Okay? So I hope those thoughts were helpful. Just remember that summer is usually slow. It's not you.
Camille (05:47)
It's nothing that you did wrong. You can plan for it, especially in future years. But for right now, if it's slow, take advantage of it being slow and do a little bit of resting. The other thing I will encourage you to do is just keep moving forward a little bit. Sometimes slowness in our practice turns into a little bit of a negative spiral.
Camille (06:06)
We think, oh, this isn't working. Nothing I'm doing is right, blah, blah, blah. And we're tempted to go for a walk or read a book or something. Instead. It's fine if you plan to rest.
Camille (06:17)
It's not fine if you're using that as an avoidance technique or things like that. So my encouragement to you is that even if you're feeling a little bit down about how slow things have gotten, keep going. Keep putting yourself out there. Keep being visible, keep making small steps. Even if they're not big, massive steps, I promise they do add up.
Camille (06:39)
And overtime, you will be glad you did them. Okay? So keep moving forward. Enjoy some downtime over the summer, and let me know if you have any questions that I can answer for you.
Well. Hi there. Welcome to in the clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman. I am a licensed nutritionist and registered herbalist.
Camille (00:08)
And in this podcast I share little tips and tidbits that might be interesting or helpful for other practitioners.
Camille (00:21)
If you're in clinical practice, you may have noticed over the last last month or two that things are a little bit slow. Maybe you don't have as many current clients coming in for follow ups as usual. Maybe you don't have as many inquiries about new clients who are interested in your service. Maybe you've noticed that not as many people are signing up for your newsletter or reading your newsletter or following you on social media as normal. I want to let you know that this is to be expected for almost everybody who's in clinical practice.
Camille (00:51)
This is what I call the summer slowdown. It happens almost every year. Unless you happen to be in some sort of field. For example, you focus on summer camps or something like that. But unless you've got a specific reason that your practice gets really busy in the summer, most people find the opposite.
Camille (01:08)
Most people find that things really, really, really slow down over June, July and August. And it can be really scary. Especially when you're in the beginning of your practice and you start to think, oh, things were going pretty well and now it's almost stagnant. Have I done something wrong? Is this sustainable for me?
Camille (01:27)
I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do. These are all really common things to think. I want to let you know that this just happens. People get really, really busy in the summer.
Camille (01:39)
If people are parents, they've got kids having unusual schedules. If they are teachers, professors, things like that, their schedule can be off kilter. A lot of folks are going on vacations. Here they are and everywhere. And of course, now we've got COVID layered on top of everything else.
Camille (01:54)
And that means that it can be a real challenge for people to schedule. I also find that at least in certain parts of the country, just the heat and sometimes the humidity feels oppressive to people. They're less motivated to do things. It feels like harder to get things on the books, to think about it, to get motivated to make changes, all of that kind of stuff. And all of it adds up to people not scheduling.
Camille (02:21)
So what does this mean for you? How should you think about this? First of all, just don't think about it as something you've done wrong. This didn't happen because you didn't reach out enough, or didn't do this, that, or the other. With that being said, there are some strategies you can use to at least bump up a little bit during the summertime.
Camille (02:43)
So if you're really thinking like, oh gosh, I need to get some more people in here to make this sustainable for me, you can offer some kind of summer special. You can put a little extra time into reaching out to current clients and telling them, oh, I'm free the whole week of this. If you have any openings during that time, let's schedule our follow up. Can make it really easy for people to schedule the follow ups. You can offer a little bonus during certain weeks of the summer, et cetera, so you can put a little bit of extra effort and attention into getting folks coming through.
Camille (03:17)
So that can help. Also, just knowing that it's coming helps you're not going to beat yourself up as much. And you can do some of that work in advance in terms of scheduling people in, working around vacations and so forth. Sometimes people will offer a special summer program of some sort, either with rewards, kind of like the library reading challenge. Sometimes people offer some special classes in the summer to boost the income a little bit and to kind of stay with the momentum.
Camille (03:47)
So you could just brainstorm about what you could do that's special, light and fun for the summer. That's one option. Another option is if you plan ahead and you know this is coming, you could rest, you could take some downtime in the summer. Anytime we have any kind of endeavor, there's going to be busy times, there's going to be slow times. And when you know that, you can predict them, when you know that, oh, in late August, almost nobody is going to come in and have a visit.
Camille (04:15)
Or maybe for you it's late July, depending on your schedule, your population, the schools, all of that kind of stuff. But if you know that that's a good time for you to take a vacation, take some time away from your practice. The other thing I like to do is, since I know for me, especially late summer tends to be a really, really slow time, as does the period between mid November and the end of the year, I like to plan bigger projects for those times. So if there's things you've been wanting to do that you've been putting off because you never really can find the time such as maybe you're trying to move to a new EMR or redo your intake form. Or you've been meaning to change the fonts on your website or get a handle on your taxes or whatever it is.
Camille (05:02)
Plan it for those slower times when, you know, you've got a little bit of buffer time. You can also plan for this financially and say, oh okay, I need to make a little bit more money in the other months, because I know that August and December are going to be very, very low income months. For me, it's not a problem if you plan for it as long as you kind of figure out that balance. This is probably not going to happen in the first few years of your practice because you are still learning what the rhythms are. Money is probably still pretty tight and so forth.
Camille (05:33)
But as you notice these bitters, you can start to account for them and make the most of it. Okay? So I hope those thoughts were helpful. Just remember that summer is usually slow. It's not you.
Camille (05:47)
It's nothing that you did wrong. You can plan for it, especially in future years. But for right now, if it's slow, take advantage of it being slow and do a little bit of resting. The other thing I will encourage you to do is just keep moving forward a little bit. Sometimes slowness in our practice turns into a little bit of a negative spiral.
Camille (06:06)
We think, oh, this isn't working. Nothing I'm doing is right, blah, blah, blah. And we're tempted to go for a walk or read a book or something. Instead. It's fine if you plan to rest.
Camille (06:17)
It's not fine if you're using that as an avoidance technique or things like that. So my encouragement to you is that even if you're feeling a little bit down about how slow things have gotten, keep going. Keep putting yourself out there. Keep being visible, keep making small steps. Even if they're not big, massive steps, I promise they do add up.
Camille (06:39)
And overtime, you will be glad you did them. Okay? So keep moving forward. Enjoy some downtime over the summer, and let me know if you have any questions that I can answer for you.
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