Feeling Like a Failure? How Brand Equity Can Anchor Your Therapy Business
If the actions you take in your business regularly leave you feeling frustrated, disappointed, or like a failure, it’s possible that you’re stuck in a cycle of reacting to outcomes.
Here’s some of examples of what a reactive outcome focus looks like for therapists:
Your networking efforts didn’t result in instant referrals and bookings and you get annoyed for wasting your time and money.
No one engaged with your post and you feel hopeless.
Your launch didn’t generate the sales you’d hoped and you want to give up.
I’m going to share how I moved out of a reactive outcomes focused business approach.
The solution for me was to focus on brand equity instead.
What this means is I saw every move I made in the business as an opportunity to build my brand equity, regardless of the outcome.
I refocused my attention on the overall strategy rather than the number of leads, the number of conversions and the dollars generated.
What does brand equity mean?
Brand equity refers to the value and strength of a brand in the minds of consumers. A brand is so much more than a logo or a name, but the associations, emotions, and credibility that customers attach to a brand.
Brand equity includes:
brand awareness,
perceived quality,
brand association, and
brand loyalty.
How does focusing on brand equity help therapists in business?
Focusing on building brand equity helps you make decisions with the bigger picture in mind. Focusing on brand equity allows you to consider each business decision you make based on its potential to build your brand equity (or weaken it).
For example, some podcasts I am invited to appear on build my brand equity, while others would reduce it due to poor values fit. In this way, a brand building focus protects your precious time and energy.
It helps soften your emotional reactions when immediate and desired results from your efforts don’t occur. A Brand building focus is about the longevity of the business, your marketing and sales efforts and outcomes are seen as pieces of a bigger puzzle, not a make-or-break business activity.
Does having a focus on building brand equity mean I don’t get disappointed? No. But it does stop me from catastrophising any one single outcome that doesn’t meet my expectation.
Yours in thriving,
Nadene
