associate handbook aug 16 - old town hypnotherapy swindon ... ·...

Old Town Hypnotherapy

Associate Handbook

Version 4.0 20/09/2016

Branch Franchise & Associate Handbook

15/10/2014 Old Town Hypnotherapy Ltd

Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3

Prerequisites .......................................................................................................................................... 4

What’s Included ..................................................................................................................................... 5

How it Works ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Applying to become an Associate .......................................................................................................... 7

Practice Room, Equipment & Resources ............................................................................................... 7

Where to Practice From ..................................................................................................................... 7

Room Set Up ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Equipment ......................................................................................................................................... 8

CDs ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Setup ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Booking Appointments ........................................................................................................................ 11

Initial Consultations ......................................................................................................................... 11

Ongoing Appointments .................................................................................................................... 11

Customer Service ................................................................................................................................. 12

Customer Contact ............................................................................................................................ 12

Changing Appointments .................................................................................................................. 12

Discipline ......................................................................................................................................... 12

Initial Consultation .............................................................................................................................. 13

Training and Quality Control ............................................................................................................... 13

Pricing and Taking Payment ................................................................................................................ 13

Discounting ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Taking Payment ............................................................................................................................... 14

Cancellation Fee .............................................................................................................................. 14

Marketing ............................................................................................................................................ 16

Central Marketing ............................................................................................................................ 16

Leaflets ............................................................................................................................................ 16

CRM & Client details ........................................................................................................................ 16

Data Protection ................................................................................................................................ 16

Additional Local Marketing .............................................................................................................. 16

Groupon ........................................................................................................................................... 17

Conflict of Interests ............................................................................................................................. 18



Introduction Welcome and congratulations of choosing to become an Associate of Old Town Hypnotherapy Ltd. An Associate is very similar to what we know of as a Franchise, but with less financial investment, branch responsibility and long term commitment. In other words, you are self employed working as Old Town Hypnotherapy, you are not responsible for building a branch of staff and the costs associated with that, but essentially it works in the same way as a franchised business.

When we look around us at the franchise businesses in the high street we all instantly recognise, we might not know they are run as franchises, (most well known restaurant/food chains are franchises) we don’t necessarily think about it, but we do know exactly what to expect from that business.

• Subway • Hilton Hotels • Nando’s • McDonalds • Specsavers

The advantage to the customer is that they already know what they are going to get, recognise the brand and can feel secure in that knowledge.

The advantage to the franchisee is that their customers will probably feel more comfortable going with what they know, be part of a larger organisation and can take advantage of the economy of scale, but also everything is done for them. If something works well, they don’t have to try and reinvent the wheel and be different in some why; the service offered is the same, so why not be part of something that works.

What makes a franchise successful is that it is instantly recognisable and everyone is working in the same way. Every franchisee and associate makes a significant contribution to its success and reputation, therefore, it is of utmost importance that all franchisees follow the same procedures and standards.

Lastly, every time you have contact with a customer, every time you interact with anyone in a professional context, you can be mindful that you are not only representing yourself and your own reputation but you are also representing Old Town Hypnotherapy and building a reputation. Who knows, a former client in Glasgow may have a second cousin once removed in Southampton and during a conversation they mention how excellent their experience was at Old Town Hypnotherapy in Glasgow, 2 years later, that same second cousin once removed notices a work colleague struggling with stress or anxiety and say “you should go and see a hypnotherapist, I’ve heard Old Town Hypnotherapy is good”. So it is the aim of the handbook to set out those standards and procedures so we can all benefit from the collective excellence.



Prerequisites To be approved as a Branch Associate the following criteria are required:-‐

1. Hold as a minimum the HPD (Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma). 2. Qualified Diploma in Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy from The Clifton Practice 3. Be Members of appropriate Associate and bodies and adhere to their Codes of Practice 4. Hold appropriate Public and Professional Liability Insurance 5. Practice from a professional Therapy Centre/Wellbeing Centre, Doctor Practice or dedicated

address (non residential). 6. Use the Old Town Hypnotherapy marketing materials/branding exclusively. 7. Not practice as a Hypnotherapist under any other name.



What’s Included

Included

Website Initial Consultation Generation P

Social Media Management – Facebook, Twitter P

Website copywriting and blogging strategies P

Monthly Newsletter sent to Client database P

Initial Consultation Management P

Initial Consultation Booking Management P

Setup of electronic sharable calendars (smartphone/tablet/PC) P

Artwork for Business Cards Provided P

Artwork for Leaflets Provided P

Artwork for CD Labels x 1 P

Admin Resources provided (IC Forms, Session Logs etc) P

Additional Scripts and script sharing resources P

Invites to Specialist practice building CPD P

Old Town Hypnotherapy (OTH) Associate License P

Set up as a branch on website P

Unique Email address ([email protected]) P

Website Management, Updates and Annual Fees P

Client telephone enquiry management P

Client Email enquiry management P

Client CRM (Contact Relationship Management) and Database Management P

Website SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) P

Website Maintenance P

Email spam & Antivirus protection P

Cost per Initial Consultation £40

Initial Set Up Fee (non refundable) £300



How it Works An Associate hypnotherapist of Old Town Hypnotherapy, works to the same standards and procedures and is ideal for therapists who want to enjoy the benefits of being part of an Associate with the work of attracting clients done for them.

It is based on a rolling monthly contract, so at any time, an Associate can give a month’s notice. At the end of that notice, the franchisee will be required to remove Old Town Hypnotherapy materials, branding or advertising. However, they will continue to work with any current clients until the end of that client term.

There can be several franchisees working in the same area if there are enough initial consultations and enquiries to support more than one and all can work from different addresses as long as the business is available to support them.

When booking, the client is given the choice of location and appointments available to suit them. If Associates are located particularly close, they will be encouraged to collaborate and form a Branch to share costs, support each other and provide as much coverage over the week as possible, ie not both working just Thursdays for example.



Applying to become an Associate You can express your interest at becoming an Associate up to 3 months before completing training at the Clifton Practice and becoming fully qualified. You can start practicing as an Old Town Hypnotherapist Student Practitioner, charging the student fee on approval by David Newton that you have achieved an acceptable standard, up to 2 months before becoming fully qualified. You must make it clear to clients that you are practicing as a student and you will be advertised as a practising student on the website. You must submit your portfolio and receive the Diploma within 3 months of starting your practice or your status as an Associate will be withdrawn.

It will take up to 1 month for the marketing to take effect and a significant number of initial consultations being generated, so you should expect this short time lag from setting up. Distributing Old Town Hypnotherapy leaflets in your area will shorten the time lag.

Practice Room, Equipment & Resources

Where to Practice From When considering where you will practice from, it is important to understand the message you are conveying to potential clients. First impressions count and many hypnotherapy clients are anxious or it has taken a huge deal of effort to get to the premises the first time, so their comfort and confidence needs to be taken into consideration:-‐

• Where will they wait -‐ anxiety clients are often early? • Can they park nearby easily? • Does the building look suitable? • Is it conducive to therapy – quiet, confidential and calm? • Does it convey the price they will be paying? Hypnotherapy is not a ‘cheap’ service so the

premises you practice from should reflect that premium service. • Is it friendly?

Old Town Hypnotherapy is a professional business with professional therapists charging for a premium, quality service, where you practice from needs to reflect that, do not look for a premises based on price.

Due to the reasons above practicing from home, even if you have a dedicated room, building, converted garage or anything attached to a private residence is not acceptable.

Room Set Up As with above, your room needs to reflect the quality, image and professionalism of the service you are providing as a representative of Old Town Hypnotherapy. It is not essential you have a couch to lie on, reclining chairs are acceptable.

The room should have sufficient space for 3 chairs and a couch or reclining chair. Clients often bring someone else with them to the IC so they need to be catered for.

Have thank you cards displayed, it sends a powerful message; flowers add a nice touch and certificates should be displayed as should the cancellation policy.



Equipment • Royalty Free Music • A Way of Playing the Music • Couch/Recliner • Blanket & Pillows -‐ clean • Chairs • Biofeedback monitor (optional) • Access to your electronic diary – smartphone or tablet preferably. You don’t need access to

the internet in your room, but will need to upload and download diary bookings.

CDs Your standard CD must be professionally produced, not recorded at home and you will be asked to provide one to the office. CD labelling will be provided for your CDs and you must not provide CDs to clients with labelling which is not Old Town Hypnotherapy branded.

You can have as many standard CDs as you wish, I have my standard CD to give at the initial consultation, which has two tracks they can choose from but I also have ‘Flatten the Past, Peak the Future’ and Goal Achievement on separate CDs I often give you.

A free CD should be given at the initial consultation, whether the client returns or not, after that, it is your choice if you decide to supplement the CD with others you have produced.



Setup As soon as you have been approved and the setup fee has been paid, the Setup will commence:-‐

1. Provide the following details to Old Town Hypnotherapy:-‐ a. The photo you would like on the website of you b. A short biog about you that you would like to appear – see website for inspiration c. Photo of the premises – outside and, if possible, the room d. Address of the premises and any other information, if it is an established

therapy/wellbeing centre, you can just send me their website details and I can usually take photos and information off their site – please make sure you ask their permission for me to do this.

2. Email addresses You will be set up with an email address-‐

[email protected]

If you have any preference on these, please let Emma know. If there are several Associates in your area, there may be a variation on the branch email address.

3. Google Calendar Your google calendar will be set up for you and you will be notified of the password to access it. You can set up your google calendar to synchronise with your tablet or smartphone. There are instructions of how to do this on the google calendar website. If you need help, shout

4. Artwork You will be emailed your template for Business cards, CD labels and Leaflets in Word or PDF Format. We can organise printing for you if preferred.

Qty Cost Old Town Hypnotherapy Leaflets 1000 £80

2500 £125

5000 £215

10000 £395

Business Cards 1000 £35 2000 £47

5. Dropbox You will be sent a link to share the Old Town Hypnotherapy Resources drop box folder. Here you will find resources such as:-‐



• Initial Consultation Form • Session Logs • Scripts etc

IMPERATIVE: Do NOT delete, cut, change or alter in any way the contents of the dropbox folder or anything in it. If you do, the change you make will be replicated across everyone’s dropbox folder and the originals. If you delete, you delete on every computer connected to it. Do NOT do it please. You can copy to your own computer and we always welcome additions and suggestions for improvement, but email them to Emma or Admin first, do not do it yourself.

Not meaning to end on a negative not, but that’s it, you are ready to go.



Booking Appointments

Initial Consultations Clients will email or phone a booking centre, answered by Old Town Hypnotherapy. Booking Admin will have access to your Google Calendar and book the client in for the hours you have requested.

Let Booking Admin know what hours you want to work and lunch breaks etc, this is in your control and you can change it at any time, but appointments are going to be booked for you, so its important that you let us know what you would like. Eg I work Mondays from 12.30 and last appointment is 4.30 or I work Thursdays from 10am but I want to leave time for lunch between 1 and 1.30, then last appointment at 8.30pm. You will be sent a form you can complete and return, but remember, we’re not prescriptive we work around you and book appointments to your working hours. The Booking Admin email address is [email protected] they will answer the main phone number on the website. It might be worth contacting others in your area so you are not all working the same hours and give the clients more coverage and flexibility. There may be some overlap and that can be good, especially if it is evenings, it’s just a matter of being collaborative. When booking, we will always try and book your diary sensibly, for example, if you already have an appointment at 3pm, we would tell the client that you have an available appointment at 2pm or 4pm (as long as they fit with the hours you have told us your working). We will always try and close gaps where possible. Booking Admin will take their name, address, mobile and email, book the appointment in the diary and email you and the client confirmation. 24 hrs prior to the IC (Initial Consultation), you should text the client to confirm and ask them to confirm back to you. Something suitable might be:-‐ “Hi, its …… from Old Town Hypnotherapy, just confirming you are booking in for an initial consultation tomorrow at …., please can you let me know if you can’t make it. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow.”

Ongoing Appointments Once you have done the Initial Consultation, and the client has booked for the next week, that client is yours and you will take the repeat booking after each session. It is helpful to you, the client and booking admin if you can discuss with the client pencilling in a regular ongoing time and date. You can explain that someone else booking your initial consultations, so if they have a preferred time, or are restricted as to when they can come, it is worth reserving that time slot – they can always change it, but its best to put it in first.



Customer Service Part of your training at the Clifton Practice includes the important of client rapport; this is not only important for the recovery and therapy of the client, but important for building all our reputations.

Customer Contact Customer Service is of the utmost importance and communication is central to customer service. Clients will text, phone or email you directly, whilst we appreciate you can’t answer the phone, text or email whist with clients, good communication means answering at the EARLIEST possible opportunity. It doesn’t matter if you can’t answer their query immediately, you may need to liaise with someone else you can’t contact right at that moment, but you can reply letting them know you will get back to them and when. Do not leave a communication unanswered, the client doesn’t know that you may be waiting for someone else to get back to you and we are often dealing with clients who worry.

Changing Appointments We need to be mindful of the fact that, as hypnotherapists, our clients can be prone to being anxious, chaotic, over controlling or depressed and it is a big deal to them to get to an appointment, so we DO NOT change appointments or cancel on a client unless is it absolutely necessary.

That may sound harsh, but necessary. There are two exceptions:-‐

1. Offering alternative appointments. We all experience clients cancelling at short notice or for some reason we end up with a gap. It is acceptable that if you have built rapport with a client, you can text and say:-‐

“Hi, my client before/after you has had to rearrange, so I was wondering if you would like to come at …. time instead? No problem if you can’t we can stick to your original time, but I thought I would ask in case it is more convenient for you, can you let me know either way.”

2. If you are Sick or have something infectious Of course this can happen, please make sure you contact the client at the earliest opportunity, or Booking Admin can contact them and rearrange for you. Email [email protected] with the title “urgent, I’m sick”.

Discipline It wasn’t until I started in practice that I really understood David Newton’s insistence on self discipline, but it really is that important. David tells us that if we’re not disciplined how can we expect our clients to be and in many cases, they need to learn self discipline. But it isn’t just important in a therapeutic setting, we need to practice it in all aspects of customer care:-‐

1. Being on time for the first appointment and being set up and ready 2. Keeping to time for each hourly appointment and finishing each appointment on time – even

if you don’t have a client afterwards. 3. Being consistent and reliable, organised and calm

Every time we have contact with a client, new or a client on their 12th session, we are conveying a message and building reputation of ourselves and Old Town Hypnotherapy.



Initial Consultation As a Hypnotherapist with Old Town Hypnotherapy, you will need to follow the Initial Consultation format learned at the Clifton Practice. For conformity across all branches and therapists, but also because it works. Please do not underestimate it’s effectiveness or deviate from this format – this is something that will be audited from time to time.

It is also important because we want all Old Town Hypnotherapists to be successful in their practice and be fully booked with clients, but responsibility of converting an Initial Consultation to a client is the responsibility of the therapist and following the Initial Consultation format from The Clifton Practice you learned in training and being good at it will give you the best chance of that conversion.

The Initial Consultation form is available in Dropbox.

Training and Quality Control As a representative of Old Town Hypnotherapy it is important to all Associates and the combined reputation of Old Town Hypnotherapy that the high standards and effectiveness of therapy provided by the training from The Clifton Practice is maintained. It is the responsibility of every Associate to adhere to CPD guidelines set out in their professional memberships and in their personal interest to continually strive to be the best therapist they can be. Continuing to develop, reflect of performance and seek training or guidance from Supervisors or outside sources will improve retention rates, professionalism and ultimately your own customer base from recommendations.

Old Town Hypnotherapy reserves the right from time to time to undergo quality control checks to ensure Associates are working to the high standards received from the training. Furthermore, periodically Old Town Hypnotherapy will perform analysis on retention rates which provide an indicator on which to measure quality. As learned from the training provided by the Clifton Practice, clients should expect to attend appointments for eight to twelve weeks. The benchmark for quality control is an average retention rate of six sessions per client. If the average retention rate over a period of three months falls below six sessions per client the Associates would be expected to investigate personal strategies for raising the quality and level of service provided.

To this end, Old Town Hypnotherapy commits to being diligent at all times employing analysis of service and marketing performance to ensure the clients provided to the Associates are attending because they have a genuine need and no coercion has been employed to attract potential before they are ready to seek therapy themselves.

Pricing and Taking Payment The prices to charge are as advertised on the website http://oldtownhypnotherapy.co.uk/costs/ there should be no variation in this.

Discounting Discounting is not encouraged and they will not be offered on the website or agreed to prior to initial consultations by the office, however, it is recognised that from time to time a therapist may wish to do so. If you do, we would recommend you follow these rules:-‐



1. Have a predetermined criteria for the discounts you decide to give 2. Restrict how many clients you are going to give discounts or free places to at any one time.

Following these rules give you an easy answer if/when people ask for a discount. For example, I tend to use:-‐

“I’m sorry we don’t have the capacity to give discounts.”

“I have 2 free places, but there is a waiting list, I can put you on the waiting list, but it might be 3-‐6 months”.

I usually do reserve 2 places a week to provide free treatment, but the clients I treat for free are ONLY referrals from a charity that helps women who have been in abusive relationships. I don’t even tell the charity I will do it for free, it is only after the initial consultation and I can assess how committed that person is to helping themselves that I will say anything.

I also have strict rules around the free place, for example, if they don’t turn up once, then the next session will be half price, if they don’t turn up twice, then it goes up to full price, if they don’t turn up for a third time, then their free place is withdrawn.

Taking Payment The initial consultation form includes a section at the bottom for credit/debit card details. Explain to the client that we only take the details as security against missed appointments. Nothing is charged to the card unless they don’t turn up and don’t let us know, but if this happens, full price will be charged.

Payment is normally taken at the end of each session after the client books their next session, however, there are certain circumstances where it is advised that payment is taken in advance for each session, in particular for clients with addictions, including alcohol, gambling and drugs.

The Old Town Hypnotherapy website advertises that we take Cash, Cheques and Credit/Debit cards.

You will need to source your own method of taking card payments. Most of our therapists use want iZettle and find it efficient, reasonably priced and flexible. https://www.izettle.com/gb There are no setup fees, contract lock ins and it is easy, but not so cheap, it costs 2.75% of every transaction.

Cancellation Fee Old Town Hypnotherapy cancellation policy is displayed on the website and a notice can be downloaded from Dropbox to display in your room. Display the cancellation notice prominently so clients can easily see it.

The cancellation policy requests 24 hrs notice for a cancellation or the client will be charged in full for that session.

It is at the discretion of the therapist whether they decide to enforce the cancellation policy or not.

I have done in special cases, usually for persistent offenders as I have come to the decision that it is costing me more to keep them as a client and lose £60 a week than to let them go, which is the risk if you decide to enforce it. If they don’t come back, then you have actually gained a place where you



can see a client who will turn up and pay. I don’t charge those people who are genuinely ill or can’t get there one week and it is fairly easy to tell when someone is genuine, those who I have charged are normally OK about paying because they realise they should have informed me.



Marketing

Central Marketing Marketing carried out by Head Office includes but isn’t exclusive:-‐

• Adwords • Website • Facebook • Twitter • Newsletters • Press releases to local media

It is also the responsibility of each Franchisee or Associate to have input to marketing ideas and carry out additional local advertising

Marketing is at its most powerful when done collaboratively and simultaneously, the website can be effective on its own, but if you want your business to be busy quickly, then it is essential that you also raise awareness locally

Leaflets Leaflets are strongly advised so you can put them out in reception at your therapy centre, give them to clients at the Initial Consultation and, if you want to be earning maximum income in super quick time, targeted leafleting will make a big difference – although you need to do this, Emma doesn’t! I can organise it for you, but actually, it can be quite pleasant to do it yourself.

CRM & Client details Bookings Admin will take name, address, telephone number and email address of a client and record it on the CRM (Contact Relationship Management) database which holds records of all the clients.

Data Protection Please note that all clients who come to see you are coming to see you as a therapist of Old Town Hypnotherapy and, as such, the data, ie name, phone and email address they provide in order to book an initial consultation have been given to Old Town Hypnotherapy and we shall use the data to keep in touch with the client. At the initial consultation they will give the Therapist confidential information, it is your responsibility as their therapist to keep the information safe and confidential. Old Town Hypnotherapy is registered with the ICO for holding data electronically and has equal responsibility to hold the information safely and securely under the Data Protection Act.

Additional Local Marketing You may advertise in local publications, but any adverts including Old Town Hypnotherapy must be approved prior to advertising and will be at your own expense. Effective local advertising can also include:-‐

• Stands at local events and fairs • Talks to local business/associates/help groups etc • Leafleting & leaving leaflets at local businesses and retail outlets eg Hairdressers. • Building relationships with local Dr surgeries



Groupon This is not an option which is encouraged, but should you wish to consider Groupon, please discuss the pros and cons of it beforehand and be fully aware of what is involved before you commit. You will need authorisation to use Groupon as a marketing tool.



Conflict of Interests As an Associate therapist of Old Town Hypnotherapy, you must present yourself as Old Town Hypnotherapy within your territory at all times. You must not operate as a hypnotherapist under a different name or use different branding, direct clients to an alternative website or source of information for hypnotherapy. Nor can you advertise yourself on third party website offering hypnotherapy, mindfulness or similar services in the Terrirory, unless this is a directory and you are advertised as Old Town Hypnotherapy; in this case you must get approval prior to advertising.

Additionally, you must operate as a hypnotherapist, if you also have additional disciplines and skills, you must not influence clients towards taking up these alternative therapies. Any conflicts of interest will be considered a breach of contract and your contract will be terminated with immediate effect.

associate handbook aug 16 - old town hypnotherapy swindon ... ·...

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