Thrive in the Lull: Mastering Slow Season in Private Practice
Cheers to the season of family gatherings, holiday parties, and the slowest season for private practice dietitians. Ugh!
From mid-October to mid-Jan, historically we see a dip in client bookings as a result of the end of the year and holidays.
This slow season in private practice tends to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s a chance to finally slow down, not be so busy, and finally get around to that dang ole to-do list. On the other hand, fewer clients and lower revenue make it challenging to relax and enjoy the long awaited downtime.
But what if you could flip the script? What if the slow season became a time to thrive instead of merely survive?
With a little strategy, you can make the quieter months some of the most productive, profitable, and energizing for your business. Below, I’ve pulled together actionable tips to help you maximize your time, boost profits, and maintain your sanity during the slow season. Let’s dive in!
1. Get Seasonal
Aligning your offerings with the season is a smart way to stay relevant and give your clients what they are looking for. Here’s my favorite seasonal takes on our nutrition offerings:
Host Seasonal Cooking Demos: Teach clients how to prepare nourishing, holiday-inspired meals that align with their goals. Not only is this fun and engaging, but it can also attract new clients and re-engage existing ones. You could try it in person or virtual and for Thanksgiving/Fall, Christmas/Hanukkah/Holiday, and/or New Years/Winter.
Offer Meal Support: Holidays can be tricky for clients navigating eating disorder recovery, disordered eating, or strict food rules. Consider offering one-time meal support sessions or workshops to provide guidance and accountability, such as a “Thanksgiving Day Trial” to help your client’s navigate triggering comments from family members or fear foods. You could even add this in the day before, day of, or day after the holiday for your higher risk eating disorder clients that need this extra meal support.
Hold Group Classes to Tackle Holiday Triggers: Group sessions focused on managing holiday stress, eating intuitively, or staying consistent with meal planning can help clients feel supported while increasing your offerings. One of my favorite and most successful groups is a “Holiday Eating Tips & Tricks” for general wellness clients and “ED Holiday Survival Guide” for eating disorder clients.
Launch Accountability Groups: Create holiday or New Year’s accountability programs to help clients stay motivated and engaged. A group dynamic creates community and keeps clients committed during a time where it’s easy to get off track. You could further niche these accountability groups down to intuitive eating focused, people with diabetes, or other common interests/health concerns.
2. Experiment with New Offerings
Slower months are ideal for testing new ideas you’ve been meaning to try, but simply haven’t found the energy or time for! Here’s my favorite offerings to test out during slow season:
Group Classes & Workshops: Whether it’s a one-time holiday workshop or an ongoing series, group sessions can diversify your revenue streams while also making your clients appreciate you and your practice even more. Before launching the topic YOU feel is perfect, make sure to poll YOUR clients! It’s a great way to gauge their interests and get them involved in the creation of the event.
Pre-Recorded Classes & Trainings: Record an evergreen workshop or class that clients can purchase anytime. An added bonus is that you can use these materials to market year-round. Think classes like meal prep cooking demo, diabetes 101, how to increase your fiber, or simple 30-minutes lessons. Don’t forget to poll your clients (see above!!!)... And, if you’re considering doing live group classes AND pre-recorded, make sure to include both of those options in the survey to make sure what you put out is what your clients want (and not just what YOU want for them!).
Corporate Wellness & Lunch-and-Learns: Did you know most corporations have a wellness budget that “expires” at the end of this year?? It’s use it or lose it, so it’s a perfect time to reach out to local businesses to offer nutrition workshops or wellness initiatives. I love this experiment because it's a great way to expand your client base, network, and gain visibility in your community.
Credential with a New Insurance Network: Use the downtime to expand your insurance offerings, potentially opening your practice to new networks and clients. Not in network with any insurance companies? Do some research and consider applying to the most popular carrier in your industry, easiest to work with, and/or the rumor for the highest payer.
Self-Pay Add-Ons: Introduce services like meal planning, pantry makeovers, grocery shopping tours, or 1:1 holiday support sessions as one-time self-pay options. Start at a lower price point to draw in your existing clients or consider a holiday raffle to give some of these away for free or further discounted!
3. Focus on Business Development
When your client load is lighter, it’s a sign (and opportunity) for you to focus on business development to set you up to have a busier season in the near future. Here’s a variety of ways you can focus on your business infrastructure:
Refresh Your Website: Update your site’s design, refresh your bio, or add testimonials and a blog section. Testimonials and blogs are great 3 birds one stones in business development, where they can serve as great content for current/prospective clients, social media marketing, and email newsletters.
Improve Your SEO: Use the lull to research keywords and optimize your website content. This will help clients find you more easily in the future. Don’t want to do it yourself? Hire a freelancer from UpWork or ask your practice network for their recommendations.
Revamp Marketing Materials: Freshen up your brochures, business cards, or social media graphics. Use this time to get your branding on point, and then re-share with clients or fellow clinicians in session, on social media, or through email campaigns.
Develop an Email Campaign: Speaking of email campaigns, this is your time to really nurture your email list with valuable content, like recipes, holiday tips, or announcements about new offerings. Get on a consistent weekly or monthly schedule and consider creating an awesome product as your freebie to get more people to opt into your newsletter.
Network and Build Relationships: Take advantage of freetime to attend or send your RDs to local networking meetings, schedule 1:1 meetings with other providers, or send holiday cards to referral sources to stay top of mind. To cut costs, you can create electronic holiday cards and send them to referral sources via email.
4. Attract New Clients with Holiday Incentives
Everyone loves a good deal… especially during the holidays! Be mindful as you read these tips as some may only be applicable to self-pay practices (since you can’t discount your insurance prices!).
Gift Card Specials: Offer discounts or bonuses for gift card purchases. For example, buy a $100 gift card and get $20 free. This works best if you're a self-pay practice or offer other products, like books, meal plans, or clothing.
Holiday Packages or Bundles: Combine your services into a limited-time bundle, like a holiday stress management package or meal planning + accountability bundle. Consider framing this a New Years Special, as most people probably don’t want to “gift” nutrition counseling as a Christmas gift (LOL).
Referral Incentives: Reward clients who refer friends or family with discounts or freebies. Don’t be afraid to give away high value items, but instead think like this… Give away a $100 product for a client who refers friends or family AND if that client shows once worse case scenario if you break even or have minimal profit, BUT if that client comes more than once you, you just got a new long term client that already trusts you because of their friend who sent them your way!
Black Friday Deals: Run a promotion to attract new clients or encourage existing ones to try new services. This is a great opportunity to promote your holiday group classes, new offerings you’re trying this season, or to get people hyped for their sessions with you in the New Year.
5. Check Off Those Back-Burner Tasks
You know those things you *always* mean to do but never seem to have time for? Now’s your chance!
Create Protocols and Policies: Standardize your procedures for onboarding new hires, client cancellations, and other common scenarios you encounter with employees or clients.
Organize Files: Clean up your electronic and physical files for a more streamlined workflow.
Update Documents: Refresh your client intake forms, handouts, and other materials. Make sure they are standardized and easy to read.
Take Continuing Education Units (CEUs): Use the downtime to level up your skills and knowledge.
Plan for 2025: Brainstorm new services, events, or marketing campaigns you’d like to implement next year. Set your goals and metrics of success to get there.
Ready to thrive in the lull? Well, ready or not here it comes!!!
Remember - the slow season doesn’t have to be like a setback, even when it feels like it is one. By leaning into these strategies, you can make the most of your time, attract new clients, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.
If you’re looking for even more actionable advice, join me for “Thrive in the Lull: Mastering Slow Season in Private Practice”, a live masterclass on 11/19 from 4-5 PM (CST). We’ll be going deeper into all these topics while I also share specific, personal stories of what worked and hasn’t worked for my practices over the past 5 years! You’ll leave with practical tools to keep your business moving forward and a clear action plan with a renewed sense of focus and purpose.
Can’t make it or missed the masterclass by the time you read this post? I’ll be uploading it to my Dietitian Shop as a one-hour, on-demand session.
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Comment below or shoot me a message: What’s one thing you’ll try from this list? I’d love to hear your ideas!