A Saturday night email from a client changed everything
You know your Saturday night plans are going out the window when you get a panicked email from a client.
My cousin Harper was in town for the weekend. We were watching movies and eating snacks Saturday night (dark chocolate and dairy-free pudding), when the email came through.
Harper is a therapist, and she’s been running her own practice for many years.
She recently started using a scheduler through her HIPAA-compliant EHR (aka CRM for therapists), and there were constant issues.
This particular client (the one from the freaked out email) had an upcoming session scheduled during an important meeting.
"This appointment landed on my calendar wrong! I need to reschedule my appointment, but I can't figure out how to!" her client sent over frantically.
This client was overwhelmed with life, and Harper knew her systems (or lack thereof) were adding to that overwhelm - even though her therapy was supposed to relieve that overwhelm.
Lucky for Harper, her closest CUZ is a Systems Strategist.
Harper and I had been talking about cleaning up her systems for a while, but we were hardly ever together long enough to really dive in. This weekend was our chance!
Harper's systems struggle is twofold:
She is comfortable with tech, but not with spending time figuring out her best options. Trying to decide which tools to use feels like a nightmare, which is why she continues using her clunky EHR. We prefer a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven.
All of her systems need to be HIPAA-compliant. As a therapy patient myself, I appreciate this protection. As a Systems Strategist, I f*cking hate it 🙂↔️ because it means all of my usual solutions won't work for her. Dubsado is not HIPAA-compliant!
So this past Sunday morning, sitting on my couch with our bowls of eggs and mugs of matcha, laptops on top of my flower-shaped pillows, we process-mapped Harper's ENTIRE business.
[What is process mapping? Click here to find out!]
She was all over the place, and she was stressed.
I quickly realized I needed to shift from "bestie cousins casually hanging on the couch " to "helping the client focus."
After her 10th time saying she was SCARED, I said:
"Girl, this is just like when someone starts therapy with you.
They're afraid of the unknown and the work they will have to do.
But you know this legwork up front is worth it, not as scary as it seems, and that their life will be better on the other side."
She liked that!
We went through all of the things she needs to do when working with a client (onboarding, scheduling, billing, SUPERBILLING, insurance, client notes, etc) and researched:
❓What were her nice-to-haves VS need to needs-to-haves?
❓What were our HIPAA-compliant options?
❓What were the price points of all of those options?
A few hours later (and a move to the coffee shop down the street), we made a huge breakthrough: We figured out how to make her Google Workspace HIPAA-compliant so she could get off of her clunky EHR.
The HIPAA-compliant Google Workspace was 1️⃣ in her budget and 2️⃣ a platform she was familiar with enough to continue learning more about!
Suddenly, she looked at me with a big smile and said
"Devin. I am SO excited to LEAVE my current EHR tool! You don't understand! I FEEL FREE!!!!!"
This was a huge shift from the stressful energy we started the morning with a few hours earlier on my couch.
We took a break for lunch and a walk, then I showed her how to use some of her new processes, like moving clients into the new scheduling system and updating the templates we created for onboarding.
By the time we finished dinner, Harper excitedly emailed her client back, letting her know she was switching to a new scheduler.
Things were about to get a whole lot better for all of Harper's clients.
Harper is a damn good therapist. Her gift in this world is with people. It's not with systems.
Harber needed better systems to deliver her very important gift to the world. Process mapping made that possible.
I am only taking on TWO more process mapping sessions this year before I close my books!
This 60-minute session…
👀 Brings clarity to what’s really happening behind the scenes of your offer.
⚡ Pinpoints inefficiencies and gives you a clear plan to streamline.
💻 Recommends tech to cut busywork and free you up for high-impact work.
You’ll leave with…
A visual map of your offer’s process.
A plan to streamline your offer’s process.
And tech recommendations that cut busywork so you can scale without duct tape.
👉 Book your process mapping call today
You'll be glad you did next time you settle in for Saturday movie night 😘🍿
