From the author: My website: Inspirers: Dolgopolov N.B. - psychologist, psychotherapist, rector of the Moscow Institute of Gestalt and PsychodramaAndrey Popov - General Director of the European Academy of Image________________________In order to be a professional, two components are needed -1) professional knowledge, skills and abilities2) the ability to sell these skills and abilities as a necessary condition for implementing them in real activities. As a rule, educational institutions focus exclusively on the first aspect. Having received an education, a person is faced with the fact that, on the one hand, he can integrate into some system (psychological center, educational institution, hospital, company), but on the other hand, there is a desire to start and develop a private practice, which is devoid of many of the disadvantages of the first path (relatively low salary - less potential for financial development, the need to perform a large amount of work that is beyond the personal and professional interest of the performer, a rigid standardized working day - a guaranteed "rush hour" in the morning and in the evening, and others). For those who have chosen exclusively the first path, without combining it with private practice, the problem under discussion is less relevant. Because a number of tasks to find and attract a client are performed by the organization in which the specialist is embedded. How to sell psychological services on your own? First, let’s decide what “products” can be sold. The list given below does not pretend to be complete and can be mentally supplemented by an attentive reader. Diagnostics (neuro-, patho-, differential-personal, readiness for school). What is important here is that there is some end goal for which the diagnostic procedure is sold. The client does not come for diagnostics as such, he comes in order to receive from a specialist some information that will have a certain practical meaning for him. And the psychologist, in turn, receives this information through diagnostics, and then communicates it to the client in a digestible form. Diagnostics can be one of the aspects included in a more general context - correction. Then the product will already have a correction. Consultation. The most important thing is to accurately assess the client’s real request (which does not always coincide with the stated one) and make a joint decision on how to proceed further. To do this, you need to tell the client what needs you can satisfy and what is beyond your capabilities. It is very important to be able to identify clients who are not “yours” and promptly redirect them to trusted specialists in order to avoid generalized disappointments in psychology in general. Correctional programs (restoration of higher mental functions, development of HMF in children, correction itself). Training. There are sales trainings and other trainings to improve professional skills, team building, and “personal growth” trainings. Expertise (judicial, professional suitability, organizational consulting). The customer of this product is usually not an individual, but some authority - a company, a court. In our opinion, there are two main components of a successful sale: Impression. In order for your product to be bought, you need to make a certain impression on a potential client. An impression can be created at a variety of levels - appearance (clothing, hairstyle, makeup, manicure), non-verbal behavior (posture, facial expressions, gestures), verbal interaction with other people in general and with the prospective client in particular. All of this informs how you feel as a specialist. It is best to create an impression with a little “advance”. For example, if you work in a company, then the most advantageous image and behavior will be consistent with a slightly higher position. But if you create an impression that does not correspond to your real achievements and abilities, or is strongly at odds with your status (for example, in your externalIf you try to match the director of the company), then they will either put you in your place, or they will be disappointed in you as a specialist, which will ultimately worsen your reputation in the market if you are a “free” figure. Your appearance and behavior in professional circles should first of all be natural. The best way to achieve naturalness is to harmonize the internal and external. And this is very difficult and valuable work that needs to be done. For example, discuss with yourself how much your work costs and why. If you decide on this issue for yourself, then the ever-painful issue of finance will no longer be so scary in conversations with a client. What exactly is your job? How to talk about this with the client in the language of his needs? The peculiarity of intangible services is that the client does not know exactly what he is buying. To build reliable long-term relationships in the market, it is important to have a good reputation. In order to win it, the primary task is not to sell the product (as in a grocery store, where it is important that the tomatoes “disperse”), but to sell such a client a product that he would be satisfied with in the long term. Therefore, it is important to be able to talk about what you are selling and to be able to find out in dialogue whether the client needs it. If he doesn’t need what you offer, then what? Can you or one of your colleagues give it to him? (cross-selling). Another important aspect to pay attention to. It is necessary that potential clients can: - distinguish you from other specialists - remember - turn to you for services when they need them Come up with something that will allow you to be distinguished and remembered. From this point of view, the most effective strategy is to be able to behave unusually (but adequately) in seemingly obvious situations. Choose a point of view that is based on well-known ones, but at the same time is the author’s, original. People most easily perceive and remember bright, attractive, internally consistent images. Therefore, it is very important at the sales stage to identify yourself with certain values ​​(ideological component), take care of the integrity of your image, and constantly supplement your image with something that will make you stand out from other people who are engaged in related activities. It’s good to have a fairly narrow specialization, or several narrow specializations, so that clients can hear in your requests that you are focused specifically on them, and precisely on the problems that bother them. To conclude the topic of impression, let’s say that it is very important to be able to switch from the “ public figure”, where the greatest role is played by charm, charisma, the ability to impress, to the level of confidential intimate and personal communication. A well-thought-out presented image is valuable at the sales stage, but if there is nothing behind it, then a deep meaningful and productive contact will not develop, and neither the client nor the psychologist will be satisfied with the result of the relationship. Therefore, quite often, those people who are very successful in sales can be worse as professionals, and those who know how to build meaningful, long-term professional relationships, when trying to sell their services to the public, can resemble embarrassed schoolchildren at the blackboard. Professional Life. The more active your professional life you lead, the more you develop as a specialist in your field and the more contacts you form necessary for this area of ​​your life. It is advisable to have as many points of intersection as possible with other people, where you can also present yourself as a professional. These intersection points can be social networks, websites, any public speaking (lectures, seminars, trainings...), conferences. It's ironic that almost the only way to sell something is to focus your energy on something else. For example, if this is a website, then sales cannot be the basis of its existence. First of all!