A New Way To Do 1:1’s
The key to a successful nutrition practice is to position your services in a way that truly helps people and feels good to you.
The traditional model for 1:1’s that involves a complete intake, a protocol and follow-ups has its limitations when it comes to having a business model that serves both you and your clients.
The first limitation, and one that’s often overlooked, is that not everyone is ready for this level of commitment. While a holistic lifestyle to us nutritionists doesn’t take much thought, to the average person, radically changing their diet and lifestyle may not be something they are ready for. And for the majority, this can feel intimidating and act as a barrier to entry.
In the traditional 1:1 model we aren’t able to reach a large percent of the population due to the intensity that is inherent in the standard trajectory of the 1:1. When we speak of holistic health in terms of diet, supplements and lifestyle many people subconsciously opt out because they feel overwhelmed by the weight of it all.
To be a practitioner that facilitates lasting change in our clients, we often have to focus on one area - using it as a gateway into the realm of holistic health. This can of course be done in the standard 1:1 model by creating protocols in such a way that recommendations are specific yet serve multiple purposes allowing the ripple to reach into other branches of a client’s life. But, sometimes, this is better done with less conventional types of 1:1 service.
The second limitation of the typical 1:1 is that while they are rewarding and it’s fun piecing together the health history and creating customized protocols, it can be exhausting. Writing protocols and holding the deep space needed for this type of relationship is a lot on us as practitioners & it can lead us to feeling burnt out.
Offering multiple ways to work with you on an individual basis allows you to truly meet people where they are at. It is a way to establish trust and a beautiful way to begin building your client-clinician relationships.
It allows you to easily monetize and use the skills you have acquired and perfected, with lower effort services that still have a big impact on those who you are serving.
Alternative 1:1 Services
Through the years, I have found alternative ways that allow people to access me at whatever point they are on in their journey. Through having an array of services, it keeps things fresh and exciting for me and lightens the load while still being able to have a profound impact on my clients.
In my experience, booking up my time slots became a lot easier when I offered services beyond the typical 1:1 consults I used to.
Diet Diary Audits
A diet diary audit is when you simply look over a food diary and provide feedback. This can look anyway you desire it to. I started by having a client book in and send me a 7-day diet diary along with their top three health goals. We would then meet over zoom and I would offer my feedback and provide recommendations on how to improve upon their current dietary habits in relation to their goals. It was all accompanied by a PDF and applicable handouts with the recommendations for them to refer back to.
Now, the structure remains the same but instead of meeting in person, I send a voice recording along with a PDF.
The voice recording offers a deeper explanation on the PDF they get sent.
Why I love this: it is a lower investment both from an economical and commitment perspective. On my end, it doesn’t require a lot of time and I am able to use skills I have spent my whole career refining in a new capacity.
Question and Answer
A theme that I noticed in myself and in the age of social media is that there is this expectation that we need to give free information as a marketing strategy. While there is a time and place for this, using discernment is key as your opinions and time are valuable as a professional in this field.
Having an option for people to pick your brain is a great way to offer personalized support while being compensated for your time.
When first starting out, it feels good to be asked a lot of questions, and while that feeling never goes away, it can become exhausting.
When you create a Q&A service, it is easy to direct people who have questions around health and your expertise to a booking page. This allows you to be fully present with them and formulate answers in a manner that provides value to who you are speaking too.
Supplement Audit
Most people take at least one supplement whether it’s vitamin C, a multi or vitamin D. Offering your expertise is invaluable as the typical spot to purchase supplements is a drug store which carries low quality, often harmful supplements.
Again, this can look anyway you wish it to. For me, I have them send photos of the front and back of all their supplements along with the dose they take and why. We then meet and I explain why a supplement is either beneficial or why I would suggest a different one and provide recommendations.
Wrapping It Up
I used to think that when it came to helping someone improve their health and quality of life I had to give them all the information I had. It had to be all or nothing. And as my years of experience grow, so does my mental framework for what is truly helpful, and I have realized a profound potency in taking small and slow steps.
A diet diary audit, while simple to us, can change someone’s life.
Clearing up confusion someone has through a quick Q&A can save them much trial and error.
Going through someone’s supplements can save them from taking harmful products and a lot of $$$ on ineffective products.
There is great value in the traditional 1:1 model, and personally it will always be a prominent part in my practice. And I will also continue to offer a variety of 1:1 services that allow me to reach as many people as possible and impart my knowledge to the world, little by little.
If you found this insightful, you might want to check out The Confident Nutritionist – our signature program at Fiore that gives you the tools to have a meaningful and successful practice!
Author: Lisa Kowalyk, Co-Founder Fiore