Why Doula Consultations Are Crucial: Setting the Foundation for Success
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Transcript
Welcome to doula tips and tips. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born, 12, nearly 13 years ago.
I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, La Leche League leader, and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Welcome back to doula tips and tips. I promised you a new episodes starting today and be new stuff for the fall. So I have two fun things to tell you. First, I want to hear from you.
How have the reruns been? Were they good for you? Were they episodes that you hadn't heard before? How do you feel about them? Because I really, really want to hear kind of how that works. As a business owner, I'm always sort of experimenting with what it looks like to take a short break from my own mental health and my own family's well -being, etc.
But how to do that when I have like weekly content coming out, you know, like this lovely podcast. And so I would love to hear from you how that experience was this summer. Did it make you love the podcast more?
Were you just kind of like, meh, it's fine. You know, I'm happy that you're off, but whatever. And yeah, I'd love your feedback. So the first thing is there is a master class coming up September 19th at noon Eastern.
You need to sign up for it today because I have only 100 spots in it. And those 100 spots sometimes go really freaking fast. Not always, but oftentimes they do. My email list has already heard about it.
So some of those spots are already taken. If you are not on my email list, you can also do that in the show notes. So if you sign up for the class, it will automatically put you on my email list. So just do that.
It's a two for one. I'll talk about it again in a little bit. This class in September is about consultations. So today's episode is about why consultations are so freaking important. And we're going to be talking about that in the next couple episodes because they are really freaking important.
And we have this masterclass coming up. And so it makes sense for us to talk about it to get you kind of ready, right? To be prepared for this class that's coming up. So when we think about doula consultations, oh, my second thing that I'm excited to tell you is that one of the things I'm changing for the fall is that we are going to have some kind of masterclass or workshop every single month.
So September, November, December, I can't even September, October, November, December, we're going to have a masterclass each of those months virtually on top of having a few in -person offerings if you are local in the DC area.
So stay tuned for some info about that. Again, sign up for this coming masterclass that will automatically put you on the email list, which will in turn give you those updates. You'll be the first to get to hear about a masterclass coming out, which means you'll get the first chance to sign up for it, which is a big deal because there are limited spots.
So, so consultations, why do they matter so much? Our doula businesses rely on customers coming in. All businesses rely on customers, right? For us, the way that that customers come in almost always is through consultations.
This is part of kind of what the draw is of doulas having passive income is that they want to not have to do so many consultations, but passive income, as we've discussed in the past, takes a lot of work and is in fact a different kind of work, right?
When I first made my childbirth class, I'm not going to go down a whole rabbit trail, just FYI about passive income because that is not the topic today. But when I first made my childbirth class, I was like, people are going to find it and they're going to buy it.
And that's how it's going to sell. That is not how that works, really. I mean, truly, it doesn't work like that. And it takes quite a bit of effort to get kind of a process of selling to people who don't know you, right?
And so what you're thinking about with doula work is you're entering into this like pretty intimate relationship with someone that they're really like putting a lot of trust in you. And so in that with that trust they need to feel comfortable with you.
Now that doesn't mean you can't ever be awkward, right? Because as I have said many episodes I am very awkward as a person, right? But I also show up for doula interviews with a certain level of confidence.
That is because I have a whole system of how I do it, right? So a doula consultation doesn't feel anxiety -provoking for me. It doesn't feel tricky. It doesn't feel dicey. I can tell pretty quickly if I think these people are even gonna hire me.
Like very rarely am I wrong about that now. Because I just read people really well and I know like how the interactions are going whether or not someone's feeling it, you know? Like I have I've had a consultation recently where probably, I don't know, 15 -20 minutes into it I could see the body language of the couple was like, yes.
Like they kept looking at each other like this this is great, you know? On the flip side, I had a consultation actually that same day that was someone who like had a lot of questions and was sort of like, you know, clearly unsure.
I'm not sure if she was unsure about doulas in general or if she was unsure about me but she was unsure about something and I got off the call like she might hire me but I kind of would guess she didn't.
She won't and she sort of like went back and forth about it. Ultimately, I always say to people I only have, you know, one spot left or two spots or whatever it is and you get it once you book and so if I have someone else reach out for that spot, I will let you know because I want you to have first dibs on it, right?
But that spot could get booked. If you haven't booked it, someone else might book it in which case you won't be have the chance to do it. So ultimately, she lost that the ability to hire me because I had someone else book the spot and so then I reached out to her and said I just want to let you know, you know, that person did in fact end up hiring me and so I'm no longer available for October.
You know, this is the times that I have available for or these are the other doulas on the team who are available, you know, and she was like, okay great, thanks for letting me know, you know, so I mean ultimately I felt good about that because I was kind of like I can't tell if you want to hire me anyway.
I'm not sure if it's really a good fit. Like I don't think it's a bad fit, but maybe, you know, I'm just not sure and ultimately like the the spot got taken and so she didn't seem to beat up about it and I was also not that beat up about it, right?
But it was very clear like pretty early on with the other couple, they hired me within a day. Like they were just like, yeah, we love you. This is great. We're gonna book you tonight. We don't want to we don't want to lose this spot and I was like perfect, great and I'm like, yeah, we are clearly a good fit.
Like it was very obvious during the call that we're a good fit, you know, and so I'm not saying that I've never had clients that aren't a good fit because lord knows I have had those clients as have all doulas, I think, but what I am saying is that because I have a process for a consultation, it's a very simple thing for me to do.
It does not feel stressful. It does not feel hard or dicey or any of that. I do sometimes still feel like, gosh, I hope this person hires me because I'm human and because I like people to like me, you know, and because sometimes revenue is inconsistent month to month and so I still have months where I'm like, oh, you know, but that's all part of business, right?
It's not that I show up to every consultation wondering what I should say or wondering how I should talk to them or wondering how I should talk about myself. No, none of that is even remotely concerning to me because I say the same things every time and I talk about myself in the same way every time and I could basically tell you exactly what people are going to ask because they ask the same questions every time.
So my spiel about myself and about doulas and about how I work and about my background answers, like 90% of the questions that I know they're going to ask me and that makes the whole process smoother for us, but it also makes them feel like I'm anticipating their needs, which I am, right?
Like I generally know some of the needs that my doula clients are going to have because some of the needs are very similar person to person. feeling like they're prioritized, having the continuity of care, having their partner have a support person who they can rely on for information and logistical help, right?
These are things that almost every single person wants out of a doulas relationship. And so if I come to that conversation, basically saying, let me tell you how I'm gonna give you those things that you want, then they're like, oh my gosh, how did you know we wanted that?
And I'm like, yeah, because of course you do, right? That's what you're wanting because you're wanting a doula. And so that, I wanna really hone in on the fact that this is not a manipulation tactic, right?
This is a way for me to show up, communicating very clearly what my job is, what my role is and how I do it, being super authentic to who I am, so that right away people can tell if I'm quirky, if I'm goofy, that I'm a little awkward, that I talk about my kids some, like, this is who I am.
This is who you're getting at your birth. If you want me at your birth, this is what it's gonna be. If you don't want that, you don't want me. And I want you to see that really clearly, right? And so what I want for you as a doula is to not only get better at doing consultations because that matters, but I also want for you to feel good about people not hiring you, just as much as you feel good about people hiring you,
because when someone doesn't fit with you, you don't want them to hire you. So a consultation should clearly push away the people who aren't your people and clearly bring in the people who are your people.
And that is the magic of it, right? That is the magic that is in your business, is that you're not having random strangers book you and then having to spend 18 hours with them at a birth, right? You are having this contact, this connection with these folks and then getting to very clearly feel out like, you know what, this is not working or it is working, right?
And so I want you to take time to think through your doula consultations, but also sign up for the doula consultation masterclass because this is the stuff that we're talking about. We're gonna dig into what questions might people ask, what answers do you need to have?
How can you show up with a confidence that shows who you are and clearly articulates what you're gonna do for them as a doula, okay? So if you have not already clicked on those show notes, click on them, my friend.
Sign up for the masterclass, which will put you on the newsletter, which will then give you all the good information about the coming masterclasses. Okay, I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula tips and tips podcast.
If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at hiradoula so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app.
That helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment. It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business.
We'll see you again soon.
Don’t miss the FREE Doula Consultation Workshop: 3 Proven techniques to increase client conversions. This 1 hour workshop will teach you how to show up with confidence and ultimately get more “HELL YES” responses! Sign up today!
https://harroddoulaservices.thrivecart.com/doula-consultations-workshop-pod/
In this episode, we dive into the critical role that doula consultations play in building a strong and successful doula-client relationship. We’ll explore why these initial meetings are not just a formality, but a vital step in ensuring that both the doula and client are on the same page. From setting expectations to establishing trust, discover why doula consultations are the cornerstone of a thriving practice and how they can make all the difference in your journey as a doula.
Quote from the show:
“Consultations do not feel stressful [for me anymore]. It does not feel hard or dicey or any of that. I do sometimes still feel like, gosh, I hope this person hires me because I'm human and because I like people to like me, you know, and because sometimes revenue is inconsistent month to month and so I still have months where I'm like, oh, you know, but that's all part of business, right? But I can tell immediately if someone will hire me or not and I’m almost always right. That’s part of my intentionality of the way I do them!”
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Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
