Whether you’ve been in business for decades or you are only now starting, tracking statistics on your clients can give you invaluable information about your business cycle.

In my practice, I only track referral sources, monthly income and total hours that I see clients.  It’s not important to me what race, gender, or age is coming in my doors.  What matters is knowing who refers to me, how my income compares to last year’s income, and how many client hours I am averaging.

"Listenting to History" bronze by Bill Woodrow, photo by Cliff1066

• What to Track. Don’t get overwhelmed by tracking too much information.  Consider what is important to you and your business plan.  You may be much more interested in tracking the zip codes that your clients live in or the income brackets that your clients fall into, or your clients’ presenting issues. Whatever it is that is important to you, make a commitment to track it starting now.

• When & How to Track. The when and how of tracking client stats is contingent upon what you are tracking.  For example, if you are tracking basic demographis of race, home zip code, or age, you can probably pull that information directly from your initial paperwork that you client completes.  On the other hand, if you are tracking monthly income or hours spent seeing clients, you will need to track that information on an ongoing basis.  I choose to tally and record those statistics each month.

• Benefits of Tracking Client Stats. Tracking for the sake of tracking is pointless.  However, for me, tracking monthly income and client hours allows me to compare the same month’s productivity in previous years (and project into the future).  That’s been really helpful to me.  When my practice dips a bit in income or hours I am able to see how it compares to last year and the year before during that same time period.

• Learning Your Business Cycle. What I’ve come to realize is that although each private practice (and each profession) is different, my feast and famine months are generally the same from year to year.  By tracking that information, I have learned that I don’t need to panic.  Old and new clients continue to come in but some months are predictably busier than others.

Take the time to learn your business cycle so that you, too, can relax into the ebb and flow of private practice.  It’s a learned skill, I know.  But by putting systems in place – like tracking your client statistics — you can learn how to read and respond to the rhythm of your business and set more realistic goals.