Client's Question

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Cleesattel on March 8, 2011 at 3:17pm

I answer these questions as follows:

The success or failure is really up to you, I am just the guide that shows you how, its up to you to follow the instructions.

I guarantee that I will hold up my end, but can't guarantee that you will hold up your end.

 

Hypnosis does not take away your free will, if it did, we would start with the bank accounts.. :)

 

John

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe K Fobes on March 8, 2011 at 4:49pm

1. 70-80%. I further explain that it all depends on their hard work blah blah blah.

 

2. No. I get paid per hour ($150 for a single session and $500 for a package of 5).

 

Getting paid per job is much more expensive work (think lawyer who takes 30% of a multi-million dollar settlement).

 

I do have that option starting at $3,000 per issue (or more, depending on the severity of the issue) if the client likes to do the no cure no pay thing.

 

Joe

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John B. Lee IV on March 8, 2011 at 5:01pm

Regarding your success rate, lest you call everyone 2 weeks, 2 months and 2 years after sessions, there is really no way of knowing. It presupposes failure as well.

 

You can always cite your referral rate and mention how many repeat clients you have dealing with separate issues.

 

 

I can guarantee that I will be using some form of this John. 

John Cleesattel said:

I guarantee that I will hold up my end, but can't guarantee that you will hold up your end.

Hypnosis does not take away your free will, if it did, we would start with the bank accounts.. :)

 

John

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on March 8, 2011 at 5:28pm

I wonder if these folks ever ask their doctors for guarantees or refunds.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Hewlett on March 8, 2011 at 5:47pm

I've tried using that tact Kathleen, but it seems a bit defensive and aggressive..if you know what I mean.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mary Winstanley on March 8, 2011 at 5:54pm

Nice, John. Short, effective and to the point.

How can someone argue with that?

Will be using this. Thanks a lot,

Mary

 

John Cleesattel said:

I answer these questions as follows:

The success or failure is really up to you, I am just the guide that shows you how, its up to you to follow the instructions.

I guarantee that I will hold up my end, but can't guarantee that you will hold up your end.

 

Hypnosis does not take away your free will, if it did, we would start with the bank accounts.. :)

 

John

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on March 8, 2011 at 6:04pm

Do you have a guarantee?

 

Many hypnosis CDs are promoted with a “money-back” guarantee, and even a few hypnotists have touted guarantees of one type or another.  Like most hypnotists though, I do not offer a guarantee. There is no way for me to truly guarantee anything, since client success is more dependent on them and their follow through than on me or my skill level. I am uninterested in the cheesiness or the occasional hassle a guarantee would cause, so when asked if I have a guarantee, here is my response:

 

I do!  I guarantee that I will provide my time to help you with competent and professional services.  I can also guarantee that if you follow the suggestions I offer, you will experience the desired outcome. Most of my clients do. What I cannot guarantee is that you will be one of the few clients who does not follow my suggestions when you leave the office, does not listen to the CD I provide, and does not follow through on recommendations. Your success is as dependent on you as it is me, and so no, there is not a money-back guarantee, just like there is not one in any medical or psychological clinic where success is often dependent on the client as much as it is the provider.

 

* excerpt from my new book "Magic Words: Hypnosis Scripts, Patter and Answers to Difficulty in Hypnotherapy"

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alonzo Cavazos, Ed.D., LCSW, LPC on March 8, 2011 at 7:01pm

The client can be reassured that their question is good one, and that some clients want to know about guarantees.  Furthermore, clients can be informed that responses to such a questions vary from one hypnotist to another, and that every now and then a hypnotist may suggest that she or he guarantees their work, but that most hypnotists can only guarantee to do their very best and that clients do best when they follow suggestions, like listening to CDs, doing self-hypnosis, etc.  As a pyschotherapist I don't get asked this question directly, but it is implicity when they want to know whether I am licensed and have plenty of experience.  Alonzo

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sherell Hebert, LPC, CCH on March 8, 2011 at 8:13pm

I guess because I don't primarily do hypnosis, I've only run across that question once.  The answers you all provided were way better than mine!  Thanks for sharing!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe K Fobes on March 8, 2011 at 8:30pm

John B. Lee IV said:

Regarding your success rate, lest you call everyone 2 weeks, 2 months and 2 years after sessions, there is really no way of knowing. It presupposes failure as well.

 

A success for me is when the client achieved his stated goals.

 

As I don't continuously influence the client after we are finished, I would not agree to a goal "I will never again have anxiety".

 

A more realistic goal would be, "by the time we have finished together I have had a full 3 weeks anxiety free. I also have the sense that I am past this problem. I also have tools so that if I feel anxiety I know what to do about it".

 

I don't need to follow up years later to know if that happened.

 

As for it presupposing failure, well lets be honest, we do fail. When I talk to the client on the phone I don't want to give them unrealistic expectations, after all many peoples problems are tied into their inability to recognize and be comfortable with reality.

When clients ask me if I can help them I say "I honestly have no clue. I have helped many others, but there have been those I haven't been able to help. I'll only know once we start working together."

At the point they often ask for my success rate, and I'm able to honestly say that 76% of the time (just ran the numbers tonight) my clients feel that they have gotten what they were looking for from working together with me.

 

Often enough our clients struggle with reality. They struggle with the reality that there are no guarantees in life, and that at any given moment they can be run over by a truck or get a massive panic attack. As a therapist I want to help them face up to that instead of implying an unrealistic utopia where hypnosis is the next miracle cure for them.

 

Based on the feedback I get from clients, they like it. They like it when we face the issues straight on instead of hiding. They feel that they can trust me to give them the facts with no BS and fluff.

 

Thats what works for me.

 

Joe

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig - HypnosisAustin on March 9, 2011 at 10:08am

When people ask about success rates, I often say, "How committed are you to change? That's how successful we'll be."

 

Usually smokers are the ones asking, so I often follow up by adding, "Of course, no method is 100%, but multiple studies have shown that hypnosis has a higher success rate than other methods."

 

As for the guarantee, I say, "I guarantee that I will give you excellent service, but I can't make you follow my directions, use your reinforcement CD, and so on. Like a doctor, I can tell you what to do, but I can't control you, and for that reason, I can't offer you your money back."

 

James

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John B. Lee IV on March 9, 2011 at 11:07am

Uh-oh...  success rates for your client's are determined by your clients. Their view of success may not have a finite time parameter (realistic or not and BS aside). That said, their opinion of success is just as fluid as opinions themselves. I bring up time variation of success for those reasons when attempting to factor or claim exact percentages. Success is a concrete term within a fluid context.

 

or we can just start polling them when they open their eyes...

" 5... open your eyes feeling amazing! How do you feel?"

" Amazing!"

"100%  Success!"

 

The presupposition of failure:

I was simply saying if you call and "success" screen, it implies(presupposes) that success may be lost. Nothing unrealistic about that. It's like a neighbor calling and asking if your dog is okay.

 

It's peculiar, I posted a Blog Perception is Reality after reading the thread about Joe K. theMaster Hypnotist Interview. I noticed how your opinions were being challenged as the common perception was that you (Master Hypnotist Joe K.) spread misinformation and unrealistic claims about hypnosis.  I began thinking how we continuously try to contain the meanings of words within the parameters of hypnosis and it seemed you took a loose 'there are many meanings" approach . It is indeed ironic, that you, would be so wiling to box them back up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe K Fobes said:

John B. Lee IV said:

Regarding your success rate, lest you call everyone 2 weeks, 2 months and 2 years after sessions, there is really no way of knowing. It presupposes failure as well.

 

A success for me is when the client achieved his stated goals.

 

As I don't continuously influence the client after we are finished, I would not agree to a goal "I will never again have anxiety".

 

A more realistic goal would be, "by the time we have finished together I have had a full 3 weeks anxiety free. I also have the sense that I am past this problem. I also have tools so that if I feel anxiety I know what to do about it".

 

I don't need to follow up years later to know if that happened.

 

As for it presupposing failure, well lets be honest, we do fail. When I talk to the client on the phone I don't want to give them unrealistic expectations, after all many peoples problems are tied into their inability to recognize and be comfortable with reality.

When clients ask me if I can help them I say "I honestly have no clue. I have helped many others, but there have been those I haven't been able to help. I'll only know once we start working together."

At the point they often ask for my success rate, and I'm able to honestly say that 76% of the time (just ran the numbers tonight) my clients feel that they have gotten what they were looking for from working together with me.

 

Often enough our clients struggle with reality. They struggle with the reality that there are no guarantees in life, and that at any given moment they can be run over by a truck or get a massive panic attack. As a therapist I want to help them face up to that instead of implying an unrealistic utopia where hypnosis is the next miracle cure for them.

 

Based on the feedback I get from clients, they like it. They like it when we face the issues straight on instead of hiding. They feel that they can trust me to give them the facts with no BS and fluff.

 

Thats what works for me.

 

Joe

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion