Taking Advantage of your Agency Years Part 2: Organizing all that info!

In my last blog post, I stressed the importance of taking advantage of certain opportunities that are more easily available during the early agency years of your career. In Part 1, I discussed using your agency connections to foster relationships that can sustain you throughout your entire career. In this Part 2 blog, I want to talk about gathering, organizing, and making the most out of the materials and information you receive during your agency years.

Agencies offer a cornucopia of materials and useful information. Now is the time to gather —and also to create a system for storing and organizing information so that you can actually put it to good use. Trust me, if “present-you” does this today, “future-you” will look back and thank you! Here are my GetReal GetGOING top top to dos: 

Develop a Protocol for Collecting Business Cards

Your workplace likely has deep, local roots. As community resources come together to serve common needs, you will meet people. Ask for their business cards. Also, don’t forget to collect cards from your clinical supervisors, clinic directors, and other contacts that you might need for licensure paperwork. When you’ve done that, create a spot to keep these cards. Whether your system is state-of-the-art or old-fashioned doesn’t matter as much as having one.  Develop the habit of asking for a second business card from collaborators and associates so that you can staple one in the clinical file and keep one for yourself.

Another habit to cultivate: When someone gives you their card, read it carefully before slipping it into your wallet. Until I began doing this, I’d end up with a purse full of meaningless cards that I couldn’t match to faces, events or conversations. 

Make notes on the back of the business cards immediately or, at the very least, on the same day that you receive the cards from your contacts. Jot down how you met, what stood out about them, and if they have specialized training, resources, or beneficial connections. If your professional contact does specific assessments or speaks a second language, include that info, too. Use the information you glean from these cards to maintain a list of contacts who could evolve to become future supervisors, mentors, collaborators, or gatekeepers.

Your notes will also make it easier to remember points of connection for following up. For example, if you speak to someone at a social event about your favorite annual conference, you could make an entry on your calendar to jot a note or email to your new acquaintance a few weeks before the conference: “Hi. I just registered for the conference we discussed at Jim’s dinner party. I’ll be there with a few of my colleagues from the VA. Here’s the link: hope to see you there!”

Wouldn’t you love to get a note like that? Become the type of person who sends them now, before you need to promote a business or ask for favors.

Create a File for Community Resources

Community mental health agencies are outstanding hubs for information on area services and resources. Your agency most likely has several thick books and binders listing providers of every stripe.

The social worker down the hall may be an ace at finding low-cost legal services, housing leads, or advocacy for immigration issues. The psychologist who just spoke on dual diagnosis at your last staff meeting may also have listings of every Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in town.

Create a file on these community resources. It should be filled with mailings, postcards, form letters, newspaper clippings, photocopied pages, web page printouts, and even handwritten notes. There are also community resource guides available for purchase. However, your community mental health agency probably already has them available for your use.

Your agency has been collecting this information for years, selecting the most useful, and continuously updating it. If you have colleagues who have specialties or expertise in certain areas, ask them about community resources, where they’d refer someone with the issues they work with… and where they wouldn’t!  This is your chance to get the straight, unadvertised scoop. Take notes and place them in a file that you can refer to later in your career when it’s more difficult to collect this useful information. 

Create a File for Marketing by Association Leads

Become aware of community organizations that aren’t necessarily client-related, but satisfy your interests, such as a hiking or book club. You’ll meet a lot of people through common interests. We call this “marketing by association”—building community relationships which may become a future client base and referral source. Check your local Chamber of Commerce website, the city visitors’ guide, the lifestyle guides for your town, and even the welcome pack that companies give to new employees. Designate a spot in your filing cabinet for these, too, in case down the road you decide to “market by association.”

Even with your private practice still a distance away, it’s never too early to become known in your community. Membership in, or better yet, leadership of, an association can create a rich stream of referrals, especially if you are engaging in associations that align with your genuine interests.

That’s it— three types of informational files: Individual contacts (business cards), Community Resources and Marketing by Association.  Collect them now, use them later! And of course, you can find a more in-depth discussion of all these things in Chapter 4 of my book, GetReal, GetGOING: The Definitive Roadmap to Starting the Private Practice of Your Dreams!