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Psychotherapy practices · Referral marketing

The psychiatrist refers to a name she trusts, not to a website.

Referral into a psychotherapy practice comes from psychiatrists, physicians, schools, employers and other therapists, and quietly from people you have worked with. Most of it turns on being known for one thing. GullySales builds that network and keeps the fee question with your professional body.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of psychotherapy practices at work in India

What referral marketing means

Referral marketing in a regulated practice is being the one a physician, a colleague or a former patient names, without being paid to, because paying for a referral is restricted in most of these professions. GullySales builds the ask into the moment a patient is satisfied and into the note that goes back to the referring doctor, and it never involves a fee.

Also for psychotherapy practices

Sales and marketing for psychotherapy practices, the overview.

Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. We describe restrictions in general terms, so check the current position with your own council or adviser before you publish anything.

For psychotherapy practices

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “Most of your referral network is other therapists”

    A colleague who is full, or who does not work with children, or who cannot take a case in that language, needs somebody to send that person to. Being known to twenty therapists for one thing you do well brings steadier work than any campaign.

  • “The psychiatrist needs to know what happened after the referral”

    A short note, with the person's consent and no clinical detail, confirming they came in. That is what makes a doctor refer a second time. Silence after the first one is why most of them stop.

  • “You cannot ask a former client to recommend you, and they often will anyway”

    Asking puts somebody in a position they should never be put in, and rules on soliciting may apply. What you can do is be easy to pass on. A name spelled clearly, a number and one page somebody can forward without explaining anything.

What we do

What we deliver for psychotherapy practices.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A map of who could refer, near enough to matter

    Psychiatrists, general physicians, paediatricians, schools, other therapists and employers within reach, with who already refers and who has never been approached.

    Result: The network stops being three people you trained with.

  2. One page a referrer can keep on a desk

    What you work with, who you do not take, your fee position, availability and how somebody reaches you, written for a busy clinician to read in a minute.

    Result: A doctor can refer accurately without ringing to check.

  3. A consented acknowledgement back to the referrer

    A brief confirmation that the person made contact, sent with their agreement and carrying nothing clinical.

    Result: The referrer learns the route worked, and uses it again.

  4. A referral route written for an employer contact

    How an HR contact under an assistance arrangement reaches the right therapist, with what they may and may not be told, agreed in advance.

    Result: The contract turns into actual sessions rather than a document.

  5. Referral sources counted in aggregate

    Which kinds of referrer bring enquiries, reported as totals with no individual client traceable through the figures.

    Result: You know where the work comes from without tracking anybody.

How the result is measured

  • Referrals received
  • Referral conversion rate
  • Cost per referred customer

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full referral marketing page

How referrals reach a therapy practice

In this work, a referral is a conversation between professionals, and a client's name never travels with it.

The psychiatrist or physician
Introduce yourself by letter, state the concerns you treat and the concerns you do not, and say how a referral is made. Acknowledge a referral only if the client has consented in writing.
Fellow therapists with a different speciality
A therapist who does not treat adolescents sends them to one who does. Keep a short list of colleagues you trust for the cases you refer on, and tell them what you treat.
The school counsellor and the HR contact
A counsellor at a school or an HR manager meets people who need help but cannot find it. Give them one page with how to reach you privately, without anything that suggests a diagnosis.
A former client
Do not ask a client to recommend you. If someone does arrive on a client's word, do not confirm or deny that the person was ever your client, and consider whether the new case creates a conflict.
What never to do
Never pay or accept a fee for a referral, or confirm somebody is or was your client, even to thank the referrer, without written consent. Your professional body's code decides the rest, so check it.

Who it is for

This is written for these psychotherapy practices.

  • Individual counselling and psychotherapy practices
  • Couples and family therapy practices
  • Child and adolescent therapy specialists
  • Addiction counselling centres
  • Corporate and workplace counselling providers
  • Online and teletherapy practices
  • Psychiatric and clinical psychology clinics
  • Group therapy and support programme providers

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
  • You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
  • You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.

How it works

From your first message to the first report.

No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.

  1. First

    Your brief

    You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.

  2. After the brief

    A conversation and a written scope

    We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.

  3. Before work starts

    Baseline recorded

    Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.

  4. After the baseline

    The first fix goes live

    The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is reply time, a follow-up sequence, the page buyers land on or the handover between marketing and sales.

  5. As agreed

    Report against the baseline

    What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.

  6. At renewal

    Renew on the numbers

    The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.

How the referral marketing work runs

  1. 1

    Understand your margin and customer relationship

    We agree what reward is genuinely sustainable and appropriate for your business and customer type.

  2. 2

    Audit existing informal referrals

    We check how much word of mouth already happens, to size expectations for the formal programme realistically.

  3. 3

    Design the offer and mechanism

    A specific reward and an easy sharing method are built and tested.

  4. 4

    Implement and promote

    The programme is surfaced at the right moments in your customer journey.

  5. 5

    Measure and adjust

    We track referrals and conversions, adjusting the reward or promotion if uptake is low.

Why us

Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.

  • Marketing and sales, as one job

    Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.

  • The person on the first call does the work

    No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.

  • A baseline before anything starts

    Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.

  • The fee in writing, split three ways

    Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.

  • No guarantees we cannot keep

    The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.

  • One office, and we say so

    Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.

#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.

Your brief

Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Can we pay a referral fee to a doctor or a clinic?
Fee sharing for referrals is restricted for regulated professionals, the position differs, and it changes. It is your registration at risk and your council or professional body is the one to answer it, in writing, before anything is discussed. The doctor you are asking will also have their own rules to follow.
How do we introduce ourselves to a psychiatrist we have never met?
Be specific and be brief. Say what you work with, say who you do not take, and say what your availability looks like. A doctor refers on confidence about a narrow thing, so a therapist who says they work with everybody gets nothing. Ask for ten minutes, not for referrals.
A client's sister has asked for an appointment. Should we take her?
Consider whether seeing both could affect the work, because a sister's account of the family may colour the first client's sessions. Where it might, refer her to a colleague. Your professional body's code guides the decision, and the client should not be pressed.
How do we thank a psychiatrist who refers, without breaching confidentiality?
Thank him for the referral itself and write nothing about the client without written consent. With consent, send a brief acknowledgement covering attendance and the plan. Without it, a general note thanking him for his confidence in you is enough.
How do you handle marketing without using client stories?
Through the therapist, not the client. A page that explains your training, your approach and what a first session feels like does the work a testimonial does elsewhere. No identifiable client story is ever used.
Will this involve tracking individual clients?
No. Our reporting works at the level of enquiry volume and concern area, never by name, and we agree what is tracked before starting.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.

From the blog

Further reading for psychotherapy practices.

All articles

More for psychotherapy practices

Everything else we would do for you.

Closest to this: customers after the sale

Also for psychotherapy practices

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for psychotherapy practices.

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