stating national body memberships on your promotion material?

[boke]

Hi all,

I was wondering how everyone feels...and more importantly what potential clients feel about including or leaving out your national body membership details on your business cards / leaflets etc

I find people never even ask to see my credentials but are we loosing business by not including:

Member of the ABDCD and EFGH.

on our promotion material?

Do people think...oh, she dosent look like shes registered with any national body, so she must be a fake / no good....or do people not really care?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[.pokey.]

For professional bodies that have complaints procedures and codes of practice/ethics, it's essential.

Myarka

 

[suhail_08]

hi lollo,
in all my career I have only ever been asked for proof of my qualifications once, which is quite scary.....whats even more scary is that I dont think ive even asked anyone that ive had treatments from!

Having said that, I think you should put your professional memberships on your promotional materials, although I dont agree with hundreds of letters after your name which can be meaningless to the public.

As a member of sports therapy organisation I can use their logo on my materials, and people do call STO to find out if a therapist is registered (so maybe thats why no-one ever asks for proof of quals?)

 

[Mama of Zee]

Hi Lollo,

I think you should include your membership details but keep it simple . Personally I am am put off by the people who list a whole string of letters and bodies after their name, makes me think they are not specialized and only out to impress.

rgds

 

[Pompal 09.]

Agree with the above, if it's a long stream of meaningless letters then no, but I think mentioning one or two professional bodies you belong to would be encouraging. As a client it is something I would look out for in advertising if I was looking for a therapist, I would ideally want one who was registered with a recognised organisation as like Myarka says, it implies that the therapist follows codes of ethics and practice.

 

[ashleystone37]

Hi Lollo

Who knows what goes on in clients heads!?!?!?

Some kind of indication of qualification/membership is a must on business cards etc. I always use the letters of professional bodies I belong to (MAR, MCThA) because it does suggest professionalism. After all we have to be qualified to join, and have paid good money to use logos etc. As others have said, long lists of letters do look silly.

There are things you should never do like: Massage by Sue. Sue who? And leaflets with no details of where you are based, or a A5 poster is was looking at last night with no contacts details at the front (so I had to pull it off the board the read the opposite side) .

I use a rule of thumb, a card/leaflet should have at least 3 things: who are you, what you do, and where you to.

Best Wishes

RP

 

[Pooja]

If you are paying for the privilege to be a member of a trade organisation, then there is no point in not making use of the facility to advertise the fact.

Lets face it a lot of builders put the master builders logo on the side of their vans to impress the gullible, it does no make them competent builders the same as therapist who join trade organisations are not guaranteed to be competent therapists, just a member of a trade organisation

 

[nickdc1960]

hi Paul,
being a member of a professional association means that the therapist will have had to undergo some form of training. Unfortunately you are correct when you say it doesnt mean they are competent, but at least if they are incompetent the client has someone to complain to.

I know in my organisation we have removed people from our register when there has been a complaint that has been upheld, and im sure that applies to other associations. In these instances we have also contacted their insurance companies (as is our right under the code of conduct), to inform them of the fact.

This isnt a 100% safeguard, but it does help the public to some extent.

I think that is why it is important to state your professional memberships.

 

[misslabeled]

thanks all for you thoughts!