Right now we’re watching a trust implosion in behavioral health tech.
- Investigations over ethics violations.
- Massive layoffs from companies that overshot their profit margins.
- Profits before people.
The companies (and more importantly, the people) who relied on those companies are less trusting and more gated.
Bottom Line: Behavioral Healthcare Needs Trust to Do Business
New tech options in behavioral health provide so much hope… but where new technology also means the pursuit of profits, people need protection.
(That’s why we have ethical standards in the first place)
Despite the upheaval that’s occurred this past month, the reality is the same.
- We’re still in a mental health crisis.
- There are people who need help, therapists who need support, and insurance companies who need the means to serve their members.
- This is what you’re in business to do.
How do you reach them when you know the product you’ve created will help them serve their clients?
3 Things Your B2B Behavioral Health Tech Prospect Needs from You to Earn Their Trust
In a tentative economy in an industry moving at blurring gigabyte speeds, your prospect needs certain things from you before they can partner with you.
1. Your prospect needs to know you understand their concerns
Whatever product you’ve developed, you saw a problem and decided you could create a solution — maybe even from personal experience as someone who has journeyed through a mental health or substance use issue.
Your focus may be completely on the person who needs your solution. But you need a health plan, employer, or another type of entity to gain access to those people.
You might very well need investors so you can test and scale your product.
You may eventually want to become publicly traded…
Your potential partners have goals and needs, too. How do you show that you understand them and address those concerns?
2. Your B2B behavioral health prospect needs transparency
Whomever you’re partnering with, your prospect has a lot of their own concerns and they need to know what’s involved in working with you.
We’re in the Wild Wild West period of behavioral health tech. The excitement and need created by the COVID shutdown created a situation where necessity broke through the barriers. People were willing to experiment.
But now we’ve seen some things go wrong. Huge providers lay off significant portions of their therapist workforce, leaving clients with nowhere to go. We’ve seen companies ignore clinical ethics in the name of profits. Companies have promised emotional support while simply pushing pills.
How do you show that you are worth partnering with?
- How is your software going to work with theirs?
- How do you measure and report usage and success (accountability)?
- How do you protect their data and the privacy of those they serve?
- What are your business practices – if they invest in a partnership with you and promote you — how do they know if you’re going to be around in two years?
- How are you complying with legal and ethical guidelines?
Give them what they need to make a decision for you.
3. Your potential partners need to know you’re going to serve their members
Your prospects don’t stay in business by letting down their clients.
They need to know that you’re going to help them succeed. That’s why they need to you to understand their concerns and also know how you work.
Many behavioral health tech companies get their start because they see a problem that the “old way” wasn’t solving. They identified a need and were driven to fix it. Many of us get into behavioral health because we’ve been there and we want to help others. If we can make money doing it, that’s even better.
Many of us get into behavioral health because we’ve been there and we want to help others. If we can make money doing it, that’s even better.
But there are companies who are prioritizing profits over their clients or the people they serve. Their goal is to get financing and go public, where the big profits are — often at the expense of people who need help.
We’re seeing that right now with online therapy platforms that are laying off their therapists — therapists who had clients who needed them.
Health plans and employers need you to serve their members. They provide behavioral health services so they have healthy employees who flourish in their jobs.
They need to know you’re going to help them and their members or employees thrive.
<H2>A White Paper is the Perfect Venue for Addressing These Concerns
Why?
Because first of all, a white paper isn’t a walking advertisement for how wonderful your company is. It’s about your prospect.
- A white paper is problem-focused. And if you focus on the problem your prospective partner needs to solve, you’re showing that you understand.
- A white paper provides solutions. And not just your solution. When you take the time to help them understand their problem and what’s available, you create trust.
- A white paper makes you a thought leader. When you show how you approach a problem, explain your data, and provide options — you set yourself up as an expert. You don’t have to sing your company’s praises. The white paper does it for you simply because your company’s name is on it.
- A white paper shows your focus of concern. White papers don’t have to be rigid and bland. Behavioral Health is about caring… about caring for your prospects’ needs and caring for the people that all of you serve. How you interpret the problem, the data, and the solution shows how you line up with your potential partners’ missions.
- A white paper starts a relationship and gives you the opportunity to build more content off of it. A white paper is just the beginning. Chances are, your prospect has a decision process that involves boards, committees, budget reviews, and stakeholders. You can continue to build those relationships by using your white paper as pillar content. Go deeper in videos, blog posts, or emails. Keep the conversation going. Over time, you’ll continue to build trust and keep your company’s name in front of key stakeholders.
What if we’re not ready to write a white paper?
When you’re still in testing or production lay the groundwork:
- Get your email list up and running.
- Create content that talks about your prospects’ problems, society’s problems, and the solutions that you’re working to create. This starts the conversation AND helps your SEO.
- Make sure your website works well and is user-friendly.
- Do you have a few clients already, even in your beta? Consider a case study. A case study tells your partner’s story using their own words. It’s a powerful way for other prospects to envision what you will do for them.
Get started on getting your content strategy in line so you’re ready as you scale. If you’d like to have a strategy call to share ideas, you can schedule one here. I’d love to hear about your goals and dreams.
