Avoid these 4 mistakes in your online nutrition business

Nowadays, nutrition professionals are expanding their services and entering the online nutrition business.

Even though there is a high percentage of professionals who prefer one-to-one appointments because they can see their clients face to face, take measurements, and provide a better follow-up, the truth is that clients are looking for more online consults.

The benefits of online nutrition consults can be obvious:

• If a client, for any reason, wants to work with a specific professional, and both live in different cities, it becomes difficult and sometimes even impossible to make the nutrition appointment possible face-to-face. Nevertheless, this work could be effectively done online.
• If the professional is shy or does not have a physical facility.
• Opportunity to work anywhere, needing nothing but a computer and the right tool to manage all their work tasks.

If you are turning your nutrition business online or expanding your current services into online appointments, here are some recommendations you should take into account.

Mistake #1: Are appointments based on questionnaires instead of videoconference?

Let’s face it: many of the online nutrition practices are made just through e-mail, and the dietary and nutrition assessment by a self-informed questionnaire.

Although that method can be successfully achieved if the nutrition program is well managed and structured, the appointments must be made via videoconference (for example, via skype) to create a bond with the client. Working remotely could already create so many obstacles without the additional problem of not seeing your client at the moment.

If you ever tried making the dietary assessment using self-informed surveys vs. a skype session, you have probably noticed that you can get much more information from the main questions through a videoconference appointment.

Mistake #2: Do you give your phone number to the client?

Sometimes it is the client himself who does not value your work. For example, even if you want to see it as something okay to do, it is not reasonable that a client texts you on a Saturday afternoon or on a Sunday, asking non-urgent questions and doubts. Another matter is when a client has a competition on the weekend, and both have previously agreed to talk.

Nevertheless, many professionals who provide online appointments sometimes give clients their personal mobile number, which implies, obviously, some trust boundaries that should not be overstepped.

Therefore, do not give your personal mobile number to the client. Or, if you do provide any contact, make sure you have an alternative professional number. But even then, set a schedule like any professional.

Alternatively, you now have access to apps that allow you to have a direct connection to your clients and still make sure you can keep the professional-client relationship, such as the Nutrium mobile app.

Mistake #3: Are you professional in a videoconference appointment or laid back?

If you schedule a date and time with your client for a nutrition appointment, keep in mind that it is an official client and that you must show professionalism. Ensure that both you and the client show up on time and that the conversation and appointment session is taken as seriously as it would face-to-face.

You must be responsible and conscious that, even though you and the client are both chatting from the comfort of your homes, you are not talking with friends, but with clients that trust you.

One thing that might help with this is having a calendar specifically for your nutrition business. This would allow you to schedule your clients’ appointments, and they’ll receive a notification letting them know of that date and time and confirm it.

Mistake #4: Do you make sure your clients are compliant with the program or just hope they are?

At the beginning of an online nutritional consult, it is essential to establish with your client how their progress will be assessed. These ground rules should be settled right at the beginning, so both are on the same page.

For instance, schedule dates for the client to send you anthropometric measurements, weight progress, reports on the week/month, or regular pictures to observe changes over time and always give them feedback. That way, they will be motivated to continue sending you these values.

If, in some cases, you or the client starts to forget about the follow-ups, make sure you have the right tools to keep both on track. Sending regular reminders to the client through an app and scheduling goals with specific dates to have them always on the top of their minds

If you are thinking about stepping into the online nutrition business and providing online nutrition consultations as a service, you should know that there are many benefits, and you’ll be saving a lot both in time and money. However, it is also important to know how to make sure how to deliver the best service you can.

We hope that these recommendations were helpful for you to improve and show clients that the new era of technology can be a fantastic tool for them to reach their goals.