What is the Retention Rate?
After receiving their first 5 clients, the therapist's retention rate will be shown in their public profile and the search results :
The retention rate is based on the percentage of clients who return for a second session with that therapist, and is rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.
There is a 2-week delay on the retention rate being shown to allow the clients time to return (ie. a client will count towards a therapist's retention rate 2 weeks after the date the client made their initial booking). The retention rate will update itself automatically with each new client received.
How is the Retention Rate calculated?
The retention rate is the percentage of clients who return for a 2nd session, after attending an initial session.
As an example, a therapist receives 12 clients. 11 clients attend their initial session, while 1 client does not attend. Out of the 11 clients who attend their initial session, 9 of those clients go on to attend a 2nd session.
(9 ÷ 11) * 100 = 81.82% of clients returning.
This is rounded to "8 out of 10 clients return" in the therapist's public profile.
Do any Clients not count towards the Retention Rate?
Clients who cancel or do not attend an initial session will not count towards the retention rate (unless they attend an initial session in the future).
Clients who attend a complimentary support session for NHS staff also do not count towards the retention rate unless the client attends a follow-up session (at which point the client will count positively towards the retention rate).
Why is the Retention Rate shown in therapist profiles?
Often, online therapy websites will match a new client to a therapist based on who they think is best for them and how much availability their therapists have. We want to give clients a choice of therapist, but we also know how overwhelming being presented with a choice of hundreds of practitioners can be.
The Retention Rate is one of many pieces of information we provide to help new clients make more informed decisions about their therapy. Other factors include how quickly therapists respond to enquiries, real client reviews and more.
We have also seen over time that the Retention Rate being shown benefits therapists, with an increase in bookings for all therapists being observed once the retention rates are added, provided the therapist's retention rate either matches or is higher than the averages across the Platform, meaning the Retention Rate being shown is beneficial for both clients and therapists.
Why is the return rate different to the See You Again Profile badge?
The See You Again profile badge is more complex than the Retention Rate, as the badge looks at how many clients a therapist receives in a 30-90 day period, how many of those clients attend 3 or more sessions and how long those client relationships last compared to how many clients drop-out after 1 or 2 sessions.
Essentially the See You Again badge looks at the therapist's recent history of establishing lasting therapeutic relationships compared to the averages across all therapists on the platform, rather than the Retention Rate, which is a simpler calculation showing how many clients return for a 2nd session over the entire time the therapist has worked via Harley Therapy Platform.
You can read more about the See You Again badge here, as well as the other badges on the platform here.
Can I opt out of the retention rate being shown in my Profile?
It is not possible for us to switch off the retention rate for any individual therapist, and we do not have this functionality available.
As part of the Terms & Conditions for Therapists agreed to when joining the Platform, each therapist "consents to have their performance measured and presented to prospective Clients (including but not limited to Client retention, Client reviews and responsiveness to new Bookings) for quality purposes".