High Fiber Health

Weekend Inspiration: Do The Unthinkable

I was recently interviewed about our book Escape 101 by Mark Hayward of MyTropicalEscape.com, who’s a consummate escape artist himself.

You can check out the interview here, but what I really want to draw your attention to is his interview with Scott Rigsby, who became the first double amputee in the world to finish an Ironman distance triathlon.

Rigsby used “swim legs” to navigate the difficult 2.4 mile ocean swim, “bike legs” to cycle 112 miles through the heat and gusting winds of the Big Island lava fields on a standard road bike, and “run legs” to complete the marathon segment in darkness and intense pain.

It’s a great piece of inspiration to share with your colleagues and patients, and a heck of a fine way to start off a weekend. Check it out: Do the Unthinkable - The Scott Rigsby Interview.

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Of Practitioners and Goldfish: How to Grow Your Practice without a Bigger Bowl

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We had our first day of business in the new clinic last week - January was a hectic month!

The space is about three times as big as the old clinic - a significant increase. It seems like a lot, but as I moved the last items out of the old office, I remembered how big it seemed at one time. Now I can’t imagine how we ever fit in there.

The last move - five years ago - seemed like a leap of faith at the time, but shortly after we settled into the larger space, business took off. It was like we were goldfish, and all we needed was a bigger bowl in order to grow more. Now it’s happening again.

What’s behind this “goldfish effect”?

There are many causes for this phenomenon, ranging from the simple to the arcane, but here are a few reasons why we tend to expand to fit our bowl:

• Rising to the Occasion: A larger space generally means higher costs. When faced with having to grow in order to meet costs, most practitioners rise to the occasion. It’s amazing what you can do when faced with a must.

• Taking Plans off Hold: Prior to moving to larger space, there tends to be a downturn in marketing and other practice improvement activities. This is in part due to the time and energy demands of getting a new clinic up and running, but it’s also because we tend to put things off “until we get into the new clinic”. New products, services, marketing efforts, promotional materials, office processes - they all get bumped, then activated in the new space.

• Pride: There’s nothing like having a shiny new clinic to make you want to share. We can’t wait for people to come through the doors. In contrast, the old space was looking a little neglected - I found I didn’t have the same desire to “show it off”.

How to Create The Goldfish Effect Without Moving

What if you’ve already got lots of space, or you’re in an excellent location? What if moving just isn’t in the cards? Here’s a secret: you can benefit from the psychological impact of larger space without actually moving. Here’s how:

• Declutter: This was essential in our small office. Schedule a block of time to completely declutter and de-crapify your practice. Be relentless. Get rid of:
  • Old files you’re not legally obligated to keep
  • Excessive brochures and business cards
  • Flyers and announcements
  • Bits of paper stuck everywhere around reception and office desks
  • Stacks of paper, mail, and unread magazines
  • Furniture that’s never used
  • Excessive knick-knacks and decorative items

  The secret here is to be merciless. You won’t miss these things, and you’ll notice a remarkable change in how your patients perceive your space, and how enthusiastic you are about being at work.

• Redecorate/Renovate: You can dramatically change your office with just some fresh paint, but if it’s been a while you might consider new flooring, artwork, or furniture depending on your budget. If it’s been more than five years, you’re definitely due for a new paint job if nothing else. And the best thing about painting is that you have to move everything, so you end up doing the declutter job by default.

• Change It Up: If you can’t renovate or redecorate, can you reorganize? Try switching things around. Move furniture and change the look and flow of things.

• Add Products or Services:Can you add something to your offering? If you’ve been thinking of investing in a new piece of equipment, for example, then perhaps now is the time to make your bowl seem bigger by offering more. Providing a new service to our patients almost always seem to improve health outcomes and generally gives us access to a broader patient niche. Every time we add a new service, referrals jump.

• Stop Waiting: Are there things you’ve been putting off doing until “you have more space” or until the dreaded “someday”? Make a list, and then pick them off one at a time. Decide to do just one a week, and you’ll make substantial progress.

Don’t fall prey to “someday” or “when I have more space”. Act as if you already have that space, and before you know it, you’ll have the growth to justify it.

Related posts:

1. Should You Buy or Lease Office Space for Your Practice?

The Blueprint for Practice Growth through Giving

In support of our post last week on giving as the key to professional networking and referrals come two things. The first is scientific research revealing a link between charity and wealth. The second is a fantastic new book, The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea.

The Go-Giver is the story of Joe, an ambitious young man who yearns for success. Joe’s trouble, however, is that the harder he works, the further away his goals seem. That all changes when Joe meets an enigmatic man named Pindar who teaches him that changing his focus from getting to giving—putting others’ interests first and continually adding value to their lives —ultimately leads to unexpected returns.

I saw a many parallels with the CAM professions when I read this book. The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success, which Joe discovers in his journey (I’ll keep that journey a secret for now), seem so relevant to practice growth that I think this book could have been written with alternative medicine in mind.

For anyone in the healing professions, I can whole-heartedly recommend this one. The parable format makes it an easy, enjoyable read, and the content is pure gold. Tara and I both loved it. This one’s worth it—for your practice and your personal life.

You can pick up a copy of the The Go-Giverhere.

How to Comfortably (and Successfully) Grow Your Professional Referral Base

Reader M writes:

I’m wondering what the best way is to network with other practitioners in a small area. I’m feeling uneasy, shy, and even slightly pushy just cold-calling people, especially in planning exactly what I want to say. I don’t want to inconvenience people, and I don’t want them to feel like I am trying to take business away from them.

We’ve touched on leveraging professional referrals (one of our 5 P’s), but I want to go into this in more detail and give you a step-by-step system that works.

It’s normal to feel awkward about approaching these folks - particularly the ones you might consider to be competition. The good news is this: it doesn’t have to feel that way. You can build your referral base without being afraid or feeling uncomfortable.

The Secret To Professional Networking

The real secret to easy, effective networking is this: find something to give.

For professional networking to be successful, you need a reason to contact someone. And for it to be really successful, that reason can’t be, “I need more referrals” - you need to have something to offer.

What You Can Give

Feel like you don’t have much to offer? You might be surprised. There are more ways to give than you might imagine. Here are just a few things you can offer to other practitioners:

• Book an appointment.
• Ask for patient/case advice. I know this sounds like asking for something, but for most people, being asked for advice is flattering.
• Ask for business advice. Many successful practitioners love the idea of being asked for their business help.
• Link to their website. If you’re active online, link to another practitioner’s site and let them know.
• Refer a patient. Send a patient their way, then follow up to check on the case.
• Ask for their marketing materials, so you can refer to them.
• Thank them for inspiration, assistance, referrals, etc.

Why bother with all this giving? These approaches give you a reason to make contact. And it’s a comfortable reason, too - what could be easier than giving someone something? Our objective here is to open the dialog in a way that’s comfortable for you, and offers something to your colleagues.

Remember: this is genuine giving. You want to go into this with the idea that if you get nothing from the interaction except the joy of helping someone else, you’ve been successful.

How To Do It

Professional referrals are a one-on-one game. While things like newspaper ads, flyers and web content tend to be one-to-many, professional referrals are all about forging a deeper relationship. Take your time. Each health care professional in your area is a unique; you need to consider, respect and cultivate those differences.

What you’ll need: a notebook or binder, some Post-it notes in various colors, and alphabetical page tags

Step 1: Build Your List

Use a single notebook, or binder, and call it your “Professional Colleagues” file. In the notebook, each practitioner or related professional gets a whole page. You can use a computer file, but I still think a binder works better - it’s easier to move pages around, and it’s always “on”.

The Yellow Pages or similar directory will be the most useful source of people - just start plucking names, and adding them in alphabetical sections so they’re easy to find.

Step 2: Collect Data

Start collecting data on the colleagues in your book. You’re essentially playing detective at this point, fleshing out the pages in your notebook with the following data:

• Name
• Profession and credentials
• Contact info - phone, web, email, office address, etc.
• Friends or colleagues in common
• Something to give
• A personal referral (”Susan Jones suggested I contact you”)
  
• Other info: patients you have in common. Services offered. Unique ads, or activities in the community.

What’s important here is to develop the habit of adding to your book. You may have little more than a phone number when you first start your list, but that’s okay. These listings will grow over time as you meet people, talk to patients, and put yourself out there. Just keep adding information as it comes your way. Having a physical book, as opposed to a computer file, tends to make it easy to add stuff anywhere, anytime, and to include clippings, business cards, etc.

The two bolded items above - something to give and a personal referral - are special. Why? Because our one rule is this: you can’t move on to step 3 (first contact), until you’ve got at least one of them. Something to give trumps all, but a personal referral does a good job of opening doors, too.

Step 3: Make First Contact

As you work through your book, adding bits of information here and there, you’ll realize that you’ve got everything you need to make contact with a certain practitioner. Flag that page in your book with a sticky note. When you’re ready, simply contact the person in question, and arrange to meet in person (step 4). Again, take your time with this. Make an appointment once a week, if you have a lot of flags, but don’t get too crazy, or you’ll lose touch with the personal connection of a good relationship.

This first contact is where the give and/or personal referral really parts pay off. Either of those two make that first contact comfortable and super-effective, and tend to make the “what to say” part easy. Don’t make the call until you’ve got one of these. (If all else fails, just book an appointment. It’s a more expensive way to meet people, but it works wonders.)

Step 4: Meet in Person

Although you can do a remarkable amount online and by telephone, meeting local professionals in person just makes good sense. It’ll give you more time to get to know each other.

Remember to use each meeting as a chance to meet someone else. Don’t forget to ask these two critical questions before you leave: Is there anyone else in the area that you think I should talk to? and Can I use your name when I contact them? The answers go right in your notebook, and before you know it, you’ve got more people to meet with.

Step 5: Follow Up

Don’t forget to do the usual follow up after your meeting, in whatever form works best. You might want to send a note so you can include business cards, etc., but use your judgment.

Be Genuine

Part of connecting with your colleagues in this fashion is to be genuine. Don’t think of them as competition. Be interested in their success. Try to help them.

Take the time to get this right. Don’t just haphazardly call a few people. Systematically getting to know every practitioner in your area takes time, but it gets results. A solid professional referral base can create a steady flow of traffic to your office - remember, these people are in contact with people seeking health care all day, every day.

You may also be pleasantly surprised how much fun it is to give to people, and how many great friendships you can develop.

Above all, though, contact the professionals in your network with a desire to give. It’ll come back to you.

Automated Patient Reminder Calls

Okay - I haven’t tried this out, but I have to admit the demo looks pretty slick.

Patient Prompt emails, calls, or text messages your clients to remind them of their appointments, allows them to respond to confirm, and it does it all automatically. Reminder calls consume quite a bit of time for us these days, but I can’t imagine not doing them. This might be just the solution.

I’m not sure how patients would respond to the automated system. You can actually record your own message so that clients hear a familiar voice, but I still tend to lean more toward the full-service, “real person” approach from a service quality perspective. If you’ve tried it, or have any thoughts, leave a comment and let us know.