The (Not So Secret) Secrets Of Success, Part II

Here is Part II of what I feel were the best takeaways from the DPM Blogs I have written for Podiatry Today over the past five years.

• Increase your market acumen. Research and understand your changing community. Ask yourself: “What do our competitors offer that we do not?” or “What makes our practice so special?,” and build on it.
• Use a “wait list” to refill empty time slots in your schedule. Patients appreciate getting that call. Utilize texting.
• How well do you listen? Rule #1: If you are talking, you are just repeating stuff you already know. Rule #2: If you are listening, you may be learning something new.
• Be transparent in your billing. Discuss fees and deductibles openly with your patients. Don’t wait until they receive a statement to explain uncovered services or products.
• Are you aware that during the course of the day, your staff accomplishes many little “unnoticed” jobs that are not in their job description? Acknowledge not only the things they “didn’t do” but the things they did do.
• If written policies exist and no one is enforcing them, they are just pieces of paper. These policies carry little meaning or importance.
• Change involves moving from Point A (realization) to Point B (implementation). If you do not move forward, you are standing still or falling behind.
• Practice risk management awareness. Ask questions, be more observant of existing dangers and make necessary changes to correct them. Do not wait until an unfortunate incident happens. Be proactive. Do something now.
• If patients don’t fully understand why they need to return, it will not be important to them and “no big deal” if they miss it. Take the time to attach meaning to their return visit.
• It is far more sensible to make job applicants fully aware of expectations before you hire them. This avoids any potential surprises after they have accepted the position.
• It is critical that you set definite hiring standards, establishing what type of people you want working for you. Don’t settle.
• When it comes to communication, 55 percent of people are visually influenced (through body language including posture, movement, facial expression), 38 percent are influenced vocally (via our voice, tone and vocal variety) and 7 percent are influenced by the words we use. Therefore, people will believe your body before they believe your words.
• If you were aware how much of a financial impact better communication could have on your practice, you would definitely do something about it.
• A surefire way to lose patients? Do not value their time. It helps if you rush them through their visit. That sends a clear message that your time is much more valuable than theirs.
• “People don’t leave jobs. They leave managers.”
• While high staff morale will certainly enhance practice success, low staff morale will certainly have a negative impact on the bottom line.
• You will not lose your patients if you do not treat all their unscheduled concerns in one 15-minute encounter. You will, however, disrupt your schedule and punish the patients still waiting to be seen. This is CSI, otherwise known as Customer service interruptus.
• It is not an employer or manager’s duty to make the workplace fun. It is their responsibility, however, to allow fun to happen.
• When in doubt about a certain action your staff is about to take, ask them: “If this were your company … would you do this/spend this/act this way?”
• Take a potential hire to lunch and observe how he or she treats “service” people. Chances are, the potential hire will treat your patients similarly.
• Starting “on time” really means you need to arrive five to 10 minutes early. Rule: if you can’t be on time, be early.
• You may not be able to control someone’s negative behavior but you can control how long you choose to participate in it.
• Customer service should never begin with the words “I can’t” or “We can’t.”
• You may be the best DPM on Earth. However, if your staff is not creating and stimulating that expected good first impression, you may be losing patients before they even have a chance to find out.
• If patients have to wait every time they arrive for an appointment, or even most of the time, you may as well fly a banner that reads “This office is not efficient!”
• Basing your treatment regimen solely on what type of insurance coverage patients have is not only unprofessional, it is unethical.

See part I at https://www.podiatrytoday.com/blogged/not-so-secret-secrets-success-part-i .