We spend a lot of time talking about ways to achieve dramatic success through specific leverage points in your practice. Often these include a change of philosophy or adopting a new approach. However, these are not the only ways to generate lasting results.
What I’m about to tell you will lead to long term success, if you take it seriously. And no, there is nothing you need to do differently. In fact, there isn’t even something new to learn.
What we are going to focus on is a continuation of last week, and if you remember it was not one radical evolutionary idea. Instead, what we are talking about are small in nature but frequent in occurrence.
Think about this for a moment… the number of patients you see in a day, the number of treatment plans presented in a day, the number of phone calls answered in a day, the number of (though I hate to say it out loud) insurance claims filed in a day, and the number of the repetitive tasks completed every single day.
What if you executed each of these just a little bit better each time? What if you defined what a successful outcome looks like and multiplied by each repetition.
It is not about the next big idea, some easy button, a magic bullet, or a bright shiny object. Those might be exciting, but for how long? The real solution to long term success is about those tried and true principles that you have carry out consistently every single day with every single patient.
Of course, there are improvements that can be made with phone calls and pre-education of patients as well as complete treatment planning and the presentation as well as pre-payment and bundled anchor appointment, among many other things.
Yet, even if we talk all day about things to change or improve, it gets you nowhere if they aren’t implemented. Success is about what we put into common practice.
If every team member focused on what they can do consistently better, rather than drastic changes that are rarely adhere to, you’ll see immediate results.
You likely already hold the key to your next breakthrough. Each person in the practice knows precisely what will lead to better outcomes. It’s a matter of making the time, prioritizing correctly, and executing consistently.
Go ahead, ask each team member what they can do personally to improve their daily results? I bet you’ll be surprised at the answers.
Ask them: what do you know is effective but seldom execute that you can commit to making common practice?
I could talk every week about the three principles I laid out for you last Monday because those are the real fundamentals that make all the difference. Still, even if you comprehend the concepts of complete conversations, comprehensive diagnosis, and consistent patient experiences – did you put them into action?
This is not about having the answers to the test. This is about performing at a high level when it matters most, when patients’ health is on the line.
I’m sure someone out there is thinking they’ve got this nailed, that their practice is flawless. Well, how do you know? How are you measuring your progress and adherence to the fundamentals? Do you know the success rate for each element of the patient experience? How many times did the phone go unanswered, how many times were photos skipped, how many times did we break apart the treatment plan, how many times did we rush diagnosis?
There are no tips or strategies I can give you that will deliver sustainable results if the fundamentals are not executed every single time.
Often the game plan goes awry in the chaos of the day. As a team, identify where bad habits have crept in or shortcuts are being made for convenience. Root out what is in your way of executing your role repetitively and reliably.
Usually this entails relaxed verbiage or not executing triangles of trust or not following up with patients or doing your part to help your team member be successful.
Doing what you already know to do can be enough to breakthrough a plateau or build momentum towards your next record. Yes, it might be just that simple. That’s where we’ll pick up next week.
