Consultant's Tip of the Month
How much is "Debbie Downer" costing your business?
SNL's "Debbie Downer" captures the "funny" in the person who always seems to have something negative to say. However, in your business, there is nothing funny about allowing a "downer" to stay on your team. Gary Kadi and Garrett Gunderson provide some great information on the cost of keeping this kind of team member on board. I encourage you to watch the linked YouTube from their video series.
A couple highlights that resonated with me from the video and our experiences in practices across the country:
1) There is NO way to grow when you keep a "downer" on your team because they are setting the bar and destroying your office culture
2) Hiring a "downer" will actually cost you 30 to 40 times more than their salary in the loss of productivity and wasted time and energy trying to change their attitude
3) It is much wiser to hire based on attitude because you have more success growing skill sets than changing a negative attitude
4) You spend the majority of your time with your "work family," as a leader, it is your responsibility to protect that family by hiring positive and productive team players
5) If when you saw the TITLE to this tip you immediately thought of someone in your practice, it time to take action and either provide the opportunity for them to change their attitude or take it somewhere else
A couple highlights that resonated with me from the video and our experiences in practices across the country:
1) There is NO way to grow when you keep a "downer" on your team because they are setting the bar and destroying your office culture
2) Hiring a "downer" will actually cost you 30 to 40 times more than their salary in the loss of productivity and wasted time and energy trying to change their attitude
3) It is much wiser to hire based on attitude because you have more success growing skill sets than changing a negative attitude
4) You spend the majority of your time with your "work family," as a leader, it is your responsibility to protect that family by hiring positive and productive team players
5) If when you saw the TITLE to this tip you immediately thought of someone in your practice, it time to take action and either provide the opportunity for them to change their attitude or take it somewhere else
Consultant's Tip of the Month
The morning huddle is a great opportunity to start your day on the right foot, with enthusiasm and patient focused! Watch the below video from one of our clients during an "unexpected" visit to their morning huddle. The top 5 tips to remember when conducting a successful huddle are:
1] Enthusiasm is Contagious: create the positive environment that both the team and patients will desire to be a part of
2] Review the Daily Schedule: be sure to review long appointments, any special concerns, or last minute changes to the schedule
3] Review the Previous Day: review the previous day's accomplishments and challenges including first exam conversions and emergencies
4] Provide any Office Announcements: update the team on upcoming events, meetings, and celebrations
5] End on a Positive: provide an inspirational quote, allow team members to share thoughts and positive motivation for the day
1] Enthusiasm is Contagious: create the positive environment that both the team and patients will desire to be a part of
2] Review the Daily Schedule: be sure to review long appointments, any special concerns, or last minute changes to the schedule
3] Review the Previous Day: review the previous day's accomplishments and challenges including first exam conversions and emergencies
4] Provide any Office Announcements: update the team on upcoming events, meetings, and celebrations
5] End on a Positive: provide an inspirational quote, allow team members to share thoughts and positive motivation for the day
Consultant Tip of the Month:
You can't afford NOT to answer phones during lunch.
One of the biggest areas of "missed opportunity" in a practice is not having phones answered during the lunch hour. Many practices choose to close the office at lunch, however, having your callers sent to voicemail can make a significant difference in starting new patients. Your potential customers often use their lunch hour to make appointments and if they call your office to only hear a recorded greeting, they may very well decide to call your competition instead of waiting for a returned call. Imagine recommends having one person take an earlier or later lunch in order to cover your phones during the noon hour. Often offices will put their team on a lunch rotation for covering this important hour. On average, the offices that have implemented having their phones answered during lunch have increased their new patient exams by 3-5 a week. That could mean a difference of over $500,000 in a year! Now, that is really something to chew on.
