At batting practice last week, I watched as one of my big hitters on my oldest son’s team struggled to get his bat on the ball.
Specifically, he was “late on the pitch,” which means the ball was getting too far by him before his bat came around. Really no chance of putting a good bat on the ball in that situation.
So I asked him question: “What are you thinking about as that ball is coming in from the pitcher?”
And he told me, “Well, I’m thinking ‘is it a ball or a strike?’” This particular thought process – which sounds reasonable, by the way – was a big source of his challenges.
And that same “ball or strike” mentality can trip us up when we’re talking to prospective patients, trying to get them on our consult / surgery schedules. That said, the solution is a fairly simple fix I’ll share with you in this post.
Let’s first talk about why thinking “ball or strike” puts us at an immediate disadvantage.
Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports. And you have literally a split second (from the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand and crosses the plate) to make something happen.
You don’t have time to straddle a mental line, to sit in neutral, and then decide…
“Is this a ball or strike?”
“Do I swing or not swing?”
“Do I GO or STOP?”
By the time you’ve made up your mind, the ball is already by you. The pitcher won.
So what shifts do we need to make so we have time and mental bandwidth to put our best bat on the ball?
We teach our players and our coaching clients to take this approach – “SWING SWING SWING, STOP.”
As a hitter, that simply means I AM swinging. I am anticipating a strike, and my plan is to rip it.
I’m not waiting to see what the ball looks like out of the pitchers hand… then think long and hard about whether maybe I need to swing or not. No time for that. No need for that.
All I know is I’m swinging at this ball. I’m thinking YES YES YES. GO GO GO. GREEN LIGHT GREEN LIGHT. SWING SWING SWING.
And THEN….
IF it turns out to be a bad pitch… well I simply put on the breaks and stop my swing.
So the only micro-decision I’m making is “STOP,” and that’s only if necessary. Everything else is automatic GO. Less thinking, fewer decisions, less uncertainty = more hits.
“What’s the practical application of this in our practice, Troy?”
One crucial fact we always reiterate to our coaching clients – every single person you talk to has reached out to YOU for help.
You didn’t cold call anyone. You didn’t dial them up from a telemarketing list to interrupt their dinner and try to sell them a procedure.
No, THEY reached out to YOU. For help on a critical problem.
So you’re not gonna sit in the neutral and wonder, “do they want their problem solved… or do they NOT want their problem solved?” Or “Do they want one of our great procedures with our expert surgeon… or maybe they don’t?”
We’re thinking “YES YES YES.” SWING SWING SWING.
Of COURSE your prospects want their problems solved. Of COURSE they want their lives transformed.
We know that in part because why? Because they’ve raised their hands and said, “I need your help!”
And this goes double for people who come see you for a consult. They got dressed, took time off work, drove across town and hung out in your office for a couple hours… because they had nothing better to do?
No! They’re there so you can solve their problem.
(And yes, you’ll get some curveballs – the 74-year-old with cataracts who calls about LASIK. Or the person from Facebook who forgot they filled out your contact form. So just like a hitter at the plate, this is where you STOP, make an adjustment, and your ready to continue with the at-bat.)
You have many at-bats in front of you today. When you step up to the plate – whether that’s on the phone or in a consult – make sure you have a “Yes yes yes” approach…
– Coach Troy
PS – I want to be clear this does not mean you should come across “aggressive” in your approach. It’s more of a subtle certainty behind what you’re doing and the direction you’re leading your prospect.
We’re digging more into the nuances of this “YES YES YES” concept (and practically how to apply it) with the practices enrolled in our E3 Green Room Team Development Program right now
We designed this program for refractive teams who would like to book an extra 10, 15, even 20+ eyes per month without spending more on ads or charging less for your procedures. Give me a shout if you want more info. Our June launch schedule is full. But we have one spot left for a practice to start in July. Ping me and let’s chat to see if you’re a good fit.