Articles

The first step to leveling up your practice

So much happening in the last week with the election. And it doesn’t look like the end is in sight.

Stack that on top of COVID, which went from “two weeks to slow the spread” to “8 months of who-knows-what is happening.”

Which serve as a short-and-sweet reminder of what it takes to dominate and get to the next level…

In times like these – COVID, Government shut-downs, elections with interesting and disputed outcomes – we are inclined to give our attention to things we can’t control.

(And let’s be real: Even when there’s not a bunch of BIG NEWS happening, we still have this tendency.)

We want to know what’s going on. So we watch the news, follow our favorite pundits on social media, and banter with strangers on our friends’ Facebook walls.

Why? Because we trick ourselves into thinking we have some sort of control over a thing if we pay attention to it.

But you can’t control COVID numbers. You can’t control what your government does. You can’t control election outcomes.

You could have researched all the details of every possible path to victory for the president… and you affect the outcome just as much as your ignorant neighbor who doesn’t have a clue about politics.

Yeah, it’s good to have a pulse on what’s going on. But do we really need to be dialed in to every little piece of commentary, round the clock?

I saw a tweet last Weds (the morning after the election) that summed this up nicely:

“You could wake up right now, look at the TV for 15 seconds, and be in the exact same place as everyone who watched every second all night long.”

And isn’t that the truth for so many things? We can stay informed, but spend a lot less time and energy doing it.

Maybe you don’t watch much news or go to the news websites, or the election is of zero interest to you.

Even so, your newsfeed on FB, Insta, Twitter, is filled with junk that is designed to distract you. These “attention robbers” employ teams of psychologists to come up with new ways to keep you sucked into their platforms.

SO – the first step to leveling up your practice:

Give your attention to the things you can control, and cut out the rest.

Can’t control the inflammatory comments Karen posts on Facebook. But you can control if you follow her or not.

Can’t control what the pundits are saying on the news. But you can turn off the TV.

Can’t control what everyone else is saying or doing. But you can control what you let into your personal ecosystem.

(BTW this message is as much a reminder for me as for anyone else who might find it useful.)

No one is immune to the distractions. And it takes constant, conscience choices to cut distractions from our lives.

No matter what happens – who gets elected, how soon a COVID vaccine comes out, or what the media says to stir you up – you still have a job to do.

You have patients to serve. They need you to choose to focus on the things you can control:

Choose to be positive. Choose to lead your team well. Choose to develop and train your sales people. Choose to create a welcoming environment for your patients.

Not just today. Not just during this election cycle. Not just until COVID is “under control.” Every. Single. Day.

Because if you don’t make the conscious choice of how to allocate your time, energy and attention…

Someone else is going to choose for you.

That’s all I got for you today. Make it a great, focused week.

– Troy “Focus Factor” Cole

Projection (Ricky Bobby shouldn’t do it, neither should you)

In the last message, we talked about the “limiting beliefs” around money, and how those show up as roadblocks when booking high-ticket patients.

We’re gonna wrap up talking about projection.

So what is projection anyway?

When I started writing this piece, the first thing that came to mind was…

Talladega Nights. The cinematic masterpiece starring Will Farrell as a NASCAR driver struggling to stay on top.

Specifically, the scene where Ricky’s in the hospital, freaking out with an injury, arguing with his manager, Lucius, who tells him:

“Don’t put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby!”

That’s similar to what we’re talking about today. Except it’s “Don’t put that evil on your patients.”

PROJECTION – Humans tend to see other people’s situations through the lens of our own experiences.

A few examples:

My buddy Zach was recently telling me about his training for an ultra-marathon. I think, “Geez, that sounds hard!”

OK but why? Why do I think that? Because it would be hard to me.

That’s projection.

Zach has a different perspective. Basically – “I love doing this. It’s not like it’s hard or some big sacrifice. It’s just what I do.”

Another:

I’ve talked to people about our strict-ish eating plan – how Susan and I do meal prep, weigh our portions, etc. They say, “Man, that sound so difficult. I could never do it.”

That’s projection.

And I’m thinking, “It’s actually way easier to do this than to not have a plan, try to figure out food at meal time, eat the wrong things and get frustrated with myself.”

The same thing happens with your sales people and your patients.

You have a $5k, $10k, $15k surgery. Yes, that’s a decent chunk of money for most people. Including your sales team.

So picture yourself, 28 years old, making $60,000 a year, sitting across from someone and asking them to give you the equivalent of 2-3 months salary.

Feels kinda difficult, right? And that’s what a lot of your counselors face.

If they’re thinking, “That’s a lot of money to me. So it’s a lot of money, period.” Then that feeling comes across to the patient.

And the conversation will have a vibe that’s like, “Alright, let’s have that uncomfortable conversation about how expensive this is.”

And you definitely don’t want that.

So how do you kill projection?

A few ways:

Your salespeople need to understand how someone on a $70,000 salary can afford a $12,000 treatment.

So break that down. Talk about it. Talk about the payment options.

Yes, your counselors do that with your patients every day. So this may sound obvious like “Troy, my people already know this stuff.”

Knowing it for someone else and understanding it for yourself are two different things.

2. Reframe your procedures in the minds of your counselors.

If they see your treatments as a luxury, then your treatments will always seem a bit expensive or excessive or both.

Your procedures may be elective, but they aren’t a luxury. Because you’re solving a major problem for your patients.

That problem might be a lifestyle problem. Or a financial problem. Or a self-confidence problem.

Whatever the problem is, it’s big enough for them to take time off work, come into your office, and find out if you could help them. That’s a pretty darn big problem.

Compare it to your car. Doesn’t matter what kind of car you have, it costs thousands of dollars like your treatments do. (Usually a car is much more expensive)

Your car is not a luxury. It’s a need. It solves a problem.

Maybe it’s important to you to take your kids to school or practice. Or to get you to work. Or to take your family on a road trip. Or to go off-roading with your friends.

That car fills a need. Just like your procedures fill a need for the patient.

Get away from the idea of “elective” and “luxury” and reframe your procedures as a vital necessity. This will help your sales team and your patients.

3. Lastly, you gotta have empathy.

I mentioned my wife, Susan, who partners with me at LogiCole Consulting. She’s an awesome sales trainer, and part of her background is that she was a refractive counselor, booking thousands of procedures at 85 – 92% close rate.

Susan has always had 20/20 vision. She doesn’t need LASIK. She doesn’t personally understand the pain and frustration that comes with bad vision.

She said, “Truthfully, I can’t see myself spending $12,000 on my eyes. But I had to fake myself out with empathy.”

A lack of empathy creates a vacuum, and judgement fills the space.

When you don’t empathize individually, you judge categorically.

“Old people usually don’t have the money to spend on these kinds of procedures. Even if they do, they don’t want to spend it.”

“This person isn’t dressed particularly well, so I bet they are poor and can’t afford what we have.”

“This millennial probably isn’t very mature and won’t understand the value of what we offer.”

None of these broad-brush judgements are inherently true of any individual person coming into your office.

This is why empathy is so vital. Because it’s the superpower you use to override judgement.

In summary, here’s how to kill projection in one sentence:

Be patient-centric, not self-centric.

Practically, that means we can’t say, “This is a lot of money to me.”

(Don’t put that evil on your patients, Ricky Bobby!)

We have to say, “Wow, this is a really big problem to them… So how can I serve this patient?”

That’s enough for today. Have an amazing week.

– Troy “Shake n Bake” Cole

PS – Shake n Bake is also from Talladega Nights. In case you didn’t catch that reference in my sign-off…

You designed a beautiful office, now do this 👇

If you’ve ever done a new office build (or even a big renovation), you know what a process it is.

I’m working with several practices right now that either recently completed a new office build, or are right in the middle of one.

(God bless you guys, it’s a heck of a project).

The process of building a new office is… painstaking. That’s probably the best way to put it.

All the time, energy, effort and investment that goes into the layout. The architecture. The interior design. Optimizing for patient flow. Power, ventilation, privacy, technology.

Yes it’s a huge deal. And expensive.

But the result is a warm, welcoming, beautiful environment designed to give your patients a first-class experience. Well worth the investment.

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As you look to 2021 – I want you to think about designing your patient experience in the same way you designed your office space.

Remember that feeling when you’re just starting an office design process?

You ask yourself, “OK, if I want to design the ultimate space for my patients, what would that include so we could help the most people?” And then you bring that to life and reap the rewards of it.

What an amazing feeling. Sure, it’s a little overwhelming, but that’s why you hire professionals to help with the logistics.

And your vision (pun intended for my vision correction people) becomes a reality.

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So here’s a brief Patient Journey Design Exercise for the day:

Have some thinking time on your drive home this evening. Think about designing your Patient Journey in the same way you designed your beautiful office.

“If I wanted to create the ultimate experience for my patients, what would that include so we could help the most people?”

What words would you use?
When would you communicate to them?
What tone would you use?
Who would do the communicating?
What educational pieces would you put in front of them before, during and after their consult?
What’s your plan if they say no on the phone? No at the consult?
What’s your follow-up plan?
How and where and when do you position yourself as the expert that you know they need to trust?

These are all pieces of Patient Journey Design. After all, you put massive amounts of time, energy and capital into an office space for your patients…

Isn’t it worth the investment to design the experience as well, so more of them will book treatment when they get there?

– Troy

Are your patients flying first class or coach?

Happy Monday! Let’s keep rocking through our recommendations for 2021, yeah?

One of the most popular essays in recent history was my piece on raising prices.

Some folks responded positively, and said basically “Great points! Let’s up the prices!” A few commented that it’s impossible because “their market” won’t pay for a premium-priced service.

We need to dig more into this topic, and bring color to both of these opinions.

(It’s a good convo to have going into 2021, as you assess your current pricing)

To explain it, I like to use the analogy of a plane.

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Say you’re buying a ticket for a 4-hour plane ride. You can pay $X to fly coach, or $2X to fly first class.

Same destination. So why would anyone pay twice as much?

I can think of a few reasons off-hand:

Better service. A more comfortable experience. Better care. More attention. More amenities. A more welcoming environment.

All of these are reasons people pay more – sometimes a lot more – to go to the same place in a different seat.

So when you ask yourself, “Why would a patient pay more at my office vs. some other place?” What’s the answer?

Could be any or all of the reasons someone would pay DOUBLE to get from point A to point B in a plane.

And if you don’t have an answer? Then you will have trouble charging more than the minimum amount for your treatments.

But let’s assume you do have an answer….

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Knowing why someone would pay more with you… that’s only part of the equation. You must be able to articulate the why to your potential patients.

Even more importantly, your team needs to know why. And they need to be able to articulate it too.

Not just in their words, but also:

In their actions. In their tone. In their presentation.

In the materials they use. In the follow-up they conduct. In the expectations they set.

In the authority they exude. In the leadership role they establish.

This is where many practices get tripped up. They think, “Well, I know we’re the best because we provide great outcomes and a great patient experience.”

But does your team believe that? AND Do they know how to convey it in everything they do?

AND is your entire patient journey – your materials, your scripting, your workflows, your phone team, your counselor team, your treatment day experience, your check-in process – does everything signal “First-Class” to your prospective patients?

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As you prepare for 2021, take a long, hard look at your patient experience – from your patient’s point of view.

Determine: “Are we giving our patients a white-glove, first class experience, or are we sticking them in coach?”

Coach = low price, low conversions, low referral numbers, low-levels of excitement.

First-class = Premium price, high conversions, higher referral numbers from ecstatic patients.

Spoiler alert – you wanna go the First-Class route.

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Maybe this sounds overwhelming. I understand. It’s a lot.

So to make this super-easy – we put together a checklist grading system you can use to quickly assess your patient fulfillment experience.

It only takes a few minutes to complete, and it’ll give you a good idea of where you’re lacking (and what you can do about it).

Reply to this email, and I’ll get it over to you.

Have a fantastic Monday!

– Troy “First Class” Cole

The #1 “Limiting Belief” plaguing your sales team (let’s talk dollars)

Excellent feedback on yesterday’s email about selling with conviction and building a strong mindset.

“Agree 100%. This is about all we talk about internally.” “Love this!” “Nothing is more important.” “Great points!”

I told you I was going to talk about closing the gaps on patient education today.

But my amazing wife, Susan, mentioned something at our Anniversary dinner last night that I thought we should cover.

(Don’t worry, we’ll get to patient comms in the next few days.)

Susan is one of the best salespeople I’ve ever met.

She’s booked thousands of refractive surgeries with a consistent 85%+ close rate. She was one of Alcon’s top pharma reps for many years.

And now she does sales training and team communication training for our clients, with a big focus on the DISC human behavior model.

Susan knows a thing or two about selling with convictions and a strong mindset. She pointed out something I missed in yesterday’s email.

Her comment was: “You know, you really should dig more into the limiting beliefs about asking for money. That’s one of the biggest hurdles for high ticket salespeople, especially in elective surgery.”

I’ve done several essays and podcasts about the tactics to overcome price objections. You can find those over on TroyCole.com.

But I’ve not dug into the whole limiting beliefs issue specifically. Which is actually a bigger challenge than “not knowing what to say” when someone pushes back on price.

Why does price seem like such an issue for patients?

There are a lot of ways we could talk about this, but I want to address 2 main areas:

Belief and Projection.

Belief – the belief that your treatments are worth the $5k, $10k, $20k you’re charging.

Your team has to understand the value of what you’re offering.

But more than that, they have to believe in the value you provide.

They can’t just know it. They have to believe that your $12,000 surgery is worth every penny to the patient.

People have a tendency to confuse Information and Beliefs. They are two different animals.

We live in a world of limitless information. Anything we could ever wanna find out is a quick Google search away.

For example, most people know how to lose weight. And if not, they can go online and search that information in about 3 seconds.

So why do people struggle to get fit, when they have unrestricted access to the information they need to make a change?

It’s a belief problem. They either believe they can’t do it. Or believe it can’t work. Or don’t believe in the benefit it can provide.

Information is a commodity. When beliefs battle information, belief is going to win.

So it’s not enough for your sales team to have the information. They must believe in the value.

What are some common limiting beliefs around price?

I don’t want to bother patients who aren’t ready to book now. I’ll let them figure out a plan of action.
If this is more than they want to pay, then it’s probably too expensive for them.
The patient clearly understands the value, and they’ll decide themselves when it’s time to move forward.
I shouldn’t try to lead the patient to a decision that’s best for them. They need to make that decision without my help.
$X for a surgery is a lot of money.
If a patient is taken aback by the price, then they probably don’t want to move forward.
This person doesn’t look like someone who has money to invest in themselves, so I’m going to assume they don’t.

Problem is, many of these are not conscious thoughts. They occur on a subconscious level, building a limiting belief system on autopilot.

Yesterday, we talked about the importance of selling with conviction vs trying to convince someone to buy your surgeries.

Beliefs are the governor for conviction. Just like a governor on your car’s engine, which only allows you to go so fast down the highway.

Your speed is limited by your governor. Conviction is limited by beliefs.

When a patient says, “Wow, that’s a lot money.” How confident are you in that moment?

Do you have the conviction to not falter? To agree and help them understand why it’s worth every penny? To have patience with your patients, and lead them to a new way of thinking?

If you believe in what you offer, then the answer is yes. If not, you’ll continue to struggle.

Thankfully there are practical ways to build and reinforce the right beliefs. And the stronger those beliefs become, the stronger your conviction becomes.

You get to a point where the price objection is no longer a road block, but an opportunity to help patients think differently.

(This also applies directly to practices who are sick of scraping by with discounted surgery and want to raise their prices. But that’s an article for another day.)

I wanted to cover Projection today as well, but this email is long enough already. So we can dig into that tomorrow.

Enjoy your Thursday,

Troy “Convictions” Cole

PS – We’ve opened enrollment for our updated Sales Training Workshop.

One of the most-asked questions we get around sales – “How can we overcome the price objection?”

We’re addressing these core “limiting belief” challenges in this updated training. If you’re interested in empowering your sales team to handle this common and costly issue, get in touch. I’ll get you all the details.