My 6 y/o Charley had her first gymnastics meet last weekend, and she took FIRST PLACE.
Needless to say I am a proud dad. Here she is showing off her gold medal with me and my Aunt Rhonda, who came to town for the meet and half a dozen baseball/softball games.
(I rushed from one of our games to catch the very end of the meet, hence my coaching attire…)
Of course this was cause to celebrate, so we headed to our favorite burger place in DFW – JD’s Hamburgers.
—-
The owner of JD’s is an awesome lady named Gigi, Fort Worth restaurant veteran who opened this hot spot in 2022 and named it after her grandfather.
JD’s has great burgers, excellent cocktails, a nice dessert selection and the best “Okra Fries” on the planet.
But one of the biggest stand-outs at JD’s is their wait staff.
We’ve been there plenty of times, and we’ve never had a bad experience with service. On the contrary – regardless of the day, the time, how busy or not, we always get amazing service.
As we were leaving the restaurant following our satisfying celebratory meal, I turned to Susan and said rhetorically, “Ya know, it’s tough to find good people to work these days. But somehow Gigi recruits great folks who consistently provide awesome service across the board. How does she do that?”
As we were loading the kids in the car, my curiosity got the best of me. “I’m gonna go ask her,” and I headed back to the patio area where we were sitting to find Gigi.
—-
I explained to Gigi that I work with a lot of world-class practices who, like a lot of businesses, have trouble finding great team members.
I complimented her on the consistently amazing service, and I asked her, “What’s your secret for assembling such nice folks?”
And here’s what the DFW restaurant veteran with the bustling burger joint told me:
“Troy, a lot of places like ours go out and try to hire people with restaurant experience. I just look for nice people and hire them. Because I can teach you how to work in a restaurant, but I can’t teach you how to be nice.”
That was her big secret. And it’s obviously working for her.
—-
Interestingly, this is the same guidance we’ve found to work well for elective surgery practices who are looking to fill patient-facing sales roles, like phones or counselors.
You don’t have to hire someone with years of experience in an ophthalmology practice. In fact, you’re often better off NOT doing that because they can come with their own baggage and bad habits (not EVERYONE mind you, but it’s common).
Some of the best LASIK counselors have job histories that include waiting tables, working the Lancôme counter and other customer-facing roles that have nothing to do with medicine.
“You can teach people to do what you do, but you can’t teach people to be nice.” It’s true in the restaurant biz, and it’s true for you.
With our sales coaching programs, we teach teams to convert more leads to consults and consults to surgeries. But it only works if they have good attitudes and positive energy. For practices with toxic team members who don’t want to learn? Forget it. We can’t do anything for them. No one can.
So take a note from Gigi, hire good folks and then teach them what you do. And when it comes to the sales and conversion aspects of the job role, that’s where Susan and I come in.
Our E3 Conversion System and DISC for Doctors coaching programs give growth-focused teams the skills, confidence and clarity they need to put more patients on your surgery schedule. And right now, we have a limited-time offer that grants practices access to both of these private coaching programs, along with ongoing team support and development, for an insanely affordable price. Email me for more info. 💪🏻
– Coach Troy
PS – Check out JD’s Instagram page. Great content, great vibes. Plenty of lessons for you in there too…