Another lesson from last week’s insane cold snap in Texas, which took our temps below zero and knocked out our power, heat and water for 3 days.
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Pivot if you want to prosper.
This is a lesson we learned back when the COVID lockdowns started, and I was aptly reminded during last week’s TX cold spell.
Sometimes, the universe hits you with the unexpected, and it’s 100% out of your control. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯
Like when the government tells you to close your practice…
Or when the governing body of your local electricity grid decides to shut the whole thing down for days on end…
We can’t control those situations. But we can control our reaction to them.
And boy, the frustration is immediate, isn’t it? But just as quickly as you want to punch a wall (or a politician), you must also quickly pivot if you want to survive and prosper. Get creative. Figure it out.
For us last week, that meant a few things:
We had to stay warm. We have fireplace in our bedroom. And unlike our large living room, where the fireplace only heats the area right in front of it, our bedroom is smaller and more balanced relative to the heat coming from the fireplace.
The fire actually kept the room at a decent temp (unlike the rest of the house, which hovered around 40 degrees). So we moved everyone into our bedroom and made that home base for a few days.
Susan and I took turns “manning the fire” – setting alarms through the night to wake up and throw on logs to keep it going (no gas here). And it worked out pretty well.
I still had businesses to run. Without power – and with most of my work relying on laptops and smartphones – I needed a solution.
Thankfully my wife’s suburban has built-in wifi and power outlets. So I would go stretches in the car, doing work, charging devices, and making calls and Zoom meetings.
“Um, Troy, what are you doing Zooming in your car?” Doing what I gotta do to get done what I need to get done, dude.
Taking care of the kids. Kids – I have a lot of them (4 to be exact, 8 and under). They don’t exactly like being cooped up.
So how were we going to keep them from going stir crazy (and driving us insane in the process)?
Well, we gamified as much as we could. We literally played board games, roasted hot dogs in the fire for dinner, and watched nature documentaries on the iPad.
We made the whole thing a “campout” and an “adventure” for them, and they got on board.
Point of all this is – when life hits you with unexpected things, you’ve gotta pivot, get creative and make the best of it. Otherwise you surrender what little control you have of your survival.
And an added bonus – sometimes you find new opportunities in the creativity. For us, we discovered the need and value of having an emergency generator. So we’re getting one to be more prepared in the event this happens again.
For you during your COVID pivot, you may have discovered the benefits of marketing virtual consults to your patients. What you did out of necessity became a new practice growth asset for you.
These situations are good reminders of our ability to adapt and overcome. And even when you aren’t faced with giant setbacks – like practice shutdowns or crazy winter ice storms – you should always be ready to pivot and take advantage of new opportunities.
Doing “the same old thing” and hoping for the best isn’t a winning strategy. Keep innovating, keep leading the pack, and that’s how you keep growing.
After all, your entire practice and industry is built on creating new and better ways to solve big problems. So keep up the innovation.
Have an amazing Wednesday…
Troy “Never Not Innovating” Cole
PS – Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we help refractive surgeons book more surgeries…
One. Leverage Virtual Consultations.
For all the bad that came from COVID, one arguably good thing is that it accelerated the adaption of home-centric consumer lifestyle.
Why is that good? Because people are now comfortable “doing life” from home – including booking virtual consultations with refractive surgeons! Practices who have properly introduced the Hybrid Model of Patient Engagement (Virtual Consults + Traditional In-Office Consults) are growing their surgery volume faster than ever.
With our Patient Prime System, we build your entire Virtual Consultation process for you. Reply “Virtual” if you want more info on Patient Prime.
Two. Fix Your Phones.
The highest leverage opportunity within any practice lies within their sales team, particularly on the phones. You’d be amazed at how much revenue leaks out of your phones by way of prospects who contact you, but never book a consult. We’re talking 6- to 7-figures a year.
Want to fortify your practice against this massive leak? Reply to this email with “Sales” and I’ll get you more details on how to identify your weak points on the phone (and how to solve them).
THREE. Mastermind with the Best in the Business.
Want to hear what’s working for world-class refractive surgeons across the country? Want expert marketers to review your ads, website and marketing materials and show your marketing team how to make them perform even better?
If so, our Refractive Mavericks Mastermind may be the right environment for you. Reply “Mastermind” and I’ll get you more details.