We’re thrilled with our new clinic. We’ve been able to offer better (and more) services because of the extra space, and the goldfish effect really seems to be kicking in. One of the small drawbacks, though, is that our patients have to pay for parking – ouch. It was one of those little things that [...]
A few weeks ago we talked about how to increase professional referrals to your practice. Developing this referral source is essentially a networking exercise, but the point of the post was to provide a framework in which to do it without feeling weird, creepy, or uncomfortable. I know there are a lot of alternative and [...]
Like most of you, we’ve often been faced with tough decisions. Moving offices, adding new products or services, hiring staff, investing in a new marketing campaign – all these things can be overwhelming because of their cost, complexity, time commitment and level of change they bring to your personal and professional life. We’ve had great [...]
Reader B. writes in to ask about dealing with patients in multi-practitioner settings: You decide to take a 2 week vacation…now, the client doesn’t want to see you as their primary practitioner anymore and has requested to switch to the other [practitioner]. What is the etiquette? How should the client be accommodated? How can this [...]
You’ll find this throughout the CAM/holistic professional community, particularly early in practice: the massage therapist trades a session for an adjustment from the chiropractor. The acupuncturist swaps time with the naturopath, who in turn trades a visit with a web designer. The homeopath exchanges treatments with the landscaping guy who cuts the grass in front [...]
Here’s a bit of wisdom for you: Patients love having things done to them. They do. They absolutely love it. Why? Partly because many are accustomed to prescriptive health care, and partly because it’s easy. Who wants to do all that hard work of lifestyle change? The reality, however is that things the patient does [...]
Here’s the scenario: A new naturopath starts her practice. She’s fresh out of school, heavy in debt and a little freaked out by how much her time is worth. I hope people aren’t turned off by the price, she thinks. Anxious to make sure she’s ‘worth it’ to her clients, her first patient visits are [...]
I came across a tidbit today that does a great job of describing the difference between running a business and running a holistic practice. It’s from Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant, the second in the Rich Dad series of books: “Those who are true “B’s” (Business Owners) can leave their businesses for a year or more, [...]
Reader E. writes: “I was wondering how you handle when people start to ask for free advice. I am starting out my practice and want to come out of the gates honoring my abilities and not giving things away for free. I don’t mind a general question here and there, but when someone keeps asking [...]
With all the work that it takes to run a practice, it’s easy to forget that business is not all about you – it’s about your clients. There are a thousand little things that make up the client experience, but making things easy – simple, fast, pleasant – tends to keep patients returning and referring. [...]
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