Good to Excellent Methods
Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” was required reading in my business school.
It is a management book that explains why some businesses achieve greatness while others do not.
The profession spent weeks dissecting that book with us students, but there is one chapter that I wanted to share with you because it is so relevant to our industry: FLYWHEELS VS. DOOM LOOPS I’ve simplified it a lot, but the gist is as follows:
When observed from the outside, good to great transformations frequently resemble dramatic events but are actually organic, cumulative processes that last for a long time on the inside.
That is to say, a successful business was not the result of a single decisive action, advertising campaign, or stroke of luck.
Instead, like a heavy flywheel, the good to great companies followed a predictable pattern of building and breaking through; However, once it gets going, it gains momentum and reaches a breakthrough that makes it impossible to stop and results in dramatic outcomes without additional effort.
The doom loop, on the other hand, is the pattern that most businesses employ.
They try to skip building momentum and jump right to breakthrough with one-time strategies that give them immediate but short-term results.
Instead, they experience disappointing outcomes as a result of their failure to maintain a consistent direction. As a result, they attempt a different short-term strategy in an effort to obtain immediate results, only to experience additional disappointment, placing them in the doom loop and on the verge of disaster.
In practices for plastic surgery, the same thing takes place.
The typical or naive practices invest time, money, and resources in all kinds of shiny things that promise the world in the name of short-term gain.
Perhaps your website is being redesigned once more by a web design company. or directories, social media, or Google AdWords, which require a monthly budget of tens of thousands of dollars.
They try something for a month or two, don’t like the results, and move on to another strategy that promises to be the ultimate solution.
However, they never remain for long enough to gain traction.
The same holds true for selecting patients.
Many practices focus on the one-hit-wonder patient rather than the cosmetic patient, who, if nurtured, would be worth ten times their initial investment, making them the practices’ unpaid sales ambassadors.
In light of this, and returning to the idea of “good to great,” the following is what a successful practice does to become great:
– They outline a strategy for attracting, converting, and keeping cosmetic patients.
– When planning their financial and human resources, they put the most efficient, tried-and-true long-term strategies first.
They keep an eye on their progress and adjust as they go.
They do not alter their course for the sake of short-term gains.
– They observe outcomes that continue to reinforce one another.
To put it another way, successful practices identify their most profitable and preferred cosmetic patients; The best methods for bringing in those cosmetic patients are then determined. Before meeting the patient, they develop trust, educate, and bond with them. From the first time a patient calls to make an appointment, through the visit, consultation, and follow-up, they perfect the patient experience. Before, during, and after their procedure, they provide the patient with an unforgettable experience. They encourage that patient to return, review, refer, and share on their own social media platforms so that other potential patients can find you and go through your procedures. They also encourage them to return, review, refer, and share on social media so that more patients do the same, and so on. Now you have a process and blueprint that builds momentum, so you have a steady stream of cosmetic patients that work automatically.
Getting your practice up and running like a well-oiled machine that can withstand competition, COVID, and anything else that comes our way has never been more important than it is right now.
If you require assistance with this, please get in touch with me. I have 20 years of experience working with plastic surgeons and can save you a lot of time, money, and effort.
