There’s a taco franchise in Austin that has a location close to the children’s hospital, and I found myself there more often than most other nearby places to eat, but here’s a little secret: Their tacos aren’t that good!
So why do I keep going back when there are plenty of tastier options nearby? …
“Customer Experience”
It’s a well-designed, well-run place where the employees are well-trained, very friendly, and always remember my dietary restrictions. They know I’ve been practically living at the hospital with my son for months and my time at their establishment is a brief escape. The bartender can tell when I could use a conversation and when I need to just stare at the sports on the nice big screen TV. And unlike the tacos, the margarita is pretty damn good.
I believe that our attention to, and prowess with, optimizing the customer experience has possibly the biggest influence on how our business performs over time. There are certainly other factors but if you don’t get that one right, you will seriously struggle.
And the customer experience is wide and deep with countless nuances. As a business owner, it is our duty and obligation to identify and optimize as many of those factors as possible. If you make it your continuous mission to do so, you will win big.
No detail is too small … I remember recently doing some training with my part-time PT and showing him the multi-step process of making sure that time spent in the waiting area is a very pleasant one for everyone who walks through the door. Whenever any staff walks through the door, we should be looking to see if the couch has any stray hairs, the throw pillows are set properly, the magazines are organized, etc … people aren’t paying over $150/hour to sit in a slightly disheveled waiting room.
Literally put yourself in the shoes of your patients and imagine their experience in a typical session.
How are they greeted when they arrive and also by their therapist? How is the eye contact?
Is there a strong sense of friendly optimism and excitedness to see every client?
How comfortable are the treatment tables if you have to lay prone for more than a few minutes? What do they see when they are lying supine?
What kind of follow up and support do they receive between sessions and after discharge?
The list of these questions you should be asking goes on and on.
And here are my final questions for you today: Do patients rave about your practice even if they didn’t get completely better? Do they keep coming back even if the tacos aren’t that great?
If not, you have some exciting work to do and I can help. I have created an on-going online training titled “8 Non-Negotiable Keys to Cash Practice Success.” If you’d like to know what those keys are and leave a training with actionable tactics, not just general ideas of what it takes to be successful in private-pay practice, click here to register for a training time.
