By Terri Ross, CEO, APX by Terri Ross

Do you ever feel like you're not maximizing your practice's income potential? Do you think you could produce greater results and have a higher performing practice from a customer service, operational, sales and financial standpoint? Are you unsure of how to best achieve those goals or feel frustrated and stuck in place?

We all have been there. Trust me when I say you are not alone.

We all have things we do routinely and ways of running our business that produce certain results. I believe it was Albert Einstein who defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Now, I'm not saying any of us are insane (although some days we all probably feel like we are going a bit insane), but what I would like you to do is imagine the possibility of doing something different and thinking in a different way.

I know it can be scary to get out of your comfort zone, and most of us don't like or want to change. But what if by investing your time, energy and resources a little differently you could produce a two, five or even 10 times result in your practice just by making a few small changes, would that be worth it to you?

We are so willing to spend money to watch Netflix, buy the latest iPhone, throw thousands of dollars into marketing ads, buy the latest software, buy a new laser, etc. Yet we often shy away from investing in ourselves or our team because of the perceived time commitment or initial cost. Ironically, investing in sales, finance and operational training for you and your team can yield the highest ROI that will ultimately improve efficiency, productivity and profitability.

In fact, as a result of implementing just one skill they learned in my sales training, one practice booked a surgery with a client who had already scheduled the same surgery with another practice and generated an additional $32K in revenue—from one phone call. Imagine how much additional return on investment (ROI) they will generate throughout the rest of the year.

If you were to set aside some of your budget or redirect some of your marketing dollars into investing in team training, take action to implement what you learned and hold your team accountable, I promise you will see results.

You'll Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression

This quote from Will Rogers is one of the truest quotes I'e ever seen. I'd like you to take a moment now and think about your front desk person, your patient care coordinator or any of your providers...

• What image do they project?
• Do they make a great first impression?
• Do they keep their cool under pressure?
• Do they speak clearly and enunciate?
• Do they know how to engage a prospective caller with engaging questions?
• Do they set the expectations for the consultation?
• Do they develop long term treatment plans?
• Do they simply answer whatever inquiry the caller has?
• Do they know how to overcome objections?
• Do they know your unique value proposition?
• Do they know the goals of the practice?
• When was the last time you monitored how they handle calls or reviewed how they handle your website leads?

These team members are literally the first impression prospective patients get of your practice and can totally make or break your business. On a scale of one to 10, how confident are you that they are presenting the right image and the five-star customer service experience you want your patients to have?

Your employees have a huge impact on your bottom line. You can have the most beautiful office, a high producing website, lots of equipment, the right practice management software, look at P&L statements all day, set financial goals, measure your KPIs, but you cannot run a sustainable or profitable practice without your employees being able to:

• Optimize their productivity by understanding the components of running a practice;
• Convert callers into consultations and consultations into paying services; and
• Know what data to run and what to do with that information to make informed decisions.

The only way to do that is to properly invest to train your team in sales, finance and operations.

Doctors, nurses and clinicians have all received clinical training or have gone to nursing or medical school. Unfortunately, very few get any business training along the way. If you are a practice owner or a busy provider, you typically do not have the time or expertise to do this yourself and train your team.

Did you know that it can cost a practice up to $30,000 to hire and get a new staff member up to speed? With high employee turnover rates in the aesthetics field, you can see how quickly employee turnover costs can add up.

That is why you need a proven, repeatable, evergreen method of training your team. My team and I have helped hundreds of practices and providers over the years learn to master the art of sales and understand the financial foundations of a successful practice. These courses are just one of five components of APX, our new business intelligence training and growth platform.

If you have any questions for our team or would like to book a demo to see how APX can help train your team effectively, along with other tools and resources to grow your practice, please visit www.apxplatform.com.

I hope you will take me up on the challenge to step up and take a different course of action so you can achieve the type of results you want in your practice.

Are you up for it?

Terri Ross is a renowned practice management consultant, international speaker in the aesthetic industry, and founder and CEO of Terri Ross Consulting and APX by Terri Ross. APX is an integrative, solutions-based platform for the medical aesthetics industry focused on sales, finance and operations, along with web-based software that features proprietary financial optimization calculators and analytical tools to keep a pulse on the most critical elements of a growing practice that has proven to increase efficiency and profitability. Ross has more than 15 years of experience working with Fortune 500 medical device companies, leading sales teams to peak performance, consistently ranking in the top 10%. In addition, she has more than 12 years of experience and a track record of success working with hundreds of aesthetic practices across the country to launch, grow and scale to upwards of 600% growth.