Why We Are Different
The vast majority of optometrists have so little actual training in running a business or professional practice that it’s a wonder they do as well as they do. In fact, if you had that little training in optometry, it would be impossible for you to practice.
The result is that even in practices that run pretty well, there are dozens of petty annoyances and problems that crop up continually. A lot of this centers around staff and their weaknesses.
There are slow seasons every year when you lose $500-$2,000 per day in production because there are no patients in the chair. This comes right off your bottom line and is lost income you can never recover.
Your staff know how to re-confirm patients and you’ve told them to do so. But they do only a fair job at it and you lose money every day from patients who don’t show.
It’s hard to find good help. With all the unemployment there are 6 people looking for every job, but the quality available today is shockingly poor. How do you find the right person?
You hire what you think are good, loyal staff, using your “common sense” and gut feeling. But by my estimate, employee theft or embezzlement are major problems in 1 out of 3 practices, and poor employee performance is a problem in almost every practice in America.
You want to replace a staff member, but doing so is very costly, even when it is done smoothly. The cost of the ads, the training, the lost business because of rookie errors.
Sometimes you have to hire 2 or 3 people before you find the right one.
Some of it is attributable to the doctor and some is a problem with staff and lack of know-how to fix these issues.
What is the actual cost to a practice to let these things go unaddressed and unhandled day-after-day, year-after-year for the life of the practice?
This is where having a Certified Master Consultant to guide you through can pay off in spades. Not only can you fix the problem you have now in a smoother, less costly manner, but you learn how to manage and control your business from a trained professional.
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