Achieving the million dollar mark is no easy feat in this business, but it’s certainly possible. It really doesn’t take much to go from Fine to Fabulous if you focus on these key points:
Help more patients
The first and most important thing to focus on is to track and improve your Help Rate (% of patients that need hearing aids versus the % that actually purchase them). Most practices rely on hearing aid sales for the majority of their revenue so the more patients you convince to purchase hearing aids, the more revenue you will generate. It’s typical in this business that hearing healthcare professionals convince less than 50% of patients that need hearing aids to purchase them. Get comfortable dealing with the common objections we hear every day like “That’s a lot of money,” I don’t think my hearing is bad enough,” and “I need to think abt it”. Set a goal of helping at least 70% of all candidates and work on overcoming those common objections. It will be worth it.
Cater to Your Patients
Focus on providing an unforgettable patient experience and adding value to every patient encounter. Price is what you pay but value is what you get! Do you provide loaners and repair hearing aids whenever you can in your office while the patient enjoys some hot coffee and fresh cookies? Are patients greeted with a smiling face and a rousing welcome every time they come into the practice? Are wait times minimal? Do you perform outcome measures to make sure patients are getting optimal benefit from their hearing devices? Good isn’t good enough if you want a million dollar practice.
Be the Best
Unfortunately, there are plenty of hearing healthcare practices but the truth is that most of them are content with mediocrity. If you want to be a million dollar business then you have to act like you’re a million dollar business and bring something to the table that wows patients and generates buzz within your target demographic. What makes your practice unique?
Listen to your patients
If you aren’t getting rave reviews online or positive comments on your satisfaction surveys (that’s assuming you send them) chances are your patients aren’t as ecstatic as they need to be. Ask your existing patients what you can do to make their lives and their experience better and then put their recommendations into practice. They’ll appreciate your efforts and will hopefully, if you ask them, refer others to you.
Hire a Team of All Stars
Hitting $1 million in gross revenue is no small feat, and you certainly aren’t going to achieve this goal if you hire under performers. Ask a potential new hire if they have been tracking their numbers and if they have, ask to see their spreadsheets. Most professionals assume they are convincing many more people than they actually are. If they haven’t been tracking their Help Rate, then give them a scenario of a patient who “wants to think abt it” and have them role play what they would say to change that patient’s mind. In addition, I find it helpful to have a professional firm conduct a profile on a potential new hire to make certain they are a good fit for the practice.
Track, track, track
Finally, if you want to shoot for the one million dollar mark, you need to be zealous about monitoring your data, knowing what it means to the business and then acting on it when necessary. Million dollar practices don’t just happen! You have to Make It Happen and you can’t make it happen if you don’t know your numbers.
Growing to $1 million in revenue isn’t easy, but it is possible. Take steps to put these suggestions into place, set a goal of when you want to reach that Million Dollar Mark and Don’t Stop until you get there!