The right coaching program for you can not only double or triple your income, but can also keep you on purpose, on goal, and on fire. A practice that spends $15,000 a month can produce $15,000 in income. This same practice, however, can produce $80,000 a month or more. The difference is strategy, desire and execution – in short, coaching.
Your practice does not need coaching to achieve solvency. Achieving your dream is a whole other story. There are many excellent counseling, advising and consulting programs available in chiropractic. The key is knowing what you want to build and who is best qualified to serve your needs.
Having a coach in your corner must be seen as an investment versus an ex-pense. If not, then no matter how good the coaching may be, the commitment to make it work will almost certainly fall short of your goal. A willingness to create a lasting relationship, coupled with the ability to trust the plans and actions designed for you, are essential to the success of any type of coaching.
Chiropractors are notorious for knowingly piecing together elements from many different seminars, coaches, tape programs, videos, etc. Problems occur be-cause the pieces don’t always fit together. You must determine if you’re looking for another piece or seeking to have all your pieces in sync. If what you’re seeking is just more information, a library of videotape programs and audiotape programs can be purchased throughout the consulting industry. However, in order to make large, more permanent shifts in your practice, a full-blown coaching program is highly recommended. That’s where real growth happens.
Since the time and financial commitments can be extensive, make sure you talk to three or more of the consulting firm’s clients who have accomplished what you want for your own practice. Carefully interview consultants to determine their strengths and focus. Do not hire a firm that tries to be all things to all people. The size of the firm is of less significance. Just make sure the consultant can deliver what’s necessary to take your practice to the next level. One way to know if a firm is serious is if they guarantee your satisfaction.
Choose a consulting firm that specializes in the type of practice you are building. For example, if you want to build a personal injury practice or an MD/DC facility, you would not choose a subluxation-based consultant. Nor would you choose a consultant who works primarily with cash and wellness to develop an HMO relief-care practice. Several firms are experts in each of these specific areas, and you should choose the one that corresponds to your desired outcome.
Make sure to ask what you can expect as a return on your investment. In other words, if you invest $7,000 for a year of coaching, you should expect a minimum return of five to one, or a $35,000 increase, during the first year. Be sure to find out if the program has any additional charges, like new equipment or other services that need to be purchased.
Also know what changes you’re going to be asked to make. Perhaps you’ll be expected to add two or three therapies, or triple your fees, or refer your patients through multi-disciplinary procedures. If a firm can’t answer these questions, it is not worthy of your business. If the firm does answer the questions and the answers don’t meet your expectations, simply call upon other firms until you find the right match.
Don’t let any firm reduce your ex-perience to managing by statistics. Chiropractic is meant to be passionate, philosophical and based upon principle. Monitoring statistics is important, but your performance is the key. A performance-based coaching firm will help you to consistently increase your skills in many areas, including: adjusting, post X-ray correction, marketing, workshops, reports, retention, goal-setting, leadership, team training, etc.
If your coaching is working for you, don’t stop. That’s as harmful as a patient who stops care once the symptoms are gone. Remember, coaching is an investment that will continue to bring excellent dividends in your chiropractic career. Consider telling your friends about the program. I’ve seen many clients explode their goals because their friends and colleagues are also part of the same program and they support each other.
Look to see how team-oriented a consulting firm is. Coaching should stimulate hard work, great habits, predictable results, and a feeling of purpose, passion and contribution. A coach should hold you accountable to get things done, and sometimes that’s all you need to make it over the top.
If you don’t have a coach, get one. If you already have a coach, pick his or her brain. If your coach isn’t pushing you like you want to be pushed, communicate that to your coach so he or she can turn up the heat. Be honest with yourself and your coach. Don’t commit to something you won’t do. Don’t lead your coach to believe you’ve done something that you haven’t yet done. Be real with your coach and you will soar. Stay in the raft with your coach; don’t quit.
Call different firms and compare services, prices and results. Once you feel you’ve made the right choice, jump in with both feet. Set goals early with your coach. Do more than you’re asked to do. Don’t ever be afraid to ask questions – lots of questions. Visit successful offices within the coaching system so you have a model to work toward. Together, you and your coach can make an enormous difference.