Have you ever felt that all-powerful feeling? That feeling that the “wheels are on”? That everyone on your team is feeling that energy and putting it out to your patients in every direction? Isn’t that the most satisfying feeling? The phone is ringing, you’re getting results, patients are getting results and are excited about you and your office. They start telling everyone they know, and new patients start calling in record numbers.
Unfortunately, this type of energy can sometimes begin to wane — you may realize there’s not as much excitement, not as many calls from prospective patients, and patients may even start blaming you for problems they are having. This roller coaster ride is definitely not much fun.
Luckily, chiropractic offices have a much better chance of holding on to positive energy than most doctors and their teams. That’s because you deal with health and wellness, while so many other doctors deal with disease and sickness. That, in itself, should create positive energy. You often see immediate results when you treat a patient. How many offices anywhere get the opportunity to see immediate results from their efforts?
One way to encourage positive energy levels in your office is to encourage your CAs to attend continuing education seminars. And don’t just send them — go with them. Then sit back and revel in the positive energy you’ll feel at your practice when you all get back.
You can and should create the same type of energy internally. When you have a team meeting (and you should have them once a week), talk about your patients and how they’re doing. Patients tell your team things that they don’t tell you. It’s amazing what you learn. When you and your team begin to get excited about helping so many patients, suddenly you begin to feel those wheels moving in the right direction again — and eventually they gain momentum and speed up.
Here are some tips for staying energized:
- Start your day off with a group meeting. Discuss the schedule and identify difficulties.
- Identify potential patient problems. Focus on difficult patients and potential drop-outs. Make it everyone’s responsibility to encourage patients who are having difficulties. Make it a team effort. Remember, focusing on a problem is the best way to solve it.
- Throughout the day, communicate successes. Remember, we all need to hear about success. You should be sharing these stories with your team and vice versa. Many times patients tell staff members about their progress and only tell the doctor about remaining symptoms. Of course, success stories should also be shared with other patients (without revealing names or other personal information, of course, unless the patient agrees).
- Focus on the positives, which are all around you. We do not live in a negative world; but we do live in a world that focuses too often on negative events.
- Compliment a patient. One small positive comment may be the bright spot in that person’s day.
- Encourage every team member. No one has an easy job, and everyone needs help and encouragement and words of appreciation.
- Take turns bringing a joke for the day. Ask your patients to bring one in, too.
- Create a happy workplace. Keep your sense of humor and laugh a lot. Laughing helps alleviate stress.
- End your staff meetings on a positive note. Include a thought for the day or a note of appreciation.
Remember, the “adventure” begins when the first patient opens the door. And what a fun adventure it can be if everyone is tuned in and enthusiastic about the day. Energizing your practice is not only fun, but essential to your success. Energy is life-giving and life-supporting.
