As an entrepreneur, I spend lots of time learning how to increase my consulting revenue and attract new customers. So, my mind is always open to tips that will help me grow my business.
After I injured my shoulder during CrossFit, a friend suggested that I visit Dr. Gregory Green of Green Chiropractic in Houston. While he did a great job on my shoulder, the real benefit came in the four business lessons I learned that day.
LESSON #1: Doctor's Offices are Businesses Too
It hadn't really occurred to me before, but now I understand that every doctor is running a business. Doctors who think of themselves as only practicing medicine are probably not operating their business efficiently.
As much as I love what I do, I must remember that I'm doing it for my customers. Patients are the doctor's customers. That leads me to the second thing I learned.
LESSON #2: Focus on Creating Satisfied Customers
The best marketing for any business is a satisfied customer. The thing i dread most about going to any doctor is...the wait. After only about five minutes, I was talking to the doctor.
This little thing was even more important to me than the service itself, the location of the business, or even the personality of the doctor. This one little thing is what will be the main reason I return.
It reminds me to focus on every aspect of the customer experience.
LESSON #3: Prescribe the Minimum Effective Dose
When I arrived for my treatment, I expected to be told that I needed to return for endless chiropractic visits. I was wrong. Dr. Green has the philosophy of prescribing the minimum effective dose.
The minimum effective dose is something I first learned through Tim Ferris's book, The 4 Hour Body. It's simply the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome and anything beyond is wasteful. For example, water boils at 100°C at standard air pressure. Water is not "more boiled" if you add more heat.
Lesson: Solve your client's problems quickly and with simplicity and they'll come back for more help when they need it.
LESSON #4: Skip the Sales Pitch
We live in cynical times. Justified or not, people are always on guard for a sales pitch. What I learned from the way he operates his chiropractic practice is that when he does his job well, his patients feel better quickly, and they trust his advice.
When any customer develop that level of confidence in a business' services, there is no need for them to give a big sales pitch. They are already sold.