Don't Pay A Coach For An Extra $10-20k/month WITHOUT Getting Your Values Right First...
Written by Dr Luke Madden on February 25th 2020.
Most coaches charge between $1000 and $3000/month.
To be honest, I fell victim to 3 different coaches who undelivered and overcharged.
The advice was work hard, follow these principles and you will succeed…
I followed their advice…
I committed my time to do all the work they told me to…
I saw no change in my clinics…
Then when it didn’t work, they told me that I must not have done it correctly and to try again… What I realised was, if their advice didn’t align with my values, I should NEVER have followed it. Too many “experts” never take the time to find your “WHY”…
They would jump into Facebook marketing, or patient consults and fancy “scripts” to use that would make money… They never really understood my business. And how could they, when they never really understood me? So when I followed their “scripts”, it never worked, because I felt fake saying it and patients saw heard fakeness when I would rattle off my “script”.
You see… you’re unique. Your business is an outward representation of you. So if something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. When I realised this, I knew that I didn’t need fancy scripts. I just needed to be in line with my values, speak and act authentically as me. Know my Vision, my mission, my values, my message, my goals and my purpose. And I know that sounds wishy washy, but let me explain…
When you’re building a house, you plan it, design it, find a builder and start to dig the footings and lay the foundation. The same is for your clinic. The problem is most clinic owners haven’t planned it, designed it, found a builder, dug footings and laid the foundation. They have found some land and started building. On their own. From scratch. With Hope.
The plan was to make money and serve their community. Thats it. It’s wrong. How it should have started, was by the owner crafting their vision of what they hoped to achieve. Thinking long term about what kind of impact their clinic would have on the world or their community. Then writing their vision down. Having it as the northern star they are continually aiming for. The peak of the mountain. Or… the sunset they are aiming for.
You see, when your vision is in front of you, you can never lose track. Vision should be imaginary until you achieve it. It should be huge. It should almost scare you in how big it should be. It should be visual (hence the term vision), so that others can see it too.
Once you have your vision, your guiding star, then you can plan your mission of how you are going to get there. How big a clinic will you need? When do you bring on staff? Who do you bring on? What steps need to be taken for you to achieve your mission so that you reach your vision? The vision is the sun. The mission is the path you take to get there.
Once you have your vision, then you know your mission. Once you know your mission, you need your values. In this analogy, your compass is your values. Your values dictate what you stand for, your internal principles that ensure you never deviate of your path. Your clinic values generally start with your personal values like honesty, integrity, to be the best etc. Your values dictate who you hire, because if your future staff don’t embody your clinic’s values, you don’t want them. They will force you to deviate from your mission. If you deviate, you don’t reach your vision.
So we now have our vision (the sun), our mission (the path) and our values (the compass). Now we need a message. This is what we stand for when it comes to treatment. Our message is what you and your staff relay to the patient about your care. It is what your patient will tell their friends. your message needs to have buy in to ensure the patient sticks to their treatment plan but also that you could weave into a conversation at any time. it could be about function. alignment, mobility, stability… the possibilities are endless but it allows your team to choose each technique based upon your message. Each treatment plan based upon your message. This message will resonate with your patients, referrers, team members, really anybody you come into contact with.
When it comes to goals, in this analogy, your goals are signposts that are pointing you to your vision. Your goals should function like feedback loops. They should reinforce that you are on track to achieve your vision. Let’s say that one of your goals was to increase turnover by $10k/month. Why? What does that do to help you achieve your mission? And if it does not achieve your vision, why would your team buy into those goals. If the goal was to increase turnover by $10k/month so that you could afford that new piece of equipment, or provide enough revenue to allow your team to have a long weekend every single month, then there is buy in for the team. They will work harder to achieve a united goal. And it increases your ability to serve your community so everybody wins. Doesn’t that make more sense?
Finally, you need to articulate your life’s purpose. This is your why… And it needs to be stated clearly. So that everyone you connect with knows why you put in those extra hours, why your focus is laser sighted, why you are so passionate, why you strive, why you push through adversity. This is the reason you jump out of bed in the morning. This allows you to wake up everyday knowing whats ahead and what you hope to achieve.
Vision, Mission, Values, Message, Goals and Purpose. This is the plan, This is the foundation behind everything that you do. These pillars drive your behaviour. And once you know them, they guide every decision you make about your clinic. Marketing becomes simple, because you know what you stand for. Marketing for you, is just relaying that information to your ideal clients and have them come in droves to see you.
This is what every coach fails to start with. Social media will bring in leads. Increasing turnover will bring in money. But if your business is not aligned with who you are and what you stand for, then it is doomed to fail. If your team are not aligned with your vision, mission and values, they are doomed to fail. if your patients don’t know your pillars, why would they come back? Why would they refer anyone to you? Is it because you have the best hands in the industry? Probably not. Great pillars attract great team members, who are passionate and support their patients. The patients will support your business. Your business will support you.
If you want to know my strategy on how I was able to articulate my pillars, recruit great team members, build my clinics to be busier without me being there 24/7 then check out my free training, you’ll thank me later:
Dr Luke Madden
Luke helps health professionals grow successful practices. He is an expert at helping people get clients using online methods and making things super simple to understand.
If you’re interested in growing your practice or scaling up your marketing and getting clients on demand then definitely reach out and request a Free Strategy Session Today.
