Have you ever considered what you would do if another highly skilled podiatrist opened a podiatry business directly opposite your business?
You should ask and answer this question every year with your team. Of course, the chance of this happening is slim, but I have seen it happen many times.
But why wait for it to happen? Why not think about it now and have a game plan in place? You never know; some of the ideas you come up with can be actioned immediately. Why wait?
This episode has been produced off the back of Ep 74 from the Podiatry Marketing Podcast.
Here are a few thoughts we discussed:
1. Referrers – Professional
a. Gentle Reminder
b. Use LOOM
c. Use Braintoss
d. Be Our Guest Book
2. Referrers – Non-Professional
a. Get off your butt
3. Street Appeal
a. Check Signage
b. First impressions
4. Update Website
a. OFFER FREE INFO
b. Search Platforms
c. Add Media Page
5. Community Engagement
6. Your Niche
7. Touch Base with Patients
a. Reactivation
b. Emails/Newsletter
c. Increase Touch Points
8. Introduce Yourself
a. Recon Mission
b. Put your mind at ease
9. Reflect on your practice
10. Know your ideal patient
a. Writing blogs that talk to them
11. Retrain your team: Improve greeting patients and answering the phone.
12. Update Uniforms / BRAND
13. Merchandise / Welcome Packs
If you have any questions about this episode, you can contact me at tyson@podiatrylegends.com
26th – 27th July, 2024 – CAIRNS
This is the best two-day podiatry training program in the world, and it has been designed just for podiatrists. If you want to give your podiatry business the boost it needs, block out the dates now and plan on attending. I guarantee you will love it, and if not, I’ll give you 2X what you paid; that’s how confident I am. REGISTER
Schedule a FREE 30-minute Zoom Call with Me.
If you have questions about your podiatry business, team, personal goals and career direction, organise a time to talk with me. I’m here to help in any way I can. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
I recommend following the link below to my calendar and scheduling a free 30-minute Zoom call. I guarantee that after we talk, you will have far more clarity on what is best for you, your business and your career.
My SCHEDULE – https://calendly.com/tysonfranklin/podmeeting30
FACEBOOK GROUP Podiatry Business Owners Club – https://www.facebook.com/groups/podiatrybusinessownersclub
MY BOOK is available on AMAZON
It’s No Secret…There’s Money in Podiatry – https://amzn.to/3JhO9cz
Full Transcript
328 – Thirteen Things You Would Do Differently
[00:00:00] Hi, I’m Tyson Franklin and welcome to this week’s episode of the Podiatry Legends Podcast, the podcast designed to help you feel, see, and think differently about the podiatry profession. Now, before I get into today’s topic, I just want to thank everybody who has sent me an email over the last couple of weeks.
[00:00:28] Just telling me that they are really enjoying the podcast. They love the guests that come on. They love the topics that we discuss and And they find it funny that every now and then they’ll hear someone say something slightly negative about the podcast and they just go what? Idiots, why would you talk negatively about a podcast that is actually trying to build up the profession and I have to agree with them 100% Some of the other things I said was they also enjoy the solo episodes, so I do intend on doing a few more of those.
[00:00:56] This particular episode though, is going to be almost like a [00:01:00] hybrid. So I’m starting it off as a solo episode, but I’m going to share an episode from another podcast that I do, uh, with a friend of mine called Podiatry Marketing. So Jim McDonald or Dr. Jim McDonald, Big Jim Mac that I call him, him and I decided to start the Podiatry Marketing Podcast back January.
[00:01:18] 2022. And how it came about, Jim was initially a guest on this podcast, episode 123, and we’re talking about the five elements of an online presence. After that, Jim came back on and we’re talking about collaborating with other podiatrists. And that was episode 160. After we did that episode 163. That was when we got talking thinking, well, maybe we should collaborate and do another podcast.
[00:01:41] Now I know podiatry marketing doesn’t float everybody’s boat. It’s one of those topics that you either really like marketing or you don’t. But what I find interesting, I go into so many online platforms, especially Facebook. And there’ll be a lot of people that on these different pages and groups will post a question.
[00:01:59] Oh, [00:02:00] I’m just starting up a business or I’m doing this in my business. Can someone give me some marketing tips? And, and I know they’re asking the question with the best intentions and some of the advice that people give them sometimes it’s actually quite good, but other times it’s very beige. And I’m thinking.
[00:02:15] Please, there is a podcast that we’ve been doing for two and a half years is over 130 episodes that covers so many marketing topics and I think if you go through those topics if you can’t find something there that will get those creative juices going and give you some ideas on how to attract more patients in your clinic, then maybe you’ve got a few problems.
[00:02:36] Now the topic today is is going to be 13 things you would do differently. So what I’m going to do is play an episode that Jim and I recorded, uh, some time ago. And the reason I chose this one, not only because it was a topic that I came up with it, and I actually like this topic, but it’s a, It’s a, an idea and a topic that I’ve discussed with a lot of coaching clients over the years.
[00:02:58] And I say to them every [00:03:00] year, at least once a year, you should sit down with your team or even if it’s just you by yourself, sit down and think about what would you do differently if a podiatrist opened up directly across the road from you and you might go, Oh, the chance of that happening is very slim.
[00:03:15] But my old clinic here in Cairns, after I sold it a couple of years later, another podiatrist in town, opened up a clinic directly across the road from my old clinic. And hopefully they’re going to be on the podcast in the not too distant future. So Kyle, if you’re listening to this episode, don’t forget to schedule a time.
[00:03:36] But I think this is a very, very important topic. Every year, sit down and think about what would you do if another podiatrist opened up across the road. And like I said, you might think that will never happen and it may not happen in your area, but I’ve seen it happen with chiropractors. I’ve seen it happen with physiotherapists on a regular basis in different areas.
[00:03:57] So there is a chance it could happen to you. But what’s [00:04:00] interesting is when you really think about it, what are, what would you do differently? And the podcast I’m about to share from the Podiatry Marketing Podcast. We come up with, or we discuss 13 things you would do differently. These are 13 ideas that I had and what I liked, I shared the ideas and then Jim gives me some banter back.
[00:04:19] So I’m going to take a break from talking now. I’m going to play that particular episode and then I’ll come back on at the end. Okay. Talk to you again soon. You’re listening to Podiatry Marketing, conversations on building a successful podiatry practice with Tyson Franklin and Jim McDaniel. Welcome back to Podiatry Marketing.
[00:04:40] I’m your host, Jim McDaniel, joined always by my trusty co host, Tyson Franklin, Tyson, what’s going on today? Ah, good morning, Jim. I love the trusty part. Be better than you saying, welcome with my untrusty co host, Tyson Franklin. That would be bad. That’d be funny though, if you had to said that. Uh, but I’m glad you didn’t.
[00:04:59] [00:05:00] How you been? Nah, things are good. Things are good. I love, uh, life in Canada. You know, in the springtime is much better than winter. So, uh, no complaints over here. Nah, same here. I love this time of year. It’s, everything’s cooler. If anyone’s ever going to visit the tropics, this is the time to do it. Locals, we find it cold, but people down south, when they come to Cairns, they just go, Ooh, yeah, this is a good time of the year.
[00:05:22] So, let’s get on to today’s podcast. I’m excited about this one. I can tell. I mean, you’re ready to go. So, uh, what are we going to chat about today? Okay, so this came about with a different group I was with, uh, about two years ago I did this. And, uh, I said to them, and what was really funny, I posed this question and when I posed the question it was pretty much around exactly the same time this had actually happened in reality.
[00:05:48] So the question was, what would you do if your, your opposition or a highly skilled podiatrist opened up directly across the road from you? [00:06:00] From your existing business, you get your business there and another podiatrist opens up directly across the road from you. They’re highly skilled. They’re, yeah, I mean, pretty much you can see them from the front of your, uh, podiatry clinic, which means your patients can as well.
[00:06:14] They might even have skills that you don’t have, or they may have a large marketing budget. Bigger than what you currently have. And the question I pose is, what would you do? And what was funny about it, where I had my old clinic and I sold it. Somebody who was already had an existing clinic in town. He opened up a really nice clinic directly across the road from my old podiatry clinic.
[00:06:37] So it was really good timing when this actually came about because I’m looking at that. If you were an existing podiatry business and somebody opened up across from me, bigger, better, better budget, whatever it was, and your budget’s a little bit tied up, what are some things you could do? So I ended up coming up.
[00:06:54] with 13 things that people can do. And this was with the group that I was working with. So we, I [00:07:00] threw out a few things and then we sort of talked about it. So there’s like 13 headings, but multiple things you can do under those 13 headings. Lucky, lucky number 13. That sounds like, uh, quite a list there. I think that’s a interesting problem to bring up.
[00:07:13] Do you bring up? And I think it’s not only Uh, you know, valuable to people that kind of are in that situation, but also helps maybe people, you know, kind of playing the what if game could sometimes be beneficial for like long term planning, because if it happens that one person that could happen to another, so why not just, uh, you know, kind of walk, you know, walk us through this exercise as we kind of walk through these, uh, these 13 things that people could be aware of to, you know, you know, be ready for something like that to happen potentially.
[00:07:39] Yeah, well, what if questions I reckon are amazing questions. because you can sit there and go, yeah, what if this did happen? How would you respond to it? A lot of times, I think a lot of business owners don’t think about things happening in their business. They just wait until it happens. And when it happens, they go, Oh, and then they start to panic and then make [00:08:00] bad decisions.
[00:08:00] Whereas I think if you think of all the things that could possibly happen. And you address them early. It’s a lot better. That’s a whole different podcast altogether. So let’s get on to 13 things here. First one is looking at your professional referrers. So somebody has opened up across from you and you go, okay, let’s go through some of the marketing pillars to start with your professional referrers.
[00:08:20] You can give them a gentle reminder that you’re there, whether it’s through an email, whether it was, it was a letter, you can use technology to connect with your professional referrers, uh, sending a video using loom. You know what Loom is? Anyone listening to this? If you don’t know what Loom is, go and look up Loom.
[00:08:38] It’s a video program. Send a video to people and it tells you when they watch it. Have you used Braintoss, Jim? I have not used Braintoss yet. I think you’ve talked about it a little bit previously, but I haven’t, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Yeah, Braintoss is awesome. It’s one of those, it’s a, it’s an app, it’s 4 or something on your phone.
[00:08:54] Everyone should have it. If you ever have an idea in your head, you can just quickly record something and you can set it up so it [00:09:00] sends an email to yourself. But you can also use it to record a message where you go, Hey Jim, how you doing? I was just, uh, had this idea about something or. I want to talk to you about this particular problem.
[00:09:10] Give me a bit of a spill. You got 30 seconds to actually record the message. When you stop, that voice message will get emailed to you. But then from there, you can then email on to a professional referrer. It could be a message to them, or you can set up that certain emails go to your receptionist and your receptionist then forwards it on to the right person.
[00:09:28] So to me, it’s just with your professional First thing is reminding them you’re there. and use technology if you can. And then also if you’ve read a book, like I really like this book called Be Our Guest, which is about Disney. Have you read that? I haven’t, but I’ve been to Disney a couple of times while growing up.
[00:09:47] Yeah. So I, I read the book a couple of years ago, Be Our Guest, one of my favorite books. And so if you’ve read it and it’s a great book and you know, another professional referrer who has a good, yeah, you can tell the difference between, you look at not all professional [00:10:00] referrers are equal. You look at some, yeah, that clinic’s a bit dodgy and you look at others, you can tell they care.
[00:10:05] Sending them that book in the mail or just dropping it in with a little post it and saying, Hey, I read this book. I think you will absolutely love it is another way of just connecting and just a gentle reminder with your professional referrers that you’re there. That’s excellent. I think, uh, yeah, there’s kind of personal touches, whether it be through technology or through like a hardcover book, it’s definitely something that’s going to be appreciated by people within your circle.
[00:10:28] Uh, given that little nudge that you are still there and kind of, you know, re centering them maybe on exactly the type of patients you want to see can be a good way to kind of get ahead of the competition a little bit. Yeah, well especially I know myself, if a new physio opened up in town, like where my old clinic is, is one that’s just opened down the road, If I knew that they were there and then all of a sudden I had a book dropped in to me with a poster note or a letter just saying, Hey, I read this book.
[00:10:54] I noticed that, you know, looking at your clinic, you care about your patients and about your visibility of your [00:11:00] practice as well. I thought you’d find this really interesting, especially chapter four. And they marked that for me. I would read that and I would be calling them up straight away saying, Hey, thank you very much.
[00:11:09] Do you want to go and grab a coffee? I’m now reaching out to them because it’s the law of reciprocation. I’m reaching out to them because they’ve done something for me. I want to do something back and all of a sudden they’re sitting there going, Oh yeah, that worked. So that, and you know what, it costs you nothing other than a little bit of time and you know, 20, 30 bucks for a book.
[00:11:29] So it’s really simple. The second thing that’s on this list is your non professional referrers. Do exactly the same thing. Try and connect with them. But what it takes is for you to usually get off the bum. And walk around town, go over to shopping centers and just meet and greet, say hello to people, shake their hand, remind them who you are.
[00:11:49] Because you’ve got to remember, if the person who’s opened up across the road from you, they are fired up. They’ve just set up a new clinic, everybody’s enthusiastic, so is the team. Non professional [00:12:00] referrers in the area have seen the building getting built or getting set up. They see the sign go up, they are now aware that they are there.
[00:12:07] So you have to get off your bum and go and reconnect with, uh, people in your area. Now that makes total sense. I think you have to be visible to that local community, right? And, uh, when it’s not professional refers, maybe they’re kind of used to their day to day business, they kind of get in certain habits or certain rhythms.
[00:12:24] If you can kind of go in there. Um, not especially disrupt it, but just, you know, let them know that you are an option that you do provide these, you know, foot and ankle care services. It gives them additional options. And a lot of them will be happy to kind of, it’s kind of that reciprocity as well on their side, right?
[00:12:39] If you send them a couple people get shoes or, you know, a couple, you work with a massage therapist or someone in that, in that realm, you know, it’s kind of, uh, you’re, you’re in there kind of, um, they know who you are and they might send patients back your way as well. So it’s uh, it’s, it’s not asking for that, but just like, you know, when you do good things for other, others, more [00:13:00] likely good things will happen for you as well.
[00:13:01] Slide the book example. If somebody gave me a book with a note, I couldn’t help, but at least contact them and say, thank you. Unless the book was crap. Unless they gave me a book and I thought this is obviously been sitting in the bottom of you’ve been trying to get rid of this thing. It’s awful. And I’m like, then it’s got to be something that you read it and you really like it.
[00:13:18] The third thing is just about street appeal. Just realize that they’re opening up a new clinic, they’re going to have a new signage. So go outside and have a look at your, your current signage. Does it look tired? Does it need to be replaced? If there’s vinyl lettering, is any of that peeling off? Uh, yeah, does it need to be cleaned?
[00:13:35] So, because first impressions count, they’re going to be bright and shiny in you. You’ve got to make sure that Your business doesn’t look tired and outdated. It’s like websites, Jim, you’d agree. You see a website that’s five or seven years old compared to a brand new website. It’s really obvious that the difference between them and your business looks exactly the same.
[00:13:57] Well, like you said, you have to have kind of a seamless [00:14:00] transition from the kind of area where they make that first impression, whether it be in real life or online, and then that needs to transfer into a similar experience within your clinic. If there’s a huge disparity between those two things and, um, it doesn’t feel the same, it doesn’t look the same, it can be kind of jarring and kind of sets up people to feel, you know, not necessarily distrustful.
[00:14:21] A little bit. feel a little off. Um, you want to try to make that as smooth as possible. So people have a great experience when they come into your practice, see you online, have a great experience with you out in the community. All those things are really, really important. Yeah. And like we’re saying, these are 13 things that you can do because somebody has opened up across the road from you.
[00:14:38] Just remember, this is what we’re talking about. You’ve opened up your doors, you’ve walked out the front of the car, you go, Oh crap, there’s a new podiatrist coming across the road and it’s all bright and shiny and they’re highly skilled. And that leads us on the fourth thing, which was update your website.
[00:14:52] Have a look at your website. Is it tied? Does it need to be renewed or a few areas tidied up? Do you want to offer some free, [00:15:00] more free information on there? And make sure that you have like a media page even on your website. So that if you are talking to people or someone wants to reach out to you, there’s an area there where they can learn a little bit about you or some information that you can actually send out.
[00:15:14] So I think it’s just remember these are some of these things might cost a little bit of money, but a lot of these things just take you thinking about them. And not just leaving. Oh, yeah, I will survive because I have an awesome reputation. But I think it is important to get a, you know, a new set of eyes on that website, right?
[00:15:34] I think, yeah, you know, whether, whether it be you just kind of looking at some websites that you use outside of medicine and seeing some of the features they have or things that how they have changed over time, you know, if you’re young in practice, you’re probably used to these fully featured websites and.
[00:15:48] Chatbots and all those other things incorporate into the website. But if you’re someone Tyson’s or my age, you know, websites used to be these things where they were basically like a digital business card, right? And if it had your, your name, your [00:16:00] phone number, your location, that’s really all you cared about on the website.
[00:16:03] But as technology advances and improves, people are expecting more of these websites. They want to see authentic photos. They want to see ways of making an appointment. They don’t necessarily require a phone call. Getting sometimes that outside opinion, um, it doesn’t mean you need to like radically change it, but you need to have a plan to keep it up to date.
[00:16:23] And, uh, if you’re just kind of building it and letting 10 or 15 years go by, that’s when really people get into trouble. Uh, when it comes to the websites, I’ve seen some websites like that. So number five was, I better start moving along a bit quicker. Number five is community engagement, which you mentioned before about just letting the community know that you’re there.
[00:16:44] If there’s expos on, there’s events, can you volunteer? Can you just, just get out and about because you need to be seen and you need to be heard. Because if you don’t, The other people will get out there. And that’s exactly what happened with my old clinic is everything that I used to do [00:17:00] with the community with sporting teams and all that, the new owners that took it up didn’t care about community engagement.
[00:17:06] The new people who set up across the road did care about community engagement and they now own that space. So it’s important to connect there. Number six is If you have a niche in your business, make sure you’re pushing that niche, make sure that people know what your business actually stands for. And you always repeat this Jim, if, if what you love to do in podiatry was illegal, if we went to your website and we looked through your clinic, could we find enough information to convict you?
[00:17:33] And unfortunately a lot of podiatrists would get off scot free. So, work, work on your niche. If you don’t have a niche, think about what do I love doing more than anything else? Podiatry If I had the choice between tomorrow having 10 new patients come in, what would it be? That’s something that you love doing, you might want to push, uh, into that area.
[00:17:51] Do you want to comment before I go to number 7? You alright there? No, I think, I think you touched on it well. I do enjoy that, uh, that, uh, kind of, that example of the, [00:18:00] uh, person being convicted for what they want to do, uh, in their clinic. You know, it is, it is one of those things that if you don’t put it out into the world and show people what you do, uh, they’re going to think you’re just a general foot doctor.
[00:18:10] So, and there’s nothing wrong with being, um, you know, a general practitioner, but there’s definitely different areas within the practice that people enjoy. So if you want to do more of that, you have to show that to people. It has to be on your website. You have to promote it. You have to. Market and your practice.
[00:18:25] You have to be at those events locally. You know, if you love treating baseball players or softball players, you need to be, you know, treating those local, uh, high school athletes or those recreational athletes. You need to make connections in that area. And you’re not going to get that by just sitting back and doing nothing and just hoping it comes your way.
[00:18:43] You have to take action. Yeah. And always say, yeah, no, I’ve never heard of anyone having a statue built, built for them for the best generalist in the world. Well, there’s John Parker. He was the best generalist I’ve ever met. Usually statues are built for people that have stand out, [00:19:00] have done something.
[00:19:00] Even when you look within the podiatry profession, those people that are up on the pedestals that are invited to events and doing things, they’re usually known for one or two things within the profession. So if it works for them, it also will work with your, your practice doesn’t mean that’s all you do.
[00:19:15] It’s just, that’s what you’re known for. Number seven is touching base, base with your patients. And I remember seeing a quote somewhere once and it said, when should you tell your wife you love her before somebody else does? Your patients work exactly the same way. You need to stay in touch with your patients.
[00:19:32] You can’t just leave it up to them that, Oh, well when you’re ready, you just come back and see me because I’m here cause I’m awesome. It’s your other people will tell them about this new clinic. So you need to make sure you’re reactivating patients that haven’t been in for a while. You have emails going out.
[00:19:49] You have an email newsletter. You try and increase the touch points with your existing patients. Let them know that you care about them and people who know that you care about them will [00:20:00] also care about you. They won’t go this way. Even in a relationship, no one leaves a relationship when, if everything’s awesome.
[00:20:10] There’s usually a reason relationships fall down. And I think it’s the same with patients and podiatrists in health, health profession is a really happy patient is not going to go somewhere else or play up behind your podiatry back if they are really happy. Agreed. Okay. Number eight is introduce yourself.
[00:20:29] So do a recall mission. I think if a new competitor has opened up across the road and you do not know who they are, you should go over there and say hello. You should introduce yourself. You should make them know that you don’t care that they’re actually across the road. Because when you actually look at their business, you might look inside and go, ah, On the outside, it looks really good, but on the inside, it doesn’t look as good as what yours is.
[00:20:54] Or you might see certain, you know, services they’re offering. You go, Oh, okay. Well, if they’re offering that, it’s good. [00:21:00] I can, and you can say, can I send my patients over here for that service? Cause it might be something you don’t want to do. And then my gut, well, what do you like doing? You go, Oh, I like doing this.
[00:21:08] And you might find instead of being competitive, you may actually be able to work closer together. Uh, number nine is just reflect on your own practice is sit back and just. Look at your business and think about, are there, are there parts of your business that you think need to be improved? Is it, is there something that is worn out that needs to get replaced?
[00:21:30] Is, does it need painting? There’s so many different parts about your business that if you really sit back and just reflect on your own practice, you may see things that you’re not always seeing, but your patients are, and they’re going to use that as a comparison to the guy across the road. I think it’s really important that you, uh, you know, your view, your actions, whether it be your marketing actions, your treatment, the treatment you provide, seeing what kind of impact that has, you know, with either a numbers or statistics, or just kind of, you know, when you have that data, [00:22:00] it’s easier to reflect on and make good decisions.
[00:22:02] If you’re just trying to grab stuff out of the air every once in a while, maybe you’ll get a decent sense of what’s happening, but you really need to have You know, some of these things have numbers and stats around them to really make them more concrete. And then you’re able to adjust and make better changes or better adjustments.
[00:22:18] Yeah. Okay. So number 10 is know your ideal patient. You would have heard us talk about this multiple times before we were talking about, you need to know who your ideal patient is. And once you know who they are, when you’ve really described who your ideal patients, I can’t remember the exact episode, but look through our long list of podcasts so far, and we will mention the ideal patient.
[00:22:40] Listen to that one. When you know who they are, it’s just make sure you’re talking to them, whether it’s through any sort of marketing that you’re doing, making sure you talk, always talking to your ideal patients. If you’re writing a blog, there’s no point writing a blog about treating an ulcer. If you don’t like ulcers.
[00:22:59] But you want to do more [00:23:00] MSK work, or you want to do more runners, just make sure anything you’re doing is targeted towards that ideal patient. And many years ago, it used to be people would just write just the most ridiculous blog articles. So they felt, Oh, I’ve just got to keep putting information out there.
[00:23:12] The more information I put out there, the more patients are going to get. But 50 percent or 80 percent of what they wrote was just rubbish. No one’s looking for it. No one cares about it. And then when you ask them, what’s your ideal patient, they tell you, go, well, eight out of 10 things you write, you could just save yourself the time and not done it.
[00:23:29] So just give that some thought. Number 11, I think is super important. Just remember someone’s opened up across the road from you. You need to retrain your team with greeting your patients and answering the phone. Don’t just assume they know how to do it. Sit there with them and go, okay, When a patient walks in, what do you say, what do you do?
[00:23:48] And you could even have, uh, what do they call them? Uh, mystery shoppers. I did this with my podiatric clinic. I had someone that I knew and I said, Hey, do you want to be a mystery shopper for me? They went, yeah, no problem. I said, book in for an appointment, come in [00:24:00] for this. This is what you want to say to them.
[00:24:01] I said, just come in. I said, we’ll just chat away for half an hour. I said, I’ll give you the money that you’ll then pay at the front and then I’ll take it out later. Yeah, not a problem. So I did that twice and one, everything was super positive. And the other one, everything was terrible. But both times we learned from the one that was terrible was the one that we’d learned on learned from the most.
[00:24:22] So just remember, you might think they know how to greet a patient, but do they really know how they went? How do they understand how you want them to greet the patient? And also when they’re answering the phone, how do they answer the telephone? Are they giving the correct information? Throw some questions out about some things, some odd questions that a patient might ask and can they answer it?
[00:24:45] Do they know how to handle objections when they talk about pricing or something? Or how much is a orthotic? Do they know what to say or do they go, oh, they, they, they get all panicky and they just throw out some ridiculous figure. Super important to understand that. Number 12 [00:25:00] is update your uniforms, and if you don’t have a uniform, get a uniform.
[00:25:07] I don’t know what it’s like in America, but, but in Australia, there’s some clinics that they don’t have a uniform. Anyone can just rock up wearing whatever they want. You know, it’s, it’s like non uniform day or although I’ll have a shirt on and it’s got like a Nike tick. And I know that Nike is not paying them to wear that shirt.
[00:25:24] So they’re promoting Nike in their own business and they’re promoting Nike when they’re out and about. Get yourself a decent uniform, look at your uniform. Does it look professional? And is it on brand? Does it actually match? The rest of the brand of your particular business. Any comments there Jim, before we get on to number 13?
[00:25:41] No, I think you’re right on. I think you’d have to dress the part, right? And, uh, you have an opportunity to really kind of, when you’re wearing something that is your clinic, uh, it really helps kind of not only within your clinic, make you look more professional, but when you’re out and about in the community, it provides a little opportunity for visibility there as well.
[00:25:58] So I think, you know, by being [00:26:00] on brand and, uh, It can pay off dividends more than just kind of looking professional in your own clinic. Yeah, I remember when I set up the Makai clinic, and while it was getting built, it was everything was getting done over like a six week period. I was down there multiple times.
[00:26:14] I had my shirt on, I went around visiting, you know, professional referrers, I went and set up a, an account at the news agency, went to the pharmacist, did all this stuff. I probably booked about 12 patients just because I had my shirt on, just talking to people at the local takeaway cafe. So the day we actually opened, we were pretty much booked out our first day.
[00:26:38] of put, of opening the doors purely because of being out and about, not just the people I spoke to and booked in, but then they spoke to other people. Now I could have walked into a takeaway, just wearing any shirt, Reebok, Nike, and that wouldn’t have sparked any conversation whatsoever. But by having my podiatry logo on it, it said ProArts Podiatry, they go, Oh, we’re about a [00:27:00] year ago.
[00:27:00] Oh, we just got a new business setting up just down the road here. And that started a conversation. Number 13. This one’s optional, but I would do it anyway, is create some form of merchandise or a welcome pack for when your patients do come in and they say, what are you going to give them something that they can at least take away?
[00:27:20] Every patient should be leaving with something. You may not put together a big, uh, pack, but even if it’s just pens, just something that the patient can take away. That’s got your business name on there that when they get home, it’s, it’s a constant reminder that you exist because when they get home, they’re going to talk to friends and their friends might say, Hey, there’s a new podiatry clinic.
[00:27:43] Oh yeah, that’s not, that’s not my podiatrist. My podiatrist is your business name. Just put your business name in there. So like I said, that was 13 things that we sort of spoke about when I was talking with this other group. And there’s So many more things that you can do if somebody opens [00:28:00] up a cross from you.
[00:28:01] The main thing is get off your bum and don’t sit back and just think, I know my business, I’ve been around for too long. My business is too big. I can’t be touched because you will get touched. Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there. You can’t really just, you know, depend on that reputation that you built up for 10 or 15 years or how long it’s been.
[00:28:20] Um, and just kind of work from a reactive stance. You have to be proactive. You have to really be, you know, kind of a journey of consistently improving. What you’re doing, you know, your connections with the community. Um, it’s really kind of, you know, these days and this day and age, at least in the U S and North America, it’s very, I would say kind of like customer service face culture now, even in, even with healthcare now, people are used to having things on demand and having it their way.
[00:28:47] So, you know, as this kind of changes, you know, it’s been Dr. Google, what’s changed this, you know, healthcare also has to, you know, Uh, and healthcare providers also have to adapt to these changes, and if you don’t, you’re most likely going to be left behind, so it’s [00:29:00] important to, to kind of take these things, uh, into account, and be proactive.
[00:29:04] Yeah, and it’s, it, if you think of when you first set your own business up, and the professional referrers, for example, who started referring to you, the reason they started referring to you is because you were new and fresh, and you were enthusiastic. As the years go on, if you’re sitting back there thinking, well, my reputation is now out there.
[00:29:23] They’re going to keep referring to me. Just remember before they referred to you, they were referring to somebody else. So if a newer person comes in and they have more enthusiasm and they are more excited and they are more trained, or perceived to be trained, then those professional referrers might drop you like a bad habit and start moving somewhere else.
[00:29:41] You just, I think you just always be aware of it and keep asking yourself though, like you said at the beginning, Jim, just all those if questions, what happens if this happens? It may never happen, but if it does happen, you’ve got a game plan, uh, basically ready for it. Yeah, you’ve got a game plan or you’ve listened to this podcast and you thought about what we’re talking [00:30:00] about and you’re, you know, four or five steps ahead of the game.
[00:30:02] So I think that’s a, an important component of, you know, just being proactive. Yep. Okay. I think I’m done. And, uh, I look forward to talking again next week. I don’t know what your topic is going to be, but I’m looking forward to it. No, it should be good. But, uh, if anyone has made it this far in the podcast, I’d highly recommend if you do Tyson and I a favor, go ahead and go on to Apple podcasts, leave us a review, you know, preferably five stars and some, some kind words would be appreciated.
[00:30:27] And, uh, if you wouldn’t mind as well, if you’re listening on Spotify, Apple podcasts. Go ahead and, uh, subscribe as well. It is, you know, if you receive some value or some good tips here, hopefully, uh, we’ve got 13 of them today. So hopefully that all works out for you. And, uh, we’ll talk to you soon. Okay, Jim.
[00:30:43] Talk to you next week. Sounds good, Tyson. Okay. Bye. Thanks for listening to Podiatry Marketing with Tyson Franklin and Jim McDaniel. Subscribe and learn more at Podiatry Marketing. That’s the website address, podiatry. marketing. [00:31:00] Well, I hope you enjoyed listening to this particular episode and the rehash of 13 things you would do differently.
[00:31:06] And I hope you got a few ideas from this, but these are the type of things that Jim and I talk about, uh, every week. And I think if you enjoy marketing, It’s going to be a podcast that you will really enjoy. Now, just remember, if you’re listening to the Podiatry Marketing Podcast, please come back and listen to this one each week as well.
[00:31:23] We’d be fantastic. So that’s pretty much it for me this week. I know I’ve mentioned about the two day podiatry business reboot that I’m doing in Cairns. It’s pretty much almost sold out. So, which is fantastic considering it is still a month away, but. If you live in Australia and you are free on the 24th of August, 2024, go to your diary, block out that day and plan that you’re going to come to Cairns.
[00:31:49] I’m doing another event. I’ve got Dave Freeze, who I go to Business Black Ops every year over in the United States. It’s my go to event of the year. [00:32:00] I learn so much from it. It is the amaze, just amazing people and Dave Fries is the most intelligent person I’ve ever met in my life. You would have heard me talk about him before.
[00:32:09] He’s come to Cairns to spend the week with me. So we decided we’re going to do a workshop. Last time when we did it, we organized it in two weeks and had 42 people there and they were all from Cairns. This time I want to get as many podiatrists there as possible because I tell you right now, it’s It will change your life.
[00:32:25] It will change your career. Details are coming shortly. So just block the day out in your diary. 24th of August. It is a Saturday. And if you want to know more information, you want to go on to list, send me an email tf at Tyson, franklin. com. I will put you at the top of the list. I’ll make your priority and make sure you get a spot because we’re not going to be doing it for 42 people this year.
[00:32:46] I want to keep it smaller. Predominantly. I want to get a lot of podiatrists there, but if not, I will then open it up to the other business people in Cairns who came last time. So that’s it for me this week. I want you to look after yourself, look after [00:33:00] your family, and I will talk to you again next week.
[00:33:01] Bye for now.