Do You Have A Hard Time Saying No To Patients?
A few weeks ago, in a coaching session, I talked with a doc who wants to triple her practice by patient volume this year.
She mentioned early on in our conversation that she had a hard time saying no to patients.
And that she had one appointment here, one appointment there, and the majority of her day was wasted just waiting for people to show up for their appointments.
Have you ever been there?
I have!
And truthfully, I sort of knew that it wasn’t the healthiest way for me to be using my time. But I didn’t feel confident in managing my schedule more effectively. (Because that required me communicating with people differently!)
Hearing her share this set my internal alarm bells ringing, so even though what she wanted help with during our session was marketing, that wasn’t the biggest priority and I knew that right away.
I could see that when she finds a marketing strategy that fits her and brings more patients into her practice, the growth wouldn’t be sustainable.
And she’s wind up feeling even more frustrated.
How did I know?
Because, we’ll, like I said before, I’ve been there.
It comes down to #BOUNDARIES.
Her thought process was that she hasn’t earned the right to set clear boundaries (like time blocking, for example) because she’s not “busy enough.”
And while some people might tell you that you just need to let people schedule with you whenever it works best for them so you can “just get them in,” this is absolutely detrimental to the growth of your practice.
Most people just don’t know that.
If you’re struggling to manage 20 office visits each week, the struggle will only be 3X when you’re trying to manage 60 office visits each week.
In other words, if you allow a few people to run your life right now, you’ll also allow a larger number of people to do the same…. and it’ll run you straight into the ground.
Listen, your community needs you. They need the work that you do. They need that special gift that only you have.
And for you to be able to help more people improve their lives, you have to first improve yours.
Be the leader that your community needs.
Setting and honoring clear boundaries is a very good place to start.
Your practice will grow when YOU do.