High-Volume Practice Is BS: Don’t Fall Into This Trap
This concept is nothing new — in the chiropractic industry, “high volume” is held to a high standard.
It’s time to address that.
Chasing high volume as your top priority = BS
Today, we’re focusing on WHY striving for high volume isn’t the golden ticket. Not that a high-volume practice is bad or anything. However, this concept becomes complete BS if it is your ultimate and only goal. You’re heading in the wrong direction if you’re not implementing other critical strategies to increase your close and chiropractic patient retention rates.
For example, if you ignore profitability and critical business systems, you’re not only at risk of a failing practice — you can and (will likely) burn out. Some professionals have left the industry because they unnecessarily followed this BS to the bitter end.
Don’t be that guy. You know, the guy who says, “I feel more energized after seeing 2,000 patients a week compared to 200 patients.”
Smells like BS to me.
It’s not that I don’t get it. Of course you would feel great about serving your purpose and helping 2,000 patients instead of one-tenth of that volume. The problem is that volume has a high price tag if you don’t prioritize your business.
Serve your business, and you’ll serve your purpose
My colleagues and I started this journey by creating effective chiropractic sales training resources for one reason — to help you improve your business. We’re not here to help you find a greater purpose, although that will come when your business is booming and your patients are happy.
The simple truth is this. If you are serving your business, you are serving your purpose.
Think of it this way: if your practice goes bankrupt because you didn’t focus on creating a sustainable, profitable business, how are you serving your purpose? How can you serve those in your community? You can’t.
You can have 1,000 people walk through your practice doors a week, but if those patients are only bringing in pennies after you account for losses, you’ll hit a point where there’s no option to swim — you’re already sinking.
Sure, your ego may be boosted in the process, but it will be a rude awakening when you have to close your doors.
An interesting study finds…
The Small Business Administration published a study listing the main reasons small businesses fail within the first five years.
The top reason is that owners focus on the wrong areas of their business. They are often too focused on the product or service instead of the business itself.
As chiropractors, we have margins. You need to focus on variables like that to ensure your practice is on the right path. Sure, high volume could be a sign that your practice is doing well. However, high volume doesn’t automatically mean you have a great business.
That’s why we crunch numbers with those in our chiropractic coaching groups.
Understand the value of your service and the associated costs
Unlike a product-based business with fixed retail or wholesale prices, chiropractors must factor in cost variables that are harder to evaluate, like their effort and experience. Many don’t associate costs with these variables, which is wrong. Think of the time and resources you invested into learning this profession. There is a cost to that. Then you have your staff, your lighting, your computers, and the list goes on.
Everything comes at a cost.
So, you must ask yourself, “What is it costing me to run my practice?” “How much does each patient cost?”
That is how you come up with your fees, which is… drum roll…
Your profit margin.
Your numbers matter, and knowing those numbers matters even more. Focus less on the number of patients coming through the door and more on the profitability of your systems and services. You could see 100 high-profit patients and make more than seeing 1,000 low-profit patients.
Serve your patients and your business
Once you see what drives high ROI for chiropractors and the strategies that get them there, you realize that you don’t need to choose between your patients and your business. Without one, you don’t have the other.
We see it all the time in our MasterClass. Eager, passionate chiropractors come in, and when they leave, they are transformed. A lightbulb goes off, and everything clicks. For many, they are outstanding at what they do. However, they were missing the core business strategies that would allow them to truly thrive.
Stop focusing on the wrong things
To wrap things up, it’s important to remember one thing.
Stop hyper-focusing on volume and start investing in your business. Doing so does NOT mean you don’t care about your patients or community. It’s time to let that idea go and join the movement for a more unified industry.
Chiropractors put so much pressure on themselves and others in this profession based on the number of patients they see. It’s time to break the cycle and discover chiropractic business coaching.
Don’t become a stat. Don’t invest so heavily in becoming a high-volume practice that you burn out. Check out the full video here to dive deeper into this critical topic. Have questions? Give us a shout today!