I just finished up a coaching call with a client who is in their 7th year in practice and we were discussing how sometimes his lack of confidence, self doubt and fear prevents him from making the money he wants to make and stops him from moving forward in his practice.
When I asked him how those traits present themselves in his practice he shared, that sometimes he doesn’t want to launch a big marketing campaign because, if it works, he’s not confident he can help everyone the way he wants to. He also shared how he charges less or discounts his services for certain patients because he is not confident in his pricing and is afraid some patients will think he charges too much. Another way these negative thoughts prevent him from growing is that sometimes the Naturopathic solution or care plan seems so obvious to him that he feels bad charging the patient hundreds of dollars for something so simple to him.
I shared some insight with him that he said helped a lot and I thought it might help other Naturopathic doctors who might be experiencing the same issues.
Let’s address the last issue first, because it’s the easiest and quickest: “The Naturopathic solution to their problem seems so obvious to me”.
Folks, there is no such thing as “common knowledge”!
Have you ever watched Jeopardy or other quiz shows and when Alex Trebek (RIP) or the host asks a question that you know (or gives an answer in Jeopardy’s case) but the contestant gets it wrong and you think “Oh Wow how did they not know that?” … they didn’t know that because they never learned it, they never experienced it or it was not important to them until now. There is no such thing as common knowledge! The things, solutions, care plans that seem so obvious to you are only obvious because you spent years on medical school learning them and you treat patients with that issue every day in your practice. Your patients have not had that same education or experience.
Your years of education, training and experience has huge value, don’t discount that just because you know the solution to your patients problem. If it was simple and obvious to them they wouldn’t have come to you for help in the first place!
“What if I’m not able to help everyone?”
I can guarantee you one thing as a business owner and in your case as a Naturopathic Doctor … you will never be able to help everyone!
Many years ago when I sold my marketing company and was interested in getting into business coaching, Ron Sutton, my business coach at the time, gave me some very sound advice, he said;
” Colm, it is great that you want to help people, but remember , you can only help people who…
- Want your help
- Are open to your help
- Are willing to take action on your advice
- And if you want to make a living at it, you can only help people who value your advice and are willing to pay you for it”
That advice has served me well for the past 20 plus years and now I offer that same advice to you as an ND.
As I said to my client on our coaching call, don’t let your fear of not being able to help one or two patients prevent you from reaching out to the hundreds of others that you can help. Do the marketing, attract as many (targeted) new potential patients as possible, help those you can and for those you can’t, provide them with a recommendation to other doctors or solutions that will fit their needs better.
Lastly, Offering Discounts … Don’t!
Yes have value packages, pre-paid multiple visit packages, family packages, loyalty rewards, special promotions, etc. But don’t decide to discount your services on a case by case basis because you “think” someone “might think” you are too expensive. They probably spent more money on their dinner and wine last night than your fee … and they didn’t question the value they were getting, neither did the restaurant question the value of their service. You shouldn’t either!
Be proud of the value of your offerings … you are saving lives and/or helping people live enjoy a longer, healthier, happier lifestyle.
Surely that’s worth more than a potentially cholesterol raising steak and a possible liver damaging bottle of wine!!!
Remember … if you want to make a living from being a Naturopathic Doctor, you can only help people who value your advice and are willing to pay you for it!
Hope that helps!
If you want help growing your practice check out the upcoming two day ND Marketing Workshop here
1 Comment
Lucindia
May 2, 2018I can so relate to this post, thank you for sharing. For years I had a very tough time being comfortable with my pricing and asking patients to pay my fees until one patient told me that she pays $120 plus a $20 tip for a 45 minute massage every week in a local day spa! That was the turning point for me. If she was comfortable spending over $550 per month on massage, my fees were too low for being a doctor. I’ve since, with Colm’s help, raised my fees considerably and have attracted much better, more committed patients. Move past the self doubt and start making the money you deserve as an ND. If I could do it anyone can!
Leave A Response