8 Traits of Best Run Practices (Ep.160)

8 Traits of Best Run Practices

Catherine Maley, MBA: Hello, and welcome to Beauty and the Biz where we talk about the business and marketing side of plastic surgery. I’m your host, Catherine Maley, author of Your aesthetic practice – What your patients are saying, as well as consultant to plastic surgeons, to get them more patients and more profits. Now today’s episode is called “8 Traits of Best Run Practices”.

Now the best part of being a consultant to plastic surgeons for the past 22 years is getting to see all the different ways there are to build an online. Build a brand, surround yourself with staff who support you, strategize your marketing plan to attract new patients and on and on. But there’s nothing easy about it from the outside, but it’s imperative to implement these 8 traits of best run practices.

It can look like a practice is super busy and running smoothly. However, it can be chaos internally. That’s why this saying is so apropo: “Never judge your insides by someone else’s outsides”. Boy, is that the truth? When you can, what you can do is learn from others who did figure it out. So the following is a list of eight traits of best run practices.

The best run practices have these traits. So this is a really good place to start. trait. Number one, the surgeon has a growth mindset, all arrows point to the surgeon who owns the practice, the best have a vision for where they wanna go and they have the drive to get there. Now they’ve got a growth mindset, which means they’re open to growing as a person, as a surgeon and as a leader, they think an abundance versus lack, and they see the opportunities in both good and bad things that happen along the journey.

They’re also very passionate and a whole lot competitive about growing their practice and they strive to better their best. That means they stay open to new technologies, new marketing trends and new surgical techniques that give them the competitive edge. Now, in order to stay relevant, they learn new skills such as leadership, managing people, business and marketing that keeps them evolving and adaptable to the constant change happening around. These are the key traits on having a successful and best-run practice.

Now here’s trait number two: The surgeon treats their staff well in the best run practices, staff is seen as an asset rather than a liability or an overhead expense. The surgeon knows they can’t do this alone. They understand their team is actually their practice building secret weapon. So they make this part of their practice, a priority.

Now the team supports them because the surgeon has built a culture of shared values and regularly talks to their team about their vision. So they have clarity. However, they’re also not afraid to hire slow and fire fast. If someone does not fit into their culture. So the surgeon is even tempered and treats everyone with respect, which is vital to having a best-run practice.

He or she sets the standards for how they expect their team to act with the patients and with each other. So they themselves role model good behavior that increases their team’s respect for them. Now staff need acknowledgement and recognition. So the surgeon pays them well, offers them complimentary cosmetic services.

So their team looks the part and schedules fun time to thank their team for their support. Now that can include bagel breakfast. Or a taco truck shows up for lunch or dinner out now here’s trait. Number three, the surgeon and team meet regularly. Now most practices are so busy. They barely have time to eat.

Let alone meet. However. The best run practices find the time because they know if they spend a little time up front, they save a ton of time in costly mistakes, week processes, staff turnover, and a toxic environment. So they meet with their team regularly and get their feedback from the front lines because they’re listening for ways to improve and they’re open to change.

If it’s good for the good of the best run practice and not just for one individual. Now they keep the addend agenda short and sweet. Now here’s an easy agenda. First, just celebrate your win. Then the surgeon repeats the vision and expectations. Then they review key numbers that make the biggest impact. Then they talk about what’s not working and the solutions to fix it.

Then they brainstorm growth ideas. And then they recap the to-do list from the meeting and document who does what, by, when they’re able to let go of control and micromanaging. They trust the people around them since they took the time to hire right train. Right. And then hold the staff accountable, especially with these meeting.

Now here’s trait number four, the best run practice spends money to make money they’re frugal with their time, not their money because they understand money buys them time. So they recognize the opportunity costs of doing things that should have been outsourced, such as learning SEO and writing your own web copy.

They know they can’t shrink their way to success. So rather than focus on saving money, they focus on making. Yes, they do cut expenses that are no longer necessary, but they know the real way to wealth is to focus on assets, revenue, and income. They see marketing and excellent staff as an investment to grow their practice to be as best-running as it can be.

For example, They know, it’s a whole lot smarter to give their a player, a raise when they ask for one than to cheap out and lose them, then spend weeks or months finding someone to replace them or having to hire two cheaper people to replace them, train them, and then hope they fit in and they get it.

They see it ended up costing them so much more in the long run and just not worth. Now they also give back, they donate to worthy causes because it gives their staff the why they do what they do and a common purpose for the whole team. And frankly, it makes everyone feel good. So the surgeon knows the philanthropic efforts are also good for not only team building, but also for social media content and then great PR.

here’s trait number five. They think patients for life rather than one, and done the best run practices. Think quality over quantity. They don’t play the numbers game by spending a fortune on advertising and then having their staff waste time, triaging these weak inquiries to find the few gym. Who are actually serious about moving forward.

So they would rather serve less people. They like working with and who’ll help them grow their practice organically with word of mouth referrals. Now these best-run practices see their patients as friends and family and treat them with respect while focusing on excellent patient relations. Now they understand that these happy patients can be patients who return again and again, while also referring their.

Writing five star reviews, sharing their story through social media, approving their before and after photos and making video testimonials. They know it’s far easier to keep these profitable patients coming back. So they offer comprehensive services to include all stages of life for the cosmetic patient.

They attract more sophisticated patients who care more about their relationship than saving a dollar. So they do not cater to the price sensitive, who don’t value, skill and expertise as much as saving money. Now here’s trait number six, the surgeon knows their numbers. Surgeons with the best run practices, manage their money rather than abdicate their responsibility.

They take full responsibility. For knowing what’s happening financially in their best run practice. So they have a bookkeeper and an accountant do the work, but they review the numbers regularly. So their team knows they’re watching the numbers and this helps avoid any unwelcome surprises. They watch their expenses and they know their return on investment on each surgical and nonsurgical procedure.

For example, before buying an expensive laser, they consider the consumer demand for the service, the supply, and how many nearby competitors offer the same service, the price point to keep it profitable. The time it will take to pay it off and the advertising budget, it will take to reach their goals on having a best run practice.

This helps prevent that laser from becoming a coat hanger. Like I hear constantly now here’s trait number seven. the surgeon has a standard for excellence. Now these surgeons are regularly honing their craft to make them the best at what they do. They stay curious by visiting other best run practices, attending conferences, and talking with their colleagues to learn what others are doing.

That’s working. So rather than being a no, all they ask questions and then listen to. They get outside help to discover what they don’t know that is holding them back. Now, these best run practices also find the time to be extraordinary, otherwise known as extraordinary. And that means they do what others won’t don’t or can’t.

So for example, they reply to leads within minutes versus hours or gaze their phone is answered by a friendly human being within three. they text patients when they’re running late, so they don’t have to wait and, or they include a rapid recovery plan with surgery for less downtime and on, and. and when a challenge comes up, they focus on solutions rather than running from it and hoping it just disappears and goes away.

They also delegate tasks. They dislike doing to people they trust, but they also follow up to be sure it’s getting done and they have very little tolerance for practice drags, such as draining staff and difficult patients. And then lastly, treat number eight, the best run practices. Have surgeons who think big, the surgeons of best run practices are competitive by nature and use that for motivation to grow.

However, they also grow uncomfortable being the only revenue generator in the practice. So they look for ways to leverage their assets such as their patient list, reputation, experience, and staff. Now, these surgeons figure out how to scale by working on their practice rather than in it. They see they could do more than just surgery.

So they look at other streams of income rather than working harder and longer. Which leads to burnout and ineffectiveness. So ultimately they spend more time finding, managing, and mentoring key players in their best run practice who become the major revenue generators. So the surgeon can focus more on the business side, such as fine tuning their processes, as well as adding more surgeons and injectors, laser tax and location.

so to recap, the eight traits of best run practices, they are a surgeon has a growth mindset. They treat their staff. Well, the team meets regularly. They spend money to make money. They think patients for life, they know their numbers. They have a standard of excellence and they think big. So there you have it.

The eight traits are the best run practices. Now this should give you lots of food for thought, as you create your own romance success.

Okay. Thanks everybody. We are going to wrap it up now for Beauty and the Biz and the 8 traits of best run practices. Please do me a favor and subscribe to Beauty and the Biz.

And if you have any questions or feedback for me, you can go ahead and leave them at my website at www.CatherineMaley.com, or you can certainly DM me on Instagram @CatherineMaleyMBA.

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-End transcript for the “8 Traits of Best Run Practices” Podcast.