In my lecture series, “Lost that Lovin’ Feeling? Success Is All About Relationships,” I talk about how my practice implemented relationship-based systems that are simply powerful and powerfully simple to enhance our success. 

In a previous “Daily Grind” post, I discussed the Pareto Principle, whereby it is my contention that 20% of our practice success is due to our clinical knowledge and skills and 80% is from everything else. I like to talk about that 80%.

Knowing that “mindset + systems + consistency = success,” I talk about how inexpensive systems done consistently and with the right attitude can transform our business for long-term success. One of those systems, if done consistently, is what I call “Moments of Magic,” which are 10 or more moments that change how our patients respond to us and become raving fans who pay their bills, show up for their appointments, schedule their next appointments, and refer their family members and friends (what I refer to as pay, stay, repeat and refer).

In this blog series, I will outline each one of those Moments of Magic. The sixth one is the “Golden 10.” 

Our new patient has heard about us, checked out our website and social media, and liked us enough to pick up the phone and call. They were thanked for calling, scheduled and surprised with an office tour upon arrival.

Now it is time for us to meet our new patient and get to know them better.

You know the Golden Rule — “do unto others as you would have done unto yourself”? What if our patients don’t want what we want for them?

I much prefer the Diamond Rule — find out what it is that people want, and then find a way to provide for them what they uniquely desire.

How do we build trust and get them to say yes to our treatment recommendations? We establish a relationship by getting to know eight to 10 things about them. If you know eight to 10 things about the person in front of you, you change the relationship from a professional one to a personal one. People trust people they like, and gathering this information in an informal way transforms how they will interact with you — and you with them — for the entirety of their participation as patients in your practice.

What are the eight to 10 things you should get to know? I outline that in some detail in a previous Daily Grind blog post.

The more you know about the person in front of you, the more they think you know what you are doing. It allows you to understand a person’s priorities, motivations, desires and more. It enables you to develop a treatment plan that fits their life and their needs. Developing relationships takes away the need for sales.

Once you get to know the person, the seventh Moment of Magic is all about involving the patient in their own health status and future through co-diagnosis. I’ll detail more in the next blog.