If You’re Daily Action Article originally from April 28th 2017 FPC Newsletter
Written by Mary Guirovich
If You’re Daily Action Plan Isn’t Working You Likely Are Not Working The Plan
It’s about a 50/50 split on the results that FPC sees when implementing the Daily Action Plan (DAP). Fifty percent of the clinics implement the DAP and automatically increase their sales by $7-40K on average simply by putting goals in place and going after them. So what happens to the other 50% that don’t meet their goals or even earn a single dime more when putting this tool in place?
Before we uncover why it works for some and not for others let’s look back at the purpose of the DAP. The purpose of the DAP is to be transparent with the company’s goals so that each team member can understand if it was a “good day” and if it wasn’t what do we need to do tomorrow to ensure that one “bad day” doesn’t lead to a disappointing month. To put it even more simply it’s our scoreboard on how we perform as an office on a daily basis, which is a good indicator of how we will perform as an office over a period of time, in this case, a month.
Many times in the day to day in the office the temperature is based on the day itself on how the schedule flowed, patient issues, getting out on time, having a refund, etc. In the end, this type of focus and the way we handle the situations can tell us about morale but will tell us little about the businesses financial health and will not allow us to design a plan. This is most easily seen when managers/owners run around putting out fires and have many projects that gain little to no traction over time.
When we bring the focus and purpose of the DAP into play it becomes easier to judge the temperature of the day because we focus on one main goal with smaller goals that support the main goal. The main goal being revenue and although it’s the main goal it takes achieving the supporting goals to make the revenue goal a reality.
So why doesn’t the DAP work for 50% of the clients initially? It doesn’t work for a few reasons. First, it’s never trained on or implemented. This can be because of fear of the staff knowing the company revenue or even because an owner or staff member doesn’t find the goal to be attainable.
Second, there is nothing in it for the staff members. Many people are not driven by goals alone but must have some motivation to work towards that number. My experience tells me that if you have the right people then the extra motivation isn’t a necessity because they are likely driven to hit goals without the dangle of a carrot. FPC does suggest that you offer a monetary bonus but only if the company will be profitable upon hitting the goal number.
The third most defined reason for failure in the DAP is the lack of understanding around the control in which staff members and owners have towards hitting the goals. If no efforts are made towards meeting the smaller goals that lead to achieving the overall revenue goal then success isn’t likely. The DAP is a scorecard but just like in basketball a score isn’t made by sitting on the bench watching. You have to be an active part of the game.
So what can you do? Get in the Game! Start by looking at the breakdown of the goals. If you don’t have enough leads for the day then go out and get leads. It could be talking to people on your lunch break, your friends, family, people at events that you naturally attend, shopping clerks, waiters/waitress, etc. Anyone that you normally come in contact with is an opportunity for a lead. In addition, you can talk to businesses, hang flyers, utilize Facebook, Instagram, asking for referrals etc. Point being, if the leads are not calling in, then you hunt for them.
For other markers on the DAP, we can look at the systems the clinic has in place. If people are not showing up for appointments, lets figure out why. If we want to sell a certain number of supplements or ancillary services, are our clients aware of what we offer? Do you probe new clients during the office tour in a way that you can determine if ancillary services should be added to programs? Do you ask each person if they need supplement refills? Do you call out of town clients to send supplements? Do you package supplements together or educate your patients on the benefits of the supplements you offer? Do you email blast or run specials on ancillary services? Do you participate in community events geared toward your ancillary service community? Do you package your current fee for service offerings?
By now I’m sure that the light bulb has come on and you’re ready to start actively working the clinics DAP. Don’t waste any more time; start today by doing at least one thing that will help you to hit one of the smaller goals on the DAP. If each team member is diligently working towards hitting the smaller goals, the revenue goal will happen. This includes you too, owners, it cannot be stressed enough how important it is for the owner to be contributing on the DAP. So bring referrals in, close patients on wellness programs that never considered it, sign spouses that didn’t think they wanted a wellness program, recommend supplements, and encourage your team by focusing on the DAP.