Have you ever thought about the answer to this question:
“How will patients remember you?”
As a private practice owner and as pillar of your community, there is nothing more important than a powerful, grand vision that excites and motivates others. Here are four guidelines that will help you create a vision that will not only set you apart, but also help you to define your goals.
In the process, you will create a set of guiding principles that will not only help you achieve these goals, but exceed them and surprise yourself in the process.
1) Your Practice Mission Should Be GRANDER Than Everyone Else’s
When it comes to the choice of physical therapy provider, patients have a choice. So do physicians.
The choice can be any physical therapist, including your competitor. The question arises: What are you doing to INSTANTLY set yourself apart?
Here’s one example of a vision that can set you apart immediately.
To help 50,000 people in your community live pain free, healthy lives by 2015.
You should get every single patient; every single doctor involved in your mission right away, and explain to them why they should be a part of it.
The key words here are – RIGHT AWAY.
Here’s a tip that will make your vision stand apart even more. Your mission (and its followers) needs to have an air of exclusivity to it, almost like an insider’s club. When the human brain perceives an element of ‘scarcity’ or ‘exclusivity’, your prospective patients is more likely to say “I want this” as opposed to “I can do this anytime, and if I won’t then someone else will. I don’t have to do it RIGHT AWAY”
So, not only do you set it up so that a ‘select few’ can become a part of your mission, you also set up mechanisms for accountability so that the ‘insiders’ have to do something CONSISTENTLY. For example, walk for at least 30 minutes a week, if you share our vision.
2) Promote Your Vision Using Multiple Modes Of Delivery; Printed Booklets, Audio, Video
People have different learning styles. To teach people what your vision is all about, make use of multiple modes of education. Be creative in the way you explain your vision. Examples include videos in your website, audio CDs, DVSs, and printed booklets.
For most individuals, video is a preferred medium for information consumption. A video on your website that explains your mission will be more powerful than anything you say or print.
3) Share a ‘Future Paced’ Vision With As Many People As Possible
Here is an example:
Dear friend,
The year is 2015, and we just realized that we helped 50,000 people live pain-free and become healthier in the community. We conducted a patient appreciation event, which was attended by over 300 individuals in our community. We had a great time meeting old friend and forming new friendships.
It was an amazing experience, considering that a large number of our patients were suffering from chronic pain and were overweight when they first visited our clinic.
Their transformation, as evidenced today, was nothing short of inspirational. They’ve gone on to become pillars of our community and have been able to help their friends and family live pain-free and healthier lives.
For most of our patients, it was like a family reunion, since they saw people from way back in 2011 when they first met in our clinic. Since that first year, our community has grown exponentially and now reaches over 50,000 individuals across 7 counties across the state, speaking 5 different languages.
4) Make It Easy For People To Explain Your Vision To Other Individuals
Make it as simple as possible for people to explain your vision to others. They need to be able to explain the ‘who, what and why’ of the vision to someone in a couple of sentences in an elevator. The listener should instantly ‘get it’.
More importantly, they need to be able to tie in the vision with some aspect of their personal lives. When an individual has a deep, meaningful connection with your vision, they will become your most ardent supporters.
