Struggling to grow your private practice? Try these 3 simple shifts:

In 2013 my stem cell practice was going under.

At the time there were only a handful of stem cell clinics in existence. This meant we had to invest too much time educating our potential patients before they could even consider our therapies. At one point, the time from their first inquiry to becoming a patient was 9 months!

These 3 simple shifts changed everything for my practice, and I’m willing to bet they can help yours as well.

1. Specialize

Imagine you own a 1958 Mustang Cobra. And after a Sunday drive, you hear a funny noise and want to have it checked. So you google for a mechanic in the area and find a shop claiming to fix classic cars like yours. As well as motorcycles, minivans and electric vehicles. Anything with an engine and wheels.

Would this make you feel like they’re the experts you’re looking for?

Well, that approach wasn’t helping us either.

So we made a list of the types of inquiries that we were getting, and the types of patients we had treated who had great results. We cross-referenced them and found our sweet spot. Now instead of a full laundry list of treatable conditions, we focused on two: autism, and cerebral palsy.

This made everything easier.

2. Simplify

Once we knew who our ideal patients were, we took to the task of simplifying our messaging.

“If you confuse you lose.” — Donald Miller, StoryBrand

We looked through our entire website, our emails, and every piece of collateral we sent out. We got rid of all the big medical words and replaced them with words patients used to describe their symptoms and health challenges.

Here’s the thing: your website is for your potential patients.

And if they can’t understand what you’re trying to communicate, you won’t be able to serve them.

3. Lead

This was the simplest, and also the toughest change to implement.

We made sure to always tell our patients what was the next step in their journey:

• When they visited our website → Apply for treatment.
• After they applied → Schedule a consultation.
• At the end of the consultation → This is how you book your treatment.
• And so on.

When you lead you position yourself as the expert providing counsel, while the patient is still in control of the process.