Effortless Practice Growth for Introverts

Introduction and Guest Background 0:00

Hello, everybody. This is doctor Bob Hoffman from the Master Circle Global. And welcome again to the Practice Upgrade Summit. Today we're going to have really a terrific conversation with someone who is going to clearly help you grow your practice and grow your business. This individual has an amazing story and history that you are not going to want to miss. And then we'll share some gems with you. Just drop some amazing growth bombs your way to help you grow your practice and upgrade your business.

So today we're going to be talking about how to save time, stress, and staff turnover to grow your practice even faster. Our guest today is Chen Yan, and she is a sought after national speaker and the founder of Filmic holistic practice, providing introverted, visionary chiropractors and other health holistic practitioners with a step by step process and guidance on building either a 6 or 7 figure practice that get this runs without them. Chen came from the other side. She was a pharmacist and kept it, kept it as a secret herself because she didn't want people to really know what she thought about drugs.

She then start and grew her own business from $0 to seven figures, the introverted way in less than five years. As someone who is navigated change during these unexpected financial times, she has been through what it's like to nearly lose her business and then came through the other side stronger and better. And having a business that runs without her. Clients include past president of the American Chiropractic Association, Sports Council, the American Society of Acupuncture, as recent president of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

Chen's mission is to wake up the planet and change the way we treat illness and health. And man, I applaud that. This can happen only if we chiropractors and holistic practitioners get the word out. So with all of that being said, Chen, where I'd like to get started is first. Just welcome and thank you so much for giving up some of your precious time to join our Practice Upgrade Summit. Yeah, so excited to be here. You have an amazing summit of speakers that everyone's just all benefiting from right now.

So kudos for you being you all being here and watching this. Well, thank you so much. And you are one of the dignitaries that is the parade of stars that make up this this amazing summit. So your time is precious. And the people watching this really want to get value. So let's start a bit with your story. Tell me how you made the leap from being a pharmacist to becoming a guide for wellness practitioners. Sure. So I started out working on Native American reservations in the pharmacy and felt very jaded.

I would go in the pharmacy. At first I enjoyed the venture and travel, but then I would go in the pharmacy and and see, you know, giving these people their medications, bag full of medications, 10 to 20, as if it was no big deal. And then kids would come in, they would get immunization shots and leave with a cocktail of medications even when they weren't hurting anymore. And I just thought this is not a way to live. And at the time, I wasn't really clear what to do, except that I had to get out of there.

So, one thing I observed was other pharmacists around me were unhappy, and they were they were in government jobs. So they would have on their computer screens it would say 15 years, two days. And I thought, oh my goodness, not a way to live. So I thought, well, what if I could help them get into jobs they enjoyed more? So fast forward five years, I had started and grown a recruiting business to seven figures in that time frame, which is what you were talking about earlier. And so I used to always think that if I just help people, you know, if I actually, for one, was helping people, but then also made more money than, okay, great.

Doesn't matter what I was doing, then I could do what I cared about outside of work, but but, I went through a time frame where I just felt quite dissatisfied and did a lot of soul searching.

From Pharmacist to Wellness Advocate 4:30

Finally came out the other side and realized, I need to stop pretending that it was still okay for me to primarily sell my soul for people to be on drugs, because that was quite a bit of, you know, what I was still doing. So, in thinking about our health care system, I mean, it's been pretty awesome how much things have progressed, where chiropractors are much more recognized and understood, as being sort of health care, but it's still not happening quickly enough. And it's really starts with you as as chiropractors and functional medicine practitioners, who are getting the word out about your, your practice.

And that's when things will change. It's not going to be insurance companies. It's like going to drug companies are going to be be the government changing things like that. So, that's what led me to help chiropractors and other holistic practitioners with growing their practices. And, especially when it's not something that for, for example, because of my experience in business and then but then also, you know, these things aren't always taught in school, and then you're out and you're wondering, well, what what am I supposed to do?

So, so yeah, so that's what led me to be doing this. And then it specifically with the hiring side of things, because of all this experience in recruiting, you know, quite honestly, these are things that that I have had had held pretty close to our chest for, for a longest time. And I'm just starting to I mean, the only kinds of people who would share it with would be our, our insider clients in terms of our introverted visionaries, mastermind clients, where we're fast tracked into 6 or 7 figures.

But then, you know, I wouldn't be publicly sharing these things as much because there are some, some things that we, figured out over the years that worked really well. And then also based on a lot of mistakes that I've made with hiring, gosh, I've made those too. So we all have what we want. So it sounds to me that you made the the leap, not just from being a pharmacist to a guide for wellness practitioners, but you made the leap from having a job to following your calling. Yes. And it was, it certainly, you know, looking back, there's just, I it's it's almost hard to believe, you know, and, and I think that's the cool thing about each, each of you listening to this, you know, wherever you're at in practice, sometimes you just don't see how it could even happen.

Whether it's you're starting off and then you're, you're, struggling or if you've been in practice for a long time and you just feel like something's bubbling up in you, where you feel like something needs to change and but you don't really know what, right? You don't always have to need to know the way. So, but you, it's just really following your your inner guidance is, is really key to. Yeah. No doubt about it. So listening to that inner wisdom, that innate intelligence, you know, for me, I've always seen myself as a chiropractor following a calling because it's not a job.

It's not even a career. It is a calling for me when I get my ego out of the way, Chan and I look at all of the extraordinary, unusual events that happened that landed me in chiropractic school. I had no control over that. My claim to fame is I was going in the boat, going down the river of life, and I didn't fall out. I mean, that's just the bottom line. I never even applied to chiropractic school. Someone applied for me and told me about it. Wow. So? So I know I didn't choose the calling I was chosen, and I get you have that same experience.

I guess almost everyone has that experience. Just some of us recognize it, some don't. Yeah. So also relative to the pharmacy fiasco on your part and by the way, they're a great pharmacist. And they mean well and they're very educated. This is not being disparaging on pharmacists, but sooner or later, if you listen to that inner voice, you realize that better health through better chemistry is not the right path. It's better health through better living. Could you speak a little bit about that? Yes. Well, I think a lot of pharmacists do actually know that deep down inside and, and and so there's actually a more of a movement nowadays towards functional medicine within pharmacy.

And then I think there are some who are still in a, just in a little bubble as well. I remember I been practicing and a pharmacy student, said to me, that whole homeopathy thing is just a bunch of bull. And I thought, oh my God. Oh, and he was saying that it was because there's no therapeutic quality of anything in it, you know? So it's just, I think there are people who are going to be open and then there are people who might not be yet. But that's exactly why we need to be educating, 100% the public.

I 100%. So let's start turning our attention towards educating. And and I think my first step in getting there is asking you this question. How is it different for introverts and extroverts to market and attract new patients? You make a big deal in your business that you're an introvert, and you specialize in helping introverts. But what's the difference for the people who are watching this? And how does it affect how they market and attract new patients? So a lot of, well, a decent number of chiropractors are introverts, so you know that 30 to 50% of the population are introverts.

But a lot of what's taught about how to market and grow practice assumes that you're an extrovert. So it's very challenging for us introverts that the idea of, oh, I need to always be putting myself out there or, doing all sorts of these outgoing kinds of things. It it can feel really exhausting for an introvert. And so the most simple, one of the things about what I have observed about my myself and also for our chiropractor clients too, that's made a big difference, is first really embracing that, you know, we don't have to do it the extroverted way.

And, and also the because there's there's a lot of misconceptions about what it means to be an introvert. Things like we're shy or, or, and but it really what some of the, the key things that, that point to, whether you are an introvert or an AI are things like, do you end up getting your energy more from being alone instead of being with a bunch of people all the time? Do you sometimes think, something witty to say the next day that you feel like you should have that and day before? Because we mean introverts, there's actually a study done where our brains work differently.

So we we take in things, process it, and it takes time for sometimes for it to actually respond. Whereas extroverts, they, they take it in and respond to the same time. So I remember, for example, I used to beat myself up all the time when I'd be in group settings. And you know how sometimes I, you're asked to do some group projects and, and then the, people who are extra in the group, they just seem to have an answer for everything all the time. And I used to wonder, is something wrong with me?

I'm just so much slower. Right. And and only when I realize this, I, I recognize this as more of an introverted quality. And so I think part of it is, is just noticing what your own energy flow is. And if you're actually ready to be to be, more outwardly than then go for it. If you're not, then don't beat yourself up for it. You know, if you're at a networking event or conference, if you don't feel like talking talking to anyone, then don't, you know? So, I think those are some of the things that as an introvert, to keep in mind.

And then when you are more readily available, then you you'll be more full to be in expressive yourself. And then in terms of from a marketing perspective and, and growing a business perspective, so many times as I, a lot of extroverts prefer more of a high volume practice. And what I find with, with and introverted practitioners that many chiropractors that I work with, as many of them actually prefer more of a lower volume, but more in depth, connection with their patients.

Introvert vs. Extrovert Marketing 13:00

Because many times introverts tend to value knowing fewer people better, where extroverts, you know, they're more of a spy. They like being with a lot of people. And whereas that can actually drain, introverts. So really finding, a style of marketing, the practice that that resonates and is in alignment with who you are is one of the first steps that we work with our clients on. And then then, also looking at, what, you know, even what your business model would look like based on on that too. And when, when those pieces are in place, then the practice becomes easier and more fulfilling and, and more enjoyable to certainly does.

That was beautifully expressed on your part. So thank you. And I think that's eye opening for a lot of the people who are watching this. And for me, for me, this is once again consistent with what we've already said at least twice. It's really dialing into your own energy, your own wisdom, and and following your feelings where the energy flows for you. You know, an extrovert in marketing his or her practice. It doesn't matter if they're a chiropractor or a naturopath, a massage therapist, that it wouldn't matter.

Anybody in the wellness world, they're going to do things like, dinner with doc or, community lectures or spinal screenings, or they're recording a new video every single day to put up on social media because they want to be out there. Whereas when I speak to an introvert, they go, I know a lot of my friends do that. I know they're doing well, but that's just not me. And that, as you stand in general, should not be a sign for beating yourself up or thinking less of yourself. It's finding a different path.

So I know you're famous for what you refer to as your five secrets of Attracting New Patients. As an introvert, could you speak about ways for introverts to market themselves to attract more new patients? Sure. So, you know, one of the ways that works really well as an introvert is and that's often overlooked is getting referrals from medical doctors, because medical doctors actually have thousands of patients in their practices, and many of their patients could benefit from what you have to offer if they actually knew about you and if they trusted in you.

Imagine if you even had three providers sending you 1 or 2 referrals week. What would that do for your practice? And it's also one of the few avenues where you could, get it in place and then you could be getting referrals, even three months from now, six months from now, a year from now to come. So that's one avenue, that I help our clients with. And, the, the, the second one is the. So one of the reasons why, people aren't coming to you yet likely is because they don't have a clue about what you can help them with.

And when you're able to educate people, when and they are able to also see if they resonate with you, they're much more likely to come in. And one of the best ways to do that is by speaking. So whether it's speaking in person or right now, more, more online and even getting things more automated this way, imagine, you know, you could be eating dinner and someone's learning from you or from a webinar or an interview that you had done before or a video. So, that's also an an awesome way to reach more people at once.

And the key about doing it, the introverted way, because I actually have extroverts call me instead. And they say, oh, I want to do, you know, two talks a week and that can just feel so exhausting sometimes for us introverts. So, so it's about being really strategic with who you're speaking in front of and then really having a strategy that not only educate but also inspires new patients to come from it because it's a completely different skill set. It's one thing to educate, another to actually attract patients to come from it, too.

So when you have that that skill set without feeling like you're being pushy, then it's, it's something that can be generating patients ongoing. So those are top two I would say, strategies. And then the third one is getting the phone ringing or online as well. So because some of the things that that, you can get in place, for example, that we help our clients with these again, a place once and then it could be getting patients ongoing. And so that's just nice. But you just need to know, you know, what kinds of things to put in place.

And so yeah. Beautiful. So what would you recommend to the doctor watching this regardless if they're introverted or extroverted, how could they or how should they be communicating to people, educating people in a way that they actually understand the significance of care, or the reason for ongoing care, why they should be referring in their family or their significant other? How would how would a doctor go about that from your perspective? So in terms of educating the patients how to go about doing that, is that what you're right.

Yes. Yes. So I think it really starts with so I think when one big mistake a lot of chiropractors make is, we're going with the flow of the situation, which is important. But then also the challenge with just going with the flow of how things go with the patient and how they're feeling in that moment, and is that patients aren't educated about, what really needs to happen with their care. And so if you're not educating them and, and in a, in a way that really supports their health, then you're really leaving it up to them to kind of figure out their own care.

And most people don't have that ability to. That's why you're a doctor, because you went to school for that. You know what to do. So, one of the keys is what is happening throughout the whole process in terms of any from the very moment someone experiences you, what are they seeing? What are they they understanding to when they actually have that first conversation with booking or maybe booking online? And then what happens after that first booking. So retention happens before the, the, you know, after that it happens even in the very beginning like this.

And then when they do, so before they come to your office, what do they hear from you about? What do they get from you? What, what are things that help build up your credibility? And what are things that help them understand more about their care even before they come in? For example, to you actually have something that could be educating them a little bit about, the kind of care you're going to be giving them even before they come in or about their health issue their most prominent health issue that they brought up.

And then, then also, do you have a little bit about your story that you've shared with them, even perhaps even before the first visit, for example, in an email? So you're not just here's another person I'm seeing and, and and so they get to know you a little bit from that perspective of who you are and what made you decide to start this, this practice. Why are you so passionate about this? Because when people are aligned with who you are and your values, they're going to feel more connected than, okay, I'm just going to go get an adjustment here.

And then, the so what happens before what happens at the visit? So what is in your office. What are on your walls. What do you point out to people. Do you actually, introduce them to your practice? Do you show them? I was actually talking to a chiropractor yesterday and he said, you know, I don't have anything on my walls at all. And I thought, oh my goodness, right. And unused. Right. Yes. So what's on your walls. What are you showing people. How are you inspiring them even from the first visit.

And then the staff. How are they getting to know the staff more even. You know, even from the first I said just an example. And then, then what happens? So the visit happens. And then how are you educating during the visit? Then how are you educating after the visit as well? And, and, and what kinds of things help support them feeling like, okay, I'm, I made a good decision or I'm going to be making a good decision here by by getting this care here and then continuous education. So this is another mistake that I see a lot of chiropractors make where the, the education is assumed.

So because have you ever had had patients come in and they, feel they have come to you, for one thing, they have. And then they didn't even realize you could help them with other things. And they went to go see another practitioner for that. And you think, oh my goodness, we could have helped you here with that. So, so it's a continuous, educating process. So do you have systems in place that support that? So so that you don't have to always be reinventing the wheel. And do you have a way of, of, of explaining things so that it's comfortable and, and it also comes across because just because you it's explained doesn't mean it always come to grasp.

So those are few. And we can't just assume because our mouth is moving that

Attracting New Patients and Referrals 23:00

and they're shaking their head like this, that they got what we were talking about. So for example, one of the things I always trained my doctors about is you never know if your communication got through or not or got under stood or not unless you ask. So, for example, at the end of the report of findings, you know, Dennis and I, in the master's circle, we train our doctors to ask a question like this. Could you please repeat back to me in your own words, the most important things you heard from us today, and the purpose of that is not to give them a grade.

It's not to ever embarrass them. Any answer is acceptable, but it allows them to repeat some of the key points and allows you to fill in whatever key points were missing. But the real purpose is for you to get a sense of their communication style and what worked and what might not have worked, so that you can keep adapting it and customizing it, refining it. And this is it for me at the heart of the issue, you know, so many chiropractors have had the experience that they go in and do a report of findings on a new patient.

And a great patient went out and scheduled the next month of care, maybe made an appointment for their spouse and the doctor feels awesome. But an hour later, the doc goes in and does another report of findings that another new patient, only to hear the new patient say those dreaded words. Let me go home and think about it. Right? How is that possible? In doctors, same day one was a a total success and one was a failure. And the reason is you can't communicate the same way to everybody. There is different personalities, different languages, and you have to adapt to the person in front of you.

And so many of us were never taught that it's a new topic for us. We're not sure how to adapt. What type of personality is the person in front of me, and as a result, what kind of language should I be using for him or her? And that's why so many of our, our, our colleagues get such inconsistent results. They fool themselves into thinking they're excellent communicators because they do get some great results, but it's unbelievably inconsistent. So I just think that you're you're spot on with how you're approaching this and your, your mindset relative to this is 100% correct.

And consistency is definitely the key. And that's always really nicely. And to even the hiring side of things. Right. And understanding people there to you bet you bet. I'll get to the hiring in just a moment because I'm intrigued about your history with that. But for the doctors watching this, are there predictable ways that they could generate more referrals? Yeah. So as far as there are, couple of key things, that they can do to do that. So did you know there's actually a study done on this where, you know, 89% of people who are satisfied with your services are willing to refer, but guess what percentage actually do prefer?

So it's something like 29%. So why do less than half people who are satisfied with services are willing to refer and it's usually because of 1 or 3 reasons. Because imagine if you actually, by the way, before I mentioned that, you know, imagine if you actually had, more like double the referrals you're, you're getting right now. Yeah. And that can make a big difference. That could already be double the number of patients a week you're seeing. And then if you have, a higher volume practice, there's no reason why you, if you're doing a good job, that you can be getting a good number of referrals a week consistently and, if not actually doing so, it's almost like attracting so a lot of chiropractors to make the mistake of, focusing on attracting and attracting new ones.

And then that on the other end, when people fall out and they disappear and then they, they also don't refer, you know, so, so, a circling back to you, what are the three reasons why, people may not refer? And number one is, you know, people like we talked about before, people coming in, for one thing, not even realizing that you can help with other things. And then second reason is because even if they are, even if they feel like you could help them and even tell other people about you, it may not carry through.

Translation I had a chiropractor who had a patient come in super excited one day and he was saying, I was telling so-and-so about you, that you're amazing. It's like voodoo. And he thought, oh my God, telling them that it's like voodoo. So, even the best intentions, though, that, you know, patients might have it may not carry through translation to the point where someone would come in. The third reason is that, even if a patient appreciates you, it may not be top of mind awareness. So it's not necessarily that they go about their day thinking, oh, I need to make sure I refer so-and-so to you.

So then it becomes, how do you inspire referrals without being, without bugging people? Too much or feeling like you need to be gimmicky because you're a doctor and you don't need to be a Mickey. So one hot tip about this is to be asking for referrals. But how do you ask in a way that doesn't feel like you're being kind of pushy and awkward about it? So the first step is to actually, acknowledge their progress. And this is great to do, even regardless of whether you're asking for a referral anyway, because, you know, people love, the fact that they've made progress, who does it?

And so it's just wonderful to acknowledge your patient for that. Then the second step is then also bring up a specific kind of a situation they might be able to think of to refer. So one mistake I often hear is just, oh, if you think of anyone to refer then then let us know would be great. You know, I'd like to help more people like know that kind of address. But what is a challenge of that? Well, where does the mind go when when it says, oh, do you think of anyone. It goes blank. Oh I'll think about that later.

Right. So, but first, if you actually think about a specific scenario, you know, if they're dealing with such and such and feeling frustrated without that, then then, send them to me, you know, or, or introduce us. That could be one way to say it, another way to, to bring it up, that can really help up the number of referrals is something that has really helped up. The number of referrals our clients are getting from their patients is, actually bring up, can you think, or if you think of in case you come across 1 or 2 people who are complaining about dot, dot, dot.

So why is this? Well, what, how do we find out if someone should be referred anyway? Because, like, you wouldn't know. You wouldn't know if they had knee pain. You wouldn't know if they had neck pain, if they weren't complaining about it. So when you can bring up a scenario in which someone actually is, might be talking about it to where that referral gets recognized, then you're going to be more likely to actually get the referral. So also notice instead of me saying, if you think of anyone I said, in case you come across, or you can say, in case you come across someone or you can say, in case you come across 1 or 2 people or, can you think of 1 or 2 people who've been complaining about that?

So where does the mind go when we actually say 1 or 2 to the mind? Go ahead. Because there was 1 or 2 people. Yes. It just starts thinking who's one, right? Who's two? And it doesn't feel overwhelming. Right. Whereas, you know, anyone's like, oh, I'll think about that later. So those are a couple of hot tips that can help. And then it also helps with, what your office is doing too. So the the weight of this, it's not like on your shoulders. And do you actually have, systems that support reminding you to, to be asking for referrals?

And then do you have, for example, software that can support that too. So those are some things that we, we, we're helping our clients. We help them, you know, for this is very helpful. Look, I think every doctor loves referrals because it kind of validates them. I think we all recognize that a referred patient is always the best patient. They already come in liking you, trusting you, respecting you. It's just a different breed of patient and a better breed. So, these are terrific. Let's circle back to your your experience and your history in the hiring process.

I think one of the other common ways that doctors create friction in their own practice is they don't know how to hire. They don't know what to ask. They don't know what to look for. They hire based on visual appearance or who they like, versus who has the right skill sets. They're not customizing the personality to the position. So you have some amazing extensive experience with this. Could you just share a couple of, bonus tips about the hiring process? Sure. So I think one of the things that, I would say as I share these, some of these tips, is that it's helpful first to think about what are some of those situations where, I think there are a couple of, of common, mistakes that they're in, struggles that chiropractors experience related to this, that, that are really important to shift to be successful with hiring.

So one of them has to do with with feeling like can't let go of control, because have you ever felt as you're listening to this thinking, well, but no one can do it better than me, or I can just do this faster. It's going to take me longer to train someone, so might as well do it myself. Or and thinking about, you know, if you're getting to, to the point where you are getting busier and, and you're starting to have to extend your hours, and then if you go on vacation, there's, your patients are taken care of, and then there's always a dip when you an income when you come back and you feel like you have to kind of build up again.

But then, you know, there might be this part of you is, has, has some kind of a thought, a fleeting thought. Oh, maybe I should hire an associate. But then but then another thought comes in, but I've heard about bad experiences, and I don't know if I want to manage someone, and, And so I would say one of the, the most important things is, or maybe, what can I say? Oh, yes. That explains one of the most important things is, is to recognize that A is going to be limiting for you to just be by yourself in your practice.

And, because there's only one of you to go around, there's only one of you only so much time in the day and not enough of you to go around. And it could feel really good. And, like, it's a sense of pride, right? It's like, oh, they want to see me. Or I can do all this myself and keep more of the profits kind of thing, including admin, sometimes. But, but if you actually shift your thinking and look at, well, how can I help more people and how can I? Because if you're going to reach a certain point in your practice where you are getting busier and and then you're going to wonder, oh my goodness, I just created this, this job that I, I love, but I also can't leave.

And so when I'm when you just recognize that you're going to actually, enjoy it more if you had that flexibility because imagine if you had the flexibility. It's not like you have to not work, it's just that you have that choice and it's very different. For example, I had a client of ours who she wanted to be, you know, starting to leverage herself more and even bring another stream of income. But she never did it. She would always have some, some reason about why it wasn't the right time because she was too busy.

And then she ended up, unexpectedly needing eye surgery. And that just scared the heck out of her because she had to. For one, she she didn't have other sources of income, so she didn't make money during that time. And then, and then she was afraid she might even lose her sight. And this is just totally unexpected. And that really hit it home for her. That. Okay, maybe I need to start looking at this and then for those of you who are in a place where you had a bad experience, I know what that's like because I've been through it myself.

But, you know, just say like, oh my gosh, there's something wrong with me. And I need to, you know, this I need to be a better leader and I need to, you know, or, how come this doesn't work, right? Just almost wanting to give up that that sense of giving up. But, you know, the thing is, it's just a if that's happened to you before, it's just a matter of how, you just haven't attracted the right person yet. That's all. Because once you actually have the right person, then it's just going to feel so amazing and, and really be helpful.

So I think those are really important, mindset shifts that need to happen first.

Hiring, Delegation, and Team Building 36:30

Because what can happen if that's not there is that you can even try to think, okay, I want to hire and then you end up manifesting this situation of not being able to find the right hire or manifesting a situation of someone not working out because you believe from the start it wouldn't work out right. So, that's actually extremely important. I used I had a mentor of mine who she, she would always say, oh, I just attract, you know, this person just so she, she would always have great hires. And we would ask her, well, what what do you do to attract her?

She's like, oh, they just come to us and we just look at her like, really? And so, but she was so great with this, you know, being just energetically, in that, in this practice. Right? Yeah. Super energetically attractive and just, just, knowing that she will attract that perfect person kind of thing. So I would say that's, that's an important first, hot tip, then, then the second thing is to look at so another area where there are mistakes that happen is, you know, well, where do I find these people, or feeling like you can't afford, paying for someone and, so in terms of the affording piece, what I would say about that is.

It's not always the right time to be hiring someone. So how do you actually decide that? And then how do you afford them? So in terms of deciding it, when is the best time to hire someone. So usually there are only two reasons to hire. One is if someone's going to make you more money, two is if it's going to save you money or perhaps your your sanity. So, so then look at will. What would be the best role to hire for first for. So for many of you initially it might be more of the admin kind of front desk ish kind of roles.

And then eventually it would be more of like a revenue generating role, such as, whether it's a marketing outreach person or, or it might be an another associate, but actually those decisions could even be made earlier on in practice, as long as you know they're going to be revenue generating for you. So, and the best time to hire someone is, is when you're, for example, starting to get busier to the point where you can already start to see that you are going to need more help, but not to, up to the point where you absolutely are desperate because then that is too late.

So many chiropractors don't end up having a plan with us. They just, you know, get to that point and and think, okay, I'm going to hire. And and many times that poses to be a challenge because when you're hiring out of desperation, that's when people just don't work out. Right. So breathing and they want the job. Let's hire them. Yeah. Yes. And so it's what I always say is is many people like to shop for stuff. Great chiropractors and entrepreneurs like to shop for good people. Yeah. And so always be looking even before you need someone have your eyes open.

Right. So okay so then let's talk about in terms of how do you actually afford someone if you feel like you don't, can't say, cover their expenses and that kind of thing. So you have a couple of options. One is that perhaps you can look at, hiring somebody who might have less experience and train them up. But the drawback of that is that you will have to spend more time to train them. The second possibility is to actually save up for a hire. So do you actually have a separate fund that you just start putting money towards?

And because, see, one mistake a lot of chiropractors make is look at this as an expense. It's like I'm going to have an expense instead of looking at your hires as an investment, because just think about how each person could be helping more people for you and be making money for you. Imagine you can actually be sleeping and someone's making money for you, or you can be traveling, right? And someone's making money for you. That's what a good hire can do for you. And they're they're also helping people, as you know, like that's at the core of it.

And so then in terms of, of, looking at this less as an expense, but more as an investment, just like you would invest in, in chiropractic school. So, and then just as you would in your business to, for, for hired. And the other thing is that, sometimes it, it could make sense in terms of, so what I was going to say a tip about the affording piece is then have your, your, accountant or someone you trust their finance with, looking at your numbers to also look at break even point for you. So at what point does this person need to be able to either start producing revenue by or it's a business decision.

It's time to let them go. If you've hired them for a, a, revenue generating role. And then if you aren't hiring them for a revenue generating role, for example, admin help, you're hiring someone for admin help or what are you doing with that time that would have would have actually gone into, the admin time. So that's something that, you know, to be really cognizant of. How are you using your time wisely? Okay. So in in one of the things that I recommend our clients do in, in deciding, who to hire for and start, or if you should hire or not, is to actually, we had this, this, this cheat sheet where it helps you calculate.

And actually now I think about I'll make sure to include that in, in the bonus templates, that I kind of give you. Yeah. So and I'll give you the website who's so introverted visionary.com/u s so introverted visionary.com forward slash us. And so the that there's a, a sheet that you could fill out where it will actually look at. Well how much money are you really making. You know. And so how much time of your time are you like, you think you might be making $50? An hour, or maybe you might be making $150 an hour if you're doing functional medicine or something like that, or other kinds of things.

But are you really making that right now? You know, how much of your time are you making? Are you spending on $15 an hour tasks where you're doing paperwork or doing billing kinds of stuff? That $15 an hour people can do? How much time are use that that's spending doing $50 an hour winds? How much time are you spending doing $150 ones? How much time are you spending doing $1,000 an hour kinds of tasks? And sometimes people ask me, well, what kind of what do you mean by $1,000 an hour tasks? I don't know anything. I'd make $1,000 per hour.

So those are the things that perhaps that you actually develop relationships with, with people, for example, even medical doctors, where they could be sending referrals consistently for years to come that be more like $1,000 an hour, kind of a of a task versus, for example, just seeing patients. And so when you actually calculate this out using a formula, I will give you an, a template. And, and then you actually average out how much money you really are making. Sometimes you might be surprised.

I remember when I first did this, I thought I was making more and I, I was really embarrassed. Actually, that's true for almost everyone. Yeah, I was I just looked at it and I felt super embarrassed. And so, it's it's just great to know and, and then, recognize and realize, oh, okay, let's see how I can shift things to be where I am making more like $50 an hour or more than that per hour or so. So that's that's another hot tip as well. Beautiful. That was great. You know, I think so many of us have had the experience, Chan, that when you have a really terrific support staff, a team member, it makes practice and life so much more effective, so much more profitable, so much easier.

But the reverse is also true. When you have a staff that isn't productive, isn't dollar productive? Isn't generating income requires a lot of your time. It's kind of analogous to running a race with 100 pound weight around your leg. It's just not worth the pain or the or the process. But there are great people out there. I also think one of the challenges for a lot of people in the hiring process is they're looking for the perfect candidate, and the perfect candidate doesn't exist. The perfect candidate is sono has the raw qualities that you can mold into the perfect candidate.

But that's where training comes in. And training, like patient education, is a never ending process. I'm sure you would agree with that. Yes. So it really is. For example, in our four weeks to a new hire system, we really look at, well, what is a, you know, as you actually have hired the person, then how are you going to, to onboard them. Do you actually have a 90 day onboarding plan? Most people don't really have have it strategically laid out. It's like, okay, here, I think I want you to do this.

And and then I expect that they should just get it kind of a thing or hope that they, they would get it faster than you think they would. You know, at the front desk when a patient comes in, ask them their name and, send them in. I know that doesn't work. There has to be an extensive training process, and that's another point of friction for so many doctors. Well, you know what I our time is running out and I, I can have this conversation with you all day, if not all week. You're filled with great ideas, practical experience, terrific tips.

This was a treasure trove of information for the people watching it. And I'm indebted and grateful and appreciative for for what you've brought to this summit. So, yes. And I would like to add, a couple quick tips about the finding person, because finding people because I think that's where a lot of people struggle with. And, so I think, what one, a couple quick tips to leave you all with is when you're looking for the person. So it's about looking at, well, where would be the best places to look for someone.

And, and instead of just for example, posting on a bunch of job boards, have a mix of how you're, you're attracting people, whether it's even. Have you, thought to share it with your patient base, too? And, because sometimes some of the best hires are come through unexpected ways and do you have, for example, when we work with our clients, there's an email you could just swipe and and then send out and it can help you get get leads for for good hire. Then there's also the what do you actually do as part of the screening process.

So, so do you feel like you have to sift through so many resumes and it's just so time consuming, and at the end of it, you just feel that jaded because you still haven't found someone. And, you don't have time for that. So then a couple of key tips is, is and one thing that I love to do is actually have questions asked within the application. So they have to actually read the application. It's amazing how many people don't read. And then you could just hit delete, delete delete. Or you can have other someone else on your team help you and hit delete delete.

And then the other thing is quick. So many times chiropractors will will bring people in for, for their first interview. So through our years of experience with this, we have a way that helps you skip over it. And actually make sure that this template is, as far as the questions, template screen questions, templates in there. But like we do a quick phone screen, it can literally be ten minutes and some key questions are asked. And so one of the big mistakes that that a lot of people ask are are more leading questions.

And of course, what are people going to say? Oh yeah, of course I can do that. Oh, I do that really well. Okay. So and but instead, if you actually ask, for example, when one question I like to ask is what's important to you, what you're looking for? Or if you could design a work day however way you'd like, what would you love to be doing in a typical day? Like what kind of activities would you like to be doing? And I don't say anything about the job or anything early on. These are the kinds of things I asked initially, and what do they do then?

They're more comfortable telling you about what they want. And sometimes what I've found is that people aren't really, you know, right, for that role, I can already kind of tell or, there's another role that might be better for them within your team. And then another hot interview question to ask, which I'll make sure to include in the template as well. Like this. And, and some other hot, interview questions that really help these people out because have you ever hired someone and they interviewed.

Well, and then then they just weren't a good fit for you? What these kinds of things can helps us set it up much better. So faster. So for example, one great question, that that I got from the book was there's, you know, if instead of asking someone, what are your greatest strengths or weaknesses, you can ask what who were your last three supervisors? What would they say about your performance on a scale of one through ten?

Closing Resources and Final Tips 50:00

When we talked to them? Not if, but when. Because then they're going to be more more vigilant about what they say, right? Because you're going to talk to them. And then you can say, what would they say about your strengths? What would they say about your your areas for improvement or weaknesses. And then also listen in, because sometimes people will actually bash their supervisor. And that's not a good, you know, in that time frame. But if I sign yeah. So those are some very helpful ten. Again, I greatly appreciate your time and your wisdom and your experience.

Thank you so much for contributing to this practice. Upgrade summit. You are a delight and a joy. And I just again want to thank you for for all you've contributed. Yes, happy to be here. And then the templates that I promised the so the phone screening questions, the quick ten minute phone screening questions, top seven reference check questions, and the, attract the right hire roadmap so you don't make those kinds of mistakes. Like there's some checklists in there that can help you so that you actually attract a good hire and, are able to free up your time and, and help more people and also make more money.

So you can go to the, the link there. Introverted visionary.com forward slash us. Thank you once again.