February 9th, 2018
Forget About Organic Reach. With the rollout of a new “Explore Feed” on Facebook, which is a secondary stream solely for company updates, the presence of paid ads will continue to rise and organic reach to dwindle. Pay close attention to your news feed and start preparing your advertising budgets.
Videos Are Vital. There’s no denying that video is dominating our social media across Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and now LinkedIn. As of 2018, Cisco forecasts that 82% of all consumer Internet traffic will be video. It’s important to realize that it’s not how many people are watching your videos (going ‘viral’ if you will), but what they do after they watch. Focus on reaching your target audience and converting your views into sales.
QR Codes Are Making A Comeback. With their latest iOS 11 update Apple included a QR code reader by simply opening your iPhone camera and aiming it at a code to activate. These crafty codes are useful to make purchases, send pre-populated tweets, open website links and even special discount codes. Keep your eyes open and even try out your skills by creating a unique QR code for your business.
Get to Know Instagram Stories. Surpassing Snapchat (50 million users), Instagram (200 million users) is increasingly becoming the most widely used platform to connect with new audiences. If you haven’t discovered Instagram Stories yet, take a moment to review its features here.
The Benefit of Influencer Marketing. Some of the world’s most recognized brands, like Rolex, Hubspot and North Face use influencer strategies to improve engagement and reach new audiences. Over 90 percent of marketers who use influencer marketing strategies claim it to be successful, so it’s very likely that more brands will continue to follow this strategy as well.
Expansion of Live Streaming. With video becoming more prevalent the use of live streaming is a great way to capture your audience to grow your brand awareness. It’s very captivating for coverage of live events and Q&A’s of influential people to the brand (celebrity ambassador, the CEO, etc).
Now is the time to pay close attention to your social media platforms for new updates or changes, because it will impact the way you plan your marketing and advertising for the years to come.
February 2nd, 2018
It’s a useful exercise to reflect on the previous year and strategize for a better plan in the year to come. Here are the most powerful exercises to prepare you and your team for success.
1. Assess your wins and losses.
Take the previous year into consideration (literally!) and ask yourself: What were our biggest accomplishments last year? What steps and strategies did we take to reach these accomplishments? Which t steps and strategies did NOT work? Any failures or losses that you saw last year? Was there a reasoning behind this and what lessons did we learn from it?
We’re constantly in a state of learning, so take your strengths and weaknesses from the previous year and turn it into a proper plan for the new year.
2. Full team review.
No one leader has all of the answers, so look to your team for answers! Try creating an anonymous survey, like SurveyMonkey, to hear feedback on you as a leader, as well as other team members. Based on the feedback you may find that you need to hire additional help or even be more available to your employees. Whatever the outcome it is a really effective way to bring the team together to keep a positive environment in the workplace.
3. Strategize and set SMART goals.
After you’ve made your company assessments and reviewed the team as a whole you can start prioritizing and putting strategies into place using SMART goals. This is an incredibly powerful guide for goal setting and can help you to be more productive.
4. Share your priorities.
Let it be a team effort! Share this years goals and priorities with your team and delegate roles as needed. Add these goals to the office calendar or white board as a daily reminder. Everyone should take part in improving workflows to allow the practice to become more efficient.
5. Never stop learning.
Take control of your development as a leader by making a plan of action items that you will commit to for the year. Again, don’t be afraid to ask your team or close friends for advice on how you can improve as a leader. Look into webinars or workshops that focus on areas of interest or that you might find valuable to improve your skill set.
January 26th, 2018
They know you appreciate them, but how often do you take the time to actually show your employees your appreciation? Even the smallest ‘thank you’ won’t go unnoticed and will make for a positive work environment.
Here’s 10 creative ways to give your employees the appreciation they truly deserve.
1. Say thanks.
Invite your employees into your office just to say thanks. Simple and effective.
2. Mid-week treat.
Provide a mid-week snack or surprise your team with breakfast or lunch.
3. Tickets.
Offer tickets to a concert, movie, workshop or gala. A fun night out is a sure way to show your gratitude.
4. Give the gift of sweets.
Leave a small packet of candy with a fun compliment! ‘You’re a lifesaver’ with a packet of lifesavers or ‘I donut know what I would do without you!’ with a donut.
5. Employee of the month.
If you don’t have something in place, please do so. This will add a little friendly competition into the mix that your employees will appreciate as well.
6. Happy hour, themed luncheon or dinner party.
Plan a monthly outing with your entire team and let them decide on where to go.
7. Flexible scheduling.
Give them the option to leave early on a day they’ve finished their work early or even an extra holiday.
8. A retreat.
If the budget allows send an employee to a conference or workshop for a knowledgeable retreat and some R&R.
9. Holiday parties and birthdays.
Schedule in holiday parties and small treats on birthdays for a more personal approach to saying ‘thank you for all the hard work’.
10. Simple handwritten note.
Another small, but effective gesture. Leave a handwritten card or note throughout the year or on special occasions, such as holidays and birthdays.
January 12th, 2018
Create a company culture you can be proud of with these five guidelines in mind:
Honesty is the best policy.
Ensure that your company has a safe and effective policy to allow employees to speak openly to express their opinions. You never know what creative ideas may come up!
Surround yourself with great people who compliment you.
Hire employees who have different strengths and weaknesses than you and the rest of your team for a well rounded work environment.
Encourage high performance.
Find a team that believes in your business and will stand with you every step of the way. Creating a fun work environment that praises on high performing employees will not only motivate your employees individually, but also working together as a team.
Take from past job experiences.
Do you recall a past job experience that was good? Bad? Learn what not to do from bad examples and put into effect the good. We all know we learn from our experiences, so why not implement this into your business?
Laugh a little.
It’s your business and it’s your life, so have fun! Show your team members that you appreciate them at every chance you get. Your team will stay motivated and your business will have a happy, healthy company culture to truly thrive.
January 4th, 2018
Finding the right candidate for your business can be such a challenge and incredibly time consuming. A great candidate should fit all of the skill sets your position needs, the personality to work well with your team and forward thinking to continue to grow your business even further.
January 4th, 2018
LinkedIn has become a social media powerhouse and has been able to create a suitable social network for business people and is considered one of the good social networks amongst them. Being good in this case means that it encourages business minded individuals to actively engage in a social network that is almost seen as a must have in this present day and age. It has 467 million users, 106 million monthly active users and 133 million users in the USA today (source LinkedIn). That means that wherever you are in the world, even if you’re a local business, LinkedIn can be extremely useful for you in more ways than one.
Once you create your personal LinkedIn profile, you’ll also be able to create a profile for your business, which will allow your employees to attach their bios, as well as a way for others to reference your business especially if you’re in a B2B industry. If there’s a message you want to send out or articles you want to share, LinkedIn allows you to follow that course and steer yourself into what’s become the Facebook for businesses.
Quite often people use LinkedIn to attract talent. For example, if your medical office needs a new doctor or admin assistant, LinkedIn is an excellent source for potential hires. For example, recently one of our customers asked us how they could actually get a new Oral Surgeon for their dental office (the other unexpectedly quit) within a short time period. Our suggestion was to create a LinkedIn profile and then purchase the package that allows your profile to directly reach out to others based upon their posted resume, posted work experience, etc.. In this particular case, our client was able to convince another oral surgeon to move from one practice to another simply by pursuing them on LinkedIn.
Another method is to gather valuable information on your competitors by following their LinkedIn page, seeing who works for them, poaching their talent, or even try to get a pulse on their culture. Just like any social network, a LinkedIn page is a reflection on the culture and mission of the rival company and quite often a lot can be gleaned from simply studying what the competition has posted publicly. LinkedIn can also be a fantastic way to reach out to a potential mentor, someone who might offer a course or a consultant even. We’ve even know two people who started their entire partnership after a LinkedIn introduction.
Having your own LinkedIn page is a valuable commodity today. Don’t presume that it is a social network not worth pursuing. It is a fantastic way to network with potential customers, co-workers, employees or the business guru you’ve been searching for since you graduated from university.
What Is Included In My Membership? – Brand Membership – What Are The Benefits? –
December 6th, 2017
The facts are in, out of 1000 practices that have been audited, 70% of those practices lose 62% of their business internally. You might have seen this already before, and yes it’s literally listed on our website that the Medical Business Academy’s mission is to help practice owners maximize their true business potential. Rather than spending time micro-managing your business, we help not only identify the weak areas, but offer training and assistance to help you and your practice grow even further.
Out of the 1000 businesses we’ve audited we found that the majority of the practices lost an astonishing 62% of potential business simply because their staff were not trained in proper customer service techniques. The majority did not answer the phone properly, didn’t use the patient’s name, had very little product knowledge as well as not being able to book an appointment properly. The front line of your business is your staff and no matter how talented you are as a service provider, they will set the tone of your business and sow the seed of what people’s perceptions are of your business.
Your potential customers need to feel comfortable, especially if they’re going to spend their hard earned money on treatment plans that are not covered by insurance. You want them to feel like they’re stepping into a day spa, a place where they can leave their worries and insecurities aside. Your business should be their home away from home.
The Medical Business Academy Membership is vital to not only the success of your business, but to the overall growth and education that can be provided to your staff members. Even if you hire someone with very little customer service experience, our videos and online training will make sure that your staff is not only ready to handle all of those incoming phone calls, but also able to potentially reach those customers who have not yet made an actual decision to come in and are just phoning to ask a few questions. The MBA membership will also improve your staffs confidence when answering the phones and after they are properly trained your business will simply increase due to the proper training and customer service techniques learned by your front desk staff.
If you have any questions, please email us today and we’ll be happy to go over any questions you may have and we look forward to assisting in helping your business find its true potential.
November 11th, 2017
One of the first questions business owners always ask us, is Facebook for business actually as important as Yelp or Google My Business? The answer to that is yes, and that we suspect that Facebook will actually become a major source of information for local businesses in the years to come. Facebook is now actually appearing in Google search results for businesses and those businesses are getting reviews on Facebook. Facebook is also quite incredible as it is very capable of adequately retargeting your website visitors with ads and deals for your business.
First step, is actually setting up your business page from your own personal Facebook profile. If you don’t have a Facebook profile yet, then you need to create one which is fairly simple, log onto Facebook.com and enter all of your relevant information. Once you’ve created your personal account, then you need to click the downward triangle on the top right of your profile. Then click on the button in the drop down list called ‘create a page.’
Once you’ve entered all of your business information, then you are ready to begin setting up your business page. First thing, you should add your logo or photo to the front page, something you want people to identify you with. What’s fantastic about Facebook is that in the cover photo are you can actually add a video which converts very well with your followers and potential followers.
Make sure you add the call to action button on your home page. This is important if you want people to actually email you or call you directly from your Facebook page.
Real Estate agents want someone to get in touch with them. If you have an aesthetics business perhaps you want people to book a service, or to go to a particular page on your website (which you’d pick learn more) either way, Facebook is giving your business the option.
Once you’ve added that short description and or followed all of the tips on the page, the next step is to make sure that all of your business information is filled out. Click on the see more button and then on about.
Once you’ve reached the about page, make sure that you fill out everything completely. You’re going to want people to go to this page and be able to reference the time’s your business is open, to the location, to essential contact information etc.. Now that you’ve completed your business page, you’re ready to start posting photos, videos and all of the content that you want your potential visitors to see.
One to two daily posts to share information on your treatments, products or monthly specials is ideal; however, begin with whatever you are capable in posting high quality, relevant material to your customers.
November 6th, 2017
We all know how important it is to have professional manners and etiquette within the workplace, but what about while speaking on the telephone? This is the first impression your customers will have before visiting your practice, so it’s extremely vital to get this part of the customer journey perfected in order to keep your retain loyal customers.
Imagine if you called a new business that opened close to your home or office and the individual who answered the phone cut you off and placed you on hold. Would you be happy about this interaction? What if they kept you on hold for more than 10 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Would you consider visiting this business after an experience such as this? The same goes for your business and the individual you place in charge of answering the phones. You may think this position is easy and ‘how difficult can it be’ to hire an entry level employee who can speak on the phone? You might be surprised to find out that your receptionist or front desk employee should actually be one of the higher paid roles in your company. They handle all first and last interactions with your customers, they handle billing and checkout, offer retail suggestions and sales support, and all of the scheduling and appointments for your customers. So what is the necessary etiquette for speaking on the telephone?
With these 5 simple etiquette rules your customers will have a joyful experience throughout their entire patient journey. At The Medical Business Academy we strive for the best Customer Service for your practice. Through our extensive Mystery Shopping Audit Reports we focus on all the key points of Customer Service that will help in turning your customers into loyal customers.
October 22nd, 2017
Owning your own medical or aesthetic practice can be extremely rewarding, but at the same time it can be very stressful as well. Have you ever asked yourself this question: ‘How can I focus on my business when I spend so much time managing my staff?’ They may have taught you in school how to inject fillers and perform a surgery, but oftentimes they did not prepare you for the realities of owning a medical practice. That is why The Medical Business Academy has developed a comprehensive audit as the first phase in our system to make sure that your practice runs smoothly from the inside out. Did you know that 70% of practices lose 62% of their business internally?
Whether you want to call it an audit or a secret shopper, our team members start the audit process from the time they initiate their first call to schedule an appointment. Actually each of our mystery shoppers assess the following factors: booking the consultation, confirmation, finding the practice, arrival, waiting room, consultation, product recommendations, retail displays, design decor & ambiance, departure, overall impression and the overall score. Your staff never knows that they are being assessed, nor do they know exactly when the customer is even going to arrive. To us at the Medical Business Academy, we know that the customer journey is so important to your business that we can pinpoint exactly where and in which step of our audit process you begin to lose money.
In some cases perhaps your staff has not been properly trained with phone etiquette and either rude or blunt to one of your potential customers. When it comes to any medical procedure, people need to feel comfortable the entire time. Or perhaps your software does not properly schedule an appointment and or if your office is too hard to find (no visible signs) or perhaps parking is difficult. Another instance is that waiting room is uncomfortable or even the decor is outdated. We analyze every aspect of your customer’s experience because studies have shown that these are all potentials that can discourage the customer from becoming a repeat customer.
Our audits, as well as the e-learning training modules, have saved medical practices millions of dollars. If your staff is properly trained, then that will result in more money for your business; it is hard enough to get a customer into your business, why risk losing them as a loyal customer? If you become a member of The Medical Business Academy, we will immediately send in our secret shopper and you will have your comprehensive report within the first 90 days of our program.
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