I often get asked if ALL my Top Practices Marketing Mastermind Members are big successful multi-million dollar practices. Sometimes doctors hear what we are doing at Top Practices and think that the practices in the group are way out of their league.
Nothing could be further from the truth. My answer to the question "Are all the members in your group big multi-million dollar practices??" is, "Not yet…but they are all on the way."
In fact, we have solo practices, small practices, new practices, practices that are recovering from a major crisis or illness-caused setback as well as big successful practices. One of my favorite member stories is Dr. Misty McNeill, our Top Practices Mastermind Group Member of the month.
Misty is a podiatrist who practices in Elmhurst, IL. She has been a member of the Top Practices Mastermind Group for over a year now. She opened her own practice and started with no patients. Over time she built her practice while caring for her young children. She was able to focus on her family and still practice podiatry mostly on her terms.
Then everything changed. An opportunity came her way to buy an existing practice and she decided to do it. She made the investment, and began to put all the pieces in place to be successful in both offices. That's when she went from part time to full full full time. Her dedication to her family hadn't changed, but in order to still be a great Mom and a great doctor, she threw her sanity pretty much out the window.
We've all been in this spot at times in our careers. Some of the people reading this are right there, right now.
All of the problems that come with taking over a new practice appeared for Misty and very few of the systems that support this new level of practice were in place. So she rolled up her sleeves and went to work. She brought on an associate; she wrote down her goals for the first time and reviewed them regularly. She made the right staffing decisions and she really took time to think through her systems.
She kept working on solving her problems and building an exceptional practice, now in two locations. She started to really commit to the kinds of behaviors that winners all exhibit:
She associated with people with great attitudes and great ideas. People who could show her how they did it and people who have the right to tell her what they think. (Everybody can tell you what you should do - very few have actually earned the right to do it). She found this group of peers in her Mastermind Group.
She was willing to be coached. This is a KEY to success. Most doctors like Misty are brilliant accomplished people (in some areas) and most need help to succeed in other areas. Misty really started to see the benefit of listening to the very smart people in her life, like her husband ( a Senior Executive at a Major Company) and her marketing and mindset coach (that would be me) and others. Ideas were presented to her and she took the information and just made changes. She adjusted when she needed to and she began to take control of her practice, her personal life, and her future.
Here's how she describes it:
"Rem,
First let me tell you a little success I had....I went on vacation for 8 FABULOUS days to the middle of nowhere in the Caribbean! No cell phone, no email, no contact. I came back to find that everything had run smoothly...all emergencies taken care of...even my mail box wasn't that full! Since I opened my practice in 2005, I have never taken more than 4 days in a row and always scheduled so I could work the first or second half of the work week. AND This was the first time in 7 years that I went away and did NOT turn on my cell phone or email! It truly was an oasis I never could have done it without getting into the mastermind mindset...So Thank You...it truly has been worth every penny!"
She just launched her first patient newsletter campaign. Now I know that most of the people reading this say "Newsletters! Boring, expensive and ineffective!" Well, after seeing how other members of the group use their newsletters and how they produce them and hearing what the response is, she thought she would give it a try. She mailed out 500. As she was doing this she told me that she thought "This is going to cost me about $500 -why am I doing this?" Well she did it , and when 5 patients came back in and one needed orthotics and one surgery, she thought "Now I get it" If I spend $500 on communicating to my list and the result it well over 10 times return, then why wouldn't I spend $1000?"
Here's another great story:
"Rem,
After hearing MaryBeth Crane talk on the Mastermind call and being a runner myself, I was excited at the prospect that shoe stores might want to collaborate on services...
So we called them....
GUESS WHAT...they are having me on their monthly fun run in March and I will be the speaker...they usually get 50 people!
And while talking to her we realized that our kids go to the same school...so the school has a running club and we are sponsoring that too with warm up sweats for the spring. Combining my two loves...PEDS and RUNNERS!
Yeah...I feel like I am on a 12 step program...it works if you work it!"
It works if you work it
That's the beauty of good marketing. You never have to ask how much you are spending if it works. You only want to ask how much more can I do? As I always say there simply is no place that you can invest that will bring you a better return that your own practice. If you do it right. Misty is now ramping up her marketing machine and getting prepared to enter the ranks of the big successful multimillion dollar practices.
Misty, has always been a great doctor, wife, mother, friend, and daughter, Now she is a great business owner, and a role model for other doctors to learn from too.
Congratulation to Dr. Misty McNeill, The Top Practices Marketing Mastermind Group Member of the Month.
Misty McNeill, DPM
