I AM A HUGE believer in “that which is tracked will grow.” This is not a unique concept; it might even sound cliché. But the biggest hurdle for practice managers is not tracking, it’s implementing a goal structure to create change within the team. Stats are pointless if they don’t result in change. Here are 4 proven steps to create real change in your optical:
Set a numeric goal. Picking a percentage growth over last year won’t cut it when it comes to needle moving. Setting a goal is best achieved by focusing on one metric for the approaching month and choosing a whole number goal. Review how you have performed with that metric over the past three months, then reflect upon what that metric looked like 12 months ago. Choose a fair number that reflects the performance of this metric based on that data. Take that reflection metric and choose a goal number. So if your reflection metric is for AR treatment at a quantity of 81, and your goal was to grow 12% over last year, then choose the number 91 for the 12% growth. It is vital to give your team an actual whole number to shoot for.
Set a timeline. You are not going to focus on this goal forever, no way! You will move on to other goals. You need to set your team a timeline for these goals. At Spexy we have found the sweet spot is two months; long enough to create a habit, yet short enough to keep the team engaged on what is to come. Let your team know you will focus on this single metric for the next two months. You will set the metric goal for month one; after that you will pay out then immediately choose another (hopefully) higher yet achievable goal for month two. At the end of each month, review the goal and reward accordingly.
Work backwards. Incentivizing the team is important to create real change. So how do you reward? Some like gift cards, some like outings, but most like money! To figure out the amount, work backward from your profit. Let’s say your goal is to increase AR. Start with the profit on a private pay order, then on a vision plan order. Roughly work in your VCP to private jobs and create a number. Let’s say you make $80 on AR on a private pay job and $33 on insurance jobs. Your office has 50% vision plans. Your profit is about $56.50 per AR job. Set your payout on what you are going to pay split among the entire team on all AR jobs only after the goal is reached. Some split the profit while others will put $10 for each job in the pot (for example). This depends on your volume but again the payout is not earned until the goal is met, so make it desirable once the pot is split. At Spexy we teach teams how to recommend from the front desk and even from pretesting. You’d be surprised how quickly everyone gets on board when the reward is for the team.
Daily measures… Have the tracked goal posted in a common area where it can be updated and reviewed daily. Place a team member in charge of tallying up the metric that was hit for that day. Daily reminders keep teams striving toward the goal.
Download this form for a daily goal tracking sheet and to learn about Reach For The Stars Goal-Setting. Remember, that which is tracked grows, but that which is well incentivized will change very quickly.