Your Time Is Valuable. But Are You Valuing It?

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Someone once said to me, ‘If you don’t respect your time, no one else will’.

I didn’t really appreciate the significance of this statement at the time. 

I have owned my practice for about 10 years, and since the day I started, and about 4 years prior to that, I have been booked out virtually everyday. 

Usually, I am booked out at least a week in advance and in the early days it used to creep out to 2-3 weeks.  Even today, it is only in recent times with some changes to our business structure, that the whole practice isn’t already booked for the week ahead. 

The phone rings all day with potential clients wishing to get in that day and we have to negotiate a time in the near future.  That is; if they don’t get impatient and frustrated, and call somewhere else who isn’t busy in the meantime. 

I guess there are worse problems to have but I feel my temperature rise as I see a few gaps pop up in my day with people cancelling. 

Even worse, here you are – you are waiting for your next client and 5 minutes goes by (NB: This is enough for me to let a patient know that I run to time in a not so subtle way), then 10, 15 minutes pass and you now realise they are not coming at all. ‘Jeez’ I say to the girls out the front, ‘that is the second time she hasn’t shown up for an appointment!’

Yvonne, one of my Administration Team, then calls the client in question and apparently they’ve forgotten and are currently at a High Tea (what is that anyway?), so she will call back to reschedule.  ‘Tell her not to bother’ I mutter in amongst a bunch of creative profanities. 

Does this sound familiar? Have you experienced the same?

Two clients per week – not showing for an appointment or cancelling to late to allocate the time to another, costs the practice at least $8,000/year. 

Per Pod in my practice, that looks like approximately $64.000 p.a.  And that is just 2 per week!  What if you double or triple that?  Then consider the cost over 5 years.  That is a rather massive price for NOT RESPECTING YOUR TIME! 

So what did I do about it? 

Well, as Hive Educator, Andrew Roberts  says, ‘unless you set the rules, they will make them up for you.’ 

So, we created our Cancellation Policy. 

I did this scouring the web for similar policies (and you would be amazed how common place they are) and developed my policy.  What do you include in your policy?  Here are some options:

  • How much notice you require from the client (24-48 hours)
  • Will you charge the client the full fee upon cancellation or maybe you charge a nominated cancellation fee?
  • The client cannot cancel – but may move their appointment
  • What do you consider exceptional circumstances – define it
  • You can add they will receive a free appointment if YOU cancel on the client (mutual respect – I like this!)

It took me a long time to get around to developing my policy even though I knew I needed to. 

I felt awkward putting such a strategy in place.  I then stopped thinking with my heart and put my CEO cap on and thought with my head. 

When someone cancels at the last minute or doesn’t show, you need to consider the following:

  • You have lost the fee for that appointment time
  • You have lost the opportunity to help another client who badly needs your help
  • You still have to pay the Administration and Pods wages, Electricity, Rent etc
  • It is a direct cost to your bottom line
  • Is your time valuable enough to charge someone if they don’t respect that?
  • How valuable is your time to the client, if they can’t cancel an appointment without appropriate notice?
  • How will the client know what appropriate notice is if you don’t tell them?
  • How will this add to the professionalism and respect for your practice?

 

What happened last time you took a DVD back late to Blockbuster? 

Have you ever tried to cancel a flight? 

What happens if you book a hotel and you fail to show because ‘something came up?’ 

That’s right, you either get a late fee, you can’t cancel or it’s just too bad.  Yes, the hotel could have rented the room to someone else and they are justified in keeping your money. 

You too – are just as entitled to charge a client for your time if they do not comply with your Practice’ Cancellation policy. 

So as always … it comes back to ‘80% on the Why and 20% on the How’.  You need to educate your clients on ‘why’ the policy has been introduced (see above).

Once you have decided on your policy and why you have one, you need to communicate it to your clients.  You can do this by considering the following:

  • New clients sign an agreement which acknowledges their commitment and understanding
  • Attach the new policy to every receipt
  • Train Administration Staff to explain the policy when making the appointment e.g. ‘I would also like to let you know, due to the demand for our appointments, we do need 24 hours notice if you wish to cancel your appointment so we can fit others in who need our help too, otherwise a cancellation fee will apply’.
  • Train staff on the need for explaining the policy to clients
  • Educate staff on the ‘why’. They need to understand the need for respect from the client and the cost to the business.  They need to take ownership.
  • Add the policy to your website
  • Display the policy clearly in Reception (at The Podiatrist, we added a slide to our Reception PowerPoint display)
  • Direct mail/email the policy
  • Add an explanation to your Newsletter

Finally though, once the policy is in place, YOU MUST ENFORCE IT.  If you respect the policy then so will your clients.

A lot of food for thought – so what are you going to do?

Start respecting your time today and get the respect of your clients.

til next time

Troy

P.S. Remember also, to confirm all appointments via SMS or phone call.