Clinic owners – do you have new grads in your clinic, or a new grad starting next year?

New grads can work out great, but initially they can be a huge drain on the business – especially if they don’t “get it” from a private practice perspective.

In my experience, and based on conversations with hundreds of Aussie physio clinic owners, new grads who aren’t performing can not only limit the growth of a physio business – sometimes they can even send the business broke!

And they do it in a couple of ways:

1. The “one session wonder” – how often have you heard your grads say to a patient at the end of their appointment “see how you go”, “come back if you need to” or some other derivative of this message?

2. Resisting your private practice/business education – they believe you are “just a greedy business owner” – and sometimes they talk about this to your other physios when you aren’t listening!

3. Poisoning other physios in your clinic – the particularly strong and vocal grads will not only do 1 and 2 above, they will encourage others who work in your clinic to do the same, or place doubt in the minds of your other physios

So how do you get the message through in a subtle way that private practice is a business, their ability to earn more money comes from their ability to generate more revenue, and the fact you are not a greedy boss – you just want the best for your patients, your team, and the business?

Your have to facilitate your physios learning about business from someone other than you!

When your Physios hear about business from someone else, and the message is the same, they start to “get it” and they will actually listen.

Liken your relationship to your new grads like you are their Mum or Dad.

When you were growing up, did you listen to your parents?? You now know what they were telling you was right, but it didn’t make you listen to them at the time. Ditto for your new grad workforce. Eventually they will get it, but you want to make this happen sooner and not later.

So how do you help them hear about business from someone other than you?

Lately lots of physio clinic owners have been buying my book “Becoming the Ultimate Physio” and giving it to their existing new grads, or better still, giving it to their new grads as a gift when they start working for you.

Here is what a QLD based clinic owner said to me about how the book helped her young physios:

“I just wanted to share a breakthrough moment this week.
I had a catch up meeting today with one of my long term physios. Her diary has typically been a bit patchy and I was beginning to wonder if she really wanted to be at work at all.
In the past month I noticed a big change in her behavior and attitude towards work. Her diary has been fully booked for the last 4 weeks.
I asked her today what had changed – and she told me ‘I read that book you gave me.’
Nicholas Schuster we are talking about your book. Thank you thank you 
I encourage everyone to get their team members to reads Nicks book. You never know where it could lead.”

So get a copy of the book for your grads. It will be the best $50 you ever spend. Pays for itself in one good recommendation at the end of the consultation!

Have a great one

Nick Schuster
Ultimate Physio