Good morning,
Many of you are working VERY hard to get meetings, sometimes they take a lot of work, others just fall into you lap. Regardless of the process, they are worth doing right and often times when you are starting out, you miss little things that can make a difference. Here are a few of the most important items to keep in mind when you are meeting with MDs and their office staff…In all reactions there is a “rate limiting step”, which means without that compound, enzyme or substance, the reaction STOPS, that is why you see one meeting then nothing else after. Remember the GOAL of the meeting is to get ANOTHER ONE and that is completely depending on being able to communicate often and effectively. REMEMBER THAT – here we go…
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER leave a meeting with the MD without getting PERSONAL contact and communication information. If they have decided to meet with you the barrier is down, it is ok to ask. What I say is that, “Dr. Smith, there may be some items that I need to run by you personally, can i have your cell phone, I prefer to text directly.” I have NEVER had them say no.
Meet and get permission from the MD to work with their assistant [Office manager, RN, NP, PA] or whomever is in charge of the office flow and administration. Do this BEFORE you work what person, get permission to work directly with them from the MD. I ask the MD quickly to tell that administrative person that I will be working with them and that I have permission. THEN, I email or call the assistant and I say this, “Sue, good morning, its Dr. Owens, I just talked with Dr. Smith and he had wanted me to work with you on bring Chiropractic into your system on the Primary Spine Care end of things. When can we talk for 5 min?” The KEY here is that the administrators BOSS said to do it…you will get MUCH farther with this process. The administrator MUST take you seriously.
Keep your meetings and communications to a minimum time wise. The reason the MD is meeting with you is because they are LOOKING FOR REFERRALS AND LEADERSHIP, there is no other reason. If you go into that meeting being wishy washy, not discussing referrals and not having a plan it is OVER. Leadership is about having an answer and a plan to put into action. Make sure you have that available, remember you are not looking for validation [we know it works], you are looking for PERMISSION.
Follow these important yet simple steps and your meeting will be MUCH more fruitful. TEXT often and keep it relevant.
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