I am passionate about developing the training programs my clients and peers in the hearing industry have demanded. But sometimes they are like the horse who has been out in the sun all day. You can offer him life-saving water, but you can’t make him drink.
For more than twenty years now, I’ve worked in the hearing industry. I know and understand what small business owners need and want. They want to improve their audiology practice marketing results, increase the call-to-appointment conversion ratio, and implement proven protocols to keep the focus on their patients’ needs. In a nutshell, they want their business to succeed!
But the biggest obstacle to that success is not lack of information, training or educational resources. It’s resistance to change.
To help you adapt to the changes a growing business demands, it helps to understand the five psychological stages of the change process and what you can do during each phase to adapt and move forward.
- Pre-contemplation. At this stage, you are not ready to make any changes in your business. This state of inaction and acceptance of the status quo could be the result of fear of change or the belief that changes would be ineffective.
- Contemplation. This is the stage where you recognize the benefits of change, but you are evaluating the costs of change in the terms of dollars and cents, effort and risk.
- Preparation. Those who are in the preparation stage have made the decision to change. If this describes you, “Congratulations!” More than likely you have made the decision to hire me!
- Action. This is where all the steps of change are put into practice. To remain on track, try some of these motivational techniques: (1) Put goals into writing; (2) Visualize results. (What will you do with all the extra income you will earn?); (3) Identify emotional triggers. (What will happen if you don’t successfully implement change? Will you go out of business? Will your children be unable to go to college?); (4) Track results. Seeing progress is in itself motivating. Seeing no progress allows you to adjust and make corrections.
- Maintenance. This is the final stage. It represents sustained change. New habits have become part of your business mode.
Ready to grow your practice? Talk to us today