Confidential Counselor

At the request of their trusted financial advisor, I met with two brothers last week. These two gentlemen own and operate a business that has enjoyed consistent success for 11 years. Their advisor wanted to me determine how best to fuel their growth.

When I met with Franklin and Christian (not their real names) they were extremely skittish with me, which surprised me, as typically people who want to grow their business are usually very pumped up when I arrive.

When I questioned this with them they were very blunt. Their business is profitable, typically expanding 3-5% a year, and they are making a “good living.” The thought of more growth scared them as by their own definition they have a great work-life balance and don’t want to change that.

Whether you or I agree with this is moot. What is important is what they want. I told them this exactly and wished them well. While I would have liked to work with them (who doesn’t want a paying client?) to refine their business, I could not recommend this in good faith. Their trusted advisor was none too happy with me but as I told him, doing the right thing isn’t always the easy thing, but it is always the right thing.

The lesson from this is simple. Know yourself and know your business. If you are happy, making money, paying your bills, and do not foresee any situations that will negatively impact your business, keep going and enjoy the ride!

Given the fact that I am also the CEO of one of the most foremost market research companies around, this post may seem a little odd coming from me.

Like many of my posts here, I too base this one on some recent personal experiences.

In the last 30 days or so my wife and I have endured some pretty bad experiences at two chain (Applebee’s and On the Border) restaurants and at one small non-chain coffee shop. I spoke to managers/supervisors at the chain restaurants who encouraged me to complete their online customer satisfaction survey (is that really the solution?), which I did. In the case of the coffee shop, when I complained to the owner that the cashier was too busy talking on her cell phone to answer my questions, his response was, “its really hard to get good help.” Really?!?!

As suggested I did complete the web surveys and shared with them the good and bad. I also offered my name and relevant contact information. Perhaps you are not surprised that I had no response, but I was.

If you own a business and you solicit feedback, make certain that you are actually going to do something with it, or don’t bother with it at all. As we say at Powerfeedback, a monkey can collect data; literally, the trick is what will you do with the intelligence gathered to make a positive difference to your business?

Email me today to see learn how to best collect input from your patrons/clients, and how to most effectively respond to their issues.

Despite what you may think, or may have heard, doctors are not garnering the income that they once did. That’s where I come in :-)

In working with a small (2 docs) cardiologist group I was asked to find ways to help them generate more revenue. Early on in the assignment I started talking to patients, both active and inactive. I discovered that 19% of the patients cancelled their routine (follow-up) appointments within 72 hours of their visit. There were two main reasons for this.

• They could not afford the co-pay/fee for the visit
• Due to a lack of funds they did not go for the scheduled blood work needed for the appointment

In 66% of the cases this information was shared with office personnel and in 81% of the cases the patient received this response (or something very similar) from the office staff- “yeah, the economy is hurting everyone.” In 89% of these cases, the information as to why these patients cancelled their appointments was not shared with the doctor.

As you can see there is a myriad of problems with this situation. Aside from a lack of compassion and understanding, why isn’t this crucial information being shared with the physician? I have answers to that, but for now, I will focus on some of the changes that I made to help the patients and, to increase the physician’s income.

• I negotiated a special low flat rate with a local lab for the most common tests that these cardiologists ordered. This meant more revenue for the lab and saved the patients money.
• I met with representatives from six different pharmaceutical companies to devise a program of more free samples for those patients with true financial need, and got brochures and information packages for the “if you can’t afford your medication…..” programs that they all offer. I also got them to assign one customer service rep to this doctors office.
• Both doctors now receive a daily report of appointment cancellations with reasons attached to them. If there is ANY reference to financial limitation, one of the doctors personally calls the patient and reviews options, including a payment plan.

I am proud to report that patient cancellations are averaging below 4% and that new business is up 20% as word of how this group treats patients circulated.

Though this example focuses on a physician group, strategies and action like this transcends virtually every industry that Confidential Counselor works in.

Feel free to email me with any questions or to learn how we can help your business.

“My name is Scott Gingold, I change peoples lives.”

I was recently engaged to give a speech to a small group of entrepreneurs. Prior to me starting my presentation the host asked everyone in the room to stand up and say what they do.

One after another it was the same thing. “I am a lawyer, I am an accountant, I am a doctor, I am an electrician, I am a contractor, etc., etc.

So after nearly falling asleep, it was my turn and my response was simple. “My name is Scott Gingold, I change peoples lives.” People looked stunned at my statement, and frankly, some looked annoyed. I immediately changed the bulk of my speech to focus on this topic.

The fact is that whether I am representing Confidential Counselor or my other company, Powerfeedback, I change peoples lives. Let me explain.

At Confidential Counselor most people call on us to either help them to expand their business, or to try and save it before it goes under. At Powerfeedback, using our extensive market research services and capabilities, we help clients become more profitable and knowledgeable. In both of these cases, I positively impact the lives of people and companies.

As the audience started to get it, I used some audience members as examples. In the case of the attorney, I asked her what exactly her main focus was. She told me that she was a divorce attorney who focused on the children first and foremost. Awesome! So I delivered her pitch. “My name is Jane (not her real name) and I successfully guide families through one of their worst life experiences.” Next up, the contractor. I inquired as to his main business expertise. He told me that a good deal of his work was in fire restoration. Great! Here too, I delivered his pitch. “My name is John (not his real name) and I help families rebuild their lives after tragedy has struck.” These statements are door-openers and will provoke further conversation which, is good!

BOOM…..the audience got it! I then asked EVERY member of the audience to reintroduce themselves and to tell us what they do. Suffice to say, the room was electric, and the event was an overwhelming success!

So what do you do?

Anyone who has read any of my writings knows that I am a huge fan of Networking. It has always been and, I suspect it will always be crucial to your personal and business success. This has never been more true as we continue to deal with the fallout of the great recession.

I wanted to offer a tip today based on a personal experience of mine.

Several weeks ago a friend and colleague invited me to an education/networking event to be held this week. I did not question who else would be attending and in retrospect, that was a mistake. When the attendee list came out earlier this week I quickly realized that this would not be a beneficial event for me to attend. I was invited to represent my other company, Powerfeedback, not Confidential Counselor.

I reached out to my friend and explained my hesitation and feelings, especially as the venue was 65 miles away. I asked him if I could attend representing Confidential Counselor. Unfortunately, due to potential conflicts with other attendees, this was not possible.

When I said that I would prefer not to attend unless my absence would cause him a problem, he was extremely understanding, gracious, and said that there was no problem with me not participating.

As I said at the onset, Networking is indeed vital to your success, but for it to be truly effective, you must make certain that to the best of your knowledge you are attending the right gatherings.

Ask questions beforehand. Learn who is expected to attend. Try to find out if any of your competitors will be there. In other words, just like you approach a prospect meeting, use the same due diligence for your Networking participation.

I was sitting with a new potential client in her office and every few minutes her phone rang. Though surprised, her assistant did not pick up the calls. I did offer that if she needed to take the calls that I understood. Her response stunned me!

With a laugh she said: “no need, just salesmen trying to get our business.”

I was stunned! Part of the reason her company’s CPA asked me to meet with her was to find out why their salespeople were having trouble connecting with decision-makers.

Whether you believe in Karma and/or the Golden Rule, the irony here is stark. When you, as a leader of your company, so vividly demonstrate your disrespect and contempt for people trying to earn your business, why would you expect your sales people to be treated any differently?

I hold no illusions that if you suddenly start accepting phone calls from account executives that your sales force will suddenly be welcomed with open arms. There is however a good chance that your attitude about sales has permeated your own team and their efforts are hamstrung by attitude versus effort. Additionally, they are getting a not so subtle message from you that the sales function is not important.

I strongly suggest allocating 15 minutes a day to respond to EVERY message left by a salesperson, even if it is to just tell them that you are not interested. A side benefit of this is that you may meet people that you can network or partner with for mutual benefit!