It doesn’t matter what your business involves, or where your business is located: if you aren’t on the Internet, you might as well not exist. While there are many businesses that were able to once survive not having a digital presence, the fact that we now use our smartphones to choose everything from our restaurants, to our products, to our psychologists, means that you have to be aware of how to increase your digital presence by any means possible. It doesn’t matter what your specialty is – here are some ways to grow your practice.

The Right Hires

You would be surprised how much of your business directly depends on who you are hiring. Have you run a background check on all of your employees? Do your patients regularly compliment you about the office staff, or do they never mention it? Are your employees only amicable when they know that you are watching? The truth is that every patient wants to feel comfortable when they are in a medical office of any kind, and hiring the office staff can go a long way. Of course, if you hire the right staff – this also means that they won’t be overwhelmed by patient traffic. If one of your most important employees seems to be always buckling under pressure, or complaining about how much work he or she is doing – what makes you think it’s going to get any better when you have more patients? Try to do as much due diligence as possible when it comes to hiring staff, and try to make sure that they fit in with the current office culture, as well. A company is only as good as the people that they hire, and a practice is no exception.

Perception

If you have poured your life savings into your practice, and don’t have the best location, signage, or logo – that doesn’t mean that you can’t grow. However, the individual that is constantly investing in their business, whether it’s through picking the best location, making sure that the signage is bold and sends a clear message, or that you have the right copywriting to put your patients at ease – this all sends a message about how professional your practice is. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about the way that your staff acts and dresses, your digital marketing strategy, or your web reviews: if you want to grow your practice, be aware of your perception, and improve it by any means necessary. If you are constantly updating your patients through e-mail and social media, or letting your patients know that you are thinking about them (happy birthday e-mails, for example) – it might go a long way in terms of making them feel appreciated, and as if your practice truly cares about their patients.

Addressing Issues

There might be major issues in your practice – but you will never know about these issues unless you ask. If an employee brings up something to you, don’t ignore it or push it to the side. Think about what they are saying and actually address it – there is a chance that they might understand how patients feel about your practice more than you do. Are you surveying your patients? Do they seem excited and enthusiastic to be there? Do they trust the practice, and feel as though the entire experience has been fair and/or transparent? You can tell a lot by surveying your own patients, and finding out what the competition might be doing better. This is absolutely essential to improving your practice, and eventually growing your practice.