Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful of all marketing techniques. It proves beyond words that the product or service being marketed is worth getting excited about. It conveys an attitude that is highly contagious. The contagion starts with the doctor. From here, this healthy contagion spreads throughout the staff, then moves into the minds of our patients. If your offering lives up to your enthusiasm, the prospects become patients, catch it, and spread it to their friends. Enthusiasm is the energy that powers word-of-mouth referrals.
What’s the cost for all of this positive enthusiasm about your product or service? Absolutely zero. Enthusiasm is an ultra powerful motivator, and it’s free. This is always a very delightful and profitable combination.
It is simple for me to tell you about the power of honest enthusiasm. It is also simple for you to convey the attitude to your staff. It is similarly simple for everyone in your office to be enthusiastic about a product, service, promotion, offer, price, new line, or virtually anything on a Monday morning, even a Monday afternoon.
It is very difficult to maintain that enthusiasm all day every day. It is extremely difficult to maintain it throughout an entire office staff. Still, knowing how strongly it influences sales, efforts should be made to establish, then maintain, this enthusiasm.
How do you do it? You begin with high quality and real value — conditions that inspire sincere enthusiasm. Then you take that enthusiasm to new heights with a staff meeting. An enthusiastic person tells the staff why he or she is so darned enthusiastic. The person’s natural enthusiasm is an advantage. Background music certainly doesn’t hurt. If ever there was a right time for a dog-and-pony show to inflame enthusiasm, this is it. Enthusiasm is maintained by regular meetings early each day, especially if you can reproduce spectacular results from the day before.
The more your staff knows about the benefits you’re offering, the more enthusiastic they can be. So be sure that you communicate the benefits clearly and with flair.
Enthusiasm originates in the brain, but is conveyed by the heart. If you sense a lack of it, perhaps people didn’t understand what all the fuss was about at the outset. Make sure everyone knows and that they are as excited as you are. If a patient senses a lackluster attitude from the staff, all your effort goes for naught. Enthusiasm is the weapon that adds firepower to all the other marketing techniques — and just when it counts.
Emerson was right when he said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without ENTHUSIASM.”
ENTHUSIASM is the key, not only to the achievement of great things, but to the accomplishment of anything that is worthwhile.
ENTHUSIASM is a way of life. It is a magic spark that transforms “Being” into “Living.” It makes hard work enjoyable.
ENTHUSIASM is the greatest elixir known to man.
Nothing will help you to sell yourself better than the POWER of your PERSONAL ENTHUSIASM.
“ate” Steps to Success
Create — Create a set of goals.
Motivate — Motivate yourself to become the type of person it takes to achieve your goals.
Congregate — Congregate with positive people in a positive environment. These are the only people who will encourage you in the pursuit of your goals.
Concentrate — Concentrate on specific plans you need to achieve your goals.
Regulate — Regulate your daily time schedule. Plan your use of time to constantly make progress toward your goals.
Delegate — Delegate everything that does not need your specific attention. Delegation is one of the most important steps to effectively planning your time.
Coordinate — Coordinate your daily planning efforts. Continually prospect, present, close, and follow through in all aspects of your personal and professional life.
Congratulate — Congratulate yourself as you begin to achieve your goals.
LESSONS FROM GEESE
Those of us who work in dental practices can benefit from a study of group dynamics. Watching geese fly south for the winter should remind us of some basic truths. We need to take the lessons learned from the migrating “V” of geese into the area of strategic planning for our practices.
1. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates “uplift” for the bird following. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if one bird flew alone.
LESSON: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
2. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly returns to the formation to take advantage of the “lifting power” of the bird immediately in front.
LESSON: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go (and be willing to accept their help as well as give help to others). There is a place for the “lone goose” who follows a different dream. If he does not share his dream with others and enroll them, he will continue to fly alone.
3. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back in the formation and another goose flies at the point position.
LESSON: It pays to take turns doing hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with the geese, we are interdependent on one another. None of us is as smart as all of us!
4. The geese honk from behind to encourage those in front to keep up their speed and proper direction.
LESSON: We need to make sure that our honking is encouraging — not something else!
5. When a goose is ill, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or catch up to the flock.
LESSON: If we have as much sense as the geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong. We have the choice to grow and develop our soaring skills as lonesome eagles or synergistic geese.
(MA)
PS. When turkeys and ostriches do not see a bigger picture, they end up as Thanksgiving dinner or a pair of boots and a hat decoration.