134 - Building a Stronger Practice Team: The Right Person in the Right Role

[00:00:00] I think that's where you can ask yourself, if I'm resisting having a conversation, I've essentially put this relationship above the practice, mission, vision and patience. Mm hmm. For sure. And that's really what it is. Mm hmm. And that's where we get to get as a leader back in right relationship with, we can love everyone and want the best for everyone, but there are certain behaviors that are actually in alignment with the mission and the vision and the core values of a practice.

[00:00:27] And that's what we need to like really lift up and let us lead through that lens. Hello and welcome to Build Your Remarkable Practice podcast. This podcast is dedicated to chiropractors who are in the seasons of launching and building their practice.

[00:00:51] Join myself, Dr. Lona and my co-host, Dr. Bobby, as we have conversations each week as it relates to building the practice of your dreams. And remember, you can have a remarkable practice as part of a remarkable life, not instead of one. We are here to lead you on the way. All right. Welcome back to the Build Your Remarkable Practice podcast.

[00:01:16] And I am back today with my good friend, Dr. Rachel Hovey from Minnesota and another TRP coach. Welcome back, Rachel. Thank you, Dr. Lona. It's always fun to be on here. Yes. And we were just talking about getting back into the rhythms of school and rhythms of the family, just like rhythms in the practice. We have our huddles. I don't think you probably have a morning huddle with your kids, but, you know, that's a breakfast time sometimes feels like it was like, let's go. We got to get this. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:01:46] So fast and furious as always. All right. We were just chatting offline about the art form of leading a team and helping to keep and attract a players and keep them engaged, as well as knowing when the right time to get someone off the bus. Right. And that is something that, you know, nobody starts with that in mind typically of like, oh, I'm hiring this person. At some point they will get off the bus.

[00:02:14] But there is an element of truth to that. Some people are with us for a short season. Some people are with us for a much longer season, which is awesome. We all generally love people being with us for a long season. But there's some times where it's frequent that we'll encounter people who are resisting letting someone get off the bus that needs to get off the bus. And, Rachel, I'd love for you to just kind of speak into that a minute.

[00:02:38] Like, how common do you think that really is in practices where somebody knows, like, this actually is not a good fit for either of us, but we're just painfully letting it stay status quo? Let it ride out. Yeah. And I think, too, Lona, you and I coach all different clinics, right? Clinics that are just starting. Clinics that have been in practice for a couple of years or even 20, 30 years. And a lot of times, too, when you haven't done coaching for a bit or even just had a lens on your practice more than just, like, get up and grind, get up and grind, get up and grind. It can just feel that way for your employees, too.

[00:03:08] And a lot of times when I'm onboarding a new client into TRP and we ask, how's your team? How's everybody? Like, all A players? And almost everybody I found will, like, pause for a second and say, yeah, I think so. Because, like, in some part, like, I don't know if you haven't had a lens on things if you really know what an A player is. Yes. And, like, we say, like, doing the right thing, the right role, the right way, right?

[00:03:32] And so I think that's the cool part, too, is when you start to stir stuff up, like, stuff's going to break and stuff's going to move. And that's also the fun part about it, too. And that goes with employees, if not more than any other part of the practice. Yeah. And, again, as you're coaching a lot of clients, you've probably found, like, people are excited to make these changes. And they're excited. And they come back and they do team training and revamp stuff. And then all of a sudden you have this, like, push and this pull. And people are like, this person really stepped up.

[00:04:01] And this person's like, I don't know. Yeah. So good. So good. You said a lot there. I think a couple things. We all, I think, on some level embrace certain areas of change and resist other areas of change, right? And I think that we see that behavior. And we can identify that with our patients and the people that are laying on our table and we're asking them to maybe change some lifestyle things. And they're like, well, I'll change that, but I'm not going to change that, right?

[00:04:29] And I think that's where we have to, like, playfully look at our practices and realize is, like, if we want the outcome we're getting, then go ahead and keep doing everything the same way. Keep the same people on the team and expect the same or tolerate the same behavior, essentially. But if we really want to grow our practices and want to reach more people, we want to steward chiropractic in a, I'm going to say, more elevated way, let's just say, then we're going to have to change. And likely our team is going to elevate at the same time.

[00:04:58] And some people will and some people won't. And I can think back in multiple experiences where I could feel that inner, like, oh, like that feeling of, like, we're changing and I don't know what's going to happen with this person. And I think that's the gift of some wisdom and some years of practice is it doesn't have to feel so personal.

[00:05:22] It can be that we can love all the people that we've ever worked with and want the best for them. And at the same time, no, they're not the right person for that role anymore.

[00:05:33] And I think that's one of the gifts that TRP has given, I know, Dr. Rachel and myself, of learning how to put right rhythms in place so that we can be communicating about what the practice mission is after and what the role defines itself as and the behaviors that align with that role.

[00:05:53] So that it doesn't feel like it's so much feelings of like, oh, I'm resisting having this conversation with you because I haven't had a conversation about any of this for two years. And this has been an elephant in the room. Right. And that's when it feels really hard. But it's not a reason to not walk out your vision or your mission.

[00:06:13] And I think that's where you can ask yourself, if I'm resisting having a conversation, I've essentially put this relationship above the practice, mission, vision and patience. And that's really what it is. And that's where we get to get as a leader back in right relationship with we can love everyone and want the best for everyone. But there are certain behaviors that are actually in alignment with the mission and the vision and the core values of a practice.

[00:06:41] And that's what we need to like really lift up and let us lead through that lens and not avoid those hard conversations to rewrite the alignment within the team. Yep, exactly. And I think that's the one part sometimes people do resist also is we really like the person and we hired them and they were great when they started. And as much as we want our team to stay with us forever, like just like our patients, it just happens. Right.

[00:07:11] And people tend to leave and come and go. And that's just, again, part of the evolution of life with things. Right. And sometimes like also our team member doesn't even know that. They don't realize they're growing out of their role. Right. Like having those check-ins and having those like sit-downs of like, how is it going for real? Right. Like those quarterly meetings where you actually get to spend some time with your team, not just a quick KPI meeting, like a time where you have owner to like team member conversation of like, how can we see yourself growing in your role? What do you see yourself growing in the clinic?

[00:07:41] I mean, those are the little things that help keep that role fresh too. Because it does also mean you can't pivot someone. Maybe they just feel like you're not connecting with them and they just feel like they are coming in, checking in and not having the purpose on them too. Because I've also had, I know those conversations where I thought they were going to go one way. And then you sit down, you redirect and you're like, wow, that was like really a lot better than I expected. And that person just needed that time. Yeah. And as CEOs, we sometimes get so distracted.

[00:08:10] And those, for me, myself, like I still sometimes drop the ball and be like, I need to connect a little bit more. I need to slow down. I need to have that time. And so that can also be a really great place too, to making sure like if your A players are A players, is it you? That's also the part. 100%. So much gold again, right there of asking yourself first, like, is it possible that I'm just misinterpreting a situation and like some good, clear communication of just understanding where this person's at?

[00:08:39] Especially when we're wired very differently. Which a lot of times is the strength of the team. But also can be where if we're not communicating well, we're not having these regular, I'm going to call them collisions of like the team huddles, the team meetings, the trainings, and then the meetups periodically throughout the quarter. And so that level of certainty of like, I know where you're at. I know you've got my back and vice versa. You know, we just might not know because we haven't communicated to it. So, yeah, that's important.

[00:09:09] I would say majority of practices I get to see into, they lack the rhythms to actually have the proper communication to be moving together in a unified way forward. And so once we get the rhythms more straightened out, yeah, then a lot of times growth is a natural product because there's the right structure and the right communication then to actually be more effective. Right? Yeah.

[00:09:32] And to your point too, like sometimes it is like this person is struggling in this role, but when we actually start to identify their real strengths, we might realize we just need to flip-flop a couple of people in our clinic and they're better in their roles then too. So it doesn't always mean just because there's tension that, you know, like we're recognizing that this may not be a good fit. It doesn't necessarily mean that that's the wrong person. It just might not be in the right role too.

[00:09:57] And again, typically I don't think many of us as chiropractors have had hardly any training on understanding what is right role, right work, right way and identifying like if I have the right person, what's their natural skill set and where do we best utilize that skill set and those talents. And then also, you know, there's a mantra, right?

[00:10:18] Like I think maybe it comes from low self-esteem in the profession or something where like we've sometimes I think thought like that this isn't a career forward for people. And I challenge people to really think about like whether this is your first CA hire or your 20th CA hire, you know, is to start to really ask yourself like what do I believe is possible for these roles that I'm hiring for? Like is this a career path for someone?

[00:10:45] Is this, you know, could someone come in here and genuinely love their job for many years here? And because the practice is going to continue to grow, they can continue to grow versus kind of like capping where it's like, oh, well, this person will probably leave in 18 months when they find something better. Like sometimes I encounter DCs where I'm like part of the problem is you lack some vision for how people can grow and have a really awesome job and career with you.

[00:11:12] And be in a place that cares, be in a place that genuinely wants to grow and is developing their people and taking them to trainings and different things and teaching them about healthy living, right? Which is its own benefit. So I think asking ourselves that too is like, do I also use my skill set of being the owner operator or the CEO to be a visionary for recognizing that my, I'm going to lead my people hopefully to seeing themselves in this vision long-term.

[00:11:41] And actually CRP brought out like last summer is a really good tool for that, that PPFG, like personal, professional, financial goal. And it really helps lay out your employees, what they value, what they see personally, professionally, financially, all of that. And I have my whole team did it too. We do it twice a year now, but it's really fun to hear what they say on there because again, you don't even realize maybe sometimes what the growth of that role could be, but maybe they can see it in a different one too, right? Right.

[00:12:09] Or everybody also has different incentives per se, whether that's like time off or more family time or money or more hours or less hours or whatever. So again, that's also part of like helping find that right person in the right role too is like we all tick differently. Yes. That's so good. So understanding it. So that PPFG was a really cool tool that I think that we rolled out this year that again, helps us to identify our employees a little bit better. Yep.

[00:12:35] So Rachel, if I am listening to this and I have not really sat down and had one-on-ones or know that there's a team member on my team that I know I need to communicate with, maybe behavior seem out of alignment. I don't like, how do I start that? Where do I begin to kind of rewrite a conversation? Yeah. And I think it's very normal. Like whether you have rhythm set in place or you don't, I think the biggest thing sometimes to you is just like pausing and being like, let's just chat.

[00:13:04] Let's go get coffee. Let's get out of the clinic. And let's just like, let's hear your heart with things. And sometimes we don't do that enough. And we just like have a quick, what's going on? Like right after, like we're adjusting, like that's sometimes not the appropriate time to do it. Like, right. So I think a good thing is if you haven't done anything, obviously start with quarterly rhythms because that's a really helpful tool. And if this comes out end of September, like perfect. That would be a great time. Like at least, you know, gather 15, 20 minutes. The PPFG takes a little bit longer. That's another great tool.

[00:13:32] But it can even just be simply like five questions of like, where do you see yourself at? How do you see the clinic growing? Anything I can do to support you is a great question because I get all different response with that, which is a really just fun question. But I think just like pausing and just putting the time to be with humans and slow down. Yes. And it sounds really simple, but I know it's difficult for most doctors. It really is. Even if you have one person on your team, it can be sometimes a challenge. Yeah.

[00:14:01] Or you think like, oh, well, we've already, we've already tried to have this communication. It's like, okay, let's try a different format then too, right? Some people are, are better with just like verbal communication than others. Some may, a tool that we started years ago was just before we would have sit downs, we would use a written format to prep for meetings. Especially I found that when I didn't ask everyone to be so off the cuff in how they're feeling or their ideas or what they'd like to see.

[00:14:30] And instead gave them some preparation time or a different way to deliver some of their ideas. Like, and I think this became true once I realized I typically like to be off the cuff. If you gave me a question, I'll have five ideas within 60 seconds. Right. And then I recognize, well, not everyone operates like that. And some people hate that. And some people will be the last to speak when that is the way that it's presented.

[00:14:55] And if there's time that runs out or they're happy that they didn't have to like necessarily verbally say their ideas. So when we started to utilize more written versions of that or even things that are like asynchronistic, like through Slack or through Marco Polo or something like that, where you can take a little time to digest and not have to like respond immediately.

[00:15:17] I think the buy-in and the input went up, which as a leader was really helpful because then I felt like I was like, oh, okay, great. Like that is an amazing idea. And if we would have just had it at, you know, in-person off the cuff discussion, we probably wouldn't have gotten to that level of detail with it. So I think thinking about that too, when you're looking at, well, who am I communicating with? How do they best communicate? And am I fostering opportunities for them to give input in different ways? Right.

[00:15:47] Really helpful. And back to your original conversation, I think to add on to that, like when we do have maybe difficult employees and if we're like, oh, do I need to let them go? Is it not good? Truthfully, like heart, head, hands, feet. Right. And so like saying the mission, vision, your story, like before every quarterly meeting, having that top of mind. And then again, it's not this personal thing. It's just like, I feel like you're out of alignment. Like, do you agree? Right. And they usually will.

[00:16:14] And it's just having that tough conversation with them and be like, and it's okay. Right. And usually a couple of times I've had to let people go is when I've just sat down and had that conversation and be like, it's okay if this isn't the right fit anymore. Yes. Again, we feel that. We are energetic humans. We know that resistance and that response. And so sometimes you just have to be like, is this it? And then that's okay. Right. Like it's okay to change our mind and it's okay to like go a different route with things. Yes.

[00:16:42] And sometimes those tougher conversations don't actually need to be that tough when you just bring it back to like the reality and the basics of what it is. Are you on mission? Okay. Are you following your actual role? And then if not, what happens next? Yes. Yes. So good. So many pearls here. I would say if you're listening to this, you're growing a team, go back and just take some notes on this and think about, okay, yeah, how am I doing? How are my rhythms? Am I leading with the mission and the vision and the heart of it all?

[00:17:11] Does my team really know the mission, vision, and heart of it all? And where could I do a better job of getting buy-in for communicating both in the personal and professional and financial goals? And if that's something you feel uncomfortable about, ask yourself a little more about like why? Is it that I'm scared to hear that maybe they have other goals than what align here? Is it that I'm nervous that I won't be able to like grow with them to those goals?

[00:17:40] And that is where we get to do some inner work as leaders too, where it's like, if we're going to do this thing in a larger way, there has to be room for everyone to win and grow. Right? For sure. And so their growth many times is also part of what gets you to think bigger, which is kind of cool then because it's really like a shared vision. Right? Yeah. Absolutely. Good. Good. Awesome. Thanks for sharing, Rachel. These are always great. Yeah. Awesome. All right. I'll see you soon. All right.

[00:18:09] Thanks, guys. Bye-bye. Hey, everyone. Please listen in for this next bonus interview of one of our remarkable success partners. They all help us help more people find the benefits of chiropractic. So listen on. Hey, everyone. Welcome back. This is Coach Day with Remarkable Practice. And I'm very excited to interview Margaret with Fortas. And I have interviewed her in the past.

[00:18:34] But I'm excited to learn some of the new features that Fortas unveiled or kind of teased us with the last time that we spoke. So I'm excited to hear that. And I'm also excited to hear Margaret's story. So I'm going to let her speak. But I know that she doesn't come from just any sort of background. Like she's actually been where the CAs are. So I'm going to stop right there and let her tell you all her story. So welcome, Margaret. Yes, thank you, Dr. Kevin. I appreciate you having me.

[00:19:02] And I'm really excited to be able to join you and the entire TRP tribe today. What's really cool and I think unique about my story is that before I ever represented Fortas, I served chiropractic for many years as a chiropractic office manager. So I didn't come into this industry from payments. I came into it from the front desk.

[00:19:22] You know, I lived the chaos and I handled the money conversations and I trained the team and I really saw firsthand what happens when the right systems are in place and what happens when they're not. Right. So I've learned through the experience that the systems you implement and the mindset that you operate from, you know, really do directly determine the impact that you have in the community around you.

[00:19:47] And, you know, as we know, when the right infrastructure supports your mission, that's when growth really becomes natural. When it doesn't, even great doctors get boxed in, which I'm sure you guys have seen. And that's why I'm so excited to be here with TRP because I know your focus is really removing that box.

[00:20:05] So I'm excited to, you know, share more about Fortas and not just as a payment solution, but as an infrastructure that really empowers CEOs and their teams to expand that impact with confidence. That's terrific. And for all the CEOs out there that are listening in on this, if you want scalability, you have to get the money right and you have to be able to collect the money. Right. So that's what I absolutely love about Fortas. And I'll give them the compliment that I've used Fortas for years now.

[00:20:31] And it's that amazing software that runs in the background that just it's there. Right. You never have to worry about it not working or failing. We've never had an issue. So I can speak from personal experience, the tremendous value that you guys create. And for me, it's like not ever needing to worry about it. Right. It's there. It's operating. And that's what allows us to have the not only the durability, but also the scalability. So let me go and ask you some questions here, Margaret. So what is the specific problem that Fortas really does solve? Right.

[00:21:00] So all businesses, they exist to solve a problem for another person. What is it that you guys solve for the busy chiropractor? At the highest level, we solve constraints. You know, most chiropractors are capable of serving more people than they currently do, but they're constrained and their lack of operational leverage really has them constrained by inefficient systems, by transactional energy at the front desk, by unpredictable cash flow, by burnout. Right.

[00:21:30] And the real tragedy isn't lost revenue. It's lost impact. You know, when a practice is stuck in a pay per visit reactive model, it forces the team to spend their day talking about money instead of mission. And that's when your culture shifts and not in a positive way. So Fortas really removes that constraint. We build automated recurring revenue infrastructure and seamless payment experiences that allow practices to operate from stability instead of survival.

[00:21:59] And when revenue becomes predictable and invisible, as you're saying, right, the energy at the front desk and, you know, the energy coming from leadership shifts. And when energy shifts, culture strengthens. And when culture strengthens, growth accelerates. So we don't just process payments. We build a financial infrastructure that allows doctors to expand their impact. That's right.

[00:22:24] And you hit on something that I think was crucial, and it probably landed right between the eyes with a lot of people that are listening, which is like how that pay as you go model can disrupt everything. Right. And it shifts the culture of what your what your staff is doing. And you lived that. Right. So, I mean, rather than them focusing on like promotion of what's going on in the practice, they're they're focused on collecting payment and, you know, reconvincing that patient to come back in. And that's a heavy lift.

[00:22:51] Like those are the cinder block patients rather than, you know, building building the wellness culture. So I couldn't agree with you more on that. So what is the ROI or the return on investment that the CEOs listening can expect from investing in Fortis? Well, you know, Dr. Kevin, you and other TRP coaches know and understand that ROI is not just margin improvement. Right. It's optionality. When you're implementing the right systems, you create leverage. So I want to be able to talk about ROI in four different dimensions.

[00:23:20] One, cultural ROI. Right. A players don't leave because they hate chiropractic. Right. They leave because systems suffocate them. And when your front desk, as you were just mentioning, right, when they're spending all day managing those microtransactions, navigating those money objections that really should never be on their plate. Right. Right. Your A players start to shrink to their surroundings or they walk.

[00:23:49] And TRP CEOs understand something that most leaders don't with the TRP coaching. And it's that your A players who drive, you know, they're the ones who drive outcomes. Not always your marketing, not always your tech stack or your scripts. Right. It's your people. So you have to protect those A players as the invaluable assets that they truly are. Recurring revenue and automation don't just streamline the workflow. They reduce the cognitive load.

[00:24:17] They eliminate the daily friction. They prevent that burnout. Right. And they shift the conversation at the front desk from how much you owe to who else do you know that we can help? It really does. Yeah. It protects your culture and it moves your team away from that transactional type of energy to transformational. And, you know, when your team owns the mission with you, that's when you really scale. That's right.

[00:24:46] Everyone in the boat rowing in the same direction. Right. I mean, that is such a crucial thing. And when they don't have the tools to do that, I mean, that's paralyzing to a team and to the growth and the trajectory of a practice. So well said on that. And so I'm excited for the connection. Oh, I did have four operational or ROI pieces that I wanted to connect on. The second one was the operational ROI. So, you know, the predictable recurring revenue really does change how the leaders are leading.

[00:25:14] Instead of them asking, you know, are we going to hit numbers this month? You know, they really start to ask, you know, how do we expand next quarter? It's a shift from survival thinking to strategic thinking. And it means everything. You know, by implementing the automated payment plans for corrective and wellness care, care plan compliance improves. The collections stabilize, lifetime value increases, and cash flow becomes predictable.

[00:25:42] And predictable cash flow gives you confidence, right? Confidence to hire, confidence to market, confidence to expand. So it really is important for the infrastructure that's going to be supporting growth from launch all the way to exit. And I mean, you guys make it sound like a no-brainer. And I think because it truthfully is like this is such an integral part of growth. You know, it's the next question that I get really excited about because we were talking about it beforehand. So let me go ahead and ask you this.

[00:26:11] So, you know, considering, you know, what is important next? And as you guys look ahead and assess the needs of our profession as chiropractors, how are you helping doctors be prepared to succeed in the future? Yeah, so we have some really exciting things. And one story that actually happened just this week, it was the real story from just Monday this week where a high-volume practice that was collecting $140,000 per month in credit card volume

[00:26:39] thought that their rates were really competitive, but they reached out to see if they were truly getting the best rate available for their technology needs. So they were already running recurring payments and had integrated payments and were just kind of shopping around to make sure they have the best rate. Well, we ran a statement analysis. And when we did, we found that they were overpaying by nearly $7,000 per month, not annually.

[00:27:06] I mean, most chiros would be extremely excited about $7,000 annually. No, this was per month. And that's over $250,000 across three years' time. And that's not a minor optimization, right? That's another associate. That's expansion capital. That's marketing fuel. That's exit leverage. So, I mean, I can just have the CEOs kind of dreaming and imagining what it would be like to build

[00:27:34] if one operational shift returned a quarter million dollars back into your mission. And most CEOs don't know what margin that they're leaking until someone shows them. And the final place for ROI is really in reliability, right? And this kind of touches back on what you said in the very beginning when you were giving your testimonial about using Fornus. Cash is oxygen. You don't notice oxygen until it's gone, right?

[00:28:00] But we've seen other gateways and actually just within the last two weeks, we had another gateway in the payment space that went down for 14 days. Weeks. Weeks of no collections, no deposits, total operational disruption. And when that happens, it's not just inconvenient. It's destabilizing, right? Payroll is still running. Rent is still due. Marketing bills still hit.

[00:28:25] So, Fordyce has earned industry recognition for industry leading uptime and next day funding. So, just as you said, we've never had an issue. We've never had a downtime, right? That's because our system is award winning in that space. And we understand that reliability isn't a feature. It's infrastructure. And if your payment system isn't reliable, then you really don't have a scaling business. You have a risk. That's right. Well said. Well said.

[00:28:55] I know we only have a couple minutes left here, but you did make mention of something on a cell phone that maybe our viewers would be interested in hearing about. Could you speak to that for just a moment? Yes. Yes. So, with our chiropractors, we understand that they're going to be out in the fields, right? They're no longer confined to an office. They're in their communities, corporate events, dinner talks, on social platforms. And so, we want to make sure that payments can travel with them.

[00:29:22] And so, that's why we built advanced payment technology that are designed specifically for kairos. And one of those new features that you're mentioning is ready for early adopters. And it is tap-to-pay on iPhone. So, any kairos that are going to be using our Fortis mobile app can actually turn their iPhone into a tap-to-pay device. No terminal. No hardware. No friction.

[00:29:47] Keeps it very smooth and allows those practices to be able to operate intelligently as they continue to scale and make an impact in their communities. It's amazing. That really is. And I look forward to using that personally. I mentioned I have a dinner with a doc next month, and I'll certainly be using that. So, thank you for that. Margaret, what's the easiest way for our listeners to get a hold of you to get more contact and, you know, potentially take a look at their numbers? Yes.

[00:30:13] The simplest way is to go to go.fortispay.com. You can book a strategy call. We'll review your statements. We'll identify any margin leaks. And we'll show you exactly where opportunity exists. No pressure. Just data. Just insight. And if you're interested in becoming an early adopter for the tap-to-pay on iPhone, we ask that you email cairo at fortispay.com. Throw in a subject line, early adopter.

[00:30:43] Include your website and best contact info, and we'll guide you from there. That's terrific. I'm going to be doing that as well. So, Margaret, thank you very much for your time, and I appreciate all the knowledge. Yes. Thank you, Dr. Kevin. Have a great day. Thanks for listening to this episode of Build Your Remarkable Practice podcast. Remember, what the world needs now is chiropractic, and what chiropractic needs now is more successful chiropractors. If you like the podcast, please subscribe.

[00:31:13] Share with your friends and leave us a review. And if you'd like to connect with us personally, please click the links in the show notes to schedule a call. Thank you.