🅰🅿🆁🅸🅻 1 - 🅵🅾🅾🅻🆂 🅳🅰🆈 / 🆆🅸🆂🅴🅼🅴🅽’🆂 🅳🅰🆈

There are two ways of looking at April 1st – Either it’s a Fools Day or it’s a NEW BEGINNIG. For a Medipreneur it is always a Kickstart / RESET button

Last week, during a conversation with an AYUSH doctor, who was about to shut down her clinic, she said she has started the job hunt as clinic is running huge losses. Talking to her for some time, I could make out it was not the lack of knowledge or lack of expertise or lack of patients which she was suffering from but the lack of financial know-how / discipline. She was a postgraduate with confidence in handling patients and has done certificate courses in more than 4 alternative therapies like Yoga, Sujoku, Bone-setting, Energy healing etc.

When I asked her how much she charges for consultation in other specialised areas, she mentioned she charges Rs 150/- per patient, per sitting. Later on, I came to know that this Rs 150/- was for consultation and detailed procedures which will take more than an hour per patient. She is spending almost an hour directly with the patient and collecting a remuneration which is not equalling or in proportion to her expertise.

Here is an important FINANCIAL LESSION, I want to share with YOU, which most of our colleagues ignore. The peculiarity with this secret is that, those who know it, usually don’t apply it, those who think they are applying it, don’t know it yet.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧:

1. Your Expertise/ branding / specialisation (even your Age / experience/ awards/ recognitions)

2. Chronicity / severity of the complaint (whether we are the only hope for him)

3. Whether the patient is Local / NRI / Foreign National (universal law- tariff is based on which currency you earn)

4. Stage of the disease (organ system/ severity / rare case/ no other treatment available/ life threatening/ acute / chronic/ bed-ridden/ end stage/)

5. Area / Location of your clinic (a clinic at Panambally Nagar / LULU mall is not the same as the village clinic)

6. Facilities / services you provide (AC consulting / waiting hall/ home delivery/ courier service/ Home care/ quick delivery)

𝐌𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐒/ 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇

1. If I charge less, I can reach out to more patients (If you charge less, you will get more of those low-class patients who don’t value your worth)

2. I don’t want to EXPLOIT my patients / I want to be known as HUMBLE doctor (for a doctor who runs his clinic for his livelihood, it’s a business – mode of income for his family- it has to be profitable)

3. If I raise my prices, I’ll lose my existing patients (YES, you might lose some of your cheep and difficult patients)

4. I am JUST an MD doctor with 3 years of experience (means, I don’t have enough experience/ I don’t have a webite, I don’t have an AC consulting room / we are not BIG ENOUGH- don’t underestimate Gundoos )

5. In my locality everyone is charging very less, so I follow it (Its always better to walk alone than walking with a crowd that s going in the wrong direction)

6. Now I will charge LOW, later I will charge HIGH (the ‘later’ will never come)

None of the above statements are true. The ONLY THING which hold Doctors back from making more money and becoming more profitable – if the FEAR.

🆃🆁🆄🆃🅷 🅼: No matter how low you charge, you will be TOO EXPENSIVE for ‘someone’.

𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇:

1. Creates an higher perceived value on the quality of services / medicines we give

2. More revenue / profits / cash flow

3. Higher prices differentiate your clinic from the rest

4. Better funding for putting up better quality services

5. Upper hand in buying Medicines of Best quality

6. Will be able to appoint Top quality staff

7. Higher process ATTRACT better quality patients

8. Patients VALUE your medications and advices

9. Deliver better services

10. TOP SECRET : it one of the BEST MARKETING Method

𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 : NO ONE should come for your consultation because you are CHEAP, but because you are DAMN GOOD at what you do.

REMEMBER: APRIL 1 – is another day on which you can hike your price (along with your value)

Let’s LEARN to enhance our skills in this new year, new day, new dawn, UNLEARN our past knowledge, and RELEARN for a better tomorrow.

Would like to know about what are the struggles you have when you tell you fee (OR increase it) to your patients? Share your experience, more benefits, queries , regarding this in COMMENT section.