2020 has been the craziest year ever for most of us and here we are in November and we just want it over, right? We are now looking at making 2021 an awesome year despite anything and everything! That preparation needs to start now if you want a “hot” new year starting with January 2021.
“Logical Explanations” for Stats Down
A large percentage of the 1,800 practice owners we have consulted over the last 31 years have experienced slow Januarys and Februarys and wondered why. They usually came up with seemingly “logical explanations” such as “snowbirds exiting south”, “people spent a lot over Christmas and are now economizing,” “patients are cocooning in January and February because it’s too cold to go out,” etc. The funny thing is that none of those reasons did anything to improve January and February.
However, almost 100% of the time when we did an analysis of the practice’s stats, it came down to an entirely different reason for the January and February slump, and it is something that you can easily fix.
The Real Reason
Basically, many of those practices are so busy in November and December with last minute insurance patients booking in and Christmas shopping and parties and closing for the holidays that certain key actions of the practice went on the back burner. This may not seem to be a “big deal” as financially the income is often very high for those last two months of the year.
Here’s the real problem however: There is a known fact that when you do promotion and marketing, the bulk of the financial return is seen usually 5-6 weeks later. The corollary is that when you drop out marketing, you will see a financial slump 6 weeks later.
And guess what, if you are too busy to promote in November and December, your January and February are going to pay the price. It is too late to start in January to make January awesome as promotion takes a few weeks to totally “bite” and start filling up your practice.
Consistent Marketing
To not see a slump in your stats in January, you therefore need to keep your promotion and marketing efforts going constantly, consistently and always. Letting it drop out means a drop in income later on.
Promotional Actions
Successful practices often have a “hot” January Special Offer that can be promoted – especially to patients or clients who are inactive and need to be encouraged to come back into the practice for the care they should be having from you. There can be a Special for patients who refer a new patient or client to you. January has a month-long holiday called “Self Love Month” and you can plan promotion of that through blog posts, sales, social media posts, contests, and more. There are many special “holiday days” throughout the month that you could use for special promotions also.
Do It Now
The most important point is that it is vital to start promoting this now for January so you are fully booked by the time you get there.
And then you will be off to a great start to an awesome 2021!
