cracking the how to physician code acquire physician ... · 3.gender 4.board certiﬁcation...

ⓒ 2013. Dr. Vicki Rackner ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Cracking the Physician Code Workbook 1

by Dr. Vicki RacknerPresident www.TargetingDoctors.com

Your step-by-step guide for:•Attracting more physician leads•Engaging more physician prospects•Converting more prospects to clients•Generating more referrals and •Leveraging the opportunities opened by the Affordable Care Act.

How to Acquire Physician Clients

andKeep Them for Life:

The Financial Advisor’s B2D Blueprint for Building a Physician-Friendly Practice and Conducting Business with Doctors

Cracking the Physician Code

Workbook

Your blueprint for growing your financial services practice by acquiring

more physician clients

Vicki Rackner MDPresident Targeting Doctors


The Financial Advisor’s B2D Blueprint and Step-by-Step Guide for:

•Dramatically improving your ability to reach physicians•Talking so physicians will listen•Engaging more physician prospects•Crafting offers physicians love•Graciously generating more referrals and •Securing your role as a trusted advisor•Increasing your assets under management by acquiring more physician clients.

by Dr. Vicki RacknerPresident www.TargetingDoctors.com


Welcome!The goal of this Cracking the Physician Code

course is simple: it’s to help you increase your assets under management by acquiring more physician clients.

You are about to learn a proven strategy and

powerful tactics to position yourself as the go-to

advisor to doctors in your community.

Please know there is an enormous amount of content in this course. It’s

broken down into bite-sized chunks, and I’ll walk you through each step.

You may be tempted to skip a step that does not look fun or interesting.

Please don’t. Every step matters.

Even though this is a home-study kit, please feel welcome to reach out by

calling (425) 451-3777 or emailing [email protected].

You have made a wise investment. We are here to support your success!

My best,

Dr. Vicki

Vicki Rackner MD

President Targeting Doctors

www.TargetingDoctors.com


mailto:[email protected]


http://www.TargetingDoctors.com

http://www.TargetingDoctors.com


Begin Here


Table of Contents

Preface............................................................................8

Module 1: The Medical Market in Broad Strokes........11

Module 2: Find Your Focus...........................................

Module 3: Gather Intelligence

Module 4: Groom for Engagement

Module 5: Generate Leads

Module 6: Build Rapid Rapport

Module 7: Create a Culture of Referrals

Module 8: Creating Your Action Plan

Resources


Preface

When my son was a toddler he had a love affair with trucks. One day we passed by a huge construction site. He pointed his chubby little toddler finger at the dirt pile and said, “Touch trucks.”

I said, “That would be great, Sweetie, but, look: thereʼs a fence all around the construction site. Plus do you see that sign on the gate? It says ʻDo not enter.ʼ”

He thought for a moment, and suggested, “Take down sign.”

Acquiring physician clients can be like making your way onto a locked construction site.

The goal of the Cracking the Physician Code course --and the B2D Blueprint System-- is to help you take down the “do not enter” signs.

You’ll replace it with the “Welcome” sign, gain access to the medical turf, and conduct yourself like you belong there.

Hereʼs the most important point you’ll learn here: physicians think differently than business people. In fact, doctors manage their wealth the way patients manage their health.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

You see, Iʼm a physician myself. I decided to become a doctor as I woke from my life-saving operation in my mid-20‘s. I’ve run my own private surgical practice, served as a faculty at the University of Washington School of Medicine and had the honor of treating tens of thousands of patients.


In 2000, I launched a business helping clients get better clinical outcomes through more effective collaboration with physicians. You might imagine that building this business would be easy. After all, everyone wants to save time and money, avoid lawsuits and get better medical outcomes. Plus running a medical practice and running a small business are the same, right?

Wrong!

My early years as an entrepreneur reminded me of traveling in China. I felt like a complete foreigner observing strange customs.

I studied the world of business intensively. I hired mentors who served as my guides. As I learned how things work in business, I enjoyed greater success.

It’s humbling and thrilling to take the stage as a keynote speaker at national meetings, be interviewed on NPR, and find myself quoted in CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Washington Post, to name a few publications.

I wondered, “What if business people had the same experience traveling in the world of medicine as I had traveling in the world of business?”


You now have your own personal tour guide showing you how to successfully navigate the world of medicine.

Professionals like you in the financial services industry face an additional challenge. Physicians want to talk about retirement planning about as much as you want to talk about your colonoscopy. For them, money is the ultimate taboo topic.

Some financial advisors tinker in the physician niche. I call them hobbyists. Here youʼll learn to join the ranks of high performers by applying an understanding of:

•The political, cultural and economic forces that shape medicine•The neuroscience of decision-making •How physicians think and interact within their professional networks.

This is your step-by-step guide for cracking the physician code and dramatically improving your ability to:

•Generate physician leads in the most effective way•Engage more physician prospects•Increase your assets under management by acquiring more physician clients.


Module 1: The Medical Market in Broad Strokes

Objectives for this module:

• Identify factors that make the medical market attractive --and elusive.• Explore the landscape of the world of medicine• Examine the financial lives of physicians • Discover the biggest secret, the biggest surprise and the biggest key to success in the physician niche.• Review three suggested homework activities.


Building a physician-friendly practice is like building a house. It works best when you take the right steps in the right order. Thatʼs what this course is about.

Practice-building techniques that work with other groups of clients do not work as well with physicians. Why?

Physicians are wired differently than business people. They have a fundamentally different relationship with their money.

Acquiring physician clients with practice-building strategies that work with business-minded clients is like charging your laptop on Rome. You need an adaptor to make it happen. You now have a step-by-step system for acquiring physician clients that’s like the adaptor. In the spirit of full disclosure, please understand that physician engagement is no easy task. Further, even established advisors in the medical market are finding that old ways of acquiring new physician clients don’t work as well as they used to.

There’s no magic bullet and building a physician-friendly practice can be hard work.

But it does not have to be painful work.

Practice-building can be like the practice sessions of Olympic athletes, blurring the line between work and play. And like the Olympic games, acquiring physician clients is an undertaking for dedicated advisors who possess focus and discipline.

You can join this elite group of high-performing advisors. You’re about to learn how.


What makes the physician niche attractive?

Here are the top three reasons financial advisors seek physician clients:

1. Physicians have high earning potential. 2. Physicians are loyal clients. 3. Physicians will tell their colleagues about you.

Plus, the time is right. The Affordable Care Act--also known as ObamaCare--is a game-changer. They need trusted advisors to respond to their acute financial pain.

What makes the physician niche challenging?

The barrier to entry in the medical market is very high.

1. Physicians have aggressive gatekeepers.2. Managing their patients take priority over managing their money. 3. Their loyalty to their current advisor makes them resist changes.

I believe the real challenge is a failure to understand:

1. The customs in the world of medicine2. What drives physicians’ behavior 3. Physicians’ relationship with money.


What do you need to know about MDʼs and why?

High-performing financial advisors consistently exhibit a shared trait: they understand their clients.

Here’s what you need to know about physicians.

Physicians answer a call to medical service. They’re drive by their desire to:

• Serve others• Alleviate pain and suffering • Carve their legacy.

Physicians engage in a rigorous, lengthy and expensive training. Here is the path to becoming a practicing physician:

• Undergraduate degree (4 years of college--usually from age 18 to 22)• Medical school (4 years --usually from age 23 to 27)• Residency (3 to 5 years--usually from age 28 to early 30’s) • Optional fellowship training (1 to 3 years)

The average physician completes residency training and takes on their first “real job” at age 30 to 35.

Physicians are only one kind of doctor. Here are others:

•Physicians ( MD or DO)•Dentists and Orthodontists (DDS)•Podiatrists (DPM)•Veterinarian (DVM)•Optometrist (OD)•Psychologists (PhD)

The world of medicine has an order.

Physicians’ skills and temperament traits needed to get through medical school make them challenging prospects and clients.

Physician deal with a stressful day-to-day reality.


The single most influential person in a physician’s life is a mentor or senior colleague.

Physicians often feel alone.

Physicians’ top worries in many surveys include:

•Decreasing reimbursements •Rising expenses•Costly regulatory changes.

Additional concerns that keep them up at night:

•Fear of being sued•Loss of autonomy•Unhappy, grumpy patients•Referrals that come too late or not at all•Staffing conflicts•Burn-out.

What About The Financial Lives of Physicians?

Physicians move through five financial stages in their careers.

1. Medical school. 2. Residency. 3. Career launch. 4. Career transitions.5. Retirement.

Many factors contribute to a physicianʼs earning potential.

1. Medical specialty. 2. Geography3. Gender4. Board Certification5. Practice Setting


•Owners and stakeholders of private practices •Employees of hospitals and clinics •Employees of HMO’s •Academic physicians•Locum tenens

Payer Models:

•Fee-for-service. •Concierge practices •All cash practices

The Physician Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurial doctors can generate significant revenue streams outside of insurance billing.

•Expert witness•Speaking •Consult •Leadership•Sale of products

Here are the doctors who have the highest business savvy:

•Dermatologists•Plastic surgeons•Dentists•Orthodontists•Chiropractors


What about physicians’ relationship with money?

Here’s the biggest surprise: For physicians, money is the ultimate taboo topic.

Here are three reasons physicians avoid conversations about money.

1. The culture of medicine. 2. Low financial literacy.

3. Awareness of their vulnerability.

Physicians have a strategy for managing their money.

1. Benign neglect.2. Do-it-yourself. 3. Delegate.

Physicians’ financial wake-up call

Here are the elements that complicate physicians’ financial lives--and contribute to physicians’ acute financial pain:

1.Higher taxes 2.The looming Medicare cuts 3.Rising business costs including the expenses associate with regulatory requirements under the Affordable Care Act.4.Weak economy to generate retirement revenue.


Common financial mistakes physicians make

Physicians make some common mistakes.

•“I deserve nice things.”

•“I can save lives and I’m smart; that means I can manage my own money.”

•“There will always be more than enough money.”

•“You want me to buy a bridge?”

•“Look at me!”

•“Sure, I trust you.”

The Secrets to Physician Engagement

Here’s the key to success: If you want to conduct business with physician clients, conduct yourself as one.

Conducting yourself as a physician is not a big stretch.

1.Assume the doctor role. 2.Imagine your client in the patient role. 3.Recreate the doctor-patient relationship.

Here’s the biggest secret: Doctors manage their wealth the way that patients manage their health.


Hot Tip: Use the Medical Litmus TestBefore you execute a marketing campaign, consider this question: “How would I respond if a physician treated me that way?” How would respond to a cardiologist who called your home and asked, “Do you have heart disease?” and then went on to describe the great new stent.

What do physicians want?

Physicians want many of the same things you want. They want to go to bed at night and say, “I made a positive difference today.” They want to hold out hope for a bright future.

Here are some items often in short supply: •Appreciation.•A listening ear•Work-life balance•Knowing someone has their back.

They want and need trusted advisors. Once you establish a relationships, you’ll have loyal client for life.


Action StepsAction Step #1: What’s your why?

There’s a reason you’re exploring this niche.

Maybe you want your family to enjoy a higher standard of living.

Maybe you like a professional challenge and you want to be the first to establish yourself where others have failed.

Maybe you had a personal experience as a patient, and you feel called to give back to physicians.

Maybe you had a physician parent, and you want to help your clients avoid the mistakes your parents made.

Maybe you always wanted to be a doctor but your life took you in a different direction.

Take a moment and imagine that success is already yours; you’ve built a physician-friendly practice, and the phone is ringing with physician referrals.

How will your life be different and better as you increase your assets under management by acquiring more physician clients? This image will help you stay on track, just as it does with Olympic athletes and physicians-in-training.


Exercise: What’s your why?

How will your life be different once you acquire more physician clients? How will you feel? What opportunities will it open?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Write it down here. Put it on a 3X5 card and laminate it. Carry it with you as a reminder of what’s at the finish

line.


Action Step #2: What’s your how?

if you describe the kind of physician you want caring for you and your family, you have most likely just created a profile for your own professional success in the physician niche.

Here are qualities that may be on your list:

•You truly care about your clients. You put the client’s needs above your own.•You make ongoing investments in mastery. •You are a hard-working, intelligent person. •You are a person of integrity--you do what you say you will do.•You network well. •Youʼre optimistic and resilient. •You ask the right questions.•You listen well. •You are patient and graciously persistent. •You innovate and generate new approaches.You measure results and seek ongoing improvements.

What’s your expectation of how you conduct yourself--and how your clients conduct themselves? Try this simple exercise.


Exercise:Explore the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Describe the qualities of your ideal physician. _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Describe your ideal medical encounter._______________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Describe how you respond when you’re a patient.

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Consider whether you embody the qualities of your ideal physician, create the ideal encounter and treat clients the way you would like to be

treated when you’re a patient.


Action Step #3: What are your beliefs about working with physicians?

You hold beliefs about what it would be like to work with physician clients. Let’s compare common perceptions to reality.

Perception: “Physicians live in their own worlds.”My Response: True! You and your physician clients think differently!

Perception: “Physicians are a pain to work with.”My Response: If you do not enjoy working with any given client, don’t! You do yourself and your prospect a service by saying no to them. Then they can get into the hands of their best-fit advisor, and you have room for more best-fit clients.

Perception: “You can’t reach physicians.”My Response: You can! You just need to know how, and I’ll lay it out for you.

Perception: “Physicians are intimidating.”My Response: You can overcome the culturally instilled intimidation and address physicians as peers. I’ll show you how.

Perception: “If I ask questions, the physician will think I don’t know what I’m doing and think less of me.”My Response: The best way to engage physicians and to build rapid rapport is to ask questions.

Perception: “I don’t have what it takes to work with physicians.”My Response: Do you improve your clients’ condition? Do you know your stuff? Do you care about your clients? If you can answer “yes” to these three questions, you have everything it takes to be successful with physicians. Perception: “I can’t get the physician to take action.”My Response: The decision-maker may be the physician’s life partner. Make sure you’re reaching out to the right person.


Perception: “Physicians seem to pay more attention to what their peers say than to what I have to say.”My Response: True! Make that work for you rather than against you.

Exercise: What are your beliefs? Identify your beliefs and assumptions about working with physician

clients. What evidence do you have to support your beliefs?

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________


Exercise: Who has your back? Identify the people who will support you as you enter the medical

market.

1. Vicki Rackner (425) 451-3777 [email protected]

2. _________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________

4. _________________________________________________

5. _________________________________________________

6. _________________________________________________

7. _________________________________________________

8. _________________________________________________

9. _________________________________________________

10.______________________________________________________




cracking the how to physician code acquire physician ... · 3.gender 4.board certiﬁcation...

Documents