Importance of Preframing In Business

One of the biggest struggles many businesses face is controlling outcomes within the facility.

Getting clients to complete a plan of care...

Following through with home exercise programs...

Transitioning towards some type of maintenance or follow up/check up program...

Early on in my cash based business I realized that getting people to follow through with an entire plan of care or patient lifecycle was very different than working for an insurance based company. It required a lot more work on my part to make sure clients complete a FULL plan of care as opposed to just "seeing how it goes" or feeling better and dropping off the schedule.

Regardless of your scenario (cash clinic/insurance clinic/ gym), the need is still the same and very important to your success.

Here is a couple keys to make your life easier:

1) Set the expectations early - resistance to plan of care, exercise programs, and communication breakdowns are going to happen. This is the normal turbulence of treating humans. However, the more we can limit these scenarios the smoother the path to recovery will be. Educating the client on what the path to recovery will look like up front and what will be required from them is the best way to set expectations early and avoid resistance later in the process.

2) Preframe what life will look like once they get the true outcome the client is searching for, which contrary to popular belief this is not just getting out of pain. It's what getting out of pain will allow them to start doing again and how to keep that lifestyle and not lose it again.

3) Slow the process down - Too often we want to accomplish everything on the first visit.

Get all their paperwork, demographics, questionnaires done. Then go to the evaluation and explanation of the problem. Then go into treatment and a home exercise program. Then schedule them out for a plan of care.

This is overwhelming for clients.

The more simplified and efficient we can make the process the better.

That first day should be focused on evaluation, a couple things that can start to ease the pain and what they can start doing at home to ease the process. Then schedule the next appointment.

Then on that second visit provide a full treatment and talk more about the expected duration of episode. I usually talk about ranges of weeks a recovery will take as opposed to visit number and exact days. You don't want to promise them something that you can't keep.

Then get them to acknowledge this and schedule out a plan of care then.

Summary: It is more than likely going to take at least 3 contact points for a person to start and feel like they know and trust you. Being too forward or pushy early on in the process can be a turn off. However, the process still needs to be very direct, simple, and explained well beforehand so the client knows exactly what to expect. The more you can limit surprises the better.