Statistics are your most valuable tool if you know how to interpret them.
Of course, I know some of you have heard this quote: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” It’s a funny quote made popular by Mark Twain in his autobiography. But it’s simply not true.
The only time it is true is when the raw data represented by the statistics was provided by someone who gave false or incorrect numbers.
Statistics or “stats” are defined as a number or amount compared to an earlier number or amount of the same thing.
When shown on a graph, they are extremely helpful in providing trends and other
valuable information. Statistics can be a measure of the quantity of work done or the value of it in money. A statistic can also measure the relative survival or non- survival of any person, thing, or activity.
Here are some examples of statistical graphs:
Apple and Amazon’s Respective Growth Charts
As you can see the two statistical graphs above point out improved conditions.
Stat graphs can also be used to indicate unfavorable conditions, such as below:
And this:
Now I didn’t show you these last two graphs just to depress you. I showed them to you to demonstrate that the first step in handling anything would be to confront it.
Statistics are a great way to begin confronting a situation.
I suppose that it’s possible that no one is confronting the problems that are represented by those two unfavorable graphs. The people symbolized by those statistics could just be nodding sadly and ordering fast food with their credit cards—on which they make only minimum payments.
That would be filed in the “too bad” category.
The good news is that somebody somewhere recorded those statistics. And the truth is that something can be done about any unfavorable condition. The first step is to become aware of the unfavorable condition. And that’s where statistics come in handy.
No matter what state your practice is in, there are statistics that will show you its true condition. Those stats are the key to unlock the door and get out of the struggle. One of the best things about statistics is that they DON’T LIE.
Have you ever had a staff who seemed to be busy but your practice didn’t seem to get anywhere and there was little or no profit? There was always lots of work to do, and it seemed like everyone was always rushing around. But you felt like your business was stagnant and every time you looked it seemed like everyone was working.
Something did not add up! There is a solution to that problem. The solution is to graph everyone’s production.
First, you have to define for your staff what a product is. A product is some thing that has a value inside or outside of the business. Let’s use your receptionist as an example. Take a moment and think about what you pay them for….
Done thinking?
Now tell the truth. Did you think you were paying them for answering the phone or
scheduling patients or calling out to reactivate old patients or some other activity they do? If you did, you get a big, fat F.
That is not what you are paying your receptionist for. Those are duties. Those are things a receptionist does to produce their product. A product is something you HAVE, not something you DO. The product is the result of the duties.
The product is the only thing that has any value. Example: You have two people (Paul and Gina) who want to be your receptionist. So you try both of them out by having them call the old patient reactivation file for two hours. Paul schedules 2 people, but Gina schedules 4. Which one is better?
Neither at this point. It may appear that Gina was better but neither of them has
produced a product at this point. “People scheduled” is not a product. “People arrived” is a product. Both of Paul’s people arrived. None of Gina’s people arrived.
Paul created two products. Gina produced none. Paul had better production.
What are you paying your receptionist for? Well, what is the result of answering the
phone, reactivation, scheduling patients?
PATIENT VISITS. You are paying them for patient visits. The receptionist’s product is patient visits.
Try doing this: Give each staff member an exact statistic that matches their production. Use this statistic, and nothing else, to reward, penalize, promote, or fire. The combination of all these statistics should be used to manage the office.
What this does is it instantly tells you who can produce and who can’t. You don’t need staff that wander around in a dazed confusion of pretended production. This is how you can use statistics as a TOOL to boom your practice and life.
At TBA, we teach this to you. Below are the keys to our client’s success:
- How to give each staff member an exact statistic and manage them using stats alone.
- The precise actions to take weekly when the stats are reported at staff meeting.
- How to spot nonproduction via stats and handle it.
- How to take a crashed situation and correct it.
- Tools to keep your stats in a high range and exactly what to do with dips and booms in production so you never lose your gains.
We use our management by statistics system to take the guesswork out of managing your business. It is an exact science.
If you are the type of person who likes certainty in creating expansion and wealth then you will love learning the management by statistics system.
We hope to hear from you soon!
