Over the past two months, we have spoken with more than 250 medical weight loss providers around the country.
The same two points have come up in nearly every conversation:
✅ “I need help to market and grow my practice.”
✅ “I’m scared to implement a cash-pay membership model because I don’t want to lose existing patients.”
The good news? We are going to help you navigate both of these points. There are plenty of businesses out there that will sell you books and “masterminds” to help, but we are going to give away a series of resources for free instead.
The purpose of today’s article is to lay the foundation to help you with point #2 (implementing a membership model). Strap in, and let’s get started.
Why should you implement a membership model in your practice?
You should implement a membership model if you want to make more money, build a sustainable business, and attract and retain patients who are committed to long-term success. It’s that simple.
Providers almost always focus on growing by way of patient acquisition (acquiring new patients) but neglect the importance of retaining their existing patients and making their existing patients more valuable.
Remember this: It doesn’t matter how many new patients you bring on if you have a leaky bucket to begin with. Fix the leaky bucket first.
How do you fix the leaky bucket? You fix the leaky bucket by:
❤️ Creating an offer patients love and tell all their friends about
🚀 Implementing a practice model that gives you the ability to help patients be successful over an extended period of time (hint – this would be a membership)
💯 Delivering world-class holistic and personalized care in a way your competitors can’t
What are the immediate benefits of implementing a cash-pay membership model?
With a fee-for-service model, you’re racing from one patient to the next, effectively trapped in a hamster wheel, and you’re constantly having to acquire new patients because your existing base doesn’t stick around.
A membership model solves these problems starting with profile of the very patients you bring on. With a membership model, you onboard patients who are inherently less price sensitive, more committed, and more invested in the quality of care you provide.
Here are the six major benefits of adopting a membership model:
1) Increasing the revenue and profit of your practice
2) Decreasing administrative headache for you as the provider (membership = far less complexity)
3) Decreasing the volume of patients your practice needs to service (again, far less complexity)
4) Onboarding the right type of patients to help your practice grow
5) Having the ability/flexibility to help patients achieve their goals over a longer period of time
6) Giving you the power to provide comprehensive, holistic care through a 360° approach
If you’re still feeling reluctant, here’s how to start.
If you currently operate a cash-pay practice with a fee-for-service model, testing a membership model is a breeze. There is no reason why you shouldn’t begin today.
Here are the five steps to follow:
1) Rank your current service offering — and services you can readily provide — in order of value for patients (i.e. which services are most/least valuable to patients)
2) Create an exceptional offer based on this service ranking
3) Identify 5-10 patients who could benefit from a membership plan
4) Personally reach out to these patients to schedule free consultations
5) Present a step-by-step plan during the consults explaining how your membership will help each patient achieve their individual health goals
If you need help with this, book a free call with us where we’ll walk you through what a membership sales process can look like for your practice.
If you currently operate a 100% insurance-based practice, you’ll need to consult with an attorney as you may need to create a separate entity for cash-pay operations. Don’t let this scare you as we have seen it done many times.
Want to continue supercharging your practice growth?
✅ You can now access the growth methodology we use to help medical clinics increase their annual profit by tens of thousands of dollars… For free!
Click here to download our proven 6-step growth framework.
**Medical providers, curious to learn more? Click here to register for our upcoming webinar, “How to Grow a Successful Patient-Centered Obesity Medicine Practice”
Article by: Austin Rhoads
Austin is the Co-Founder of Alterra Health and has been a leader in the development of weight loss education programs for patients and medical practitioners for the past ten years.