324 - Podiatry in Singapore with Lewis Nurney
Podiatry Legends Podcast
I'm talking with Lewis Nurney from UFit Podiatry in Singapore this week. Lewis is a dynamic UK podiatrist whose career could have started in the National Health Service, NHS, as many new graduates do. However, a single beer at a conference in Liverpool led to him doing a one-month student placement in Singapore, eventually leading to a move to Singapore and embracing a radically different cultural and professional landscape. This episode tracks a personal journey of growth and discovery and dives into the strategic decisions that define a career path. You can connect with Lewis on...
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323 - Improve Your Communications and Sales with Copywriter Joe Cunningham
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Do you want to learn how to copy and paste your competitor's website and email copy into Chat GPT and use AI prompts to create even more compelling communications and sales copy? You need to do this if you want to avoid sounding like everyone else in your industry. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and you will find a link to the exact prompts shared by my guest and professional Copywriter, Joe Cunningham, aka Copywriter Joe. Joe Cunningham has helped brands like Huel, Traffic & Conversion Summit, and Stacked Marketer connect with their audiences and get conversions. If you...
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322 - From CSI to Podiatrist with Simon Hrobelko
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Simon Hrobelko is the owner of My Podiatrist Canberra and the nail surgery clinic Ingrown Toenail Care. Prior to becoming a podiatrist, Simon served in the Australian Army and spent 11 years as a Crime Scene Investigator for the New South Wales Police and the Australian Federal Police. Simon feels there are many similarities between being a CSI and a Podiatrist; both require good communication skills. You must keep gathering the evidence and asking the right questions, and everything will start to reveal itself. They call that Deductive Reasoning. The next 2-Day LIVE Podiatry Business...
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321 - The Benefits of Purchasing Your Premises
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Are you sick of having a landlord and paying dead rent? If so, this episode might give you the nudge to start considering purchasing your premises, becoming your own landlord, and building long-term assets. In this episode, I am joined by four podiatrists who have all taken the plunge into property ownership, and they would encourage every podiatrist to consider doing the same. My Guests are: Jessica Haydock - Sole Focus Podiatry, Toowoomba, Queensland. Jonathan Small - Health First Foot & Gait Clinic, Southam, UK. Elan Silver - Silver Podiatry, Perth,...
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320 - The Story of the Mexican Fisherman
Podiatry Legends Podcast
The Mexican Fisherman Story contains a very important life lesson about productivity, creating a lifestyle by design, the sometimes-pointless pursuit of more, and asking ourselves WHY we do what we do each day and whether it aligns with our end goal. In this episode, I share my understanding of this story and why it is important to know if your employees are fishermen or bankers. I also explain why a good friend of mine often refers to me as the Mexican Fisherman. If you have any questions about this episode, you can contact me at 2-Day LIVE Podiatry Business Reboot I truly...
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319 - Dr Ivan Bristow Why Every Podiatrist Should Start Blogging
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Dr Ivan Bristow, PhD, is a podiatrist who has been interested in dermatology for over thirty years. He has published over 100 papers on this subject, teaches it globally, and has a highly successful podiatry dermatology blog, . He is passionate about promoting podiatry and dermatology to the profession and the public. In this episode, we discuss the power of websites and blogs to promote our podiatry work and the profession as a whole and to help keep podiatry alive. If we don't write about foot problems, other healthcare professionals will, and we will lose that space. You can connect...
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318 - Location and Patient Discrimination with Jonathan Small
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Jonathan Small joins Tyson E Franklin on the Podiatry Legends Podcast to discuss a pervasive myth in the professional world: the idea that a business's location is the critical determinant of its success and fee structure. Jonathan debunks this, suggesting that the true driver of success is the business owner's mindset. He shares insights from his extensive experience, including the notion that prioritising personal happiness and aligning one's practice with personal values are more important than the business's geographical location. The discussion covers various examples, from restaurants in...
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317 - Chase Hughes Seeing Patients Beyond Their Masks
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Chase Hughes is a leading behaviour expert and creates psychological research and techniques for intelligence agencies for operations ranging from interrogation to behaviour profiling. He is the bestselling author of and . After a 20-year career in the US Military, Chase develops and teaches courses in interrogation, negotiation, influence, persuasion and 'extreme people-reading' around the world. In 2019, I was introduced to Chase Hughes, and this podcast recording was originally produced for my old podcast, It's No Secret with Dr T., but it is so good I had to re-edit it and...
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316 - (Part 2) Group Perspective On Good Bad and Difficult Patients
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Do you believe there are good, bad and difficult patients, and possibly many variations in between? In episode 307, I shared my thoughts on good, bad and difficult patients based on my clinical and business experiences. As expected, some podiatrists agreed wholeheartedly with my comments, while others did not agree, which was great. This prompted getting a broader perspective on this topic by producing a group episode with eight guests, split over two episodes – This is PART TWO. It’s important to note that my guests’ comments are their opinions based on individual beliefs, values...
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315 - (Part 1) Group Perspective On Good, Bad and Difficult Patients
Podiatry Legends Podcast
Do you believe there are good, bad and difficult patients, and possibly many variations in between? In episode 307, I shared my thoughts on good, bad and difficult patients based on my clinical and business experiences, and as expected, some podiatrists agreed wholeheartedly, and others did not agree. This prompted getting a broader perspective on this topic by producing a group episode with eight guests, split over two episodes – This is PART ONE. It’s important to note that my guests’ comments are their opinions based on individual beliefs, values and personal experiences; no one is...
info_outlineThis episode is not about increasing fees; it's about understanding the value we put on feet. Jonathan Small is a UK podiatrist, and we discuss why the podiatry profession needs to start thinking differently about the value of feet.
If we think differently, so to will our patients.
Thinking differently is not about charging more, it's about valuing what we do, the service we provide, the lives we change, and the long-term benefits to the patient.
What we do as podiatrists and what the patient gains from seeing us holds tremendous value, more than just pain relief. We can give patients their lives back by allowing them to be active and mobile.
Level of Care & Fee Structures
Podiatrists need to value the solutions we have at our disposal. We can provide services far better than any other health profession, and when we provide this service, we need to value it and charge accordingly.
Respect from our patients only comes once we respect ourselves.
Funding Your Fees
You get what you put out. If you do not value what you do, your patients won’t value it either. Undercutting another podiatrists fees is not good for you, your business or the profession.
You may think patients cannot afford what you're really worth, but is that true?
How are they funding and prioritising other aspects of their life? Haircuts, beauty treatments, teeth whitening, eating out all costs money, and people budget for this, so it's important to remember they also budget for healthcare.
Listen to Patients
Podiatry brings value to patients lives. When someone is in pain, they will probably have a money figure in their head on how much they are prepared to pay to have it fixed.
Therefore when we’re setting our fees, how can we determine what is value for the patient?
What's more important to the patient is not the fee you're charging; it's the cost of it not being fixed properly. This is where the patient really suffers.
If you cut your fees too low, you may unknowingly cut time with the patient or short-cut a service.
Clinic Registration Fee
Jonathan introduced a clinic registration fee for all new patients because a lot of work goes into their first visit before they arrived.
If an insurance company can charge an admin fee, why can't a podiatry business do the same? I think it's brilliant!
You Can't Do That
Some podiatrists will say, 'you can't do that', but Jonathan Small has proven you can. And his business is in a small town with a competitor only 50 meters away.
It's simply a change in mindset.
Defining Our Fees
We shouldn’t define our fees based on what we think is valuable to the patient. We think their health is the most important aspect, but time is more important or convenient for some patients.
Can you have an on-time guarantee or more convenient hours and be prepared to charge a premium for this service?
VIP Experience
Can you create a VIP Experience? That's a game-changer. Are you able to give your patients a choice or different service levels?
Car companies do this all the time. They have the basic model, and then there are added extras. They offer extra because they know a percentage will say YES.
It’s then up to the consumer to decide...not you.
Value Perception
It’s all about each visit's perceived value, but not just from the patient; it's also the perceived value from the podiatrist.
What else can and will you do at each consultation to justify the fee you charge. How else can you increase the value of each visit?
"You’re not going to rush through an appointment if you know you're charging more than your competitors".
While your competitors are bulk billing, cutting fees and rushing patients through their clinic in an attempt to make more money, you can take your time with each patient, add value to each consultation, work fewer hours and in the end make more money and have a better reputation.
Respect
If you want more respect from your patients, you need to be charging what you’re worth.
Stop being told by GP's that you should be bulk-billing certain patients. They have no right to tell us (the podiatry profession) what to do.
Reinvest and CPD
When you're making good profits from your business, it's not about taking more holidays; it's about reinvesting back into your business, buying new equipment and providing more services. This helps your patients and your community.
Don't be 'that podiatrist' that's too busy and flat out with patients, who don’t value their feet, which prevents you from attending CPD events and upskilling.
It's All About the Experience
When patients go to a restaurant and eat a high-quality meal, they’re happy to pay $150-$200, and if the service were good, they'd drop an additional $20 tip without giving it a second thought.
We need to be delivering a nice meal experience.
Final Tip
Step away from you being the only opinion on the value of feet and the value of the services you provide for those feet.
Listen to the A-type patients that happily pay your fees and respect the value you provide. Never listen to C's and D's that do not value their feet, do not listen and want the cheapest treatment possible.
If you have any questions about this episode, please send me an email at , or you can connect with Jonathan at Health First Foot & Gait Clinic.
If you want to learn more about Jonathan's short 2-hour course, follow this link to FOOT VALUE.
Jonathan's previous episodes:
Ep 006: Work Smart, Not Harder
Ep 044: Podiatry Success Is A Mindset
Ep 081: Don't Live In The Land of Low Fees
This episode was sponsored by PODIUM and to learn more CLICK HERE.
My Next Event - Podiatry Marketing: Success Leave Clues
This marketing workshop is like no other, and when you complete this 4-hour workshop you will have a definite competitive advantage over other podiatrists in your area because you will know what makes a podiatry business successful.
Every successful podiatry business leaves clues, and for the past thirty-plus years, I have been paying close attention and taking note of what successful podiatrists have been doing, and it has nothing to do with your podiatry knowledge.
For more detail, please visit my EVENTS PAGE.
If you want to learn more about my next 12-Week Podiatry Business Reboot or join the Podiatry Business Owners Club on Facebook, please follow the links.
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