As we strive to improve our services and provide our cleints with the best possible service, we have developed a client survey to get your input and suggestion on our performance. We invite you to help us by providing us with your input and opinions.

By filling out our short survey, you will be eligibale to receive a pair of tickest to the sun's game on 02/21/2010 against Sacramento. The lucky winner will be randomly selected from the list of all survey respondents, so fill out the survey by 1/31/2009 to qualify. Good luck to you.

TEXAS
363 n. sam houston pkwy. e. #1100 houston, texas 77060 281.582.0771 (phone) 866.318.7920 (toll free) 281.820.9310 (fax)

ARIZONA
1410 w. guadalupe rd. #109 gilbert, arizona 85233 480.733.2631 (phone) 866.318.7920 (toll free) 480.733.2749 (fax)

How are you going to finish in 2009?

The New Year is coming fast! Majority of businesses are glad that 2009 is almost over, and they are looking forward to the New Year.

But let’s face it, if you are still around, and you are able to measure the critical aspects of your business such as your P&L, it means that you’ve survived a tough year! Most of us may be getting fewer profits out of our business, or actually losing money. But again, if you are still around and getting ready for 2010, you’re surviving a tough economy.

This is a good thing. You are in business to make money. But in a tough economy, we must be grateful that we made it this far, because there are a lot of business owners who have not! So, let’s count this one as a learning experience, understand the shift that is happening in our respective market place, and develop a sound plan that is aligned with your target market, and follow through.

What are you doing to prepare for 2010?

When economic times are difficult, It may or may not be shocking for you to learn that the first "expense" that is cut is marketing. Now this may or may not make sense. The fact is, when we are faced with a tough cash flow situation, we tend to ask ourselves where I – the business owner – can save money. Upon close examination, we’ll look at our advertising, and marketing and think that we are just spending money and it just seem like it didn’t work because our business is down. So why continue to do it? The answer can be a bit complicated, and yes, one can make the case for reducing the marketing and advertising budget. But consider these two factors: first, if there were no marketing or advertising, would your situation be much worse than it is now? And second, have you really tested and measured the success of all your marketing and advertising efforts? The bottom line is marketing is important! Whatever form of marketing you are doing or planning on doing, it must be consistent, tested and measured to insure your return on investment.

How do you to get your patients to recommend you to their friends and family?

Do you have a referral system that you consistently use? If not, you should. Referrals can be a huge part of your revenue and can be more profitable. So, if referrals can be lucrative for your business, how can you establish a consistent referral based practice? Just follow these simple steps:

1. Determine what you’re willing to reward your patient with if they refer you 
2. Document the reward such that it can be presented at the end of each and every visit 
3. Insure that the last person your patient sees, can explain your referral program and highlight the benefits and rewards it provides 
4. Insure that your patient understand that they will receive the reward when the referral actually contacts your office, not if they become a patient, or if they just simply give you a name. In most cases, your patients will not give you names, but will actually give your name to their friends or family. 
5. Ask for the referral only after you know for sure that your patient is happy with your service. You can do this by simply asking “how was your experience with us today?” if the answer is positive, introduce your patient to your referral program. 
6. Make sure you track who referred whom, and send thank you note weather they’ve given you a referral or not, they may give your name anyway. 
7. Follow through, and reward them. 

Look for Fifer BizBits

As we begin the new year, we have been very busy improving our excellent services and understanding the challenges our clients face. In our new Fifer Biz-bits, we will address some of the business challenges you may be experiencing in your practice.