Rick's Business of Audiology Blog

Become Indispensable

Increase sales and profits anytime in any economic climate by becoming indispensable. Conceptually this is an easy concept. In practice it is often hard to do.

Legislative Indispensability:

In the US If I want to get drugs I must go to see a physician. If I want insurance companies to pay for my medical treatment I must go see a physician. In this way physicians have made themselves indispensable. They justify this to the legislative bodies and insurance companies by telling them that they "regulate" the number of visits and keep costs down for the insurance companies.

This is the arena of your professional associations, and is not an individual or local business achievement.

Customer Driven Indispensability:

This is an individual and local business achievement.

If your customers view their hearing instruments as indispensable to their life, and view your business as indispensable for them to use their instruments then your business can grow no matter what anyone or anything else is doing.

This becomes a very valuable key point of differentiation for you and your business.

Advocate for Audiology

I was recently asked if I thought Audigy Group was a good advocate for the profession of Audiology. The question always surprises me as the answer is obvious. No. They cannot be.

Hearing Aids may slow the brain aging process.

Interesting article indicating some University of Pennsylvania research indicates wearing hearing aid will decrease brain atrophy.

Another one of those use it or lose it situations for older people.

Worth a read as it is a clear value message for hearing aids.

http://www.hearingreview.com/news/2011-09-01_01.asp

Competitors Not Playing Fair

Don't be afraid to point it out.

Have you ever watched a coach when the other team isn't playing by the rules?

They will point it out to the referee, and in league play the coaches do evaluate the referees after the game and submit a report.

Good coaches have no fear of pointing out when the other team wasn't playing by the rules.

It is the referee's job to ensure everyone is playing by the rules.

In business the referee is the licensing agencies, and professional associations, if a competitor isn't following the rules don't hesitate to bring it up with the licensing agency.

We are all adults. This isn't tattling like in Jr. High. If those close enough to the situation don't take the time to point it out no one will notice.

Social Network Marketing: Make it Work for you.

Social Networking, from Twitter to Facebook, is changing the way people interact. This includes your customers and referral sources. People that used to read the paper and see your advertisement are now spending their time on Facebook. So this is significant to you.

I see many Audiologists active on Social Networking sites, obviously wasting their time.

Why? Because: They don't know why they are there.

Either they feel they should, or they are just playing, or who knows what.

If I cannot figure out why you are there, I bet you don't know either.

Social networking is a perfect gruella marketing tool. It is a place where the small personal service business has an advantage over the big companies.

Take a moment to record in one paragraph, or a short list, of why you are there. It ought to include who your target market is (and perhaps as importantly who it is not) and what you want to communicate with them.

If you cannot do this then you are probably wasting your time. Some people may find they want more than one account to serve different purposes; one account as a Dr. and one as a gamer and family connector.

Example:

My Facebook and Twitter presence is first and foremost to promote my professional activates. (As opposed to connecting with high school buddies, playing online games, and sharing fishing stories.)

I intend to increase my personal connection with people on my support team; including patients, referral sources, clients, vendors, and colleagues. This is for "water cooler" or "conference break" type of material. (So I am going to limit personal information and have most of the posts of interest to these people.)

I intend to connect with 2 new significant people each week. (As opposed to worrying about number of hits or number of friend counts, lots of hits are easy to get. One useful hit can be hard.) Two a week may not seem like many, but that is over 100 significant new contacts a year.

Then when you are about to post, check what you post against this standard. It will make it easier to think of relevant posts, and it will limit the time it takes to connect, while significantly increasing the value of your efforts.

All successfull marketing efforts change the relationship of a target audience with your business. Social Networking is no different.

I know this will be helpful for any of you that choose to do it.

Rick

Valentine KISS

As we celebrate love give yourself and those around you a kiss.

Or more importantly a K.I.S.S. reminder:

Keep It Simple Silly (or stupid depending upon how you talk).

Make a point to simplify someone's life.

Give the K.I.S.S. of simplicity.

How:

Simplify one form in your office, or one procedure.

Simplify one step in your patient journey.

Simplify one person's job.

Simplify ways to say: "Thanks, I appreciate you."

Simplify ???

Cash or Income: Which do you need?

People often tell me they want to increase their income. Why I ask? Wellll……..

Increase your income and you increase your tax bill. Therefore Congress, wealthy Democrats, the IRS, and people who make a living giving tax advice and selling tax shelters want you to have income.  Anyone who lives off of the government wants you to have income so you will pay taxes to support them.  Other people's goals for you include you having taxable income.  Is that really your goal?

Cash is what you need to pay your bills. Not income. You can have lots of income, little cash, and become insolvent.

Think in terms of increasing your family wealth, and having enough cash to meet your cash needs. You will have a higher standard of living, more fun, and a relatively lower tax bill.

Rick

If your patient saw it, would you be uncomfortable?

A person who asked not to be identified gave me this example:

I was sitting in the audience, lots of laughter, a couple of free drinks in my stomach and another on the table.

It had been a great flight. Sure it probably cost a little more to fly direct, but they were paying and I was flattered.

They had put me up in a very nice room; far nicer than I would have ever purchased on my own.

The person in the front was talking about driving a car that was probably worth more than my home.

The resort was grand; far nicer than I would have ever reserved for myself.

I was about to go out for a walk on the beach, in the warm evening air.

A strange thought came over me. What would my patients think if they saw me right now?

Is this the image I would want of myself as a dedicated hearing health care provider?

Is this the photo I would want to have on my office wall?

That thought stayed with me for the rest of the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Ethics: A Quick Test

I was asked this AM if it was ethical for an Audiologist to accept a trip from a vendor. In my opinion it is only ethical if you don't buy from that vendor. Take the trip, and then buy from someone else and I would think you are Ok.

I don't profess to be an Audiologist ethics expert, and below I have posted links to the ethics pages for AAA, ADA, and ASHA. In addition there is anti-kickback language in most third party reimbursement contracts including Medicare and Medicaid that if you participate in these programs impact you.

This isn't an ethics violation on the part of the supplier. They can attempt almost any legal sales technique they think might work.  Many things are legal, that are not ethical.  That is why professional groups have codes of ethics; to limit actions that are legal, but not consistent with the profession.   

It is the Audiologist that wants to tell people they uphold a higher standard, not the vendor. The vendors sell hearing aids to non-Audiologists this way and in other parts of the world this way. Non-Audiologists and people in other countries have different ethical situations.

One supplier told me (on a flight from a conference) that they don't think it is ethical for Audiologists, but it isn't their problem. She indicated in her opinion that the way to get an Audiologist's attention and influence them is to buy them a vacation. Cheap and effective marketing as she saw it.

Just because "everyone" does it doesn't make it right. Would you accept your child's explaining the speeding ticket, while legally drunk, driving your car, as OK because everyone who left the party was doing it?

And then there is the professional reality test:

If you would be comfortable sitting in front of a patient as you are explaining to them what it will cost to purchase their hearing aid and disclosing how you were influenced.

It might sound something like this:

" You might want to know that the supplier I use to acquire these hearing aids paid for a couple of vacations for me to Mexico (Hawaii, Vegas, Bermuda, anywhere that sounds like a vacation spot) and while I was their guest I decided they would be the company I would use. I also expect if I sell enough of their hearing aids I will again be rewarded with another all expense paid vacation. "

Now that test doesn't relate to the written third party contracts or the professional ethics standards, but it might be the most reflective.

Ethics Links:

ASHA http://www.asha.org/docs/html/ET2003-00166.html 

AAA: http://dev.aaa.susqtech.com/publications/documents/ethics/default.htm 

ADA: http://www.audiologist.org/resources/documents/professionals/Code_of_Ethics.pdf 

 

 

 

 

 

Tax Free Income: Availiable to You

Tax Free always has a nice ring to it. Here are some things you can do in the U.S.A. to gain some tax free income.

The biggest and most important thing you can do is to own your own business and invest in it. When you own your own business you get the biggest source of tax deferred income available. As you invest and grow your business you generate real value in a tax deferred environment because you don't pay tax on the value of your business until you sell it while you do get to reap the rewards of the investment income. In addition you may find as a business owner continuing education, some trips, meals, and old office equipment, furnishings, and computers that you may want to buy become tax deductible. This is where a good accountant can be worth every penny.

Here are some other items you may want to consider:

1. Hire your kids. If they do real work for reasonable wages their pay is deductable to you and they may be able to earn over $5,000 without paying federal tax. This has the added advantage of providing them with real job skills that they will never get in school a lifelong benefit. In addition they may get to learn what you do, and how important it is to society.
2. Do it yourself. If you have to earn wages to pay a plumber or painter both you and the plumber will pay tax on the money. If you do it yourself not only do you save taxes but you have the satisfaction of knowing you did it. Perhaps spending a weekend painting your office yourself would make it possible where hiring a painter makes it impossible. If you regularly fix up a home you plan to sell the sweat equity can really add up.
3. Help a friend who helps you. The IRS taxes bartered services between strangers, but not between friends. Perhaps a neighbor can clean your gutters and you can test his hearing.
4. Rent your house, trade your house, or housesit for someone else. You can rent your home for up to 14 nights a year without paying tax on the income. If you can trade houses you can really save on vacations. Let's say you live in Phoenix, and have a friend in DC. Schedule your vacations at the same time and trade homes for a couple of weeks. No hotel motel tax, no room fees, and you both get to experience a different part of the country.
5. Don't ignore frequent flier miles. If you make a few business trips a year, and use a credit card with a mileage connection to pay bills you would pay anyway you will occasionally get a free or discounted ticket.
6. 179 Deduction: Use it every year. I am still amazed at how many accountants set up depreciation schedules for equipment that could be quickly 179 expensed reducing current taxable income, and then they charge for setting up and keeping track of the depreciation schedules.
7. Reimburse whenever possible. Give your employees an expense account instead of a raise. If they are currently paying items with post tax dollars that would be deductible to the business this generates tax free income for them. Items like professional dues, continuing education expenses, conference expenses, professional books, and some other items are often paid with after tax dollars when they can be paid with pre tax dollars.

I am not a believer that the goal is not to pay taxes I think paying taxes is one of the important socially responsible things we do as business owners. However as business owners we do pay more taxes than most people so we may as well take advantage when we can. I am not licensed to provide tax advice so your tax advisor is the one to talk to but these are strategies you often can use to enable you to limit your current tax burden.

 

Board Certified in Audiology: Use it Proudly

Medical professions use Board Certified to maintain high standards of professional excellence. AHSA has done a great job of helping Audiologists as a profession, but Audiologists ought to not forget the advantages of being Board Certified.

This is how Audiologists determine what an Audiologist is and ought to know.

If you are a professional Audiologist know what it means to be Board Certified, support the American Board of Audiology, www.americanboardofaudiology.org/ , and promote this as your professional standard.

Board Certified in Audiology is the only certification where Audiologists own and determine the criteria.

Most patients don't know the difference between an HIS, LIS, Ph.D, M.S., or Au.D. when they look for a hearing health care provider.

You need to be sure to tell them.  Board Certified is one way to do so.

 

1 New Year’s Resolution to Make and Keep

I am not big on New Year's Resolutions. But there is one I do encourage you to make.

Congress now is doing their best to push the wealth from average people to the wealthy by encouraging most people to get jobs and buy liabilities (like cars & houses) on credit.

You can make a difference for you and your family.

Resolve to become an owner, not just a worker.

You might be a stockholder in a larger organization, or a partner in a smaller one, or the sole owner, or some combination of all.

This isn't something most of you will "do" in 2011. But putting yourself on the path to do so is the best gift you can give to yourself and your family in 2011.

Setting an intention to create family wealth is something wealthy people do.

You can also.

Rick

 

Invest In Yourself: Wealth comes from owning a business that creates real value.

Other people's goal for you is that you have a job. Wages are highly and immediately taxed. Wages are the most difficult form of income to ever use to create personal wealth. Wealthy Democrats in congress LOVE people with jobs, in particular union jobs. Because those people will always be workers making money for someone else and end up dependent upon the union and Congress for their future income.

When you get a job you become a taxpayer and not a burden to society or your family. When you have a job you can be creating wealth for the people who own the business. So other people set this as a goal for you.

If you ever want to become wealthy then you need to become an owner / investor. You need to learn how to create real value in a business that you own. This isn't as difficult as most people think. Many people without a high school diploma know how to do it. You can also.

I am not saying quit your regular job right now and jump without a plausible plan. I am saying start making plans to do something for yourself and your family.

If you were going to own your own business, what would you need to know that you don't know now? Then figure out how to get that experience. It isn't as important if you start at 14 or 41. But that you start.

Rick

How to Stop Procrastinating

Do you know someone who hovers? She or he thinks about doing important things but doesn't seem to get around to it? Then here is something you, or they, can do about it.

I believe most of us come by procrastinating honestly. At least I believe I did. As a young man I found often if I procrastinated I could avoid the task all together. So don't feel badly that procrastination happens to someone you know. I think by nature most of us are procrastinators.

However as a professional I don't want to avoid the task, I want to get it accomplished. I also want it to be done well and not thrown together at the last minute.

So here are my keys for you:

1. Make it Fun: I am amazed how many people put off important things, yet can get up at 5:00 AM to go fishing, or golfing, or whatever they find fun. My daughter, who is capable of dragging her feet out of bed most days, had no trouble getting up early Christmas morning. This is why keeping score can be such a big help.
2. Make it Important: I have a saying: "If it isn't fun it had better be really important." I have found this explains a lot of procrastination. If it isn't fun, and it isn't important, then why do it? I want my kids rooms clean. They don't care. So if I make keeping their rooms organized important to them they will do it. If the expected value of the outcome doesn't appear to be greater than the expected effort then procrastination can dominate action.
3. Have a Plausible Plan: When I find myself procrastinating I find most of the time I lack a clear plan. I am sort of wondering what to do next? Or wondering if I can really do it. Or wondering, well almost anything. This is why we often do things "the way we always did them" when we know we would be better off doing things differently. We lack a clear plan for doing things differently.
4. We Feel We Should: I hate this one. It covers a vast myriad of tasks I shouldn't have ever planned to do, but somehow feel I should. These often aren't important to me, aren't fun, and may require I create and execute a plan. Yuck. Often my best course of action is to decide not to do it. Can I hire someone to do it for me? Can I tell the person I just am not able to keep my commitment? These are best avoided before accepting the task. Because sometimes I just need to realize I need to grunt it out. My consolation prize: After grunting it out I will no longer need to do it. Not much, but it is something.
5. Change the Rules: Sometimes a task that is a huge burden for one is fun as a team. Share the pain with some friends. My Mom once got a refrigerator moved up a flight of stairs by inviting the construction workers across the street over for a beer. My kids are quick to realize every article of clothing doesn't need to be folded, underwear can be quickly put in a drawer unfolded and no one complains. Sometimes redefining the task to get to the core of the need without the fluff will make it much easier to do.

I know this will help some of you.

Rick

IRS Expense Deductions & Depreciation Section 179

Section 179 Deduction allows small businesses to deduct many capital expenditures in the current year as opposed to expensing them over many years.

This enables a business that purchases qualifying items, in particular things like computers, to reduce current taxable income by the cost of the items.

Audiometers, sound rooms, computers, video devices, surround sound systems, and other tangible property qualify.

If your accountant still has you depreciating items and hasn't offered to have them expensed then you owe it to yourself to talk to your accountant.

http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=177054,00.html

http://biztaxlaw.about.com/od/businesstaxes/a/section179.htm

Rick