John Chakan’s Story How Berkeley Hearing Center Consistently Achieves A Full Schedule Of Appointments, Which Has Resulted In Their Best Ever Year Of Sales

You don’t have to be an audiologist to run a thriving audiology and hearing center, which is what makes John’s story of success so incredible.

Together with Jonathan Lipschutz and Jess Muscio Traylor who are practicing audiologists at Berkeley Hearing Center, this small team has achieved big things, and it’s true that John’s sheer passion for helping people is the driving force behind it all.

“I have found something I am passionate about. That feeling of making an impact in people’s lives.”

 

The 3 Biggest Challenges John Faced And How He Overcame Them

It’s no secret that the hearing care industry was hit hard in the pandemic. With so many restrictions and rising levels of concerns among patients about safety, many practices and centers had to close their doors and pause to consider their next steps.

This was certainly the case for John and his team.

Challenge #1 – COVID-19

Of course, no one saw it coming, which meant when John closed his doors at the end of March 2020, he had no idea when they’d be able to open again.

That said, both John and Jonathan remained calm and worked out what they were going to do.

They quickly put safety measures in place and utilized their parking lot to see patients outside.

They also developed a telehealth option that would allow them to see patients remotely.

“All of those steps helped us through those early, scary times when the biggest challenge was the uncertainty of the road ahead.”

 

Challenge #2 – Overcoming Outdated Systems

While the number of patients coming to the practice dropped, it was a good time for John to stop for a moment and take stock of the business.

After realizing that many of their systems were outdated and only there because that’s the way they’ve always done it, it was time to revamp the processes and make the inefficiencies redundant.

“We changed our practice management software. We cleaned up our database. We looked at our pricing (of everything) and made more intentional (and clearer) pricing plans for patients. We evaluated our scheduling process and prioritized patient time for hearing aid candidates.”

This smart thinking and action plan meant that once they reopened, they could assist and help more patients, a move that eventually contributed to their hike in revenue.

In addition to this, the act of working ON the business instead of IN the business allowed John to recognize the importance of stepping back and evaluating the business as a whole.

He now sets dedicated time aside each week to meet the team and evaluate how they can further improve.

 

Challenge #3 – Coping With An Abundance Of Inquiries!

In a wonderful twist of fate, the final challenge has actually been the one responsible for Berkeley’s success – how they were going to deal with the amount of new inquiries that were coming through.

As their local competitors were closing around them, more and more people came to Berkeley Hearing Center, which meant the team had to work longer days and weekends.

They also had more patients than staff, which meant John began seeing patients as an audiology assistant.

Fortunately, John was able to bring on another front office professional to help support the business while he got to grips with serving the influx of new patients.

“It is a wonderful challenge to have, yet also very daunting!”

 

What Else Did John Do To Aid His Success?

All in all, having experienced and worked through each challenge one by one, John was able to reassess the business as a whole and make some other crucial changes that contributed to his success, such as:

  • Reviewing and revising pricing plans, which helped patients clearly understand what they are paying for
  • Implementing trusted marketing campaigns that regularly brought in new patients and ensured his existing ones came back
  • Upgrading existing patients to new technology

 

The 2 Biggest Ways The Inner Circle Helped John Achieve A Consistently Full Appointment Schedule  

#1 – A Clear Communication Plan

“In a time of great uncertainty, the Inner Circle helped provide a path forward. Oli and Phil (and their talented team) helped calm our fears.

“They quickly helped develop strategies and communication plans to reassure and inform our patient base and the public at large about how we were addressing COVID-19, how we were continuing to care for our patients, and how we were moving forward.”

This smart thinking meant that trust in Berkeley was at an all-time high, which encouraged more and more patients to come forward for appointments.

 

#2 – Ongoing Inspiration & Implementation

“I really appreciate our twice monthly meetings. Between Book Club and our group meetings, I always come away inspired, whether from an author/speaker or from the other members of the Inner Circle.

“There are so many geniuses that I am always picking up good ideas.”

All credit to John and his willingness to let his inspiration turn into action. By continuously implementing the ideas and strategies given to him, he has managed to ensure his practice always benefits from a planner full of appointments.

“Frankly, I love any time talking with Oli and Phil directly. Each of them brings a passion and incisive focus to our meetings, helping us prioritize what we need to work on next.

“They provide not only top level strategy viewpoints but also nitty-gritty details that form actionable ideas that we can implement.”

The Inner Circle team is delighted to have John and the rest of the team at Berkeley Hearing Center on board. It’s incredible how far they have come and they’re a true inspiration for any 1-practice business that a full appointment schedule is certainly possible with the right attitude and action plan!

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