This FREE webinar will give you facts about dangerous exercises and personal training that all health and fitness professionals should know.

In this presentation International Health and Fitness expert – Paul Wright – will share with you:

- The 7 exercise rules taught to most health and fitness professionals
and why they cause confusion.

- The Winston Churchill quote that clarifies the issue of safe
versus dangerous exercise in fitness and PT programs.

- Why the rules we learnt in our fitness leader and
undergraduate courses no longer apply in the modern fitness centre environment.

- The only accurate predictor of injury and how most trainers
miss this vital key to safe training for their clients.

- The keys to safe squatting, how low to squat and the best
knee position that all trainers must know

- The exercise that when demonstrated at a conference draws
groans of concern from all trainers – and the common exercise done every day that is actually more dangerous.

- The piece of cardio equipment  responsible for many
lower limb problems and the setup error that causes them – are you using it inyour programs?

- The bench press and dumbbell press errors that can lead to
shoulder injuries and the technique modification essential for clients with
past shoulder problems.

- 7 of the best rehabilitation exercises that all Personal
Trainers and health professionals should be using in their programs NOW.

Plus much more!!

You can register for this FREE webinar at:

http://ewebinars.com/4185/n5d8uyc9x1/webinar-register.php

Note: The webinar runs for just over 60 mins.

Who Will Benefit from this Webinar?

This webinar is suitable for all Personal Trainers and allied
health professionals involved in the exercise, conditioning and rehabilitation
of clients.

Special Bonus for Watching the Webinar

We know your time is valuable – so as a special bonus for those who register and watch the full webinar – you will receive a copy of Paul’s “Health Business Diagnostic” – a spreadsheet that allows you to assess the performance of you and your health business – quickly and easily.

Note: This diagnostic is usually only available to Paul’s one on one coaching clients.

About Paul Wright

For the  past 20 years Paul has owned multiple Physiotherapy clinics in Australia and has  been actively involved in clinical education having lectured to over 20,000  health professionals all over the world – in the areas of rehabilitation,  program design, injury prevention and more recently – health business  management.

He has developed more than 15 educational DVDs for health  professionals and is a featured speaker at many international health and fitness conventions.

What attendees of other Paul Wright presentations said:

“Awesome – will be taking on all of his advice. Has made me
think differently. You’re  Great” Emma (PT)

“Paul has as a better view of the industry as a whole – both professionally and personally than anyone else here” Scott (PT)

“Absolutely fantastic – plenty to think about” Donna (PT)

“Paul Wright – best lecturer ever” Mark (PT)

“Paul was fantastic – he kept the rooms attention for the
full time – Great Job” Nadine (PT)

You can register for this FREE webinar at:

http://ewebinars.com/4185/n5d8uyc9x1/webinar-register.php

I have been working hard over the past few weeks with my one on one coaching clients in the area of front desk and enquiry scripts – with great results.

This area has long been one of the biggest money leaks in business and needs to be a priority for all business owners.

I firmly believe that all health business owners must have a list of scripts that are used by all team members when confronted with the most common situations and enquiries.

You front desk team, and your therapists if they take calls or are asked questions by potential clients, need to know what to say when asked questions like these:

“Do I need to see a doctor before I come to see you?”

“How much is a physio/chiropractic/personal trainer session?”

“Should I see the physio or the massage therapist” ( if you have multiple therapies in the one business)

“Do I get a health fund rebate for your services?”

“Do you do orthotics (or other products)?”

These are all opportunities to convert a caller into a client – but more importantly – it is an opportunity for your business to solve a personal problem and provide a great solution.

Unfortunately, many businesses are missing these opportunities by not providing their team with the best answers to these common questions.

I also suggest you prepare scripts for other common calls and enquiries such as what to say when a client cancels a booking, wants to make an appointment with a therapist who has no spots available, want to see a therapists who is on holidays or wants an appointment with a professional who has left the company.

I suggest all health business owners spend a few hours listening to your front desk team and make a list of the most common questions and calls they receive.

Then, produce scripts for each situation and get cracking on team training to ensure these scripts are followed.

I can’t tell you how much extra income this will add to your bottom lines each and every month.

Do it now.

If you want to find out more about front desk scripts and how to maximise your income please register for my FREE “Practice Acceleration Program” webinar at :

http://ewebinars.com/4185/weiio5jx0h/webinar-register.php

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

I learnt very early in my business career the importance of lecturing, speaking and presenting as a means to promote my businesses and raise my profile.

There is nothing more powerful than to stand in front of an audience and give a presentation on your topic of expertise – even better if the lecture is half decent.

The good news is that even if you are not a polished speaker – with 50% of the population listing “public speaking” as their second biggest life fear – second only to “Death” – it is not hard to see why speakers are held in such high regard by most audiences.

I encourage all health professionals to get cracking and start delivering seminars, lectures and in-services as often as you can to whoever will listen.

Here are a couple of tips from someone who has been on the lecturing stage for most of my professional life –i.e. ME

-          When you are starting out do simple presentations to crowds you know well – i.e. your family, friends, sporting teammates, your dog –it is all about getting time in front of the people in the early stages.

-          Develop a number of simple talks on topics you are most comfortable with – I guarantee all health professionals have a specific area of expertise that will lend itself very well to some great seminars and presentations.

-          Don’t let perfection stop you from getting started – one of my mentors once told me “Better to be 80% and out the door then 100% and in the drawer”.

-          You are never going to please everyone – accept that and move on. I often give out feedback forms at the end of my seminars – mostly to collect testimonials – but also to check crowd satisfaction. From experience there will always be people that you did not connect with, had heard it all before etc. You need to accept that some people will not be happy – so get over this fast.

However – my major tip is to make sure you don’t give up even if you have a couple of setbacks, some poor feedback or are rejected by a conference organizer – I have had all of these happen to me – and still do – so you must keep  going.

Very few – if any – of us are born great public speakers – most of us develop and grow as we do more and more presentations.

I remember one of my early seminars was at a fitness conference in the UK nearly 20 years ago – I was not a paid presenter but got a lecturing spot because my beautiful wife was a featured presenter at this convention – so I suppose they felt sorry for me and gave me a gig.

I can tell you now – I was terrible – arrogant, poorly prepared – basically I was a real dud.

I remember telling the attendees at a recent conference about this dud UK lecture when a lady put her hand up and said that she was actually in the crowd at that ill fated presentation over 20 years ago.

I proceeded to apologize for my past poor performance and we had a good laugh about it – I was amazed that she came back to give me another go.

She actually then said “I didn’t think it was too bad – you did your best”.

That’s all you can ever do – your best – and as long as you keep practicing, improving and developing your skills – you will find lecturing and speaking to be an incredibly powerful and rewarding part of your overall marketing plan.

If you have any lecturing disaster stories – pease place a comment on this topic.

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

I am currently reading a great book by best-selling leadership educator – John C Maxwell – titled “Failing Forward“.

This excellent resource was recommended to me by the co-founder of Gloria Jeans coffee franchise – Peter Irvine – who I recently had the pleasure of interviewing for my Profit Club program CD of the Month.

In his book – Maxwell talks about how we all need to turn mistakes into stepping stones for success and how we should always be learning from our mistakes – rather than worry about them and letting past failure slow us down from future success.

He points out that the major difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.

The achievers typically take responsibility for their failure, learn from the experience, understand that failure is just part of the success process, challenge outdated assumptions, take new risks and persevere.

Here are a couple of the biggest failures I have had in my business life – I am sure you can relate to some of them:

- Named my first clinic after myself – Paul G Wright Physiotherapy – dumb, dumb, dumb.

- Opened a single room clinic in a small gym with limited member exposure ( I closed this clinic in the first 3 months).

- Spent over $1000 on a great magazine advert that did not get one call or lead.

- Sacked a Physio because he did not follow the systems I had in place – then could not find a replacement – so I had to call him and offer him his job back – he declined – funny that.

- Hired a multitude of professionals who did not interview well – because I thought I could “train them up” – when in reality I just wanted to fill the positions as soon as I could. They failed to deliver and eventually left of were fired.

- I was even sacked from my first private practice physio position – it may have been due to the multi coloured “happy pants” I used to wear to work (I was in a body building stage and had no idea what I was thinking).

Do you get the picture?

We all fail in life and business – but the secret is to keep going and learning.

One great quote I read in John Maxwell’s book was that:

“People who never fail – take orders from those who do”.

I would love to hear the great failure stories from other health professionals out there – I am sure you have some great tales of errors, mishaps and mistakes.

Please add them to comments on this post.

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

Last Friday and Saturday I attended an incredible seminar with one of Australia’s leading business experts – Tony Gattari – the man who took Harvey Norman computers from $12 million turnover to $565 million in just 9 years.

The more I listen and learn from incredible business and life experts like Tony – the more I realise that to be a success in any endeavour requires you to take action.

Some of my favourite expressions and quotes are based on the understanding that to achieve any goal or outcome requires – first and foremost – the decision to undertake a task followed very quickly by some movement towards that goal.

I am sure you have heard some of these:

“The universe rewards action”

“You are better off being scared and moving than afraid and frozen”

“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they cannot find them, they make them” George Bernard Shaw

I am sure there have been many times when you have been unsure what to do – or not happy with some aspect of your business or your life – this is normal and healthy – some call it a “positive dis-satisfaction”.

The winners are those that take action even when they are scared or tentative.

The losers are those who spend 6 months researching a project – and then deciding not to go ahead – just like they did for the last ten projects they researched.

Now I am not advising you to be reckless and foolish in your decisions but think about the current ideas on your head and decide today to take immediate action towards making one of those ideas a reality.

My accountant once told me that “behind every successful business is a risky decision”.

Things will never be perfect.

All your ducks will never line up.

Only you can decide to change the situations and circumstances that you are unhappy about – because as we all know:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

I welcome your comments on this topic on my blog and would love to hear from other health professionals who have taken a chance and been rewarded (or failed).

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

One of the things I like to do with my private coaching clients is to look closely at the words they use when outlining treatment plans and programs to their clients and patients.

This training helps them sound more professional, in control and confident – which ultimately increases the clients trust and helps all parties achieve a better outcome.

In one of my coaching sessions a client was delivering a practice treatment plan to me and said:

“You can also get this Swiss Ball if you like to do your exercises at home – it may help”

I stopped the session immediately and said “NO, NO, NO, NO “

What a wimpy, watered down, soft and unconfident statement.

There is no way the client would go ahead and get the product – if this was the way it was recommended and explained.

Now before you all get too hot and heavy about me turning you into used car salesman and flogging products just to make an extra profit – open your mind a little to what has just happened and relate it to your own clinical practice.

You can do worse than ask yourself the following questions about the product you are looking to sell to the client:

1. Is the product of value to the client?
2. Will using the product help the client’s ultimate outcome?
3. If you were treating your grandmother – would you get her one to ensure she had a great outcome?
4. Does the price of the product represent a fair and reasonable exchange of value for the client?

Now if you can answer “YES” to each of these questions – I believe you have a moral obligation to do everything in your power to ensure the client buys and uses the product.

Instead of the wimpy watered down soft statement you need to say something like:

“Peter – to get maximal effectiveness from your home program and give you the best possible chance of playing in the Grand Final in 2 weeks – you will need a Swiss Ball to use at home – I will get the front desk team to arrange that for you at the end of the session”.

I can hear you already.

Paul – that is a very hard sell and not really giving the client a choice.

Exactly

You are not there to give the patient a choice – you are there to get the best possible outcome for the patient – and if that involves the patient getting a Swiss ball – then these are the facts – it is as simple as that.

The patient can of course decide not to get the ball – but you don’t need to make it soft and easy to do that – because if they don’t get the ball –your treatment program and reputation are on the line due to a failed program.

If you are involved in any sort of product sales program can I ask each and every one of you to think hard about the words you and your team use when explaining and selling these products to your clients.

If you answered “Yes” to the questions I outlined above – at least give the patient or client a chance to benefit from the product you are recommending.

Be direct – to the point – and confident – your patients will thank you and the results will speak for themselves.

If you would like the chance to work with me in a one on one capacity to increase the profits in your health business ,go to www.healthbusinessprofits.com/coachpaul and fill in the expression of interest form.

I welcome your comment on this topic.

Paul Wright

Tragedy has struck at my local shopping centre.

I walked past my barbers salon this morning only to be faced with an empty shop – no clippers, no chairs, no hair on the floor – nothing.

The note on the front door – in hand written text – said:

“Peters salon is no longer open – thanks”.

No forwarding number, no follow up letters – nothing – just an empty shop.

Other than my immediate concern of where I will get my next haircut – my business brain quickly thought about what went wrong with Peters business and how a previously profitable enterprise simply  disappeared overnight.

But more importantly I thought that Peter had spent the last 10 years in that little shop – giving great service – but now has nothing to show for it.

The business problem Peter failed to appreciate until it was too late – was he did not get his business ready to sell – until it was too late.

He also made a few key business mistakes:

- He named the business after himself – bad idea.

- He did not collect details of all clients – so he had no database to sell.

- He did not get other professionals into the business – so all income relied on him.

- He did not put systems into the business that would save a new barber years and years of triall and error to duplicate.

But worst of all.

He whinged to all his clients about how tough business was, how difficult the landlord was to deal with – and how he had was sick and tired of the business.

Not a great advert if I happened to be a potential buyer or knew a potential buyer.

My warning to you as great health professionals is simple.

Don’t let this happen to you – get your business ready to sell – even if you never intend on selling it.

I did a live lecture series late last year on this exact topic with the title :

“What is Your Health Business Worth – Buying, Selling and Increasing the Value of Any Health Business”.

For those who where unable to attend – or those needing a reminder of this most imortant of topics  - I now have a DVD of this presentation now available on my website.

This 90 minute DVD covers everything you need to know about buying, selling and increasing the value of any health business and is essential viewing for all current or future health business owners.

Don’t make the same mistakes that Peter (and many health professionals) make in their businesses – get the facts today from someone who has sucessfully sold their health business already.

Over the past five years – I have sold 6 health clinics – for great results – and want you to be able to do the same – if you decide to eventually sell your businesses.

This DVD is only $125 AUD plus P and H – and I only have a limited number of copies for sale at this time.

You can order your copy now by going to www.healthbusinessprofits.com and following the links to the “DVD Store”.

This DVD is Session Seven in my DVD series – you can even watch a preview of this DVD on the site.

Special Offer – Get this DVD (or one of my other DVD’s) and 3 Bonus Audio CDs for only $97

If you have not already joined my Profit Club program – you can get this exact same DVD (valued at $125 AUD  plus P and H) – or your choice from my current range – as well as the three bonus audio CDs – for ONLY $97 (with no P and H) – just by joining my Profit Club Program.

Bonus Profit Club Audio CD’s include:

1. Work Life Balance – with Paul Wright

2. Website Mistakes Made by Health Professionals – web guru Derek Rescei

3. Health Business Mistakes – health business coach Anthony Capaighi

You can find out alll about Profit Club and how to get these great deals by  going to www.healthbusinessprofits.com/profitclub

Either way – you need to get this DVD asap.

Go to www.healthbusinessprofits.com and follow the link to the DVD store to order the DVD for ONLY $125 plus P and H.

Or go to www.healthbusinessprofits.com/profitclub – to get the DVD and 3 Bonus Audio CD’s – for only $97 when you join my Profit Club program.

Stock of this new DVD is strictly limited so order now to secure your copy.

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

I had an interesting question in my Profit Club member forum this week from a long term Profit Clubber asking if I thought he should list his consultation fees on his website.

He is a market leader in his demographic, is the most expensive provider in the area, and wants to actively promote the fact that he is the most expensive provider around.

This is actually a very solid marketing strategy as higher fees encourage high quality clients and gives the very obvious external impression of high quality care in your organisation.

I always tried to be the highest priced provider in the area when I had my clinics for this exact same reason.

However, the fundamental problem with displaying your fees (high or low as they may be) on your website – is that unless you have put a huge amount of time into the design, text, and layout of your website – there is no way that a potential client can make a decision on whether or not the price you post on your site is a fair and reasonable transfer of value.

Posting your fees really only encourages price sensitive shoppers or those looking to compare providers based on the fees they display on the sites the potential client goes to – so effectively you make yourself a commodity by doing this.

You are better off spending some extra time working on making your website a better lead generator for your business by offering a free report for joining your mailing list, a free phone consult, a quick injury pre-screen or a free e-book that offers great tips to help the potential client solve their immediate problem.

This “soft” first contact allows you to build rapport with the client, gain their trust and eventually gain them as a long a trusted client who then refers all their friends to you and becomes a great part of your business success.

Money only becomes an issue if the client does not see the incredible value in what you do.

It is the same in any transaction.

I currently charge $1000 a month for my one on one business coaching program – but my clients only need to get one small item of information , one tip, one strategy or one system  that they may not have come up with on their own – and the return on their investment can be 20, 30 or 50 to one.

Remember – it is not about the price – it is about the value you bring to your clients and it is hard to really show great value in one on one health care on a website.

I also suggest you take down your fee sign and poster for your front counter – same reason – you don’t want to focus on the price – you should be focusing on the value you bring to each and every transaction.

I welcome your comments on this topic.

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

I received a rather disturbing email last week from a current “Profit Club” member that I wanted to mention to all health professionals and health business owners.

The email sender is a well respected health professional with a sound business that had been doing well and providing a great service to his clients and community – like most of you I suspect.

The disturbing part of the email was when he mentioned how a new clinic had opened just down the road from his practice and have been charging greatly reduced fees in an attempt to gain market share.

My Profit Club member was desperately worried that this new “cut price clinic” will effectively destroy his business and lead to a price war that he just does not want to be part of.

I think this is a very common issue with many health professionals and one that I think needs to be addressed – in case you are considering using the same “cut price tactic” in your marketing plan.

My advice to the more expensive clinic owner would be to:

One: Ramp up your level of patient contact and follow up to ensure your current clients feel appreciated and important in your business.

Two: Continue to develop and promote your Unique Selling Proposition – i.e. why people buy from you. It may be your superior training, better facilities or more thorough follow procedures. It is only though a great USP that price becomes a non – issue for your clients.

Three:  Do Not – under any circumstances – drop your fees in an attempt to engage your competitor in a price war. This is a recipe for disaster. I would actually prefer to see you raise fees or provide a higher price premium service to deter the price shoppers totally and look to attract those high class clients in search of a better quality of care.

My Advice to the “Cut Price“clinic would be:

One: What do you think you are doing? The most damaging thing you can do for your profession (and your future business) – is to promote and attempt to deliver a low cost health service. The only eventual outcome is a poor quality for life for health providers, attracting low compliance clients and delivering poor patient outcomes. There are actually no winners in this model.

Two: if you promote your USP as a “low cost” provider – it is too easy for some other – equally naive health business owner – to think they can do an even cheaper service – again destroying the professional reputation of all involved.

Three: The “low cost” or “discount” model is often the marketing method of choice for inexperienced health business owners who don’t know any other marketing methods or techniques – aside from dropping prices. Get your act together and attend some marketing courses and get some coaching as the “discount model” is destined for failure- this I can guarantee.

I encourage all health business owners to think long and hard before commencing any low cost health service marketing of your health business – it can have serious imp0lication on your future business success and more importantly – the future of your profession.

I look forward to your comments on this most interesting of topics.

Best Wishes

Paul Wright

I continue to be amazed at how unaware many health professionals are about the risks their clients take when they book an appointment or ask for help.

As health professionals – we are comfortable in a health care setting, are used to discussing medical issues, have no trouble taking our clothes off for an examination (we did it for years at university), and are able to ask good questions of our health providers.

But spare a thought for your poor patient and clients.

When they make an appointment to see you they may have one of more of the following concerns:

1.       Will you be able to help them with their current problem or health issue?

2.       Are they wasting their time and money seeing you in the first place?

3.       Can they trust you to give them great care and not just line your pockets by giving them sessions and products they don’t need?

4.       Will they be embarrassed when asked to remove their clothing in front of a complete stranger?

5.       What happens if they don’t get results under your care?

These are very valid concerns and can be powerful enough to stop many potential clients from coming to see you in the first place.

Health professionals MUST put themselves in their client’s shoes in every step of the service delivery process – from the time the patient first call your office to make an appointment to the day they are discharged from your care.

Once you have done that – your job as a health business owner and caring health professional is to engineer a customer service experience that addresses and reduces these concerns every step along the way.

Remember – YOU ARE NOT YOUR CLIENT.

Now don’t sit there and think this lack of awareness of what is happening around you is not impacting on your business – because it is.

The world of health care is becoming more and more competitive so you need to stand out from the crowd.

Once way to do that is to solve these “Key Frustrations” for your clients and reduce the risk of doing business with you.

In my next blog – I will share some of the best steps you can take to reduce these risks for your clients -which will greatly impact on your business success.

I welcome your comments on this topic.

Paul Wright