Ep. 156: Can We, Should We? A Decision Framework for Urgent Care Owners

WIW (00:00) Michael, can we do it? Should we do it? There it is. Welcome back to Walk Is Welcome. Another podcast dropped on a Wednesday. As always, we're here to help you grow your clinics. We want to make sure that you get more patients, repeat visits, better care and scale. So what happened? First of all, hey, man. Hello. Typically it would be, I've already said this because like an hour ago we were cutting another podcast, but here we are living the dream for round two. But I wanted to. to bring this to our own pipe. First of all, we've had a litany of interviews. It's been good. It's been real good. Yeah. And we actually have more interviews coming from urgent care owners. That's right. Which we're excited about that. They're kind of hard to get on, but we're excited they're actually coming. I say all that, some of this information was born out of that conversation. So we're going to have an upcoming guest. You've heard us talk about one specific urgent care over and over again. It was a startup urgent care out of Texas. I'm not going to get into the details there. But one of the pieces of conversation that we were having is basically he said, Hey, Nick, we're getting bombarded with requests for sponsorships, with requests for charity giving, with requests for you name it, like advertising, all these different things. business that has an easy door to walk into. That's it. And I feel like I'm obligated to say yes to these things. Yeah. And essentially, I said, man, I know exactly how you feel. I think it's almost worse in our space because our stuff doesn't seem hard to people. Right. Like, I need a website. That should be hard for you. Well, several years ago, like several employees ago, several everythings ago, I came up with this framework and he asked, like, how do you say yes and no to things? And I said, well, actually, it's not that hard for me. By the way, I have a formula. I do have a formula and it's called Can We Should We? And I started off the podcast by saying, can we do it? And should we do it now? I'm going to drop a link to this file because I created a complete standard operating procedure and SOP for our company. And I gave it to Jace. I'm just gonna call it Jace. So I gave it to Jace and like take, remove our information, plug your own information in there. And I wanted to talk about this framework because I, Michael, you have a daughter. I've got three boys. And what I've learned is there is an incredible amount of freedom inside of a set of rules. What we call the guardrails. Yeah, like there's freedom in the box. Fun, fun, quick story. So Connor is brilliant. He's my oldest. He doesn't appear like that on paper. I've seen his grades, but he is brilliant. He like he's super smart. And I remember when he was about two or three years old, he knew two things. He knew he couldn't go into the street. And he knew he couldn't throw rocks in the yard. a good story. He knew he couldn't go in the street and he knew he couldn't throw rocks in the yard. So he looked at me. He picked up a rock. He looked at the yard. He looked at the street. He grabbed the rock. He walked over the street and he threw the rock in the street because he knew when he throws it in the yard, I'm gonna make him go get it and get it out of the yard. Yeah. Well, I can't go in the street and I just threw a rock out there. What you gonna do? So there's always going to be no matter what guardrails use, there's going to be a Connor. who's going to find a way to poke a hole in it. So it's just a standard operating procedure. They need to be fluid. But I wanted to talk about it. So it's super simple. Michael. There is a place that want that is guaranteeing that they can get us 18 to 20 calls a month with urgent care clinics that want to do business with us. What's the framework? What's the framework? Can we should we? That's it. Like, can we do it and should we do it? Right. So think about it from your clinic. Somebody walks through the door and they have radio advertising on a radio station that broadcasts to the entire city of Milwaukee. And you need to rank or you need to be found in a three to five mile radius. Can you do it? probably have the budget to do that. It's going to be okay. You could probably do that. you do it? 95 % of that audience is not going to be your customer. Yeah. So should you? I don't know. You got to think about that stuff. So when I say a can we, should we framework, should we, should can we, and should we sponsor the Christmas tree lighting at the town hall meeting? You know, I'm just making crap up. Right? Yeah. Or like the, I think the most classic thing Do you want to sponsor a banner on a baseball field at your local school or whatever? can we? And honestly, if you're an urgent care, maybe so, because that's a very local community thing. That's a very should we situation, in my opinion. But I bet it's real, though, because I think, like you were saying, as a business owner, just business in general, especially one that appears to have success, and is easy access, like I can walk right in, you're going to have everybody saying, Can you give me a dollar? Can I have a dollar? Can I have a, you know, and it's just this constant thing. And if you say yes to everything, you can't say yes to things you actually want. That's right. I always say protect your yes. Yeah. Because a no is a whole lot more powerful than a yes. you want your yes to count. Yeah. And saying yes to one thing is saying no to something else. And people forget that really fast. Well, it's easy to go the should we do it, but what about the can we do it? So Groupon walks into your clinic and says, Hey, y'all are offering weight loss. Can we do buy one, get one free? Can you do it? Probably not. Like you got to make money. That's not a good idea. I kind of forgot about Groupon. Well, but I distinctly remember Groupon when it came out and there was an issue. It was actually pilot related. They had the guy that was an instructor and he was doing free, not free, but flight lessons through Groupon. And it was basically like instead of $150 an hour, it like $25. He forgot to put a limiter on. So he had like 500 people by the group. That cost him a fortune. He had to shut them down basically. But it's like that mindset of like those guardrails. Those are real things. I think because we have a lot of situations here where we could do a lot of things for a lot of people. Boy, it will wreck our resources and make chaos. Well, I mean, we tend to do philanthropy around special needs because I have a special needs child. So it's close to me, right? And there's often times like I'm thinking, should we do it? Yeah. Can we do it? Probably not a good idea. We're growing in this area. Our team is at capacity in some spaces. I'm not going to be able to do the best work that I could do for them. And honestly, my team's going to resent it a little bit because just because I'm passionate about it doesn't make them passionate about it. And they have to feed their families and they're not getting a commission on something that isn't producing revenue for the. And like there's a balance because like for an urgent care, you got to treat that patient. And if you're caught up in something like you're one providers can't show up on time because of something you sponsored that they had to go to. That's right. Like there's a very interesting line there. Yeah. And you just have to think about it. Well, so I wanted to go through this decision framework a little bit. And Michael, I know that you haven't fully read everything about this because basically I just made it. It was based on that conversation because I know it's like I'm voting on a new law that I'm about to say yes to, but I haven't actually read it. But I know that you know the framework. Yeah, I've experienced it. Everybody in this office knows the framework. It's not like it's so obvious the framework because we're so ingrained into our mission, vision and values. Like everybody can spit out our core values. Everybody knows our vision. Everybody knows what we're trying to accomplish in the urgent care space for our urgent cares. So these guardrails are already ingrained in our team. So then they just say, can we do it and should we do it? And it makes it super simple for them to make decisions on all different kinds of things. So here's the framework and you read it. I apologize. I don't always like to read on air like this, but I want to do it. So can we, is the capacity check determined if you have the internal resources, time and staff to support or sponsor without detracting from your core client commitments, right? So budget feasibility, can you afford it? Right? Is this a part of your marketing budget or is this extra? Timing and logistics. Is this something that is going to throw you off of your schedule in a deep way? that's going to have a profound negative impact on there. Should we? Is it aligned with your mission, vision, and values? Is it on mission for what you're trying to accomplish at your urgent care? Is it mutually beneficial? Is it win-win? It should check both of those boxes. And even for the philanthropies, Michael, that you and I do, that we do as a company, I feel good about it. So it is checking a box for me. It's giving me some purpose outside of just making an income and just doing business in a space. For me, sometimes philanthropy is check in a box. I feel good about it. I feel like I'm making an impact for my son's behalf for his future. And then does it align with the values of your company? Ours is win-win partnerships, exceptional client experiences, culture trumps everything, embrace ownership, right? So here's the process, the steps to take to determine this, because not everybody on your team is going to be able to spat this out. Michael, the first one is just simply request submission. in the initial screening of what's being asked of you. exactly. Like just an internal review to ensure the request can we situation where in especially where dollars are involved. Well, and I would even say to like because you've done this quite a few times where you bring it to the team where you're like based on your mindset, I want to do this, but I have to involve a lot of my team members to make it happen. So you'll come have a can we should we situation sometimes that even happens with a current client. where something may have changed or something unintentional or we've had clients where they had a situation come up and we're trying to be good to them, good, you know, good stewards to them. And then because of can we should be situational time, but like it is good to have that feedback from the team involved. It's going to be working on whatever you may be saying yes to. Because the reality of it is, like you said, you can quickly create resentment. And when you create resentment, it doesn't matter how awesome of a situation it is, the people involved like, are we doing this again? As a matter of fact, I had that question the other day on something that we started with a can we should we that ended with a probably not a good idea anymore. Yeah, or and I think that's there's some truth to that too, around philanthropy stuff. There should be an end date with any philanthropy. Yeah, because it's not like there's a negative around the nonprofit, you may be helping it's more of they always need help. But at some point or another, you have to say, I've spent my time where I want to spend and I need to move on. You know, just because at the end of the day, if you keep donating your health and time, you can't find another spot to go donate to. Or you just run out of time. Because we always talk about how you got to take care of yourself first. Because if you don't, you can't help take care of other people. Absolutely. Right. So this is the simplest thing I can tell you. Just structure that review process. this is it when you ask the question, can we do it? And should we do it? If either one of those fails, you don't move forward. That's the guardrail. Like that's the ultimate guardrail. Right? If you know all of this stuff about your company, and you've set the rules in place, then if it fails either one of those, then boom, you're done. Like it's just out. then if you try to say, well, I have to make an exception nine times out of 10, you made the exception and it bit you later. say 10 times on it. For me, it's been a 100 % failure. Yeah, I mean, but it's real, because the best part is when you create these guardrails, you're doing it in a non emergency way. So you get to think about it. That's right. And you're not having a reaction to it, you're being proactive to it, which means you're going to be more logical about what you're putting down on paper, which didn't prevent because there's a lot of things. I mean, I'm sure you've seen this too, where you want to help somebody that came so quickly, you can't really process it. is the way you want to and then you feel this obligation also and come on and emotion kicks in. And when emotion kicks in, that's when the logic kind of falls away. And that's where the guardrails kick start bringing you right back. It keeps the emotion in check. That's right. No, that's really good. It's funny that you say when you put it down on paper, because that comes into the decision in the documentation. One of the things that I failed miserably at we first started doing this because you do it from a place. Typically, if it's philanthropy, you do it from a good place. Yeah. Even if it's coming from like, I'm trying to sponsor something or I want to buy an advertising or you want to do business with patient care marketing pros or you name it. Like it starts at a good place. You have the need, you have the want, it's a can and a should. Good intentions. But you didn't put down or nobody agreed on a scope. Yeah. Right. And you didn't write it down and therefore there's this just indefinance. like it ongoing. Yeah. then it becomes, or, or we've seen ourselves internally where, Hey, we're going to do you a favor. And doing a favor is like the most awful phrasing type of thing ever, because it becomes like a, don't want to do this. I'm just, I just going to do it for you, but I don't really want to do it. And then when you get into that spot, all of a sudden the good thing goes bad super fast. I remember one time when I worked in radio. this guy, our radio host, he was friends with a shop. I was selling radio advertising at the time and there was a shop in Pelham. You probably know as Off-Road Motorsports. yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been there before. That guy. But I walked in there because Jim, who was the show host said, hey, you need to go talk to him. He's going to buy advertising from me. And I walked in there and I talked to him and he goes, yeah, I lost a bet. So just draw up the paperwork. And I was like, yeah, I don't know that this is going to be like, you shouldn't. This isn't right. Like this doesn't feel right. And I'm kind of bet? I know. But at the same time, like, here's the deal. This was my commission, my work. I had to go into this and he already was at a position of, I don't want this. don't want this. Right. Which is just a lose lose situation because you don't want to serve somebody that's being forced to work with you. Right. And then they don't want to work with you at all because they're being forced. And that's Whenever you're forcing people to do something they just don't want to do, it never works. It never works out. So making sure that like both sides of the party are on the same page about the scope of work. of that expectations, all of that, which brings me to number four, which is that post engagement review. And that's just evaluating the outcomes of what you did. Yeah, I mean, that's something that we do a lot here with clients where we're evaluating how things are going and like the results and so forth. But yeah, at the end of the day, it also is that in this situation, because generally speaking, the philanthropy stuff, like we said, there's an endpoint to it. And evaluating what happens is important because it doesn't make sense to revisit it later or to keep it going. It's like, let's do another engagement of this because it was really good for both sides. So that's... That is good there because I think people quickly forget like, okay, we're done. We'll see y'all next year. See you next year. We'll talk next year. And then you didn't really say, was that good for us? And then it's not just from like a pure like dollar standpoint, but it's also like, hey team, did you enjoy working on this? What were things that we could have made better? Because I have feeling we could do that for almost all in our philanthropy stuff where what could we have made this better process for everybody? Or what more guardrails should we have put up? So we've talked an awful lot about philanthropy, but taking this exact same checklist and talk about like maybe you're looking at a software for your clinic. sparkly buttons. Yeah, I love sparkly buttons. I will push them all. I'm the guy who buys the car and make sure that everything has the button. Like I don't want any blank spots. You know what talking about? Give me the buttons. The poverty button? That's it. I don't want the poverty button. Nah, man, I will install something. I will draw a picture of it. your next car needs to be a push button start that sparkles when you get in the car. It like makes a little chime. I need the sounds. We were talking about that on mail earlier too. But you know, thinking about a software, thinking about going in and sponsoring some local, I almost said newspaper. I said newspaper, some local magazine. Here we have Shelby living that kind of stuff. Or you're going, you've been hit up the, the be a vendor at an event or whatever. Sponsor the water bottles at a field day at a school. Which is a good thing, by the way, but it has to be the right thing. Yeah, it's not right for everybody. That's right. And that's even where if you want to go to... We used to do job fairs to get intern stuff and we realized after the second one, this doesn't really make sense for us. we can, but we shouldn't. But we shouldn't. And then because just like anything else, like we've talked to different universities and so forth. And the one once you do it one time, you're now on this list and they'll keep coming back. And it can be a good or bad thing. But you have to just say, is it worth my time each and every time? I mean, I can answer that for you. Right. No. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to do it. Right. That doesn't mean that I'm not willing to do it. So can we should we? So let's do this evaluation checklist. We'll do a quick repeat and then we'll move on. So can we do we have the resources and capacity to fulfill the request? Does it fit into our current budget? Is the timing feasible? Right? Should we? Does it align with our mission and values? Is that is there a clear mutual benefit like win-win partnership capability on both parties? And will this represent our brand positively? I think those are really good litmus test for your clinic to decide whether or not you should and could move forward with somebody, especially, especially when you are bombarded with the amount of people like me, sorry, and I'll throw myself under the bus here, but people that want to do business with you and can actually add real value, but maybe just like, it's not the right time. It's not the right fit. You already have it in place. You don't need it. Wow. This makes me think about the scorecard we would do on discovery calls. Absolutely. Should we do business with you? And it's kind of the same format, right? Like if you're checking off yeses, there's some value behind it. Cause I do think like it's a timing feasible and they're like, yes. Cause I bet there's some yes and nos in there where it's like, yes, but, and then you follow something. I, I, I'm more leaning toward the idea. Like if you're saying, but a bunch of times, then you're probably need to be saying no. Well, I the guard rails are in place for you to say no more than you say yes. Yeah. Exactly. Right. And that should be the mindset. Yeah. Say yes to the right things. Protect your yes. Make sure that it's that it's the right one. And I love the way you just laid that up is like if you're if you're saying, yeah, but like there's just too many questions in there. You don't have enough information and the can we should we kicks it out. Yeah. Period. So I know this hasn't been a very long episode, but we wanted to be a very practical episode for you. I did put actually a form together. And again, we can drop this in the show notes. There's a form. that should I make it like a real form? You can make it a real form on the website right now. It's just like it's there to serve. But you can take this and like, let's just say that somebody walks into your office, man, the best thing you can do is just put a pause on everything and say, let me run my form and this will kick everything out for you. Like I could score it real quick. Yeah, this is a decision. Do it real quick. Like we got time. No decision framework here for this. Yeah, like in my mind. Well, I mean, because at the end of the day, when you have a not I'm not sure that should be a default. Sorry. Well, you can see where some of this came from too. My look at this like it's not even like do we have available team members or resources to support the request right? So yes, no, not sure. But if yes, who's going to do it? Yeah, you know, it's nice. It you think about it. Yeah, because now you're you're taking this especially as an owner. Y'all owners look at me right here on the camera. Look at me in the eyes. The best tick. I know you're going to hand it off to somebody. I'm going to hand it off to somebody. seen it all the time. It's what we do. All right. It's part of being the owner, right? You're going to hand it off. So when you hand it off, it's so funny. Our now biggest client. Such a good guy. I'm not going to go into the details of the but it's a multi location. We're having a fun time working with them. Great owner. Love him because I speak his language. He made a decision in like five seconds and then handed all of it. off to his team and they just look like they were whiplash. Great, great, great team. Yeah, like they were just like, God, was one of those when we get on the call with them, right? So we only know this much. We're great. We only know this much. All right, let's talk. Okay. Yes. In that. And okay. Yeah. Like basically I even remember telling him, I was like, y'all don't have to sign anything today. Cause he made the decision so fast. I was like, I'm going to let y'all have plenty of time to go through the conversation that we still move. I think that's why. Well, they move pretty quick, but it's probably also the doctor saying, have we started yet? We can talk about when they're ready, right? Luck is where opportunity and preparedness meet, right? We were ready and the opportunity showed up. Anyway, so just going back to this, the budget, you know, it's just the timing and operational fit, all of these different things that we've already talked about. This just allows you to check the box. Yes, no, not sure, specific details. Like there's accountability in this form. When you give your team the framework, they can make good decisions on your behalf. You don't have to be the yes, no for every little thing. Just give them guardrails. My kids make really good decisions when they stay within the framework, when they stay in the rules that we set for the house. They make great decisions. It's when they break those rules, it's just become a problem. That's what we're learning. And I think we learn here too, internally. rules matter, but crystal clear rules matter more. Because when we're all on the same page and we all agree to it, it's a whole lot easier to say no or sorry, we're just not doing that. To be unclear is to be unkind. Yeah, that's a real thing. And we've all experienced it, whether we like it or not. Because I've had plenty of situations I thought I was clear on the returning party said no. In fact, was not clear at all. So any other standouts on this before we leave, Michael? No, I'm just thinking through like if, cause how I made the scorecard for our thing that scores, I can reverse score this where it starts at a hundred and every time you say no, it knocks off 10 points and not sure knocks off five points. And then if you get below an 80, it just says, sorry, there's no way this will work. Not a good fit or not a good time. Sorry, bro. You're out of money. You're out of money and time. Anyway, look, we want this to be a good resource for you. We'll drop a link to it. All you have to do, because it's a Google Doc, you just go up to File and put Make a Copy, and it'll go right into your own Google Drive, and you can have a copy. You can do whatever you want with it. So I'm going to hurt my feelings. I created it for you. So I hope you use it. With that, Michael, let's go. All right. We'll see you guys on the next one. See you.