Ep. 215: Your 2026 Patient Growth Plan: How to Maximize Leads, Budget Smarter, and Scale Confidently
About this Episode
This week’s episode features a clip from our recent 2026 growth webinar, and it’s one every urgent care owner and operator needs to hear.
We’re digging into one of the most overlooked growth killers in urgent care: missed calls. It’s not just a front desk issue. It’s a $50,000-per-year marketing problem hiding in plain sight.
In this candid segment, we break down how call handling, conversion rates, and budget missteps are quietly costing clinics real revenue — and what to do instead.
Topics Covered
📞 Why most clinics miss 30–50% of incoming calls
📉 How much lost revenue those calls really represent
💡 What front desk training has to do with marketing ROI
📊 How to budget based on where you want to be (not where you are now)
🚫 Where most clinics are overspending and what to cut in 2026
📈 The simple mindset shift that can double your patient volume without doubling your ad spend
“If you fix just one thing in 2026—your missed call rate—it could be the best year your clinic has ever had.”
Nick Hoard, Patient Care Marketing Pros
00:00:05 - 00:00:10What's up, Walkkins? Welcome fans,
00:00:08 - 00:00:13listeners, our best friends. Michael
00:00:10 - 00:00:15here. I'm doing a quick intro into this
00:00:13 - 00:00:17week's episode. So, it's actually a
00:00:15 - 00:00:19reflection of the webinar that we had a
00:00:17 - 00:00:22couple weeks ago and it's about talking
00:00:19 - 00:00:23metrics, value versus vanity. I love
00:00:22 - 00:00:25metrics. I'm a numbers guy. So, I had a
00:00:23 - 00:00:28lot of fun doing this, but I wanted to
00:00:25 - 00:00:30bring some interesting topics to that.
00:00:28 - 00:00:32So, a couple things to note for this
00:00:30 - 00:00:34episode. We're going to talk about the
00:00:32 - 00:00:37what metrics you've been you've been
00:00:34 - 00:00:38given by your agencies over time and are
00:00:37 - 00:00:40convinced are good things, but they may
00:00:38 - 00:00:41not be. They may be the vanities and
00:00:40 - 00:00:44what value metrics actually looks like.
00:00:41 - 00:00:45And we'll give real life examples where
00:00:44 - 00:00:47something looked great on the surface,
00:00:45 - 00:00:49but it was not at the end of the day.
00:00:47 - 00:00:51So, I wanted to touch on that and just
00:00:49 - 00:00:54let you guys know that this episode will
00:00:51 - 00:00:56be completely focused on numbers and
00:00:54 - 00:00:58just, you know, if you if you have
00:00:56 - 00:01:00reporting from your current agency or
00:00:58 - 00:01:02from your current marketing person, have
00:01:00 - 00:01:03you looked at the numbers and just
00:01:02 - 00:01:05digested what that actually means? And
00:01:03 - 00:01:07that's the whole point of this webinar.
00:01:05 - 00:01:09I hope you guys enjoy it and I'll catch
00:01:07 - 00:01:11you on the other side. And now we're
00:01:09 - 00:01:13going to show you something fun. It's
00:01:11 - 00:01:16called I call it fun. It's actually
00:01:13 - 00:01:17really sad, but I love it. I mean, I I
00:01:16 - 00:01:19created it because we were trying to
00:01:17 - 00:01:21solve a problem for our clients, right?
00:01:19 - 00:01:24>> So, um, one of the number one things
00:01:21 - 00:01:25that urgent cares have, and you you
00:01:24 - 00:01:28know, you're probably one of them, is
00:01:25 - 00:01:30that your missed call rate is atrocious.
00:01:28 - 00:01:34I think the industry standard or
00:01:30 - 00:01:36acceptance is 30%. 30% of your calls can
00:01:34 - 00:01:37be missed, which is not good. I don't
00:01:36 - 00:01:39know why they think that's a good
00:01:37 - 00:01:41standard. They just
00:01:39 - 00:01:42>> You do. You guys do. I don't know why.
00:01:41 - 00:01:44Unfortunately, I think that number that
00:01:42 - 00:01:45while that may be the industry standard,
00:01:44 - 00:01:46it's been my experience that is higher
00:01:45 - 00:01:47than that.
00:01:46 - 00:01:50>> It is. And that's like right. And so
00:01:47 - 00:01:54like we work with a lot of clients and
00:01:50 - 00:01:56they're missed call rates like 50 60 70%
00:01:54 - 00:01:58which is crazy to think about. But
00:01:56 - 00:02:00anyway, I want Nick to kind of show you
00:01:58 - 00:02:02guys this tool. Yeah. But before you
00:02:00 - 00:02:03click over that, I want to say one thing
00:02:02 - 00:02:05on this. Each one of these things, if
00:02:03 - 00:02:08you don't know them,
00:02:05 - 00:02:08>> going into 2026, get to know it.
00:02:08 - 00:02:10>> Yeah.
00:02:08 - 00:02:12>> Get to understand it. Figure out what it
00:02:10 - 00:02:15is. What is your daily patient volume?
00:02:12 - 00:02:18That's averaged. If you saw
00:02:15 - 00:02:195,000 patients in 2025, divide that by
00:02:18 - 00:02:21months and days and you're going to get
00:02:19 - 00:02:23an average daily count, right? Yes.
00:02:21 - 00:02:25>> Um if you don't understand what your
00:02:23 - 00:02:27average revenue per visit is, go look at
00:02:25 - 00:02:28how much money that you made in 2025 and
00:02:27 - 00:02:29divide it by the number of patients that
00:02:28 - 00:02:32came through the door. That's your
00:02:29 - 00:02:34average revenue per visit. Um your lead
00:02:32 - 00:02:35to appointment rate. Michael explained
00:02:34 - 00:02:37this pretty well, but go figure that
00:02:35 - 00:02:39number out. And then your miss call
00:02:37 - 00:02:41rate. This is something I'll talk about
00:02:39 - 00:02:43it later uh in the slides, but this is
00:02:41 - 00:02:46something that you're going to have to
00:02:43 - 00:02:48not should not think about it. This is
00:02:46 - 00:02:50something that you're going to have to
00:02:48 - 00:02:52solve for in 2026, which I'll tell you
00:02:50 - 00:02:53why later. But we did help you by
00:02:52 - 00:02:54putting this miscalled calculator
00:02:53 - 00:02:55together.
00:02:54 - 00:02:58>> We helped you by scaring you.
00:02:55 - 00:02:59>> Yeah. And I honestly I hope it does
00:02:58 - 00:03:02scare you into action. And I mean that
00:02:59 - 00:03:04sincerely. So um what we wanted you to
00:03:02 - 00:03:07see is how much are your missed calls
00:03:04 - 00:03:09costing your business? The problem is
00:03:07 - 00:03:10that simply too many calls are going
00:03:09 - 00:03:12unanswered by your front desk. I'll talk
00:03:10 - 00:03:14about that later as well, but let's go
00:03:12 - 00:03:17ahead and look at that. So, uh, the
00:03:14 - 00:03:18average patient, I'm going to lower
00:03:17 - 00:03:20this. I want to give you a good
00:03:18 - 00:03:23realistic. Let's even work off it off of
00:03:20 - 00:03:25u percentages from um,
00:03:23 - 00:03:26>> got this. Somebody's already asking
00:03:25 - 00:03:27access to this calculator.
00:03:26 - 00:03:28>> If you don't if you don't mind dropping
00:03:27 - 00:03:30this link, that would be great. And if
00:03:28 - 00:03:33you can't, let me know and I'll drop it
00:03:30 - 00:03:36in the chat. So, um, what we want to do
00:03:33 - 00:03:39is let's set it at $100 per patient. And
00:03:36 - 00:03:41let's just say that you're missing five
00:03:39 - 00:03:44calls a day. Okay? And let's just say
00:03:41 - 00:03:49that your conversion rate is 30%. So, if
00:03:44 - 00:03:52if I if out of a 100 calls, uh, 30% of
00:03:49 - 00:03:54those are are are converting. 24 to 35
00:03:52 - 00:03:55is the industry average. And then what
00:03:54 - 00:03:59you're going to see over here is your
00:03:55 - 00:04:04daily patient loss, 1.5. Your monthly
00:03:59 - 00:04:08patients lost 45. Annual patients lost
00:04:04 - 00:04:09roughly $550. Your daily loss is $150.
00:04:08 - 00:04:12This is where it starts to compound
00:04:09 - 00:04:15though. This is where we're losing money
00:04:12 - 00:04:18is $4,500 a month in loss revenue,
00:04:15 - 00:04:20$54,000. And this is just on the low
00:04:18 - 00:04:23end. Let's just say that you're missing
00:04:20 - 00:04:2510 calls per day. Look at those numbers
00:04:23 - 00:04:28jump. Now you've paid for your rent for
00:04:25 - 00:04:28the whole year just by answering your
00:04:28 - 00:04:29phone.
00:04:28 - 00:04:33>> Yeah.
00:04:29 - 00:04:35>> Right. Um the uh Teresa asks, "Do we
00:04:33 - 00:04:38have any data on patients wanting uh a
00:04:35 - 00:04:40text option instead of a phone call?" Uh
00:04:38 - 00:04:41so no, I don't. But I tell you what, I
00:04:40 - 00:04:43will get that information. Yeah.
00:04:41 - 00:04:45>> Uh because I'm curious about that as as
00:04:43 - 00:04:47well. Um you're wondering if people
00:04:45 - 00:04:49would rather text you than phone call. I
00:04:47 - 00:04:51can tell you this that uh most of our
00:04:49 - 00:04:53online schedulers have text options
00:04:51 - 00:04:55built into them. not ours, but I'm
00:04:53 - 00:04:57thinking like Experity's Clockwise, uh,
00:04:55 - 00:04:59Solve, Zach, Doc, all of that does have
00:04:57 - 00:05:01text options in there. And we are
00:04:59 - 00:05:03getting more requests than we have in
00:05:01 - 00:05:05the past about adding text features in
00:05:03 - 00:05:07chats online.
00:05:05 - 00:05:09>> All right, so we can talk about that for
00:05:07 - 00:05:11sure, but this is a huge issue. And, uh,
00:05:09 - 00:05:12Hannah just said that she'll make sure
00:05:11 - 00:05:15that it's included in the resolutions at
00:05:12 - 00:05:17the end in the replay. So, we will get
00:05:15 - 00:05:19this to you, right? Um, I'm glad that
00:05:17 - 00:05:21you want it because y'all are
00:05:19 - 00:05:23recognizing that this is a big deal.
00:05:21 - 00:05:26this little box I programmed into the
00:05:23 - 00:05:29bottom was a
00:05:26 - 00:05:31minimum effort issue, right? Let's just
00:05:29 - 00:05:34do a reality check. And even if 50% of
00:05:31 - 00:05:36the missed calls, that could add up to
00:05:34 - 00:05:39$54,000 per year at this level that I
00:05:36 - 00:05:41put. Okay, let me tell you the reality
00:05:39 - 00:05:43of what we're seeing. I hate to say
00:05:41 - 00:05:45this, but this is what we're seeing
00:05:43 - 00:05:46right here is 40%.
00:05:45 - 00:05:47>> This is what we're
00:05:46 - 00:05:49>> probably worse than that, honestly.
00:05:47 - 00:05:52Yeah, we're seeing 40% and more
00:05:49 - 00:05:54>> of missed calls. I can't
00:05:52 - 00:05:56>> of all the things we're going to talk
00:05:54 - 00:05:58about today, Michael. If you fix this
00:05:56 - 00:05:58one thing, 2026 will be the best year
00:05:58 - 00:06:01you've ever had.
00:05:58 - 00:06:02>> Absolutely. And it's so and and I'm
00:06:01 - 00:06:03actually working with another urgent
00:06:02 - 00:06:05care right now that they're not they're
00:06:03 - 00:06:07not a client. This is more like I we had
00:06:05 - 00:06:09a conversation. It's I want to help you
00:06:07 - 00:06:11on this. I go do a call analysis and
00:06:09 - 00:06:14then they have three locations, right?
00:06:11 - 00:06:16All three were were hitting 50% missed
00:06:14 - 00:06:18calls and they even said, "Yeah, I've
00:06:16 - 00:06:19seen people I've seen the phone ring and
00:06:18 - 00:06:20they just ignore it."
00:06:19 - 00:06:21>> Yeah.
00:06:20 - 00:06:22>> And I'm like, "Well, how often do you
00:06:21 - 00:06:24train them?" Well, I haven't in a long
00:06:22 - 00:06:25time. Like, well, this is going to
00:06:24 - 00:06:26matter.
00:06:25 - 00:06:27>> It's going to matter a lot.
00:06:26 - 00:06:28>> It's going to It's going to be a big
00:06:27 - 00:06:29deal.
00:06:28 - 00:06:31>> Well, I don't want to spend too much
00:06:29 - 00:06:32time here. I will make sure that this
00:06:31 - 00:06:34resource is available to everyone. By
00:06:32 - 00:06:36the end of the call, you will have a
00:06:34 - 00:06:37link to this for you. Yep. And if you
00:06:36 - 00:06:39have any questions about it, reach out
00:06:37 - 00:06:40to us because we want you to be able to
00:06:39 - 00:06:42use it and make good decisions off of
00:06:40 - 00:06:44it. Um, is it this one, Michael, or do I
00:06:42 - 00:06:46need to go
00:06:44 - 00:06:47you just
00:06:46 - 00:06:48>> Well, I have to hop right back out to
00:06:48 - 00:06:49>> Oh, good.
00:06:48 - 00:06:49>> Anyways.
00:06:49 - 00:06:51>> Oh, good.
00:06:49 - 00:06:53>> It's totally fine. All right, moving
00:06:51 - 00:06:56forward for time sake. So, talking about
00:06:53 - 00:06:57the uh what kind of growth This is where
00:06:56 - 00:06:59are you saying yourself? What kind of
00:06:57 - 00:07:01growth do I really want? Do I want and
00:06:59 - 00:07:03work off of percentages, right? Where
00:07:01 - 00:07:04>> I've got to note this real quick. I
00:07:03 - 00:07:05don't mean to interrupt you, but it's
00:07:04 - 00:07:07I'm laughing because I'm looking at
00:07:05 - 00:07:09these percentages and I'm going,
00:07:07 - 00:07:11>> if you only got the exact same amount of
00:07:09 - 00:07:12phone calls, you could see this kind of
00:07:11 - 00:07:14growth just by answering.
00:07:12 - 00:07:16>> Yeah. Here's a challenge. If you win a
00:07:14 - 00:07:1820% growth in revenue, reduce your
00:07:16 - 00:07:19missed call rate by 20%.
00:07:18 - 00:07:20Webinar over.
00:07:19 - 00:07:21>> It might just happen.
00:07:20 - 00:07:23>> Yeah.
00:07:21 - 00:07:24>> And we're we're laughing about it, but
00:07:23 - 00:07:24it might happen.
00:07:24 - 00:07:25>> It's real.
00:07:24 - 00:07:26>> It's real.
00:07:25 - 00:07:27>> We're going to we're going to talk about
00:07:26 - 00:07:29it. Keep going. Keep going.
00:07:27 - 00:07:31>> What's your monthly patient visit goal?
00:07:29 - 00:07:33Because here's the thing. Um, your daily
00:07:31 - 00:07:35average is important, but if but
00:07:33 - 00:07:36remember it's an average because there
00:07:35 - 00:07:38are some days you may get 10 patients,
00:07:36 - 00:07:40there are some days you may get 50
00:07:38 - 00:07:42patients and you should never judge it
00:07:40 - 00:07:43by one day. It never makes sense to do
00:07:42 - 00:07:45that. But if you could pull a whole
00:07:43 - 00:07:46month and average it out, it gives you a
00:07:45 - 00:07:47better perspective what's going on in
00:07:46 - 00:07:48your business.
00:07:47 - 00:07:49>> That's good.
00:07:48 - 00:07:51>> And it's um it allows you to set some
00:07:49 - 00:07:53goals for your clinic. So instead of
00:07:51 - 00:07:54saying a daily goal, you want to say a
00:07:53 - 00:07:56monthly goal to your clinic people,
00:07:54 - 00:07:59right? So if you say, "Hey, I want we
00:07:56 - 00:08:02want we have a goal of a thousand
00:07:59 - 00:08:05patients a month." Cool. On average,
00:08:02 - 00:08:07that's around 35ish patients a day,
00:08:05 - 00:08:09average, right? And so it's a lot easier
00:08:07 - 00:08:11to say at the end of the month, hey, we
00:08:09 - 00:08:12hit our goal. Here's a reward. I don't
00:08:11 - 00:08:15know what the reward is, but here's a
00:08:12 - 00:08:16reward for that. Let's keep going. So
00:08:15 - 00:08:18it's it's helpful when you do these
00:08:16 - 00:08:20goals that you get everybody on the same
00:08:18 - 00:08:22page because it's not just one person
00:08:20 - 00:08:24pushing, right? the whole team has to
00:08:22 - 00:08:25push together or you'll never achieve
00:08:24 - 00:08:28the goal in the first place. And we know
00:08:25 - 00:08:29that internally, right? If we can't get
00:08:28 - 00:08:31everybody on board on something, it's
00:08:29 - 00:08:32not going to happen because it takes
00:08:31 - 00:08:33time, people, and resource to get it
00:08:32 - 00:08:35done.
00:08:33 - 00:08:37>> Yeah. This ought to be a mantra uh in
00:08:35 - 00:08:39your weekly meetings that you're having
00:08:37 - 00:08:40is, hey, what is our patient volume
00:08:39 - 00:08:40goal?
00:08:40 - 00:08:41>> Yeah.
00:08:40 - 00:08:42>> For this month,
00:08:41 - 00:08:44>> and they should all just spit it out
00:08:42 - 00:08:47>> and should spit it out. I I love the
00:08:44 - 00:08:49fact that that when I call on it in our
00:08:47 - 00:08:51team meetings on Monday, if I ask
00:08:49 - 00:08:52people, hey, what is our goal? M
00:08:51 - 00:08:54>> they can spit it out. It's not a
00:08:52 - 00:08:55challenge. They know that. They know
00:08:54 - 00:08:58that we're going to be helping 100
00:08:55 - 00:09:01urgent care clinics pass the 60 uh I
00:08:58 - 00:09:02think with 50 patients per day volume.
00:09:01 - 00:09:02>> If I can't even spit it out, how could
00:09:02 - 00:09:03that?
00:09:02 - 00:09:05>> Oh, it's 40.
00:09:03 - 00:09:07>> We dropped it down. That's right. 40
00:09:05 - 00:09:08because 40 is the magic number of like
00:09:07 - 00:09:10making money for an urgent care usually.
00:09:08 - 00:09:12>> Yeah. We want you profitable.
00:09:10 - 00:09:14>> Which goes the next thing right here. Is
00:09:12 - 00:09:15your goal to grow your clinic beyond
00:09:14 - 00:09:17just revenue, but are you looking to add
00:09:15 - 00:09:19services? Are you adjusting your hours?
00:09:17 - 00:09:21Are you adding another staff member to
00:09:19 - 00:09:22help with that? Are you adding that
00:09:21 - 00:09:25second location you've been thinking
00:09:22 - 00:09:26about for a long time because you saw
00:09:25 - 00:09:30somebody close down and that looks like
00:09:26 - 00:09:32a great location. Um, are you looking at
00:09:30 - 00:09:33adding like occupational health? We
00:09:32 - 00:09:34don't even talk too much about
00:09:33 - 00:09:36occupational health. That's a different
00:09:34 - 00:09:38animal, but it's different for a good
00:09:36 - 00:09:40reason. But these are all things like
00:09:38 - 00:09:41going toward growth. You're not go if
00:09:40 - 00:09:42you chose any of these things, you're
00:09:41 - 00:09:45not going backwards. You're going
00:09:42 - 00:09:46forward. You're getting bigger. So, just
00:09:45 - 00:09:50kind of keep that in mind. And just want
00:09:46 - 00:09:52a reminder of to simply this is so
00:09:50 - 00:09:54important. If you don't set this up at
00:09:52 - 00:09:55the beginning to have something to focus
00:09:54 - 00:09:56on, you're just not going to hit any of
00:09:55 - 00:09:58it. And then you're g you're going to
00:09:56 - 00:10:00get the end of 2026 a year from now and
00:09:58 - 00:10:03say what did we do? Did we hit our
00:10:00 - 00:10:06goals? What goals? Because that's a real
00:10:03 - 00:10:07conversation. All right. Next here we
00:10:06 - 00:10:09actually have a cool little tool. I
00:10:07 - 00:10:11won't spend much time on it. I do have
00:10:09 - 00:10:12it up in the tab. We'll show it real
00:10:11 - 00:10:14quick and we will share it with you guys
00:10:12 - 00:10:16as always because we love sharing stuff.
00:10:14 - 00:10:18But this is just a quick calculator
00:10:16 - 00:10:20built in the Google Sheets that allows
00:10:18 - 00:10:21you to kind of see, hey, if we did
00:10:20 - 00:10:23increase by like five patients per day,
00:10:21 - 00:10:24what kind of revenue numbers, what's it
00:10:23 - 00:10:27going to take, right? Like if I want to
00:10:24 - 00:10:28increase by 20% revenue, how many
00:10:27 - 00:10:30patients do I really need on average to
00:10:28 - 00:10:32make that happen?
00:10:30 - 00:10:34>> While you're pulling that up, I got to
00:10:32 - 00:10:36say, uh, we revamped this the other day
00:10:34 - 00:10:38just for our own agency. Yeah.
00:10:36 - 00:10:41>> And while it's not focused on patients,
00:10:38 - 00:10:44we're focused on on clinics. Um, I did
00:10:41 - 00:10:46not realize even though I created, well,
00:10:44 - 00:10:48with some help created this for our
00:10:46 - 00:10:50urgent care clinics,
00:10:48 - 00:10:53>> it's amazing how effective this tool
00:10:50 - 00:10:55helped me plan our 2026 on our revenue
00:10:53 - 00:10:56goals and how we're going to go to
00:10:55 - 00:10:58market on our marketing
00:10:56 - 00:11:00>> strategy. Exactly. Cuz I mean, and
00:10:58 - 00:11:02that's the thing, too. Uh, in talking
00:11:00 - 00:11:04about where you are currently in 2025,
00:11:02 - 00:11:04you can start looking back and see what
00:11:04 - 00:11:05things are happening,
00:11:04 - 00:11:06>> right?
00:11:05 - 00:11:08>> And then you can start saying, "All
00:11:06 - 00:11:09right, cuz it
00:11:08 - 00:11:11>> whether you like it or not, it takes
00:11:09 - 00:11:12money to grow. Now, you can't just say,
00:11:11 - 00:11:14"I'm just going to do the exact same
00:11:12 - 00:11:15thing this year." This happens a lot.
00:11:14 - 00:11:17I'm going to do the exact same thing
00:11:15 - 00:11:20that I did in 2025 and do it in 2026,
00:11:17 - 00:11:22but I'm going to grow 20%.
00:11:20 - 00:11:23No, you're not. You're just not like
00:11:22 - 00:11:24unless
00:11:23 - 00:11:25>> unless you answer your phone.
00:11:24 - 00:11:27>> Unless your environment just changes and
00:11:25 - 00:11:28then all your competitors go away and
00:11:27 - 00:11:29that's not going to happen. I'm sorry.
00:11:28 - 00:11:30That's correct.
00:11:29 - 00:11:32>> So, that's just the reality that you're
00:11:30 - 00:11:34in. Like, you have to make adjustments.
00:11:32 - 00:11:35We made ourselves as a company made
00:11:34 - 00:11:37major adjustments this year compared to
00:11:35 - 00:11:39previous years and we felt the result of
00:11:37 - 00:11:41it at the end of the year positively.
00:11:39 - 00:11:43>> Yeah. in a positive way. And now we're
00:11:41 - 00:11:46like, okay, let's crank it up some more.
00:11:43 - 00:11:47It's not all money driven, but budgets
00:11:46 - 00:11:50are a thing.
00:11:47 - 00:11:51>> So anyway, moving on. For time's sake,
00:11:50 - 00:11:53just want to touch on that once again
00:11:51 - 00:11:55real quick in that in that slideshow.
00:11:53 - 00:11:57I'm just going to kick back over for two
00:11:55 - 00:11:59seconds just to say right here, this
00:11:57 - 00:12:00little blue URL.
00:11:59 - 00:12:03>> If you're going to use this sheet, click
00:12:00 - 00:12:06on that. I personally went through and
00:12:03 - 00:12:08did a video walkthrough with with me on
00:12:06 - 00:12:10video showing you how to use this tool
00:12:08 - 00:12:11so that you would have step-by-step
00:12:10 - 00:12:11instructions on how to make this work
00:12:11 - 00:12:14for your client.
00:12:11 - 00:12:15>> Absolutely. And since you are in
00:12:14 - 00:12:18control, I'll let you move to the next
00:12:15 - 00:12:19slide.
00:12:18 - 00:12:20There we
00:12:19 - 00:12:21>> go. Cool. Takeway.
00:12:20 - 00:12:22>> All right. So, takeaways. I think I went
00:12:21 - 00:12:25through this pretty well. It's the
00:12:22 - 00:12:27reality is where do you want to be?
00:12:25 - 00:12:28Let's be real with it, not just a madeup
00:12:27 - 00:12:31number. And then where do you want to
00:12:28 - 00:12:32go? Like what does it mean? Thinking
00:12:31 - 00:12:34about your budgets, thinking about the
00:12:32 - 00:12:37things to fix. I mean, as we were
00:12:34 - 00:12:38harping, fixing your missed call rate is
00:12:37 - 00:12:40probably more impactful than anything
00:12:38 - 00:12:42else we're talking about today, but just
00:12:40 - 00:12:44want to touch on that. So now I'm going
00:12:42 - 00:12:46to pass it to a question. What is your
00:12:44 - 00:12:49current patients per day volume? Like on
00:12:46 - 00:12:52average, this is average, right? And the
00:12:49 - 00:12:54reason why we put in 23, most urgent
00:12:52 - 00:12:57care's break even point is 23 patients
00:12:54 - 00:12:59per day average. And so we know that if
00:12:57 - 00:13:02you're at 22, you're not really making
00:12:59 - 00:13:03money. At 23, you're right there. At 24
00:13:02 - 00:13:05plus, you're starting to make a little
00:13:03 - 00:13:07bit of money. Uh, so we understand that
00:13:05 - 00:13:08for sure. So we'll let that run for just
00:13:07 - 00:13:10a second longer. And
00:13:08 - 00:13:13>> I always had to like figure this out
00:13:10 - 00:13:14when I was in math. A is greater than
00:13:14 - 00:13:18>> Less b is less than 23. And everybody
00:13:16 - 00:13:20knows the equal to, but I always think,
00:13:18 - 00:13:22oh my god, which is it? All right,
00:13:20 - 00:13:24>> we'll we'll close that out.
00:13:22 - 00:13:26>> Keep going.
00:13:24 - 00:13:26So, so some are above and some are
00:13:26 - 00:13:29below.
00:13:26 - 00:13:31>> Awesome. That's pretty common. Um, I
00:13:29 - 00:13:33like I'll just say it this way. Stay
00:13:31 - 00:13:35here for a second. If you're below 23
00:13:33 - 00:13:37patients per day, your first goal is to
00:13:35 - 00:13:39get to 23 patients per day so that you
00:13:37 - 00:13:42can breathe. If you're over 23 patients
00:13:39 - 00:13:45per day, it's time to get to your your
00:13:42 - 00:13:47your peak, which typically for a clinic,
00:13:45 - 00:13:48you can see somewhere between 50 and 60
00:13:47 - 00:13:50patients per day before you have to
00:13:48 - 00:13:52start adding a provider, adding a
00:13:50 - 00:13:54location, or adding a service. Okay. Um,
00:13:52 - 00:13:55let's keep going. All right. Smarter
00:13:54 - 00:13:56budgeting with growth.
00:13:55 - 00:13:58>> It's all you.
00:13:56 - 00:14:00>> Yes. How much should you spend on your
00:13:58 - 00:14:02marketing? That is the million-dollar
00:14:00 - 00:14:04question, right? Um, what we found is
00:14:02 - 00:14:06that most urgent clear most urgent care
00:14:04 - 00:14:08clinics should allocate 7 to 10% of
00:14:06 - 00:14:09their annual revenue toward marketing.
00:14:08 - 00:14:12Great. So, if you're a million-dollar
00:14:09 - 00:14:14clinic, spending 70 grand on marketing
00:14:12 - 00:14:17is a pretty good goal. 10 uh spending a
00:14:14 - 00:14:19h 100,000 on marketing is a higherend
00:14:17 - 00:14:22goal. There's a couple of ways to
00:14:19 - 00:14:26approach this. And I like to look at
00:14:22 - 00:14:27what where do I want to be in 2026?
00:14:26 - 00:14:30Let's set that number first. So if
00:14:27 - 00:14:33you're at a million, is your goal to be
00:14:30 - 00:14:36at 1.3 million, 1.5 million, 2 million,
00:14:33 - 00:14:39whatever it is, look at that. So if
00:14:36 - 00:14:43you're at 10% of your budget at
00:14:39 - 00:14:46currently, go to 1.5 million and maybe
00:14:43 - 00:14:48look at 7 to 8% of that budget and then
00:14:46 - 00:14:51you can make decisions based on that
00:14:48 - 00:14:53number. But don't market with the budget
00:14:51 - 00:14:54that you're using to get where you are
00:14:53 - 00:14:56today.
00:14:54 - 00:14:58Use a percentage of where you want to be
00:14:56 - 00:15:00in 2026. I want to make sure that I I
00:14:58 - 00:15:01say that very clearly. All right. So,
00:15:00 - 00:15:04the larger goals obviously are going to
00:15:01 - 00:15:05require larger investments. We've seen
00:15:04 - 00:15:08some clinics that are spending upward of
00:15:05 - 00:15:1012 to 15% of their marketing because
00:15:08 - 00:15:11they are in a high growth mode. Kudos to
00:15:10 - 00:15:13them. That's awesome. I know not
00:15:11 - 00:15:16everybody can do that. Some people will
00:15:13 - 00:15:18experience radical growth in 2026 and it
00:15:16 - 00:15:20will break you. My recommendation is to
00:15:18 - 00:15:20pace for steady growth.
00:15:20 - 00:15:22>> Yes.
00:15:20 - 00:15:24>> Okay. All right. If you're aiming for
00:15:22 - 00:15:2530% revenue growth in 2026, your
00:15:24 - 00:15:27marketing budget should grow
00:15:25 - 00:15:29proportionally. This is what I'm talking
00:15:27 - 00:15:30about. Going from a million to 1.3
00:15:29 - 00:15:32million, then you're going to want to
00:15:30 - 00:15:34spend 100 somewhere between 100 and
00:15:32 - 00:15:36$130,000
00:15:34 - 00:15:38on your total marketing. Now, real
00:15:36 - 00:15:40quick, understand that your entire
00:15:38 - 00:15:41marketing using that worksheet that we
00:15:40 - 00:15:44gave you,
00:15:41 - 00:15:47>> it should include payroll of of your
00:15:44 - 00:15:49marketing people or person or agency, it
00:15:47 - 00:15:51should include that. It should include
00:15:49 - 00:15:53your dollar investment in ad spend.
00:15:51 - 00:15:54>> It should include your merch, like if
00:15:53 - 00:15:56you're buying merchandise that you're
00:15:54 - 00:15:58giving out to people. It should include
00:15:56 - 00:16:00contests that you're running. It it
00:15:58 - 00:16:02should include growth initiatives on
00:16:00 - 00:16:04television, radio, print, and going out
00:16:02 - 00:16:05into the community, your boots on the
00:16:04 - 00:16:07ground. So, all of that is an
00:16:05 - 00:16:08all-encompassing budget, not just your
00:16:07 - 00:16:10ad spend on Google.
00:16:08 - 00:16:13>> And then you're finding out like 100,000
00:16:10 - 00:16:14doesn't get very far sometimes.
00:16:13 - 00:16:15>> You got to go quicker quicker than you
00:16:14 - 00:16:16know.
00:16:15 - 00:16:19>> Yeah.
00:16:16 - 00:16:22>> And marketing is not a cost. It is a
00:16:19 - 00:16:22revenue driver. It is an investment in
00:16:22 - 00:16:23your future.
00:16:22 - 00:16:24>> Yeah.
00:16:23 - 00:16:26>> And we can go ahead and tell you right
00:16:24 - 00:16:28now, never put all your marketing eggs
00:16:26 - 00:16:30in one basket. It doesn't
00:16:28 - 00:16:30>> That would include us if we're your
00:16:30 - 00:16:32agency.
00:16:30 - 00:16:34>> Yeah. Yeah. And we even talk about right
00:16:32 - 00:16:37here like on the budgeting side where
00:16:34 - 00:16:39it's we our most successful clinics do
00:16:37 - 00:16:41more than just what we're doing. They
00:16:39 - 00:16:44they have layers to their marketing and
00:16:41 - 00:16:45strategy tied to it all. Uh and it's
00:16:44 - 00:16:46just the reality like yes digital is
00:16:45 - 00:16:48very powerful does all the right things
00:16:46 - 00:16:50but we also recognize when you add in
00:16:48 - 00:16:52all the other types of marketing out
00:16:50 - 00:16:54there it just lifts digital as well with
00:16:52 - 00:16:55it. So just that reminder.
00:16:54 - 00:16:57>> So you're going to break in your
00:16:55 - 00:16:58marketing into three categories. I'm not
00:16:57 - 00:16:59going to just read this slide here, but
00:16:58 - 00:17:02I'm going to tell you you're going to
00:16:59 - 00:17:03have your online, your offline, and your
00:17:02 - 00:17:04client retention.
00:17:03 - 00:17:06>> All right. So, how do you think you did
00:17:04 - 00:17:08going listen to that webinar? And what
00:17:06 - 00:17:11things did you say? Yeah, I don't do
00:17:08 - 00:17:13that. Or I don't really know what I did
00:17:11 - 00:17:14there, and I I wish I knew I spent more
00:17:13 - 00:17:16time on that part of the business and I
00:17:14 - 00:17:18just ignored things. Or you think, hey,
00:17:16 - 00:17:19I did everything right. And it was just
00:17:18 - 00:17:20a reminder I know how to run my
00:17:19 - 00:17:22business. So, I'm curious what you guys
00:17:20 - 00:17:23thought. If you got any questions or
00:17:22 - 00:17:25want to have a deeper dive with me or
00:17:23 - 00:17:27Nick about any of this, just send a
00:17:25 - 00:17:29message at helloaccaremarketpro.com
00:17:27 - 00:17:31and let us know and we'll schedule time
00:17:29 - 00:17:35with you. Hope you had a great rest of
00:17:31 - 00:17:35your week and we'll see you next time.