Be an entrepreneur

The reader overhears part of a motivational talk I give myself often, as I am leaving my car each morning to enter my job site: "This is a valuable service I provide. I don't go to work because it is where I am supposed to be, but it is work in which I believe. Today (the car door closes) I am going to make a lot of money for my employer, and help many people have a better quality of life. I am going to make deep inroads into my patients' needs. There may be scads of barriers in my way as I work on these goals, but - I will make progress on these goals!"

Sales. We don't go into the professions of audiology or speech-language pathology ostensibly to sell, but selling is a primary goal of what we attempt to do. In the beginnings of our careers, and even as we become mature and self-starting clinicians, we have to sell ourselves that we can do this. I didn't prepare the materials as well as I had hoped; - I stayed up too late; - I do NOT want to face my supervisor today; - and there are a bazillion other reasons not to go into work. But, let's assume the battlements at the job site are energetically rushed. Now we have to sell our work to our customers. Who's that?

Our customers are everyone from the person served and her/his circles of support; the referral sources; the support staffs around that person and behind the referral sources; the third-party payers that keep the human service system funded;  the educational system that prepares future professionals in the fields; - and the larger organizations that employ or otherwise empower our employment to serve persons. We close the sale for each of our customers when we fulfill our mission of service; when we work efficiently; when we work with sensitivity to the evolving needs of the person; when we demonstrate that our services contribute to a healthy bottom line; when we demonstrate that our services contribute to persons' increased health and wellness, not only for individuals but also for the population.

What helps close a sale for a clinician? First, realizing that you have a sales job to do for your customer. Tailoring then presenting your sales pitch. Depending on your customer, you have to make the pitch in a way that will get a clear response. Is it the response you want? Hone, polish, trim, refine and re-pitch the pitch until the deal is closed....if it can be closed. The cycle is repeated continuously throughout the work day, as a function of the customer's status. Constant deal-making. Constant marketing. The art of the deal is that deal-making is intrinsic to the clinical workday.  Who wins with your becoming an effective clinical entrepreneur? The person served wins. All your customers win. You win.