After several years of running my own optometry practice, I felt like walking away—I was done. We had grown quickly but I didn’t know how to tackle the growth on my own. During the day, I put out fires, while at night, I finished the billing and insurance paperwork. The stress was getting to me: I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t stop thinking about the office.
Although I was a competent doctor, I had no management training and so flew by the seat of my pants. Despite putting in 50 to 60 hours a week, I wasn’t making enough revenue for what I had been trained to do. Worse yet, work was taking over my life. I wasn’t spending time with my kids and I knew I should—that bothered me a lot. Drained, mentally and physically, I needed to change something. That’s what led me to become a Sterling client.
Working together, my Sterling consultant and I organized the office. We assigned specific “hats” to staff and trained them so they knew what to do. In the past, I’d just tell them to do whatever they needed for us to survive; which created a lot of inefficiencies.
Because of not having a whole lot when I was growing up, I struggled with pricing and tended to undercharge. Sterling helped me see how valuable my time was and revamped my fees. They also showed me and my staff how to comfortably sell patients what they actually need. Previously, I used to tell patients to get the cheapest option available. Now I know how to present them with the best options and my staff are much more confident and aggressive in helping them make their final purchase decisions.
It’s been four years now since I signed up with Sterling and during that time, my collections have gone up by nearly 30% and are still increasing. More importantly, I have the time to be a part of my kids’ lives and even have extra time to coach baseball. Instead of feeling like my world is falling apart around me, I feel like I have it all under control. I’m making more money but working fewer hours with much less stress.
I used to dread going to work, but now that Sterling has helped me put my life back in balance, I love being an optometrist again.
Braden Kail, OD
