What an incredible month. We just wrapped up our 6^th Mindshare Summit!

As you know, for the past 3 years I have been involved in The Mindshare Summit, the brainchild of my long time friend and colleague, JJ Virgin.

When I started working with JJ to create the event, we had a mere 40 attendees in a little room at a modest hotel here in Los Angeles. Just shy of 3 years later, our most recent event had close to 250 attendees, and we pretty much took over the whole Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage. (I think by all accounts, it’s safe to say…we have arrived!)

Now, our roster wasn’t made up of just anyone…we handpicked this select group of experts in the health and wellness arena. And we had a really collaborative-minded bunch, which allowed endless opportunities for attendees to brainstorm new programs and products, and give them the opportunity to push each other to reach for the highest level of success possible in their business.

We were there for three days of uninterrupted networking disguised as fun and learning.  And we definitely had a good time. I didn’t know health experts could stay up soooo late, and still show up on time for the morning sessions!

It helped that we integrated some incredible live music to get the party started in the morning and at the breaks this year…which added a super cool dynamic that we’re definitely keeping for next year!

It’s awesome just how popular The Mindshare Summit has become, every year we have grown pretty much all by word of mouth…in fact up until very recently, we didn’t even have a website! Crazy, right? We help people take their business online and…we didn’t even have a website?  Yep!

Well I am happy to say that this year, we finally got ourselves a URL (yay!) and with it – came even more attention…almost too much? We had to turn down dozens of applicants this past August, which is a great problem to have.

I’ll let you in on one of the secrets to our success. I believe it is one of the reasons the event has become so popular (aside from the incredible attendees, rock star speakers, skillful teachers, and stellar content, of course).

We always do one small, but very important thing right after every event: we survey our attendees.

Sending out a survey is a fast and easy way for our participants to give us the scoop – anonymously (or not) and honestly. It helps us find out what they liked, what they didn’t like, what they’d like to see more of, and what (quite frankly) they could’ve just done without.

Then, we gather the results, schedule a team meeting, and incorporate the feedback as we design the content, structure, and schedule for the next event.

Do you Really Need to do a Survey?

Now, surveys often times get overlooked. Most people (not you of course!) don’t really like, or want, to survey their list. They worry…what questions should I ask? What if nobody responds? I don’t know how to create a survey, and I don’t know how to collect the results. 

These are some of the “reasons” that I hear my clients give for not doing a survey when I suggest they poll their patients. If you are thinking the same thing, think again, because the data and the benefits you will get from sending a well-thought-out survey will pay countless dividends for your practice.

A survey is a great way to put your finger on the pulse of your patients, so that you can:

• See what they love about you, your office, and your staff

• Learn what they’d like to hear more about so that you can get a feel for what interests them the most (i.e. what they might buy from you if you offered it)

• Understand what changes you might make in your practice to help them have the best possible experience in your office

I believe one of the reasons my practice was so successful was that I always approached every decision I made through the eyes of a patient. Because I had spent so many months (years even) in doctors’ offices, I knew exactly how I wanted to be treated as a patient. I knew the things I liked…and I also knew the things that sent me running for the hills!

So, how do you know exactly what your patients want?

Try…asking them! That’s what a survey is all about.

The results of your survey will allow you to enhance the way you interact with your patients. If you’re focusing on your brick-and-mortar practice, these results could inspire you to see new ways to serve your patients and community. For example, you might get ideas for adding a new service in your practice, developing a new group class, creating an educational lecture series, or you could even discover some practices in your office that could be turning patients away.

The possibilities are endless, limited only by your ability to ask the right questions!

How to Survey Your List

If you’re new to surveys, don’t worry; I am going to spell it out for you right here…step-by-step. I’ve created a super easy-to-follow survey blueprint that breaks down the steps you need to follow in order to create your very own Survey using Survey Monkey.

Before you create a product or offer a program in your clinic, it’s a great idea to survey your current patients and your list (if you have one) to find out what it is that they want.

You can create an entire program, but if nobody wants to buy it, you have wasted your time and your money. So, when you create a program or decide to offer a new service, select something that you are passionate about and love, but also make sure that it is something your tribe has an interest in, and are likely to want once you’ve created it.

By following the guidelines in this easy downloadable how-to, I’m saving you a lot of time – believe me! Sending out your first survey can be quite a learning curve, but I have made it super easy for you.

I am challenging you to survey your audience right now…go ahead!  You will find out what your community wants, and you will also gain powerful insight into how to market your practice, in addition to the intel on what sort of topics your patients are interested in.

When you create an effective survey and ask the right questions, you’ll find out what your clients are looking for from you, and how you can best fill the needs of your community. As a bonus, you will be able to use the information you gather to create super effective marketing words and phrases that will really get your ideal clients’ attention.

So click here for your downloadable PDF version of my How-to -Survey-Your List guide, and use it to send out a Survey Monkey survey this week. I’ve done all the heavy lifting for you…and now you really don’t have any more excuses…

So let’s get this survey started!