Training Success Stories: But North Dakota and Kentucky are Missing

By Stewart Gandolf, Chief Executive Officer

Lori Waltz

Marketing Trainer Lori Waltz is something of a healthcare Road Warrior with a string of success stories and travel anecdotes. Here’s the scoreboard: She has helped over 1,000 practices and hospitals in her career, including 48 states, plus a few nearby countries and territories.

Oops…only 48 states?

It’s true. Lori has provided marketing training—about telephone/front desk conversions, doctor referral building, staff customer service, to name a few—in every state in the union EXCEPT North Dakota and Kentucky. (Is there a hospital or professional practice anywhere in KENTUCKY or NORTH DAKOTA that can help Lori complete her travel map?)

Here are a few “travel stories,” and examples of how Lori’s consultation and training benefits the client practice:

If you were going to guess Alaska as one of the missing states, it turns out she’s been there many times. She can tell you about the time that a maintenance team provided a snowmobile shuttle from the parking lot to the hospital front door. Or about stomping through the snow in Anchorage to visit referring practices and training practice representatives for a sleep disorder practice.

The practice in Anchorage has been a client and friend for over ten years. They have doubled their sleep study referrals, we’ve created new print and broadcast ads, and the practice has been expanding the practice with additional locations.

The yet-to-be-visited state of North Dakota might offer better weather than Montana. Lori could tell you about how her six-seat puddle jumper airplane bounced its way through turbulence to get her to a medical practice in Missoula, MT. Her return flight aboard “Big Scare Airlines” was during a zero-visibility snowstorm. (Well…maybe you shouldn’t ask.)

As for new business, the Montana practice added a trained representative, and the added exposure yielded a 55 percent increase in new doctor referrals to the practice.

And, talk about a travel day…there was the time Lori flew across the US twice in the same day. She traveled from the West Coast to JFK, only discover that the airport in Connecticut was closed for a week, and she was forced to return home.

But working with healthcare practices will occasionally have picture postcard weather, and some wonderful side benefits. For example…

Lori worked with a radiology practice located on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. In addition to being the longest distance Lori has traveled to provide training, she had the weekend to enjoy the white sand beaches and turquoise waters before working with the practice the following week.

Lori’s consultation and training helped this practice inspire an over-the-top buy-in from the staff regarding the importance of excellence in customer service and the value of new patient conversions.

Then there was the four-day training session with a large dental practice in Central America…including an exceptional dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Panama Canal.

Of course there was the surprise dinner with the practice staff and tickets to the Creed Concert in McAllen, TX. It was all compliments of the doctor in appreciation for the training success in increasing professional referrals and treatment conversions.

And in case you should need to know this, the New York Opera comes to Provo, Utah once a year. Recognizing the benefits of training for his practice, the doctor provided front row tickets for Lori and the practice rep. Surprise! Lori didn’t pack a formal dress, but fortunately, you can wear jeans to the opera in Utah.

We’re serious about this.

Lori wants to work with a provider practice or hospital in Kentucky and in North Dakota as the last two states on her list. (Any location is OK, but especially Kentucky and North Dakota.) Send Lori an email [lori @ healthcaresuccess.com] or call, Call (800) 656-0907.

For more on this topic, read our previous post: The First Three Doctor Marketing Questions and What They Reveal About Your Success.

Lonnie Hirsch

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Training Specialist and Senior Consultant Lori Waltz has consulted with hundreds of medical and dental practices throughout the US, and in nearly every specialty. In addition to having a solid education in marketing, behavior training and business management, Lori is a former manager and practice representative. Her specialized training programs that increase practice efficiency, provide a better patient experience, increase the number of booked patients, multiply patient referrals, and enhance professional reputation. You can connect with Lori here.