Last Thursday, I got two phone calls that made me completely rethink how we help practices launch patient workshops.
Call #1: The Heartbreak
"Garry, I think workshops just don't work."
It was Dr. Jennifer, calling after her third failed attempt at running a patient education workshop for her RF/IPL device. She sounded defeated.
"We had 4 people show up. Four. I spent $600 on ads, my team prepped for hours, and we got four people. One was my patient's husband who wasn't even a dry eye sufferer—he just drove her."
I asked her to walk me through everything. As she talked, my heart sank.
- She was trying to fit 15 people in a 10x12 exam room
- Her town had 42,000 people total
- Her "presenter" was her newest tech who'd been there 3 months
- She'd launched ads just 8 days before the workshop
"Jennifer," I said gently, "workshops do work. But you're trying to build a house without checking if the foundation can support it."
Call #2: The Revelation
Two hours later, Dr. Michael called. Different story entirely.
"Just wrapped up workshop number five. We had 19 people, enrolled 11 in treatment. But here's the weird part—I almost didn't start workshops because I wasn't sure we were ready."
I asked what made him decide to move forward.
"I made a checklist. Scored every factor I could think of. Realized we were strong in some areas but had real gaps in others. So we spent 6 weeks fixing those gaps first."
His "gaps" were eerily similar to Jennifer's current situation:
- His first choice for presenter had stage fright
- His waiting room needed reconfiguration
- His marketing assets were outdated
- His team wasn't bought in yet
The difference? He identified and fixed these issues BEFORE launching.
The Checklist That Changed Everything
That night, I couldn't stop thinking about those two calls. Same workshop system. Same type of practice. Completely different outcomes.
The difference wasn't the system—it was readiness.
So I did something I should have done years ago. I created a comprehensive readiness assessment based on every successful (and failed) workshop launch I'd witnessed.
The Reality Nobody Wants to Hear
Here's what I discovered after analyzing hundreds of practices:
The Brutal Truth About Market Size:
- Under 50K population in 20 miles? You're fighting uphill
- 50-100K? Quarterly workshops can work
- 100K+? Now we're talking monthly events
The Space Reality Check: You know that "big" exam room? It's not big enough. You need:
- 15-20 sq ft per person (minimum)
- Clear sightlines for everyone
- Temperature control that handles 20 bodies
- Actual comfort for 90 minutes
The Presenter Problem: Your best clinician might be your worst presenter. I've seen brilliant doctors bomb because they:
- Speak in medical jargon
- Race through information
- Can't read the room
- Hate public speaking
The Timeline Fantasy: "We want to start next week!" No. Just no.
- Week 1-4: Foundation building
- Week 5-8: System development
- Week 9-12: Launch preparation
Rush this timeline = guaranteed mediocrity.
The Assessment That Saves Practices
I turned all of this into a 20-factor scoring system:
- Market Factors (20 points)
- Facility Factors (20 points)
- Staff Factors (20 points)
- Infrastructure Factors (20 points)
Score 60+? You're workshop-ready. Score 40-59? Fix your gaps first. Score under 40? You need foundation work.
Jennifer would have scored about 28. She needed foundation building, not workshop launching.
The Plot Twist
I called Jennifer back this week with the assessment. She took it, scored 31 points, and said something that surprised me:
"I'm actually relieved. I thought we were failing. Turns out we were just premature."
She's spending the next 60 days:
- Training her experienced tech as presenter
- Partnering with a practice in the next town
- Reconfiguring her optical area for groups
- Building proper marketing assets
Her new launch date? August instead of June.
Her mindset? "We're going to do this right."
Your Turn to Know
I keep thinking about all the practices like Jennifer's—beating themselves up for "failed" workshops when they simply weren't ready to succeed.
And all the practices like Michael's—succeeding because they had the wisdom to prepare before they launched.
Which is why I published the full assessment. Every factor. Every threshold. Every reality check.
Because the only thing worse than not doing workshops is doing them before you're ready.
Take the full Workshop Readiness Assessment here
Sometimes the best thing you can learn is that you're not ready yet.
And that's perfectly okay.
P.S. - If you score under 60, don't despair. The assessment includes specific guidance for addressing each gap. Jennifer texted me yesterday: "This is the first time I've felt hopeful about workshops in months."
Garry Regier is the founder of PatientGrowthMachine™, specializing in helping optometrists and ophthalmologists unlock the full ROI of their RF/IPL technology through proven patient workshop systems. To learn if your practice qualifies for our "Until It Pays" guaranteed workshop system, schedule a Launch Strategy Call today.
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