Here are all posts by the author Frank Cort: Page 7 of 7

Entries by Frank Cort

Tips and Tools for Structuring Your Veterinary Business

Most veterinarians choose their career path because of their love for animals. They want the opportunity to do something meaningful and helpful. But in order to make that dream happen, veterinarians often need to also have a firm grasp of running a business. Every veterinary practice needs to be rooted in sound business practices and understanding. Unfortunately, veterinary schools often fail to teach the sound business knowledge needed to run a successful practice. This means vets may be shorthanded when it comes to the tools and knowledge they need to start, run, and grow their dreams. But it also presents an opportunity. Vets who invest time in learning and implementing best practices for running a business can achieve tremendous results. In this guide to running a veterinary business, you’ll find a whole range of useful resources on business planning, accounting, marketing, and more. Each section and resource is designed to give you the knowledge and advice you need to build the most successful practice possible. Strategy & Planning Business is often about planning and strategy. It takes short-term work and long-term vision to succeed financially, especially in competitive markets. How will your […]

Apptoto Customer Case Study: Alberto Brothers Law

For lawyers and other legal professionals, time is expensive. Every minute spent doing anything other than billable legal work is time and money lost. So, it’s no surprise that Apptoto is a popular appointment management app for law firms and offices. The automated appointment reminders and simplified online scheduling reduce the amount of manual work that needs to be done. It saves time and money. Apptoto is being used in many new and exciting ways in the legal world. In talking with our customers, we’ve learned how the app is also helping firms better serve their clients and provide them with a competitive marketing advantage. Meet Rodney Alberto When Rodney Alberto read Tim Ferris’s book, “The 4-Hour Workweek,” he knew he had to make changes to his business. The book outlined how determined entrepreneurs and savvy business people could reduce their workload while having a better life. Automation was the future. Removing “busy work” from his plate would give him more time to spend on important tasks and the rest of his life. That’s one of the reasons he was so drawn to Apptoto. Rodney Alberto is one of two […]

7 Vital Personal Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur

Being an entrepreneur is not just about starting a company. It’s about building value for yourself, your employees, and your customers. This generally takes years of hard work, perseverance, and failure before it pays off. It’s no coincidence that many estimates show that 80 percent of new business ventures fail within the first 18 months. Starting a business is difficult. So, what do you need to make it work? Obviously, you don’t need certain skills or knowledge; those vary from company to company and industry to industry. In order to succeed in some businesses, you need to be a technology expert with the necessary programming experience. For other companies, maybe you just need to be savvy at talking to people. But what does remain in each case are inherent personality characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. Their temperament and mental fortitude are what set them apart from those who fail and the even bigger group of people who never try to start their own business. Whether you’re starting a medical practice, a yoga studio, or a tech startup, all successful entrepreneurs share a few key personal characteristics. Here are seven of the […]

The Anatomy of a Successful Appointment Cancellation Policy

If you run a business that relies on appointments, then you’re all too familiar with the frustration of no-shows and late arrivals. It can create a huge strain on your business (not to mention stress levels). There have been many studies and prescriptions for how to minimize appointment cancellations. In some cases, the prescription is clear: financially discipline people for missing their appointment, and they will be less likely to do it. But many times, these policies are overly punitive, charging hefty fees for customers or patients that create rifts in relationships that aren’t easily repairable. You may be recouping some of your costs, but ultimately, this method may be hurting your business. It’s a delicate balance to strike, and many businesses struggle with how to do it well. So, how can you tackle the problem without creating new issues? What does an effective policy look like in practice? Let’s take a look at some of the key aspects and how they work together. Key aspects of an effective cancellation policy When outlining your appointment cancellation policy, there are a few main points that must be considered and addressed: Timeframe […]

The Simple Tool for Reducing Missed Therapy Appointments

As a therapist, you’ve dedicated your professional life to supporting others. You know your education and skills will likely benefit them greatly, but it’s not always an easy or short road. It may take months or years of work to help them reach the peace and resolution they seek. After each appointment, you know you’ve made progress—you’ve started to see changes—even if they haven’t noticed yet. You stress that it’s in their best interest to stay consistent with their scheduled appointments. If they don’t show up, they may lose some of the important progress they’ve made. But once they leave your office, it’s ultimately up to them to decide to return. This creates a double-edged sword. For any appointment-based business, missed appointments are bad news. But for therapists, these relatively minor lapses can also lead to huge setbacks in patient treatment and recovery. This is why it’s crucial for therapists to make use of an automated and HIPAA-compliant appointment reminder and booking platform, such as Apptoto. It keeps an open dialogue between you and your patients, removing the “gray areas” that often lead to missed sessions. Meanwhile, therapists who give their […]

Getting the time right (dealing with multiple time zones)

It goes without saying that appointment reminders should say the right time, or else you risk hurting your business as opposed to helping.  Sometimes, getting the time right can actually be tricky.  This typically applies if you hold appointments with clients in multiple time zones. This blog post will outline the steps you should take if your business holds appointments with clients in different time zones. Step 1) Include the time zone in your messages The first step is to add the time zone to your messages.  This ensures that even if the time that is announced to your client is not in their time zone, they might notice the time zone is different and respond appropriately. You can do this by including the {{ event.time_zone }} field in your Apptoto messages.  We recommend you add the time zone immediately after the time in the body of the SMS and the call messages.  In Apptoto, you can do this by clicking on the “Auto Messages” tab and then editing your SMS and call messages.  Here is how the message should look after you’ve added the time zone field. For automatic email […]

How-To: Schedule Appointment Reminders using Apptoto

There are multiple ways to schedule appointment reminders using Apptoto once you’ve connected your calendar. Approach #1) Manually Apptoto allows you to schedule reminders manually through the Apptoto appointments interface.  You can find it on the “Calendars” tab in Apptoto.  Also, if you enable our daily report email feature, you’ll find a link that takes you directly to tomorrow’s appointments in the email, making it easy to manage the reminders each day. Here is a screenshot of the new Apptoto appointment interface: You can add participants to each appointment: You can choose to manually send one of the auto-messages you’ve already created to participants: Or, you can click “Compose Message” (the top option in the screenshot above) to send a text to the participant manually.  You’ll see the appointment screen below with the option to create a text, call, or email. Click text, then fill out your text in the “Message” section below. If you’re not going to send a message manually, you can also schedule it to send at a later time. If you do so, Apptoto will show the appointment in bold and tell you the number of […]