One of the best things your clinic can do with leftover budget is to acquire or upgrade tech systems, software, and audiology tools. Having modern, integrated tech solutions will boost a variety of important metrics, including efficiency, accuracy, and transparency. The right tech systems will reduce administrative workload – and taking away tedious tasks will help improve employees’ happiness, satisfaction, and retention. Tech solutions – including Practice Management Software and innovative audiology equipment – streamline processes, improve productivity, and help your team provide exceptional care. Additionally, audiology tech systems can collect, manage, and analyze your data and provide informative reports, allowing your clinic’s leadership to make smarter, more informed decisions. Upgrading your technology also helps you stay competitive in the marketplace, so ditch the manual systems, antiquated tech tools, and disjointed tech stacks in favor of modern, integrated audiology tech solutions. 

Marketing is one of the most essential things that your clinic can do to drive business growth and cultivate a strong pipeline of new patients. If you have extra money to spend, upgrade your marketing materials and campaigns. For instance, when’s the last time you updated your website? Since your website is often the first place people go to learn about your clinic, make sure it’s professional, easy to navigate, and up to date. Provide fresh, new content that spotlights your experienced clinicians, your exceptional products, and your compassionate team.  Include educational information about hearing health, such as signs that someone might be experiencing hearing loss, and the potentially negative outcomes of untreated hearing loss (including loneliness, isolation, depression, and dementia). Beyond your website, refresh any brochures or leave-behinds that you share with physicians and other referral sources. Put money into social media ads to generate more visibility, traffic, and leads. Dedicate some of the money to purchase eye-catching new signage for outside your clinic, which will help maximize attention from passers-by. 

If your furniture has seen better days, your rugs have become worn, your walls need a fresh coat of paint, or anything else needs a “refresh,” earmark some of your leftover budget for clinic upgrades. Your patients expect top-quality care in a lovely, clean, professional environment, and if they see peeling paint, faded chairs in your waiting room, or anything outdated, dirty, or dingy, it can give them a negative perception about your practice. Spend some money on carpet cleaning (or replacing), paint, new furniture for your waiting room, fresh flowers by your front door, and other cosmetic improvements. This can go a long way in boosting your practice’s aesthetic – and reassuring patients and prospects that your team pays attention to every detail. 

Cybercrime is growing dramatically, and is predicted to get worse in the coming years. The cost of cybercrime is expected to reach $8 trillion in 2023 and grow to $10.5 trillion by 2025. Cyber attacks can cause significant damage to your business, negatively impacting your clinic financially, legally, and reputationally. If a cybercriminal steals sensitive information, including your patients’ health and financial data, you can experience major repercussions, including loss of customer trust and loyalty. With cybersecurity threats and breaches on the rise, it’s a good idea to have an IT expert assess your practice, identify any possible vulnerabilities, and then set up extra protection to prevent any cyber intrusions. IT professionals can also guide you on how to implement cybersecurity best practices, like using the cloud, with its top-notch security features, and enhancing security by using two-factor authentication, role-based access to data, etc. 

Are you expecting your business to grow in the next year? Do you think you’ll hire additional practitioners and staff?  If so, your extra budget could go towards additional salaries and benefits, as well as supplies (desks, computers, equipment etc.) for the new hires. If you’re planning to expand to a new location, you’ll need funds to rent or buy new office space, furnish the new clinic, hire staff, get necessary equipment, etc. Your surplus funds could go towards this expansion as an investment in your future. 

Investing your surplus budget in your greatest resource – your employees – is always a good idea.  Training and professional development will help them improve their skills, knowledge, and capabilities, which is great for your staff members – and for your clinic. Investing in your employees’ ongoing learning will make them feel valued and appreciated. And employees want to learn: 59% of employees believe that getting more training improves their performance, and 76% of Millennials say professional development is necessary for a strong company culture. While training and development is good for employees’ career growth and advancement, it also helps ensure that you have properly skilled employees working at your clinic, giving you a competitive advantage. Spend money on things like certification courses, e-learning, professional conferences, and seminars to keep your employees up to date on the latest industry trends, technologies, and techniques. 

Starting (or expanding) an incentive program is an effective way to motivate your employees, encouraging them to reach specific goals, including boosting sales, referrals, lead generation, customer satisfaction scores, etc. Companies that use incentives and rewards programs report an average revenue increase of 44% and a 22% increase in productivity. Nearly 80% of organizations incentivize their employees with things like cash bonuses, gift cards, and time off. The key to success is being very clear about the goals and reward system. Explain exactly what employees need to do (such as hit a specific sales metric per month or quarter) to earn incentives, and outline the prize structure. Also, consider that the KPIs you use for your clinicians should be different than what you use for your front office staff. Spend your leftover budget on appealing incentives that your employees will want so they’ll work their hardest to meet (or exceed) your goals. 

Internal engagement efforts can be tremendously beneficial to your clinic, and can help build employee satisfaction, happiness, motivation, productivity, and loyalty. Engaged employees have higher productivity, increased communication, better health, more effective leadership, as well as less absenteeism and reduced turnover. Employee engagement efforts often have a ripple effect, as positive employee word-of-mouth can attract new employees – as well as patients – to your clinic. This is especially important as staffing shortages continue in audiology. Happy, engaged employees can be an important differentiator for your clinic, helping you attract, recruit, and hire new staff. Employee engagement initiatives can include offering health and wellness programs, free or discounted gym memberships, mentoring programs, appreciation events, performance bonuses, work anniversary gifts, team lunches, group happy hours, and more. Consider designating an Employee of the Month and spotlighting this achievement in your clinic with signage and other fanfare, as well as on your website and social media platforms. Get a food truck to come to the clinic and provide free lunches, breakfasts, or even ice cream for your staff. Give employees company-branded merchandise, such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, lunchboxes, etc. Surprise employees with a day off. Build a supportive, caring, and appreciative culture, where employees feel valued. 

Another way to boost employee engagement, happiness, and retention is to hold fun company outings and interactive team building events. Team building helps boost collaboration, strengthen team relationships, and increase morale, so organize a dinner, event, or team-building exercise. Axe throwing, bowling, and arcades are fun, interactive activities that your staff will love. Or book a private cooking class for your employees to roll up their sleeves and whip up a delicious meal.  Guided painting lessons are available at bars and art studios. Sharing fun experiences allow your employees to make (or strengthen) connections outside the office, which can help improve the energy, teamwork, and camaraderie within the clinic.  

Show your appreciation to your employees and make them feel valued and appreciated. Globally, employee recognition was a $11.1 billion market in 2021 and is expected to grow to $34.1 billion by 2030. Praising employees reinforces quality performance, which will benefit both the employee and your clinic. When companies spend 1% or more on recognition, 85% notice a positive impact on engagement.  Recognition with monetary rewards are 20% more effective than thanks alone when looking at reducing turnover. Alternatively, more than three-quarters (76%) of employees who do not feel appreciated at work want to change jobs. Use your extra budget to do nice things for your employees to thank them throughout the year – not because they reached a goal milestone, but because they were nice to a difficult patient, they went out of their way to help a colleague, they had a great idea for the practice, they did an unpleasant chore for the good of the practice, or because they show exceptional effort day after day.