Why don't you show up?
 

Help! :dizzy: I work at a clinic that has Ideal Protein. In the last six months dieter attendance to their weigh-ins has dropped dramatically. It seems like 50% of the phone calls or emails I receive are dieters cancelling appointments or skipping the week, not showing up, etc. I know the many problems that our coaches are at fault for, and we are working on those. However, I want to know from the dieter perspective - why are you not showing up to your appointments? And more importantly - what can your coaches or your clinic do to get you to show up on a consistent basis? And maybe this is the wrong place to ask that because if you're visiting support forums you may be the perfect clients. We could use the help though, and I'd love to hear everyone's advice, stories, comments, etc. Please don't bash your own clinics and coaches, but yes honesty will be appreciated.

Thanks!

Maybe you should take the initiative and call those clients that aren't showing up - let them know you're thinking about them and encourage them to come in for an appointment. Perhaps they will open up a bit as to why they are cancelling appointments. And if they choose not to share or re-schedule at the time of the call at least you did a little marketing on behalf of the clinic.

I don't have any answers for you unfortunately. I have never missed an appointment since I started...I actually look forward to my WIs each week.

My guess is it's the Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, Easter combo just has beaten down resolve for some folk. Many of those holidays really focus on sweets in commercials and stores where we are bombarded with advertising. I realize some of the summer holidays are food related for some, but not as bad as the winter ones IMO.
Hmmm maybe like the tobacco industry and alcohol ads had to make changes, any food over XXX calories a serving would need to have disclaimers as well? Sort of hate that idea, that politics or whatever think we aren't smart enough to read the label - but.... they tell you how yummy something is, they ought to tell you/remind us what nutrition it has too.

I personally make almost all of my appointments. I skipped the day after Christmas as a "present" to myself, and I was out of town for another one. Otherwise, I go. That being said, I'm often tempted to skip. I guess the main reason is because there seems to always be an element of criticism. I think my coach is very nice and she does a good job, but there is almost always something that she says I could be doing better or could change. Personally, if I'm losing weight consistently and I have adapted my lifestyle to this way of eating, I'm satisfied and resent being told that I'm doing something not quite right. (I would be the first to admit that I don't take any criticism very well.) I have often wondered if the coaches' training includes making sure that suggestions are at every weigh in, even if the client is satisfied?
Now, that's just my $.02. Each of your clients probably has a different reason for not making appointments. The only way you will know for sure is to ask them, as the previous poster suggested.

That's a good point about the holidays. Maybe dieter attendance will increase again once the yummy food commercials are replaced with swimsuit commercials!

I quit going because the coach was really no help and added no value. So, it was easier to jump on the scale myself instead of going to another appointment that week.

Hmmm..well I guess the reason I quit going to my weigh-ins is because of their lack of knowledge and consideration. I just felt that I was not getting ANYTHING out of my appts except product. This is somewhat typical for many, and as you know has been discussed numerous times here. I just think that our time is extremely valuable and if we do not see a reason to weigh in then we choose to not go. And once on IP, some choose to go to alternates so save money. I think IP has to be careful and keep products affordable as much as possible. Sometimes there is a limit to affordability. And I think if the weigh-in appts gave you something of value, then you would tend to look forward to them and not cancel. JMHO

I haven't had all that many appointments and have kept them all but judging from what I have read about while doing all of my studying of this diet there are several reasons people wouldn't want to keep an appointment. 1. They are not OP and know the results aren't going to be good. You can't do anything about those except maybe let them know you are there for them and care. 2. They are switching to alternative IP and don't think they need the coaching. 3. They don't like their coach. I cannot believe how many people don't have nice things to say about their coach/clinic.

You can only do what you can do to give them the information...everyone does something different with the information given! Good luck!

What might be a way to ask them why they don't show up that could get the truth rather than an excuse? It's always something - we keep track now of the appointments missed and why because it's one thing to miss now and then for events and such. But a totally different story when the dieter is cheating and continues to skip week after week. What do you think would be a polite way for our coaches to say that might get an honest response?

This is so true. I stopped going because I found the suggestions stressful when I was following the protocol sheet exactly. At my age and with the fact I had been eating very low carb for years there was no way I was going to lose more than 1.5 to 2 pounds a week. It was too time consuming to drive to the clinic to get the stress of why I wasn't losing more so I switched to alternatives and saved a bundle.

I have never missed a scheduled appt but my coach has cancelled 3 in 9 weeks. I understand that life gets in the way at times and am flexible enough to try and work around her schedule because I like her as a coach. If I had some of the coaches I've read about here I'd be on alternates and going it alone.

I really appreciate everyone's responses. Another question to add in a more positive light - what DO you like about your coach/weigh-in/reason you enjoy going there every week? If it's a matter of us needing to amp up the value of attending weigh-ins it would be great to know what things people really love about their clinics.

Wow, so many things come to mind as potential causes for the cancellations.

Let's start with possible dieter reasons:

1. You reference the "last six months". That time period would have encompassed Thanksgiving, Xmas, New Year's, Valentine's, Easter, and of course, school vacation weeks. Your dieters would have been very busy at times, and possible out of town. Both reasons could result in a cancellation.

2. Once a dieter skips an appt, it's very easy to justify skipping others. Maybe a dieter did the WI at home the week of the cancelled visit, and realized how easy and convenient it is to do your WI at home...and only come in to clinic when they need to stock up on IP products.

3. Switching to alternatives. I started with an official IP coach, but after a couple months I realized alternative products were just as good, were cheaper, and were offered in greater variety than IP products. IP will not coach people solely on alternative products, so I broke up with my coach and went rogue.

4. Your dieters have gotten the hang of the IP program and no longer feel the need for a weekly visit to a coach. When I switched to alternatives, I was very comfortable with the program and realized that my coach wasn't offering my anything special. He was a nice guy, but all he did was weigh and measure me and sell my IP foods. I no longer needed the accountability and felt that my weekly appts were a waste of time.

Reasons related to your specific clinic/coach(es):

1. Is your clinical in an inconvenient location for some of your dieters? Do you have issues with keeping your IP products well stocked? Do you sell other products that your dieter might use (e.g., walden farms, torani or davinci syrups)?

2. Do your coaches actually coach people, or just weigh/measure/and sell IP product each week? Are your coaches offering your dieters something that they can't get anywhere else and believe they really need?

3. Are your coaches well educated, not just about IP, but also about nutrition in general? Physiology, chemistry, diabetes, hypertension, etc.? Or do they just spit back the IP rhetoric without a strong understanding of the science behind it?

4. Are your coaches overly critical? Do they treat their dieters like children?


The only way to really know what is going on is to ask your dieters. However, it's likely that some of them won't be comfortable with giving you an honest answer. Consider an anonymous survey. You could ask a just a few questions and also allow the dieters to add a free text response.

I do "Ideal to Go", so I've never attended a coaching session. However, one reason I'm not going to a clinic is because of the inconvenience. I work long days and it's really hard for me to do things during "normal business hours". I also don't return for appointments at places that are not prompt. So, if you want to attract business people, I would say, offer early hours (6am-8am) and late hours (7pm-9pm) once or twice a week and make sure that sessions begin and end promptly. Also, allowing people to email questions and concerns and responding via email (instead of at a coaching session) would be a great time saver, too.