Specificity is an art form. The ability to consistently be direct, open and specific about what you do, say or want will directly influence your inevitable success and growth.
You might be wondering how something so simple can be so profound. Well, that’s because specificity unlocks several key attributes that are essential to improved performance.
Specificity creates uniqueness.
The more specific you are, with anything you do, the more likely the result is well-rounded and unique. This makes it more likely to be noticed, which in turn makes it more likely to succeed.
Specificity enables focus.
The more specific you are about a goal, the more driven and better equipped you are to focus your attention and effort on the necessary elements required to accomplish it.
Specificity forces clarity.
If you are struggling to be specific about something, that’s an indicator that you lack clarity and don’t have all the necessary details. Holding yourself accountable to the finer details and the full picture allows you to move forward with clarity instead of half-baked ideas.
So how do you go about mastering the art of specificity?
1. Be specific with your goals.
You are less likely to achieve goals that you have not thoroughly mapped out. Avoid being vague and general. Be specific about what you hope to accomplish and how you plan on measuring your progress. This makes it easier to optimize your effort as you go, which ultimately will get you to the finish line faster.
For example, it’s harder to accomplish the vague goal of “growing my dental practice” than it is to “sign-up 5 new patients per week” or “optimize hygiene re-booking rate.”
2. Be specific about the type of the work you do and the services you offer.
When running a clinic, ask yourself what direction you want to go in with the type of services you offer. Do you want to offer the usual general ‘drill and fill’ roster of services, or smile design, complex procedures, holistic dentistry, pediatric/geriatrics, etc.
What community are you working to provide your services for? Students? The elderly? The under-privileged? These are all important questions that help you hone your niche, and thus make you a specialist for a specific market.
In our case at Shift Accounting, we offer our accounting and advisory services specifically to dental and medical clinics across Canada because these are the industries we know best.
When you are specific about who you want to reach, you become more conscious about the quality of patient care and services you offer and how you promote this.
3. Be specific in your communication.
Your ability to communicate in a way that accurately explains your intent and value is the single most powerful tool. Appeal factor is very valuable.
If potential patients don’t understand what quality of services you have to offer, they’ll never know what to look for and decide if they want it. If they don’t know what to look for, they’ll never come to you to get the services they need.
“Vague communication creates confusion, frustration, and indifference. Specific communication drives interest, understanding, and resonance.”
4. Be specfic in your requests.
One of the most common reasons why people don’t get what they ask for is because they don’t ask the right questions.
For example, when it comes to your dental accounting advisor, the best way to get financial advice isn’t to just merely ask for advice— you have to explain precisely what’s not working for you, what growth you want to achieve, and what the best way to go about doing so would be when it comes to your financial management.
5. Be specific about success.
How do you define success? Paying off your loans? Growing your practice? Purchasing other practices?
If your response is “I don’t really know,” it’s difficult to succeed without having defined the term itself.
Outline what you want and pursue it relentlessly.
That is the art of specificity.