Often times when Chiropractors get together you will hear the constant refrain, “I just need more new patients.” It is from this belief that we hop on the new patient roller coaster. We fall into this false belief that my practice can only grow and survive if I get more and more new patients. Thus, we use all the methods to attain new patients telemarketing, corporate lectures, in house lectures, ads the list is endless. Even though we spend all this time, money and energy the practice still doesn’t grow. We wonder why the Chiropractor down the road is doing the same marketing but his practice is growing beyond belief. Why is he working shorter hours, seeing more patients and enjoying life? I run ads, I use the same telemarketing company, I do workshops, but why is he doing so well? We cant figure it out. This causes us to move on to the “next big thing” in patient procurement. More of the same results or lack of results for that matter follows. Now is when the blame game begins. It must be my location; staff, the people in this town just don’t “get it” the list is endless. This is usually the point where the Doctor either accepts their life of mediocrity or they make the life-changing shift to achieve the life they have dreamed of and deserve.

The first decision is to re-frame the problem. The problem isn’t there’s not enough new patients. I know this because other Chiropractors in town have booming practices. The problem is I donʼt know what to do with the patient once they walk in my door. Your marketing system may bring in 10 or even 100 new patients this month, but now what? I once had a new client call me who was a new patient magnet. This Doctor would have over 100 new patients per month enter his clinic. ( an amazing number, right?) Sadly, this Doctor was getting ready to file bankruptcy. He knew how to get patients in but had no idea what to do after that. I have also had clients getting as little as 15 new patients per month and were at or near million dollar practices. What was the difference? One Doctor knew what to do once the patient walked in the door and one didnʼt.

The hardest realization we come to is that it isnʼt my marketing companies fault, or people not “getting it”, or not having the latest technology. The problem is… ME. Once we can come to grips with this reality our world will be turned upside down, or should I say right side up. This is the crucial shift in the success paradigm. I have seen dramatic changes in my coaching clients lives once they accept this basic premise. If you want to grow your practice you must know what to do with the patient once they enter your practice. After this crucial shift in thinking your marketing will now start blowing the roof off your practice. It is only after you establish the appropriate systems that your practice will grow beyond belief. If you want to succeed follow the systems of those who already have. It is these systems that will allow you to live not only the life you have dreamed of but the life you deserve.

Let’s face it, most people don’t know or understand chiropractic. What they do know in most cases is incorrect, and you as a chiropractor should be taking personal responsibility for doing your part to educate as many people as possible on the benefits of chiropractic care.

So, where do I start you may be asking yourself? Well, the first place to start is with your own patient base. If you are not constantly reinforcing and teaching your current patients and their family, you’re failing. If you are not currently running patient education workshops in the office, the time to start is yesterday…well OK…today! Some good sources for material and teaching on the subject can be found with very little effort. Ask colleagues for recommendations or take a few of mine.

• The Chiro-Squad(R) Superheroes “Official Trading Cards” - These are fun and a valuable educational tool to be used to educate the children in your practice (and the parents will benefit to!) They teach kids Spinal Structure and Function, the Spinal Nerve Chart and the 33 Chiropractic Principles. These cards will educate and will increase referrals through education, community awareness and connecting kids to Chiropractic! For more information, visit www.chirosquad.com
• Powerful Patient Research Articles- Sometimes education and research material will seem uninteresting to the patient, or simply go over typical patient’s head.  This particular collection, available through Chiro Advance Services, is full of educational research that’s put together using simple and relatable language and terms. The “Powerful Patient Research Articles” come on a USB Drive also, which allows you to print over 150 handouts to restock your research wall or education station. The packet also includes instructions to help you to make the most of this patient education program. To order, or for more information, visit www.chiroadvance.com

Another way to raise awareness in the community is to advertise your practice. There are prospective patients passing by your office every hour of every day and the reason they do not become patients is because you have not marketed or advertised your services to them.  As with any thing else, marketing and advertising is sometimes a “trial and error” effort. You will most likely need to try many types of marketing to find the venue that produces the results that you are looking to achieve.

Write informative articles of interest to and for your community in the local newspaper. Focus your piece on education. The subject of your article should be of a “relatable” nature. Proper Nutrition, Exercise, Stress, Headaches… A symptom, problem or concern that most people will relate to.  Don’t make your article an “advertisement” for your practice. Make it a source for council. Become an expert …someone the reader is looking for advice from.

Create a practice web site. In today’s day and age, having a practice web site should not even be a question. In most cases, you can have a user friendly, attractive, inviting site with all of “bells and whistles” included for under $1000. Your web site should be a place for a new prospective patient to go to find out more about YOU and chiropractic. You should include information relating to the specific technique you use, your education and experience, new patient office procedures and don’t forget your Mission Statement! Include patient testimonials, pictures of the staff, maybe a virtual tour of the office, article pertaining to Chiropractic, a calendar with upcoming events you’ll be involved in such as “Kids Day America”, Health Fairs, and New Patient Workshops… etc. Remember though, a web-site is useless if there is no traffic, so marketing your website is as important as building one. More information on generating traffic to your site can be found by contacting us.

An extremely powerful form of marketing that many Chiropractors are not aware of can be chiropractic telemarketing. The reason it can be so effective is because it is interactive and demands an immediate response. Let’s face it; we’ve gone over this before…most people don’t “get” what you do. They have a problem, they’re not feeling well, and they pick up the phone call an M.D, take some painkillers or an anti-inflammatory, and forget about it. The average person will suffer through allergies, asthma, headaches, carpel tunnel, sciatica, etc, and never even think of picking up the phone to call a chiropractor for an evaluation. Having someone contact your community by phone with an invitation to visit your office can be most compelling.  Your potential new chiropractic patient can have his or her questions and concerns regarding chiropractic answered, voice opinions and preconceived ideas that they may have regarding chiropractic as a whole, (good or bad) and most important can ask and have answered very specific questions about you and your practice.  More information on this subject can be found by visiting www.chirometromarketing.com

• Direct Mail can be useful, especially to your inactive database. As far as marketing with direct mail for new patients, you can expect maybe a 1 to 2 percent return on your investment. That’s about average. With the cost of postage today and e-mail so readily available, that may be the better option is choosing a reactive form of marketing such as mail. If you are using e-mail or snail mail to attract back patients that have “fallen off”, be sure to offer a free screening and consult to bring them back into the practice. Let your former patient know that you are truly concerned with their well-being. Anticipate in advance that they may be embarrassed or uncomfortable for not returning and help them to feel at ease with the thought of returning. Follow up with a phone call (personal, if at all possible) and just stay in touch every month or two. If you reactivate just one patient you are a success. You’ll be surprised as well; just how many referrals come out of your effort.
• Television / Radio- As with writing articles for your local newspaper, TV and Radio advertising has to have the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) approach with your public. An “advertisement” for you and your practice is simply self-fulfilling and ineffective in reaching new patients. Unless you are a practice that focuses on Personal Injury, Accidents or Work Related cases, keep your ad more “information based” in it’s content. Maybe offer a Free Report or a Free Workshop on a topic once again that most people will relate to. Get involved in educating the listener on Chiropractic, not “selling” them on Chiropractic. People tend to be more open minded when they don’t feel like they are being “sold”, so with that in mind, if you are going to spend marketing dollars in this venue, make it about the audience, not about you.
• Yellow Page Advertising- Once again, unless your practice focuses on Personal Injury, Accidents or Work Related Injuries…all you need in the Phone book is your business name and phone number. Remember, you want to attract the 80-90 percent who “know not what you do”…These people will not be looking for you or any other chiropractor in the Yellow Pages. Your marketing dollars are much better invested in Pro-active advertising and education the public.

Remember, it’s about raising awareness. Don’t kid yourself into believing that people really know or understand what you do.

A chiropractor is a doctor.  A doctor is a teacher and teaching is selling.  Being a doctor is selling.  That means a doctor is trying to sell his or her patients on their ideas, their philosophies, and their recommendations.  Many people say, “I don’t like selling.”  Well, that’s too bad because as a doctor, you are selling.  And the BETTER you are at it, the BUSIER you will be.  Plain and simple.

Chiropractors who are good at selling and persuading people to follow their recommendations have the biggest practices.  Master the ability to consistently bring in new patients in and the dream practice is in view.

Ten keys for success in practice heading into the new era are:

1. Seek an overhead of 20% or less.  Yes it can be done.
2. Have an impeccably sharp personal image and image for your office.
3. Provide a service and experience that people actually like.  Not what you think they like.
4. Have a philosophical foundation that is extremely solid and unwavering.  Big belief in chiropractic = big chiropractic practice!
5. Get your money handling, accounting, and financial house in serious order.  Save money every week.  You cannot retire on patient visits.
6. Make sure you have clearly set goals that you can visualize very, very clearly.
7. Make good Care Plan recommendations and payment arrangements for every patient.
8. Life weights hard at least twice per week.  Very important.
9. Stop, drop you head and be thankful.  Thankfulness brings your dreams closer to you!
10. Get out there and use a variety of promotion and marketing avenues to increase that practice quickly.  Continue with any marketing and advertising programs that you see fit to help your practice grow to any level you desire.

Market, promote, stay strong, save money, market, promote, never make a patient wait, look sharp, market, promote, be thankful and your dream practice and life will be yours,

Tory Robson DC DAAMLP

Tory Robson, DC, DAAMLP is author of The Image Doctor and the 7 Pillar System for Professional Success.  He is the founder of Winners Edge Chiropractic Consulting and is also a Bob Proctor Licensed Life Success Consultant.  He consults and continues to practice in his new office in Eden Prairie MN.  Dr. Robson can be reached at drtorychiro@yahoo.com or 952 943-2442.

On the other hand, the active approach has a specific plan, realistic goals and a means to achieve those goals. Below are 3 goals for your practice in 2011 and as well as a specific plan to help you to achieve those goals.

• Retain existing patients

• Find new patients

• Reactivate inactive patients

Existing Patients

For existing patients, it includes everything that impacts their decision to stay with you from hours open, to availability of parking, to seating comfort in the waiting room, to everything in between. No detail can be overlooked or ignored.

How do you know what matters? Simply by asking.

Take a short survey of each existing patient and ask them what 3 things they like best about their experience with you and what 3 things they like the least. Then do a lot more of what they like and try to eliminate what they like the least. 50% of your overall marketing budget should be spent on keeping existing patients.

It’s that simple. Ask and do. Ask and do.

New Patients

For new patients, the ways you can spend money is unlimited. The key is to be able to measure the results and do more of what works and eliminate what doesn’t.

Put a time and/or dollar cost on everything you do – be it telemarketing, a newspaper ad, a billboard or a speaking engagement and then measure the results.

What’s your dollar return on dollar invested?

25% of your budget should be invested in finding new patients. Test and fail with small investments and spend big with those that work. Don’t overspend on a test.

Inactive Patients

Your inactive patient base is literally your untapped pot of gold. The simplest, fastest way to increase your practices income is to bring back inactive patients.

How?

Just by asking. Most of us never do.

The first of each month, invite back with an offer by phone and/or by mail, every patient who has ‘lapsed’. The longer you wait the less likely you will be to get them to come back. So this program must be structured and timely. Once a month … every month. Make it worth their while to start visiting you again. Some of them will start visiting you again just because you asked.

Unfortunately, more times than not, a Chiropractor will hire a Front Desk Person, CA and/or Office Manager based only on their technical skills without giving proper consideration to “people skills” or personality, which can be equally important. What is sometimes forgotten or not even considered is the fact that attitude and people skills really can’t be “taught”, but technical skills can. Hiring someone for your practice that smiles often, is friendly and has a positive attitude is as important, if not more important, than hiring for office “know how”. Your “gatekeepers” can play an intricate role in the success or failure of your practice.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine if you have the proper players on your team.

• Have you had any feedback (positive or negative) on the person who handles the front desk? Remember, your front desk person can be more influential than you, especially where a new patient is concerned. That person at your front desk is the first person your new and existing patients see when they walk into your office. Any negative behavior or attitude can pollute your practice. Yes, Chiropractors lose patients every day due to unfavorable team members.

• Does my “team” want my practice to grow? You may believe that the answer to this question is a “no brainer”…not true at all. Many chiropractors make the mistake of assuming that the entire team has the same goal in mind for the practice. They assume that the growth of the practice is a priority for all involved. WRONG…if any member of your team complains at all about being “too busy or over worked, reconsider their position. Once you have determined that all members of your team have the same goals for the practice, here’s an idea that to keep everyone excited and motivated. Offer your team an incentive. Remember, if your seeing 10 new patients a week and your staff is working harder, but they see no rewards for all of the extra work involved, then it is not a win-win situation…If not a win-win for all involved, your team has no reason to want to help you to expand your practice. Offering rewards and incentives is good way to keep everyone motivated. In office rewards and contests will keep your staff fired up as they become busier.

• Is my staff maintaining payments and collections? It really doesn’t matter how many patient visits you are seeing weekly if you’re not getting paid right? Have you ever lent money to a friend, a colleague or family member who did not pay you back in a timely manner? How uncomfortable did you feel just thinking about having to remind that person that they owed you money? It wasn’t easy, was it? The simplest way to avoid embarrassment for your staff or patient is to be sure that your patients are not allowed to accrue any “big balance” on their account. You deserve to get paid for your services and the best way to insure that you will be paid is to establish right away what is expected from the patient financially. The biggest injustice you can do for yourself, staff and the patient is to allow them to get behind on their bill. If a patient owes you money and is not able to pay, they will just stop coming to avoid embarrassment. If you keep your patient on the payment plan that has been set up, your collections will increase and your patient retention rate will also.

• Is my team “Sold on Chiropractic”? Are all of your staff members under chiropractic care? Do they really understand chiropractic? Can they explain the benefits to a patient or prospective patient? If you’re not sure, or think not, then you may need to reassess your team. It’s highly unlikely that any member of your staff can truly add to the prosperity of the practice if he or she is not under chiropractic care himself or herself. Your patients are looking for an advocate and a friend. They’ll need to be educated and re-educated during their course of care. If your entire staff is not chiropractic active, they can’t be effective educators.

• Is my staff amicable but abiding to patients and their care schedules? Remember every appointment missed by a patient results in the delay of attaining optimum health. It’s crucial that your staff reiterate to the patient the importance of and staying on track during care. If patients believe that missing appointments is “no big deal”…they will miss appointments. If patients feel “accountable” to you and your staff they will not miss scheduled appointments. Posture yourself and your chiropractic team so that all know and understand the value of your time and treatment.

Remember, your “bottom line” is in the hands of all members of your staff and you can be assured that by underestimating the significance and merit that each team member brings to the table will truly cost you patients and money. Beware of the misguided staff member. The harm they may bring to your practice could be irremediable.

The decisions you make today regarding marketing will have an affect on your practice, either positively or negatively in the months to come. The natural response is to lean towards spending less when it comes to advertising or marketing. But in reality, cutting back may not be the answer. The wiser decision would be to spend more time investigating your options before making marketing choices.

In the past you may have been quick to “try something new” without giving it much thought or doing much research. Maybe you had the “what have I got to lose” attitude? Well today, you may have more to lose than you did a year ago, so doing your homework before beginning anything new or even renewing current strategies should be first and foremost on your mind.

Here are some things to consider before making any decisions.

1. What is the length of the “commitment” or contact? If your trying something new and the response rate is questionable, don’t enter into any long-term contact. Naturally, you need to give the venue a “fighting chance”, but if you’re required to commit to more than 3 or 4 months, renegotiate or pass on the option. A reputable company WILL negotiate terms of contracts. If a company tells you they can’t, look elsewhere.
2. Speak with at least 2 or3 references before signing on the dotted line if at all possible. Although you can’t base your success or failure on the success or failure of another doctor, you can get a feel for what to really expect by getting feedback from others who have done the same thing. Network with colleagues as opposed to asking the company directly for a reference. It stands to reason that a sales person is not going to give you the name and phone number of a customer who had poor results…”Word of mouth” is your best option. Don’t look for or expect “pie in the sky”. Be realistic with your expectations.
3. Ask yourself “How much money can I really afford to lose”? Now, that may sound like a trick question, and it certainly is not meant to discourage you from advertising because you MUST market the practice, however, unless you’re being guaranteed IN WRITING that you see a return on your investment dollars, there is always a potential for a loss. If what you’re investing is more than you can possibly afford to lose, keep looking.
4. Don’t keep all of your eggs on one basket. The key to effective marketing and advertising is to have at least 3 or 4 types of external sources that work for the practice. It’s important to diversify. Keep accurate records when it comes to marketing. You want to consider: cost, time of year, effectiveness, expected return on investment. Try to incorporate internal with external throughout the entire year. If your sending out a direct mail piece and planning a health fair, make sure you’re promoting the upcoming health fair somewhere on the mail piece. Let one advertising source promote another source, and so on.
5. All marketing will generate referrals. Make sure that you and your staff are multiplying your marketing efforts through referrals. No matter where a patient comes from, they know other potential patients. You will not get a referral unless you ask for one. Don’t wait for a patient to come into the office 3 or 4 times before asking for a referral. The time to ask is the first visit. This is when they are the most excited about you and the potential care. Of course you’ll ask your patient more than once for a recommendation, but you’re missing the boat if you’re not asking right away. When figuring ROI, be sure to factor in referrals received from each specific form of marketing you are utilizing. Believe it or not, different types of advertising will generate a different number of referrals. Keep track of where ALL of your new patients are coming from.

Remember, NOW is the best time to be a health care provider! Now more than ever, people need your services. Stress levels are higher. Emotional and physical symptoms are more prevalent and people are searching for relief. You are the answer they are looking for; so don’t let fear keep you from moving forward!!

The obvious key to a successful practice is growing patient numbers, referrals and positive name recognition in your community and surrounding communities.

Setting yourself apart from other chiropractors in your area will give you the “edge” needed to continue to grow professionally, personally and financially, and branding your self as an expert in your field will take your practice to a new and exciting level.

One way to “set yourself apart” and to brand yourself and your practice would be through public speaking. If you are personable, comfortable with speaking to a group, confident in your beliefs and well versed in patient education, you should consider sharing your knowledge and the skills that you have sharpened over the years with your “target market”.

Whether your practice focuses on Wellness Care, Corrective Care, Personal Injury and Worker’s Comp, Spinal Decompression, Nutrition and Supplements, or any other “niche” marketing the practice through public speaking will identify you as the Chiropractic leader in your locality.

OK, so where do you begin? The first thing you need to do is to get out and research what opportunities that may be available in and around your neighborhood for little or no cost. Begin with local chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, community centers, library, schools, parenting groups and organizations that would be open to having you as a lecturer. When meeting with possible venues, be sure to make clear that you are interested in “educating” and not “marketing or selling your services”. Offering something of value to the community will ensure a positive response from the organization you reach out to.

When deciding on a “topic”, be sure to keep in mind that most people are uneducated and in many cases simply ignorant as it pertains to chiropractic and it’s benefits.  Decide on a broad subject to discuss that most people will relate to, such as headaches, allergies, PMS, Menopause, Nutrition…etc., and create a presentation that will inform those who attend how regular chiropractic care “fits in” to the particular subject matter being discussed. Be sure to invite friends and family as well as current patients to your presentation. Encourage each and every one to bring a guest and reward them for doing so. If possible, work with the organization to create a press release. Advertise your lecture in your patient newsletter or on your blog if you have one, and of course, promote your event on any social networking sight (such as Face book or Twitter) that you may be a member of.

Remember practice makes perfect, so take the time to prepare and rehearse your presentation. Put together an informational handout and include a list of frequently asked questions and answers to initiate a Q&A period after your presentation is complete. Remember to speak slowly and clearly. (I find it beneficial to record my rehearsals in an effort to scrutinize my own presentations before speaking in public.). Most importantly, be passionate and have fun!

What never ceased to amaze me (and still doesn’t) is the fact that I could speak with a potential customer or client for years. I could stay in touch with letters and articles of interest, remember and recognize a birthday or anniversary, really develop a relationship and friendship with my prospects, but more times than not, they still were listed in my database as a “prospect”, not a “sold account”… Once I met that “prospect” face to face at a convention or seminar, the deal was sealed. The one on one meeting, the firm handshake, smile or hug, meeting of the eyes resulted in “the closed deal”

As I continue after over 10 years in the industry consulting and working with chiropractors to grow their practices, the evidence remains true. There is nothing more powerful than “Networking” to create new business opportunities.

I would recommend to any chiropractor truly interested in taking his or her practice to the next level to get out there and “pound the pavement” of your community. Meeting and greeting other business owners face to face is a sure way to brand your name in your community. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a meet and greet with other business owners, take along a staff member or family member to help “lesson the pain” at first. I guarantee that after the first few meetings you will feel perfectly comfortable doing it “solo”…

O.k., so now I’ve peaked your interest and you’ve decided to take the plunge…here are some places you may want to begin.

Your Chamber of Commerce

Local Clubs and Organizations (Parent Teacher Organizations, VFW, Elks, American Legion, Knights of Columbus)

Your Local Church or Synagogue

Local YMCA

Civic Organizations

Baseball/ Football/ Basketball/ Soccer Leagues

Country Club

Volunteer Fire or First Aid Department

…The possibilities are endless…go online or check out your local telephone book to review organizations in the area.

And, if you really want to get daring, you may want to sponsor and event with an organization and speak in front of the group. If gun shy and just starting out, you may just attend as a guest, introduce your self and make some new friends.

The most important thing to remember when you are out there networking in the community is to become a trusted friend to those you are meeting and not come of as pushy or annoying by trying to sell yourself or service without first establishing some type of credibility or rapport. Yes, it’s necessary to have a business card in your pocket and to be prepared to discuss with others what you do, but the best approach is always a “lowed keyed” approach. Get to know the people you are meeting. Become interested in who they are, what they need, and whom they may know? Once you have established a common ground, it is then OK to take the next step and to begin to ask for referrals or opportunities to share customer’s bases or members. Always remember as well that is human nature for people to expect something in return, so be prepared as well, in advance, to have something of value to offer your new networking group for helping you. For example, you have attended your child’s PTO meeting and are getting to know some of the parents, teachers and officers in the organization. Maybe suggest at the second meeting you attend offering to host the break and conduct a “backpack safety” class for parents who are interested. Take it a step farther the next time and offer to do an evaluation for free for the children of parents who attend.

The point I’m making is…become interested in establishing friendships first. Get to know your community. Become genuinely involved and as your relationships grow and flourish, so will the number of new prospects and patients coming into your office!

We will deliver, fully guaranteed*, 40 to 150 new prospective patients in your waiting room or you don’t pay. Who else will guarantee you new prospective patients in your waiting room? You’ll be able to create a predictable new patient flow on a weekly and monthly basis. No more hit or miss billing weeks. No more feast or famine billing months. No long-term contracts or financial commitments.

We offer many programs custom designed to fit your marketing needs.

• New Prospective Patients
• Free Reactivation
• Screening Follow-up
• Mailing Follow-up
• Custom Programs

5 for 1: That’s the rate of return many of our chiropractic clients enjoy with our programs. Some do even better. $5 to you in billing for every $1 you invest in our iron-clad, guaranteed new prospective patient programs.

To find out how you can be seeing new prospective patients in 10 to 14 days at no risk to you, call us at 1-800-696-7788, ext. 236 or visit our FAQs for more information.

*Pro-rated money back guarantee may apply