Special Section: Practice
Management
Tapping
Into the New Patient Vein
Taking on a positive outlook and making room for more patients can help
turn these 14 faces into your new practice members.
By John Madeira, D.C.
There’s a vein of gold that runs through your chiropractic practice, and
it can be tapped with 10 simple steps that have worked to elevate my own practice
in Hershey, Pennsylvania— Chocolatetown USA—from an average of 24
new patients per month to more than 100 new patients every single month.
Is it magic? I’d like to think of it more as “heart.”
Here are the 10 steps that will help your practice grow:
- Begin with a change of
attitude and perspective. I used to feel that I needed to “find”
more new patients until I finally realized that I didn’t need them.
They needed me! Now, may sound arrogant, but it’s not: It’s confident
and it’s certainty. What we all share as chiropractors is powerful —
it has the potential to turn lives around, even save lives. Once I realized
and acknowledged that I possessed something people really and truly needed,
in fact were suffering and dying without, everything changed.
The difference between the practice you have now and the practice you want
is understanding what you have to offer: the ability to impact a person’s
immune system, to help them be bigger, better, stronger, healthier. Boost
your own confidence, dig back into our philosophy, surround yourself with
motivated friends and colleagues. Really take a look at all you’ve done
for others already, and what you do every day for people.
- Picture yourself as
a servant, having something everyone needs. There is not one person on the
planet who could not benefit from having a healthier, functioning nervous
system. Once I realized this, that God put me here to care for people, I discovered
a sense of duty, a calling. As chiropractors, we are called to help people
lead healthier lives, to help them reach their full God-given potential. I
realized I couldn’t help everyone in the world, but I committed myself
to taking care of my share of the world.
- Acknowledge your availability
daily. My office starts each day with a prayer: “Send us everyone in
the world who needs our help today. Send us as many people as we can handle.
Help us to love and serve them better.” This prayer is a daily affirmation
and a reminder of who we are and what our purpose is—and God doesn’t
mind you asking.
- Expect and prepare for
the onslaught of new people needing you. You tend to get in life what you
expect. If your goal is to see 50 new patients this month, you should be prepared
for 50 new patients, and ready for them when they show up. This kind of preparation
includes everything from mental readiness to having enough X-ray film and
new patient files prepared ahead of time, to greeting each person who walks
in your door with a genuine “glad to see you” smile. You can train
your CA’s as well that, when the phone rings, to think, “There’s
a new patient!”
- Check your daily schedule.
Part of being ready for the onslaught is making time in your schedule to see
new patients. Want more patients? Make room for them. Figure out how to reduce
your new patient appointment times from the average one hour or longer to
just 30 minutes or less. It can be done. We prove it every day of the week.
A review of your monthly personal schedule will help you determine when you
have time to fit in speaking engagements: church groups, new mother’s
groups, schools (for backpack safety talks).
- Remember, your work
is not about you. It’s about them. It’s so easy to focus on ourselves.
Align your thoughts on the patient before each adjustment.
- Let compassion shine
through. As chiropractors, our calling is to help those who are suffering,
diseased or in pain regain their health and to keep the healthy healthy. Once
you realize that compassion is key to your practice, you’ll begin to
attract a new kind of patient beyond those who suffer from headaches and bad
backs. Those coming through your door will be people suffering from cancer,
diabetes, female problems, digestive conditions, paralyzed, people who are
incapacitated. An example: I recently began adjusting a 37-year-old man who
has been taking two shots of insulin every day from the time he was seven
years old. Within 30 days, he was totally off his insulin. This is no longer
an uncommon occurrence.
- Chiropractic is not
a job of convenience. Let’s face it, people get sick and have babies
at inopportune times – when you’re not in the office, when you’re
on vacation, or right when you’re ready to leave for vacation.
I was ready to leave for a week’s vacation to Florida with my family
when the phone rang at 11:30 p.m. I had not yet packed, and I had to be at
the airport at 5 a.m. the following morning. It was one of my Amish patients
calling; his wife had just gone into labor and they asked if I would be present
during the delivery. What do I do? I still had to pack, I was tired from a
full day at the office, yet the patient wanted me to be there along with the
midwife. It was a 45 minute trip, one way, but I hopped in my car and took
off. The baby was delivered 20 minutes after I arrived, but wouldn’t
latch on to nurse. I adjusted her Atlas, handed her back to the mom and she
immediately latched on, suckling strong for a good 30 minutes!
I explain to my children that what I do is important to the health of my patients,
and it sometimes has to take priority over family functions. If you help them
to see how your successful practice benefits them, they come to understand,
and become proud of you and what you do for others.
Turn up compassion. Love your patients “in spite of themselves.”
Sometimes when people are in pain, they can be nasty. Some of my Amish patients
come to my office straight from the barn! Some people can’t pay their
bills. That’s where compassion plays a key role in maintaining patient
relations and restoring them to good health.
- Stir the new patient
pot. You have to expend some energy and spend some money to let people know
what you can do for them and that you even exist. If you’re sitting
on your hands, you can’t expect to attract many new patients. Make the
decision to invest in marketing, screenings, and outside talks. Meet new people—be
bold and talk to people about the health benefits of chiropractic. All they
can do is say no.
- There is no shortage
of people or money. There are six billion people on the planet who need their
lives transformed through regular chiropractic care. While you can’t
help everyone, you are responsible for taking care of your share, your little
corner of the world.
Once you see yourself as a vessel for healing, you’ll discover a deep
reservoir of people who need the gift you have to offer. Get out there and
make yourself known in the community and begin to love and serve on a new
level—it’s what we’re are called to do.
John Madeira, D.C., runs one of the largest solo practices in the United States.
He has been in practice 23 years, and is the founder of Madeira Success Strategies.
He can be reached at www.MadeiraSuccess.com.
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