By Pattie Stechschulte
How do they do it? Successful chiropractors have a waiting room full of patients,
their name often appears in the local paper, they are always busy—how did
they become so successful?
They are visible within their community, they regularly communicate with their
patients, they might be an expert in a few areas and most importantly, they
have a steady flow of income.
Taking a closer look at their practice, you will see they have become effective
marketers that focus on internal projects to keep their current patients and
external projects that attract potential customers to come through their doors.
“Most chiropractors are not really versed in the area of business, let
alone marketing. Marketing has a tendency to be viewed as something almost inappropriate
for a health care practice,” said Lawton Howell, president of Chiroelite.
“Marketing is nothing more than a way to communicate your message and to
let people know what you can do and when you are available to do it.”
Many chiropractors and marketing experts agree that maintaining a healthy balance
of internal and external marketing efforts because it is the main way to avoid
an erratic flow of patients. Some chiropractors will stop doing external marketing
once they get a good influx of new patients, but then they don’t invest
in retaining them or in bringing in new patients. The solution is to implement
a consistent, ongoing marketing plan that will focus on new patients and satisfy
the current patients.
A number of successful chiropractors and marketing professionals have offered
some suggestions and tips that chiropractors might want to consider adding to
their internal and external marketing programs.
Internal Marketing: Concentrating on Your Current Patients
Marketing Calendar: “Draw a three inch square with the month and
in the upper right hand corner, write your new patient goal and circle it, representing
the number of new patients you would like to attract. Now, write in the box
each new patient generating activity you have planned. If you do a health care
class, write the number of classes, and next to it, estimate how many new patients
you expect to start as a result of those classes, and circle it,” said
Dennis Perman, marketing expert from The Masters Circle. “If you ask for
referrals, write ASK and next to it, place the number of referrals you expect,
and circle it. If you’re doing a promotion, estimate the number of new
patients you expect and circle it. Add up all the circled numbers, and if they
meet or exceed your goal, great! If not, you must add new patient generating
activities to your marketing calendar until you have enough action to hit your
goal and then some.
“Next, follow through on your planand see if your estimates were accurate.
If you see at mid-month that your estimates were inaccurate, adjust the calendar
accordingly, either by adding or deleting new patient generating activities.
At the end of the month, use the distinctions you make to design the next month’s
calendar. When you refine this process, start to plan several months or a year
in advance—you’ll get more skillful at estimating the return on the
activities you have planned, and then you can make your goals and plans very
specific.”
Branding: Have a consistent design that transcends from your office sign
to business cards to web site to letterhead. Howell advises that people will
recognize and memorize your logo or design if they continually see it—driving
by your office, reading your newsletter or stepping into the office.
Personal Trainer: “When a patient comes in, I tell them I know I
can see them as many times as I needed to and we could make improvements, but
where I fall short is helping them into an exercise program that is appropriate,”
described Timothy Maggs, D.C., from Schenectady, N.Y. “So, what we have
done is set up a six-month program; we call it our advanced conditioning program.
It is six months of chiropractic care, in combination with spending time with
the trainer who will develop an exercise program specific for the patient’s
weaknesses and distortions. We get 80 to 90 percent approval rate of people
who join.”
Prescription Pad Protocol: Since most chiropractors are not good salesman,
Chiroelite started the prescription pad marketing protocol. The doctor takes
a simple prescription pad during a visit and writes out a recommendation and
hands it to the patient. It should be something that will benefit the patient—supplements,
pillow or additional service. “The reason it works is that most people
have been trained so that when the doctor gives then a prescription, they go
and fill it,” said Howell. “Ninety percent of the time the patients
won’t question it. This is a huge internal marketing concept that can drive
money to the bottom line because it is not something they have had to spend
a lot of money on to market.”
Primary Care Correspondence: Ask patients for the name of the primary care
physician and then send them a letter with an update on their patient. This
dialogue between the two professionals builds a bridge, making it so chiropractors
and physicians can work together. Joel Margolies, D.C., from Tucker, Ga., believes
that before long, you could be getting ongoing patients that way.
Referral Card Day: Designate one day each month, usually the busiest
day, to give out three or four referral cards to each patient. Doctors encourage
every patient to share their chiropractic experience with a friend, neighbor,
coworker or family member and encourage them to come in for a free exam or spinal
check. “On the card there is a brief story of the value of chiropractic,
there is a place where the patient puts their name, and then an offer is identified,”
said Howell.
External Marketing: Bringing Potential Customers through Your Door
Market Research: “The first thing that I tell a student or new practitioner
is to look demographically at their locations—which should have four components:
retail, resident, clerical and labor. If they have any of those four or all
four components they have the ability to market themselves as a chiropractor
who specializes in biomechanics and reduction of postural stress, which is managing
the subluxation complex,” said Margolies. “In that regard, if a doctor
or new graduate takes the time to look at his location within five or 10 miles
in normal setting and can find any of those four components they can market
themselves.”
Becoming an Expert: Corner a niche in the market which sparks your interests
or background and become passionate about it. “From day one I leaned toward
sports. I realized a void and my message and program fill that void and a lot
of it is fueled by own personal story,” said Maggs, a marathon runner who
suffered by calf muscle injuries for eight years. Also, he hosts a popular weekly
radio program on sports health care. “We do get extreme on it, but we need
to in some way to get the attention of the listening audience. Probably the
most telling effect that I have had from it is that we have been looking for
somebody we could just talk to, who had answers and we have never been able
to find anyone.”
Web Site: “We have a very active web site which we continually upgrade
and it focuses 100 percent on injuries because that is why people are looking
for on the Internet,” said Timothy Maggs.
Advertising: “I have an ad that is in our paper once every two weeks;
it is a very basic ad—I am holding my 18 month son in my lap which just
wins everybody’s heart. Now just the repetition of it, I have been doing
that for two years now. It just says sports injuries, pediatric sports injuries,
and no referral needed because I don’t participate with the insurance companies,”
said Maggs.
“Once you advertise, you have to see some degree of return—who they
are marketing to and who they are marketing for,” said Margolies. “You
must see if it is worth the dollars spent because if you can control the marketing
with phone calls or letter writing it is more cost effective. Also, follow through
is the key to any marketing endeavor.”
Space Repetition: “The big problem that we find is that chiropractors
don’t take advantage of what successful corporate America knows. They will
have a tendency to do things in spurts but nothing is on a continuous ongoing
basis which is so critical,” said Howell. “We know from a marketing
standpoint that the average person needs to hear a message 27 times before it
has an impact on their consciousness. That doesn’t mean running an ad 27
times, that means running enough ads that the average person will have seen
it, heard it or read it 27 times. So establish a consistent, ongoing repetitive
plan and then apply the plan and stick to it.”
Logistical Database: Keep a database that tracks the details of each marketing
project, including the cost involved and the rate of return (how many patients
did it attract?). Margolies says that this will help chiropractors determine
what works and what does not so they can make better judgments when planning
future marketing plans.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In today’s marketplace, chiropractors find that they must market their
services and practice to compete for health care dollars. So a practical chiropractor
has to be more creative and innovative to make sure that their patients’
dollars goes a long way.
© Copyright 2002 Today's Chiropractic