14 Fast Tips That Work

1. Planner. A marketing planner or calendar is to marketing what your appointment book is to the front desk. Until a marketing project is scheduled, it is just a wish. Give all marketing projects a date, even the ones planned six months from now.
2. Marketing Coordinator. Assign a staff member the role of “Marketing Coordinator” for the office. It is a part-time role that makes sure that all marketing plans are coordinated and get done. You already have someone to coordinate your front desk and your billing and collections, why not your marketing too? Should take less than two hours per week.
3. Delegate. All marketing projects should be delegated to the marketing coordinator and/or other staff and doctors. Avoid projects that become orphaned: make sure they are assigned.
4. Past Successful Activities. If it worked once, it will probably work again. Have a staff meeting and review your best months. Make a list of what you were doing when you had your “best-evers.”  Schedule them again, or establish them as recurring procedures.
5. Staff Education. Do a quick reality check: Survey your staff individually for the definition of “V.S.C.” or just “subluxation.”  Ask them to explain the consequences of a subluxation. You may be surprised to find that they knew less than you assumed.  At least twice per month, during staff meetings, teach your staff not only the basics of chiropractic, but its history as well. Too many doctors take for granted that their staff understands the powerful dynamics at stake with a subluxation.  A better-educated staff is more motivated, more capable, and more active in patient education.
6. Office Mission. Work out a simple statement of the mission of your office, and ensure that it is oriented both around quality care and quantity of care.  Once every other month, quiz your staff on this mission, and review it yourself.  Alter it, as needed, every six months so that it reflects the purpose of the office.
7. Morning Rally and “Pre-view”. Doctor and staff can start each day by getting to the office at least ten minutes before the first patient and “preview” the day: plan out promotional, patient educational, and service actions for that day, and end on a motivational theme.
8. Change the Office. Every 3-6 months, make minor rearrangements in the office.  It is easy for those patient educational posters to become invisible in a few months after you have looked at them for 700 times. Rearrange the paintings and posters, paint a wall, or put in a new carpet. Keep your office fresh and new.
9. Patient Successes. Too often, doctors and staff take the miracles of chiropractic for granted.  For a quick shot of motivation, collect patient successes and at least once per month review at least five of them together.
10. Compliments. Doctors are trained to find what is wrong, and fix it. Too often, what is right goes un-acknowledged.  Since you want more and more “right” things to occur, acknowledge them now and then with the patients and with the staff, especially for excellent job performances.
11. “What’s New in Chiropractic”. To help prompt doctors to “Inform While they Perform,” and to encourage patients to ask questions, post news articles about chiropractic or issues relating to health and chiropractic on a bulletin board in the reception room, adjusting rooms, or other locations where patients will take notice.
12. Waiting Room. Get rid of your “waiting” room.  Always call it your “reception room” and make sure that patients are well “received”.
13. Unclog Your Front Desk. Many front desks have a tendency to gradually become “clogged” with extra paperwork. Slowly, processing paper or entering data into a computer can become more important than working with patients. Get rid of extra work on the front desk, and allow the front desk staff to spend more time working with patients and generating referrals.
14. Front Desk Purpose. Here is a secret: a primary purpose of the front desk is to get and keep the appointment book full. Go over this with your staff, and trim away extraneous work that is not related to this job, get your front desk staff focused on this

Fast Tips: III SUMMER MARKETING IDEAS

Summer is a great time to promote your services. Actually, it is always a great time to promote your services, but the summer months provide unique opportunities that are relatively easy and inexpensive. Here are some ideas:

1. Screenings. They still work! The problem with screenings over the years is that the old posture analysis machines, whether made out of PVC tubing or flashy chrome, have been used by two or three chiropractors at every outdoor summer event since the mid 80’s. This has a tendency to get boring if not annoying to potential screenees. Additionally, with closed panel insurance plans, the office that screens a potential patient is often not a provider for the insurance plan of the person whom they are screening. So, it can be tougher than it once was. Despite this, we have offices that still produce new patients from screenings.

   The most important ingredient to any successful screening is the attitude of those doing the screening. Are they upbeat, forward, friendly and talkative, motivated by a strong sense that people need to be free of the stresses that your office can remedy? The second most important ingredient is a thorough objective and/or subjective screening done with excellent communication. And of course, third, where appropriate, the scheduling of the appointment.

   To update your screenings, and make them more productive, you can bring in other testing tools, such as SEMG, Metracom, etc.  You can also offer different and more services. Consider “flexibility testing,” computerized range of motion or “joint mobility testing,” back and neck analysis, etc. You can also offer a free “pressure point” check, a five-minute massage for all local community members who get a posture analysis, a drawing for a free ice pack for anyone who receives a complimentary spinal screening, etc. You should also try to do cooperative screenings with other chiropractors if you can find out ahead of time who is planning to participate in the event. You can also set up alliances with other chiropractors, or other doctors such as podiatrists, dentists, etc., while at the event. These alliances can also serve you long after the screening event is over.

   But most importantly, invest in the people doing the screenings. Their skill and commitment is more important than testing machines. Limit screenings to 4-5 hours maximum per staff, if possible. Keep it fun. Make sure there are enough people to help, and set up a training or rehearsal time beforehand to go over and practice, if necessary, the screening procedure. (We can help with the training.)

   One other note: Screenings are both direct and indirect marketing. That is, although you should work to get appointments made for a complimentary consultation and exam at your office, you should also use this time simply to network and hand out cards. Nothing works better than face-to-face marketing in our media saturated environment. Even if the person does not come in immediately, if they had a good experience with a friendly person, they will be more likely to see you in the future. We have seen people make appointments months later from screenings, or from other sources such as patient referrals, that said they  had also talked to the doctor or staff at a screening event. 6 If your screenings are not up to par, or if you are not sure screenings are for you, give us a call.

   If you don’t want to do screenings, (and even if you do) there are plenty of other activities in which to become involved.

2. Networking. There are so many outdoor events, from pancake feeds to runs, special picnics to fishing competitions, that you can’t help but bump into half of your community just by walking around. You can attend for just an hour, buy some food, talk to an old acquaintance, meet new people, find some way to interact, and of course, hand out volumes of cards.
3. Donations. Many activities will accept a donation from your office, which helps to support their event or cause. In exchange, they promote you and your services. Since these are usually local and informal events, the promotion acts as an endorsement from the local event leaders in your neighborhood.
4. Participation. Many events, such as a run or a community barbeque, simply require your participation. Get out there and help flip hamburgers while wearing your office T-shirts and get active with those who are also active. Find a list of upcoming events in your local newspaper, on the Web, or from your Chamber of Commerce and schedule you, your family, and your staff to attend this season’s summer activities, playing in community near to you…

There are three keys to retention, in this order of importance:

1. Rapport. A bond of friendship, a relationship based upon the patient’s sense of being understood and cared for, and cared about, by the doctor. Be genuinely interested.
2. Control. The doctor knows best. That is why the patient is seeing you and paying you. The patient will feel more secure and confident if they feel that their doctor is in precise control of their specific treatment program. They can gain this experience from you by your friendly assertions to comply with what you recommend for them.  Be the boss.
3. Education. You can talk and you can tell, and you can have posters and videos and give lectures, and even these may not help get the patient to appreciate the need for continued care. However, you should do these and more. You are competing against not only an entrenched bias towards an “outside-in” approach, but a cultural tendency for the “quick fix”. Additionally, you are up against a continuous bombardment by industries with a vested interest to sell their pharmaceutical and medical products and services. Never give up on patient education, however. Use examples of any fitness program. It takes time, it takes repetitive work, and it takes effort. You can write that down. (I knew a chiropractor who wrote this done on the patient’s x-rays while giving a report of findings!)

• TIME
• REPETITION
• EFFORT

Freedom from pain comes ultimately from being healthy, which has to be maintained more than obtained.

Education as a whole can be very difficult. It is a skill you have to develop. It is best done in person. You are a doctor, a teacher. The education has to be simple: you have to relate it to real conditions of the patient and people they know, you have to be interested in the subject, and the education has to be just a bit entertaining.

Kid’s Health Care Event

Once or twice each year, you can hold a special event in your office called “Kid’s Day”. This is a special day that draws attention to the effectiveness of chiropractic care, as well as its importance in the total health care of children. Its objective is to generate goodwill in the community and in your office, better educate your patients who have children on natural health care, and to definitely generate new patients. The following outline lists out some of the specific action steps which will help you to make your “Kid’s Day” a success.

Objectives for Kid’s Day

1. The first objective for Kid’s Day is to better educate parents on the importance of regular chiropractic checkups and the tremendous benefits of chiropractic care for children. This would include mostly your patients, but you should also get other parents in as referrals from your existing patients.
2. We want to create goodwill with your patients, as well as members of your community who are not your patients. You can do this by providing complimentary services and add “extra value” in your current services on Kid’s Day.
3. We want to generate new patients from the parent’s referring in their kids of all ages. This can be grandparents referring in teen-aged children, as well as middle aged children bringing in their younger children.

Action Steps

1. Duration of Promotion. “Kid’s Day” can also be promoted as “Kid’s Week” or “Kid’s Health Awareness Week”, “Back to School Health Check-up Week”, “Back Pack Safety Day”, or any other term that seems appropriate for your community.  Read through the following action steps, and then decide if you want to have your promotion cover one day or an entire week.
2. Date of Promotion. Kid’s Day or Kid’s Week is usually held in the Spring or Fall. In Spring, it is usually held in April or May, as spring sports and summer activities begin. Spring vacation is also a good time.It can also be held as a “back to school” promotion. Some offices prefer to have their back to school promotion during the last week or two of vacation, in preparation for school, and some offices prefer to have it after school has begun. Usually, we have found that Kid’s Day works best once the children are in school and back from their vacations. You can call your local school(s) and ask them when they are recessed for either a holiday or a school administrative day where the children will not be in school. If you can set up your Kid’s Day in conjunction with a non-school day, this will make it easier for the parents to bring their children.

   Saturdays are a great day to have a Kid’s Day, with Saturday morning cartoons, etc. Thursday also works well, however be prepared for a very busy evening, as kids will be coming in after school if you have it once school has begun. You want to schedule your Kid’s Day during a time when it will not be disruptive with the regular flow of patients.

3. What is Being Offered. Make a list of all the things that you will be offering to your existing patients who have children, former patients who have children, to your existing patients who are children, and to your community who have children. These can be complimentary scoliosis checks, complimentary exams and x-rays, and a complimentary lecture for patients and their friends and family, and back pack posture checks. For existing kids, free adjustments, crayons and coloring books, prizes and contests, etc.
4. Special Class Just for Parents. About two weeks prior to your Kid’s Day, you can schedule a special lecture on “Natural Health Care Methods for Children”. Schedule your existing patients to come to it and send out a mailer and flyer to your patient base promoting this special lecture. This is a very important function for the front desk. The FDCA needs to keep a list of who will be attending the lecture and schedule them, as well as friends and family of those patients that she is scheduling who will also be attending. For example:”Mrs. Jones, may I schedule you for our special workshop on Natural Health Care Methods for Children next Thursday, at 6:30 p.m.?”

   “Yes, Sally, I would love to go.”

   “Great, Mrs. Jones, I have you scheduled for our workshop. It starts at 6:30. Now, Mrs. Jones, do you know any other parents that might benefit from learning more about natural health care methods in raising their children?”

   “Hmmmm, why, yes, Sally, I do! My next door neighbor, Mrs. Smith, is always taking her children to medical doctors and I think that she would like to know about other alternatives.”

   “That’s great, Mrs. Jones. May I schedule her with you as well?”

   “Yes, for the time being. I don’t know yet, but I will talk to her about it.”

   “That’s okay, Mrs. Jones. I will put her down as a tentative attendee, and tomorrow, when you come in, we can confirm it. Here is some information about the workshop and a pamphlet on health care methods for children that you can give to your neighbor.”

   “This is great, Sally. Thank you so much. I am sure that she will want to come. I will call her tonight and I will confirm it with you tomorrow when I come in for my next adjustment.”

   The workshop should cover topics that are of concern to parents, which might include: colic, earaches, scoliosis, diet and exercise, Attention Deficit Disorder, bedwetting, and any other problems that your patients may have expressed concern about.

5. Extra Services to Children Who are Not Yet Patients. During Kid’s Day/Week itself, all children who are not active patients may receive complimentary consultations, scoliosis examinations, ear examinations (optional), and x-rays (optional).
6. Current patients who are children. All current patients who are children may receive one free adjustment or therapy, on Kid’s Day or during Kid’s Week.
7. Other Offers for Children. On Kid’s Day/Week, there should be special videos for children to watch, such as cartoons, movies, etc., that are popular and that they would enjoy. There can also be special gifts, such as erasers with your clinic’s name on them, pencils, rulers, balloons, stickers, crayons, and even chiropractic coloring books. You may even want to throw in treats, such as a few pieces of candy, popcorn, a granola bar, etc. These can be put into little plastic bags with your clinic’s name on them, and handed out. You can also make up and give them and their parents a special certificate offering them a free adjustment or examination on their birthday, as well as a special treat if they come in on their birthday appointment. This treat could be an inexpensive toy, as well as perhaps a birthday cupcake. Also, it would be nice if a costumed character from a popular kid’s television program (Sesame Street, Power Ranger, etc.) was at your clinic during Kid’s Day. Make sure that this is promoted in all advertisements, fliers and newsletters.
8. Kid’s Contest as an Additional Offer. You can hold a drawing or coloring contest/essay contest for children. You can divide this into two to three age groups, have them draw/write about something depicting “how chiropractic has helped you” or “how chiropractic helps people”, etc. Then judge which one is the best, and give the winner in each age group a $50 treasury bond (cost to you is $25), a gift certificate to a local video store, record store, or Chuck E. Cheese, etc.
9. Additional offer for parents. Besides the special lecture on “Natural Health Care Methods For Children”, you can put together a special informational pack for parents regarding their child’s health care. Also, any parent who has kids under chiropractic care, or any parent who brings their kids in during the Kid’s Day/Week, you can give them a special gift just for them as parents. This could be anything from a book or booklet on health care for children, a humorous book or booklet about the travails of parenthood, or some other gift, such as flowers for the mothers.

Promoting Kid’s Day or Week

There are many different ways to promote this special events, these include newsletters mailed to existing patients (active and inactive), posters put around the office, press releases put in your local newspapers, newspaper ads in local news-papers, public service announcements for the radios, radio advertisements, and most importantly, doctor and CA promotions in the office to existing patients and the scheduling of them for their attendance.

1. Newsletter. Send the newsletter out so that it hits the patient’s homes ten to fourteen days before Kid’s Day and one to two weeks before your workshop on kid’s health care for the parents. Include in the newsletter promotional announcements about Kid’s Day or Week as well as the lecture. Also include some informational articles about kid’s health care and maybe a recipe for kids to use, etc.
2. Personalized letter. If your computer has the capability to do a mail merge, the doctor can also write a personalized letter to just those patients who are also parents.
3. Posters. Posters can be placed around the reception room and the treatment rooms promoting the offers for Kid’s Day or Week as well as the special lecture on kid’s health care. It should be on brightly colored paper. They can also be placed on bulletin boards around town, such as grocery stores, libraries, YMCA’s, pre-schools and day cares centers.
4. Answering Machine. As an extra promotional action, you can change the message on your answering machine to something as follows:(Recorded by a 10-11 year old girl)

   “Hi, you have reached _______________ chiropractic office. Our office hours are _________________. If this is an emergency, please call ______________. Remember, Chiropractic is for Kids, Too!

   You could ask a patient’s child to record the message and this gets more people participating in the program.

5. Office decorations. You can get some balloons and put them around the office and hand them out to the kids. Small helium tanks (portable) can be rented for a very nominal fee. Special toys can be brought in and placed around the office and Barney and Walt Disney videos can be playing on an extra TV set. If you are having a coloring contest, put up on the walls all the posters from the kids that have entered the contest so far.
6. Patient Statements. You can also include the newsletter or letter-size poster promoting Kid’s Day in the patient statements. And/or you may be able to have it printed right on your patient’s statement by your computer. Make sure that the statement is sent out well ahead of Kid’s Day.

Literature for Patients. Collect information on chiropractic and health care for kids. Assemble a pack for each patient that includes pediatric information from magazines and journals that you want to have your patients read. Also in your newsletter and in handouts, collect one or two nice success stories from patients talking about how chiropractic has helped their children.

This is an example of an office policy regarding patients and their families’ health care. This can be edited for your office as appropriate, and implemented as a routine procedure.

[OFFICE LETTERHEAD]

TO: ALL STAFF/DOCTORS

Our office has a policy that all family members are encouraged to come in for a no charge “Checkup”. The checkup is a brief consultation and screening.

There are a number of reasons for this.

1.      Spinal abnormalities can be generic, and though the family member may not be experiencing any symptoms, it can never hurt to get the spine checked.

2.      Additionally, part of our mission is to reduce the incidence of back problems occurring due to long time untreated and unknown spinal misalignments. It is much easier to align the back before major problems occur.  Many spinal problems start without any sign or symptom and it is easier to correct them if we can detect them before they become chronic or the patient gets older.

We unfortunately see many people only after a major injury or problem occurs, and then it takes a great deal of work to correct the problem.

Compare this to dentistry. Often, a dental problem can exist long before any pain or symptoms show up. With just a little work, the dentist can correct the problem and prevent a more serious condition in the future.

3.      We firmly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

4.       Lastly, this is courtesy we provide to all of our patients.

This can be explained nicely during the financial consultation/post report of findings. It can also be explained to the patient during the 6^th visit, or re-evaluation visit.

For example: “Mrs. Jones, I am not sure if Dr. Smith explained to you our “Family Check Up” policy.   Because we want to make sure your entire family is healthy, Dr. Smith recommends that all the family members of each patient get scheduled sometime for a complimentary spinal screening.  There is no charge for this and it only takes a few minutes.  Sometimes, children can have similar problems with their spine as their parents.

You can bring your family in at the same time as you come in for one of your appointments.  Just let us know beforehand, and we will schedule an extra few minutes for the screening.  We would like to do the screening of your children and (husband/wife) with you present so you know what is going on with them.  We can make a schedule for you today, or you can call and let us know at your earliest convenience.”

Obviously, try to schedule them that day, but if they do not schedule, schedule a follow up consultation after the fifth visit or twelfth visit in order to implement the “Family Checkup Policy”.