Chiropractic Newsletters

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Newsletters to Your Patients

Pity the poor practice newsletter!

So misunderstood. Forgotten, neglected, and ridiculed.

Scorned as too expensive, dismissed for eating up too much staff time, and disregarded because they just don’t “work.”

But is any of this true…?

Not necessarily.

Too expensive? They can be. Fancy paper, color photos, six pages,  and sent first class can cost thousands.

Take too much time? Oh boy, how true this can be!  Who is going to get the information and write it, format the newsletter, get the mailing list, organize the mailing, do the printing, add the postage, and take it to the post office?  That is a LOT of work, and costly staff hours.

Do they work? After spending so much time and money on any other promotion, you would expect the new patients to come in for a good return on your investment. Often, this does not occur.

BUT WAIT… it doesn’t have to be like this. IN FACT:

Patient newsletters can cost as little .50 cents per newsletter. That includes, postage, paper, printing, and taking them to the post office.  The offices where we see them used regularly have shown an increase in patient referrals and in reactivated patients.

Before we outline how to do it, here is why you should.

Why You Should Do A Newsletter
When a patient starts care with you, you and that one person, old, young, male, female, it doesn’t matter, that ONE person and you – have started a conversation. They confided in you about some things about which, outside of close family friends, no one knows. It is personal. Professional, yes, but the fact is, you and your patient have started a dialogue.

It is your job to continue it. It is not their job to do so – it is yours.

You are the doctor and they came to you. They reached out for help. All you have to do is to keep the conversation going. It may be one sided for a while, but they are listening.

We are all spammed to death. It has been estimated that each one of us receives up to 3,000 to 5,000 separate advertising impressions each day in the U. S. People are numb to advertising. It is no wonder that your ads in the local paper just don’t have the pull they used to.

Patients who have once been to you already know who you are. When they receive a letter from you, it is from someone who knows them.  You are communicating to someone who already knows you and knows that you know them.

Statistics tell us that it is much more profitable to invest in keeping the patients you have, and marketing to them, than trying to procure new patients that do not know you.

Patients stop seeing you because sometimes, Life gets in the way. Finances, personal problems, work, and after a while, they kind of just loose touch.  But you are mistaken if you think that your relationship with them is over.  Once someone tells you intimate details about their personal condition, a relationship has started. Think about who you have confided in personally. You feel a special connection to them, right?

So, a conversation has started and by simply maintaining it, you will find that the patients stay with you longer, come back to care more frequently, and refer more of their family and acquaintances.

How To Do A Newsletter
For those of you who have the Marketing Manager System (sm)  computer program, there are a number of sample templates and examples that can be easily reformatted for your office.

Newsletters are thrown away, of course,  but they are reminders and brief advertisements about your services. They should not look like another pamphlet – homemade newsletters work very well. Too fancy is too expensive and look like the regurgitated pulp that gets thrown in most health articles and brochures.

Add a column just from you. We have a sample doctor’s column which you can use. On our members site for our clients, we have others.  Add some news, maybe one of Margie’s favorite non fattening brownie recipes, a snapshot, a testimonial, and a list of upcoming events. That’s about it.

Put it on one piece of paper that gets folded over twice and become self mailer. Bid it out to local mailers and you will find that the printing, paper, postage, and mailing all comes out to about fifty cents each.  If you have 1000 patients to whom you are mailing, that comes out to $500. If you do the mailing every 4 months, it averages to be $125 per month.

Make sure that one person is delegated to oversee the newsletter. It should not take but a few hours to do.

Email newsletters are nearly free, of course, and can be effective.  You can capture the email addresses from your patients and send out personal newsletters using services such as constantcontact.com, aweber.com, or a new one icontact.com. There are many others that have simple templates where you can simple type in the information and send out.

Homemade Newsletters versus Preprinted Newsletters

There are a number of companies that will print and mail newsletters out to your patients for you.  There are also a number of chiropractic commercial websites that will send out prefabricated electronic email newsletters to the email addresses you supply them.  The advantages are obvious – someone else does all the work and patients receive a professional good looking copy in their mail box, or their email in box.

We have seen these work, however we prefer the home made newsletter.  The reason is that professionally done newsletters are a bit like pamphlets – they look nice, but they are generic and soulless.  This can be particularly true of email newsletters. Some prefabricated newsletters make room for your customized inserts.  In this case, these might work well.

The primary problem with the preprinted newsletter, whether “hard copy” or electronic, is that it can take you out of the loop. You cannot really delegate all of your patient communication.  You can delegate some of your communication, but the point is, you want to maintain a personal relationship with your patients.

There is more to it than this, but don’t worry about getting it too prefect or too fancy. Funky, friendly, and funny is good.  Just do it and keep the conversation going. You will see your old patients returning, referrals increasing, and established patients coming in to thank you for that the recipe you put in your last newsletter.

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[Petty, Michel & Associates offers special practice development programs designed to help you achieve your goals.  For more information on our 3 Goals Seminars, coaching programs, and products: Services Products]

"Good balance of hard facts and philosophy."

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We just finished our Minneapolis seminar and WOW! Not trying to exaggerate here, but it was great.


Highlighting our the seminar was Dr. Peter Kevorkian who gave a rousing presentation. Dr. Peter’s animated talk interwove science, chiropractic history, and practical patient education procedures that both inspired and informed.

Like many of you, I have been to scores, if not hundreds of chiropractic talks (not counting listening to Dave go on and on about insurance companies on our long driving road trips). Dr. Peter was masterful at integrating philosophy and science with the practical nuts and bolts our clients could use to develop their practices. One of the best presentations I have heard.

And like a true leader, he practices what he preaches, seeing well over 3,000 visits per month with his wife, in three days per week. He actually is achieving all three goals and represents our 3 Goals Program well.

Phyllis Frase gave specific tips for staff team members and doctors in her presentation that was energetic and passionate. Dave Michel and I also gave talks that provided sound business and marketing advice.

One doctor almost complained to us that the day after the seminar his staff were so on fire and motivated he could hardly recognize them.

One of the most glowing reports stated that the seminar was a “Good balance of hard facts and philosophy.”

New seminars coming up in Chicago and possibly on the East coast. Stay tuned…

Photos here.

Here are some comments:

Good balance of hard facts and philosophy.

There were many ideas that we could apply in our office.
The information was incredibly useful. We need to recognize that we are in a business.

I also liked the fact that you were punctual. This leaves a huge impression on your company.

Great seminar.

Learned many new ideas. Loved the focus on service — there were many example we can implement that were new and many great reminders. The information was absolutely useful.

Speakers were dynamic and to the point.

Information was entirely useful. I liked the 3 Goals Process and the 9 roles on it. It was a practical seminar – not too much info, not too little. Easily refreshed on some things and good reminders on what to implement.

Great speakers.

Information was very useful. Great job!.

Like the marketing ideas and positive energy.

Information was simple but useful kept short as not to lose focus. Great energy and from the heart .. can feel the passion.

Thank you for a great day of learning how to be better than yesterday. I have really enjoyed going to work so much more since we have joined PM&A these last few months. And, we have gotten busier – so fun!!

It Gets Better Each Time!

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What a Seminar! Our second 3 Goals seminar which was held in Milwaukee was SO much fun that if we knew it was going to be like this, we would have been doing seminars years ago.

With over 60 people attending,with veteran doctors and staff, and rookies as well, the place was rockin’.

Just a note from all of us at PM&A: For those of you who attended – Thank You! We had a great time sharing our information and meeting you all.

Hope to see you again.

Some comments below and pictures here.

First, a kind letter from a veteran office manager of 4 offices:

Dear Ed, David and Phyllis,

Wow!! I was blown away by you guys yesterday, this was information that every chiropractor and chiropractic assistant needs! I have been a C.A. for 23 years, Office Manager for 17 years, and still viewed your seminar as a beneficial learning experience. I have several procedures and marketing ideas that I will be implementing. In my opinion, The 3 Goals Seminar should be a must for any new D.C., the content was invaluable! You guys truly made my experience for the day extraordinary, thank you!

Sincerely,

Cindy S.

Here are some more comments:

“Very energetic , lots of ideas, the CA information was wonderful.”

“The marketing info is going to be helpful.” “Information was clear.” “Lots of energy and like the experience of the presenters.” “Great for new doctors.” “Patient education info was great. Good info on systems and how to keep them in place.” “Great marketing ideas in and out of the office.”

“Financial planning and collections very helpful.” “Marketing strategies were good.” “Liked most how to systematize your office.” “Liked the different types of marketing meetings.” “Information was practical, well organized.” “Clear and numbered structure.”

“I thought it was a great seminar.” “VERY HELPFUL. Lots of information and ideas that can/should be implemented in our office and mission.” “Enjoyed the overall enthusiasm of all speak sand their excitement for wellness/chiropractic.”

“3 Goals System as overall guide for practice success strategy.” “Informative and interesting. I can leave here and work on many things in the office tomorrow.” “Awesome presentation!”

No Soup For Dr. Steve and Staff — One Year!

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Last week I was in Elgin, Il, working with a chiropractor and his staff.

The doctor has a patient who is doing an independent film and used his clinic as a location for filming. The movie includes the actor, Larry Thomas, who is famous for his part in the Seinfeld comedy sitcom as the “Soup Nazi.”

Besides being a reminder to a very funny skit, the lesson here is that a chiropractic office has many uses besides chiropractic care. It can be used for meetings of local associations, workshops, yoga classes,  and many other types of events.  All of these position your facility as an inclusive public location and can get you better known. This film, even if it tanks, will definitly draw attention to Dr. Steve and his services. And if the film becomes a blockbuster… soup and adjustments for everyone!

Watch a clip from the Seinfeld series with the Soup Nazi. Clip.

New ABN Form Coming Soon

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As some of you have already heard, Medicare has revised the ABN form that patients sign. [What is the ABN form? From the American Chiropractic Association.]

The revised form, with a new title, “Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage,” can be found here.

Although the use of this new ABN form is not mandatory until September 2008, you can start now if you know the rules, have the new ABN form, and implement it properly.

So far, WPS Medicare (for Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota) has not mentioned the new form or implementation, but other states have already started the process.

Thanks to Bev for alerting us to this.

If you are aware of anything new about this form, or any insurance issues affecting chiropractic care that other offices might want to know, please feel free to post a notice here or email us at pma@pmaworks.com.

Organic Health Week

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Special Promotion:  Earth Day and Organic Health Care Week

Earth Day is celebrated this year on Tuesday, April 22.   As general awareness increases about the harmful affects of toxins on our body, as well as on our planet, chiropractic continues to rise as the shining star in the world of true health care solutions.

Earth Day is a great opportunity for you to promote the benefits of your chiropractic services.

You can set aside one week as a “Buddy Week” and encourage your patients to bring in family and friends for a discounted check-up and introductory service.  The discounted fee that they pay you for the introductory services can be used as a donation to a local park fund, or earth related charity.

You can place posters in your office and at key locations around  town, such as coffee shops, hair salons, etc.  A simple press release or notice can also be placed on your web site, newsletter, patient statements, newspaper and community calendar.

You can also order some buttons for you staff to wear. 300 of them cost about $120 and you can use them next year as well.  For a sample button provider, go here (www.affordablebuttons.com)

Here are some sample buttons:

This is an excellent time to take pride in your profession.  Chiropractic:  always organic, healthy, and ahead of its time.

Sample Posters

Spring and Meaning

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Spring.

And almost three months into the New Year.

It was just 3 months ago when the New Year began. What about those goals you set? Those resolutions you made? How are you doing on achieving them?

You know, it is just amazing, working with the great doctors and staffs that we do. It is so evident that success is so attainable. It is just peeking around the corner, waiting for you to do just that next key action that will propel your office to pick up the speed needed to take you to the next level.

One doctor we are working with, after being in practice nearly 20 years, is hitting his best ever days and highest ever weeks this month. His staff have been emailing us their successes as if they are texting us from a rock concert!

We live for this stuff, by the way – your successes. Many times after years of gradual improvements, it is so gratifying to see an office take off with stability.

Another doctor who has been in practice for years has been breaking collections records. And volume…seems like it is nothing to have a 1000 visit month – with many if not most new patients coming in from referrals.  One doctor we work with routinely sees over 1000 visits each month, and each month works with his colleagues and associates to help them hit their best-evers. Another doctor had over 150 on the books for him to see yesterday (Wednesday).

From our perspective, it looks like chiropractic is having a renaissance.

Of course, this is not the case with all of our clients. Some are still laying foundations for future growth. Success can come, but sometimes only after years of implementing the right procedures.

But what are these “right procedures”, and where do you look? Insurance department, clinic management and organization, marketing?

Some of you may feel that you are in a rut,  that you and your practice are stuck. If so, take heart and have hope. Things can change and you can do better. We have seen it happen with many doctors in these last three months.

There are so many distractions in our lives, and many of them are negative and disheartening. Demoralizing. Frightening. Discouraging. Yet, we see doctors who have been stuck, finally get things going and do better. After years of stagnation, we see them do their best ever.

Practice development success is dependent on the quality of your systems and organization.  That’s 50%

What’s the other 50%?

Part II

The other 50% is an “Inside Job.”  That is, your success is dependent upon the structure of your office, but also on the function of your behavior. The quality, and quantity, of your energy, your attitude, and your creativity is easily 50% the cause of your success, or not.

So, if your numbers are down, you should spend half your time improving your systems, and half your time…improving yourself.

Are you frightened stiff? Have you developed “hardening of the attitudes”? Are you resentful, a seething caldron of anger? Do you feel burned out, frustrated, or feel like you just can not make the changes needed?  Believe me, this manifests one way or another in your practice. And in all areas of your life.

We all experience these feelings, among others, at times. Sometimes they are acute. But after you have been in business for a while, you may not even notice that you have become less than enthusiastic about practice.

Yet, even if you were locked up in solitary confinement, you would still have the power of choice. You could still be creative.  Even if you were shackled, starved, beaten, imprisoned, you could still find meaning and purpose in your life.

This is the basis of an entire branch of psychology as developed by a former prisoner of the Nazi death camps, Victor Frankl. His observations lead him to identify what he saw as the basic principles of living, including:

  1. “Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most miserable ones.
  2. “Our main motivation for living is our will to find meaning in life.”

Successful people have meaning in their lives.

If you can find purpose and meaning in this very moment, in this day, with your next patient, with this year, your probability of success will be greatly increased. More importantly, you will find that what you are doing is more satisfying.

Fear will vanish, hardened attitudes will become flexible, and your energy will return.

Structural changes will need to take place, of course. Better clinic systems and organizational procedures will then take you to the top. And keep you there.

We can help with all of these, by the way. But you should know and be reassured that chiropractic is happening. It is hip, it is popular, and it is growing, probably more so now than ever before.

Naysayers say otherwise to promote their goods or services. They are sell outs. Don’t buy what they are peddling. Chiropractors have always been challenged and it is actually what has helped you be strong and survive.  Insurance cutbacks are not new.

After more than 20 years in business,  we are still amazed each day when we hear of the stories patients tell of their success.

Chiropractic works. It has, does, and will for at least the rest of this year. So, find your meanings and purposes, get help to upgrade your clinic procedures and organization, and make those yearly goals you set for 2008.

Heck — why not beat them and make this year your best ever?

Spring has its own meaning, its own purpose: to grow and create. This can be your purpose too.

Every moment, every day. Right now.

Leprechaun Appreciation Day

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Just saw a greeting card and emulated their design and idea (thanks www.seltzergoods.com) to create a Kid’s Day promotion.

On Saturday, March 15th your office could offer a couple of hours just for kids. Or, you could spread the special promotion out over a few days and call it Leprechaun Appreciation Week.

Leprechauns are mischievous… just like most kids! (Sample poster.)

There are also other types of St. Pat.’s promotions you can do in your office that are fast, fun, and can be productive. For more ideas. (Link.)

And, just to get you in the mood, here is a little Irish Jig.(Link.)

(Will need speakers.)

Party at Chiroville

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Many mall stores, such as the GAP, Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, have as part of the office policy to create a party atmosphere in their stores. The idea is that potential shoppers passing through the mall will see happy faces in the stores with the music playing (sometimes extra loud) and feel like they want to join in the party.

The same concept applies to your office. It should always be friendly and inviting. And on occasion, it’s OK to go overboard.

Early this week, one of the chiropractic office’s I visited had a pleasant surprise. I made it through the ice, snow, and sub-freezing temperatures to the front door, took off my heavy coat, and walked into the reception area.

The staff were dressed in summer clothes. Marimba island music was playing. There were palm trees and a fishing net over the front desk. The staff were smiling and one of them asked me if I wanted a fruit smoothie, being told that they were not serving rum this morning.

The sign over the blender and freshly cut fruit said: “Welcome to Chiroville”, alluding to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. While enjoying my freshly made smoothie, I watched other patients come in from the cold and saw how pleased they were with the friendly change of pace of this special promotion.

The staff seemed to have as much fun with it as the patients. And, as did the doctor!

As a side note, the practice is having its best February ever for new patients.

The moral of the story? If every day was a party at your office, wouldn’t you want be there? Wouldn’t you want to invite all of your friends there too?

Your Chiropractic Practice Marketing Plan

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How is your marketing plan?

Do you have one?

You really should have a marketing plan for your chiropractic practice, and it should be updated monthly, nudged weekly, and totally reviewed every three months.

This may sound oversimplified, boring, or too too obvious, but in our experience, it is a major key to practice building.

Sure, there are many other factors behind a successful business, but constantly marketing is essential. And, if your practice is not growing, it may be because you are not routinely marketing.

And how do you make sure that you are marketing? Have a plan.

A Marketing Plan Is Simply Marketing Activities Scheduled,
Assigned, Regularly Supervised, And Measured.

The key to effective marketing is simply planning. This is because marketing often just does not get done.  It is not that your marketing did not work. More than likely, it just didn’t happen.

To overcome this, you need to schedule short planning times each week, and longer periods each month.

This is the core of the Marketing Management System as we have developed it.

Your marketing plans should include the following:

•    Recurring Marketing-Oriented Procedures. These include not only your internal marketing procedures, but recurring clinical and administrative procedures as well. They are the usual recurring procedures that go on regularly in your office. Often overlooked and neglected, they are the most important form of marketing. They need to be reviewed and practiced regularly to be keep fresh and important. Because they are so routine, I usually schedule them last.

Very successful offices rely mostly on these types of procedures. When you hear chiropractic doctors say “We don’t do marketing”, it is because they have their marketing as part of their internal procedures and they do these extra-ordinarily well. These could be the way the phones get answered, the report of findings, the new patient lecture, the simple consistency of patient flow procedures, great internal staff and doctor communication, staff training procedures, staff meetings, etc.

•    Special Promotions. Hold special promotions every now and then. These could include a Kid’s Day, a donation drive, mother’s appreciation day, teacher’s appreciation week, etc. I walked into an office a few days ago and in the middle of a very cold, snow packed winter, the doctor and staff were wearing summer clothes, offering smoothies (without the run), with a big sign saying: “Welcome to Chiroville”, no doubt referencing “Margaritaville” and warm ocean lifestyle. What a refreshing and friendly surprise greeted each patient that day!

•    Patient and Community Education Programs. These are usually held in your office. Educate your community through your office and patients by providing special workshops that are chiropractic or health related. Or, you can sponsor a special “Awareness Week”, such as a Headache Awareness Week, offering no charge or discounted condition specific screenings, consultations, and or exams.

•    External Community Services and Networking Events. These can range from spinal screenings, to in office ergonomic workshops, lunchtime “Lunch & Learns” for local businesses, setting up referral sources with business or other professionals, or working in the food pantry twice a month feeding the homeless.

There are other procedures, such as advertising, PPO soliciting and reviewing, yellow pages, web site, but many of these can be put onto a yearly, quarterly, or monthly recurring checklist.

The above are various categories of marketing. But again, the most important part of marketing is doing it, and the key to getting marketing done is to schedule it and assign it and measure it.

For the best reference, review the materials in your Marketing Toolkit which is part of your Marketing Manager System computer software, if you have it.

Here is a sample marketing calendar for a chiropractic office.

NOTE TO CLIENTS AND PMA MEMBERS: You may find a customizable sample calendar on our PMA Member’s web site.

What the Moon Has to Do With You Success

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The moon is back to normal again.

Just a few hours ago, though, standing in the middle of a snow-covered playground near Lake Michigan, in the night sky at about 3 degrees above zero, it looked like a smudge. A grey brown spot that was almost black, like someone had tried to erase it with an old eraser, but part of its image still remained.

For a few hours, the earth blocked out the sunlight to the moon, at least from our perspective. These unimaginably huge spheres of matter, nearly perfectly in balance, were gracefully moving like billiard balls in a ballet.  Compared to this, all else really seems insignificant.

Before street lamps, car lights, TVs and late night computers, the night sky entertained us. Everyone could recognize the constellations, and an interplanetary event such as an eclipse was a very big deal. All our ancestors were stargazers – the night sky gave them the comfort of familiar signs, as well as wonder and awe. And mystery.

Besides the city lights to distract us, we have our daily duties and deadlines that rivet our attention to the near. Your patients, your notes, your computer, staff members, phones; most things are just a yard stick away.  Like a ping-pong game, your focus has to be complete, quick, and close, or, you lose.

When your attention drifts, patients think you don’t care, staff thinks you take them for granted or are displeased, and insurance companies can’t read your notes.   Success in practice requires keen attentiveness.

You can’t survive asleep at the wheel, dreaming or daydreaming. To be a winner you have to be alert and actively attentive to your job each minute you are at the office.

And if that is all you do, you soon will burn out.

Studies have shown that you have to, now and then, disengage. Take a break. Learn Japanese. Play with your kids. Help the poor.  Pray. In their best selling book, The Power of Full Engagement, the authors offer studies and examples on why it is important to become involved in disrelated activities to balance our hectic if productive lives.

All this goes back to the moon and the sky.  I don’t think we look up enough. The sky, the stars, and the whole natural God given world are about us, mysterious and awe inspiring.

In business, we have to focus on the short term and build for the middle term. But it is the far away that calls us, if we can stop to listen.  What makes you curious, fills you with awe, love, and seems a mystery? What does your future whisper back to you, as if you could hear your eulogy years from now? What are your greater purposes?

Balancing these three is the key to a successful practice, business, and life.  Your first goal is to play each day fast, full out, like a basket ball game you have to win. Your second goal is to gradually build a strong organization with the right teammates and the best plays that have proven to work for you. But your third goal, and there may be many, are why you work at all.

If your business has plateaued and stopped growing, it is because one or more of these goals is not being worked on correctly.

We have developed a general pathway and framework for doctors to move upward so that they can correctly work on and achieve all three goals. It doesn’t matter what technique you use, therapies, providers, or offices.

We are excited and pleased about the development of this new approach to practice management and marketing and how it impacts our consulting and the results our clients can see, as well as our own business and personal lives.

We will be publishing and just talking more about these three goals, but we encourage you to come to our seminars.   You can learn more about them by clicking here. 3-Goals Seminars

And, in the meantime, as my old pal, Jack Horkhiemer the stargazer always says:  “Keep Looking Up.”

photos from Microsoft and NASA

Parker – Las Vegas, 2008

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February. It was Thursday morning. It snowed, oh, about 20 inches or so here in Milwaukee. Plane was thankfully delayed, which gave me the time to shovel snow for about two hours. I then headed to the airport for a straight hop over to Las Vegas. The warm desert air, though slightly smoggy, was a welcome contrast to the cold and white of the Wisconsin winter.

For those of you who have gone to this seminar in earlier years, I am sure you can appreciate the energy of thousands of your fellows getting together. I asked one of the registrars and was told that nearly 5,000 were in attendance. This was the 55th Anniversary for Parker Seminars.

At these events, there is no way that you can take in all of the speakers, but you try to catch the keynote speakers and those in whom you have particular interest.

Starting Friday morning, we listened to the President of Parker College and Parker Seminars, Dr. Fabrizio Mancini.

I had a chance to meet him the evening before at “Club Parker”. Phyllis has worked with Dr. Mancini for 10 years, knows him well, and introduced us. Dr. Fab, as he is called, was very personable and interested in how we were doing in Wisconsin. I said we were doing “Great”. He was very friendly, without a hint of self-importance.

I learned later that Dr. Mancini was “Dr. Phil’s” (the television personality) chiropractor until Dr. Phil moved to L.A. Also, he was one of a few dignitaries called to a special meeting after 9/11 to discuss what could be done about world peace. While staying at a remote meeting place and getting ready for his talk later in the afternoon, Dr. Mancini received a 5 am call that one of his fellow presenters needed an adjustment.

He was met by a few secret service men at his door and was taken to Vice President Al Gore’s room. Later that morning, before beginning his talk, Al Gore invited Dr. Mancini to sit in the front row and began the his presentation by complimenting chiropractic.

This is the story, only roughly paraphrased by me, as told by Dr. Mancini to a special group I attended with Phyllis.

A keynote speaker was Dr. John Demartini. He had just flown in from Japan, on his way to another part of the planet. With a slight sniffle, he talked about how attracting new patients had a great deal to do with simply whether you really were ready for them, and wanted them. He talked about the importance of having a “healing consciousness.”

He also let us in on the fact that a new movie that he was working on was coming out in the fall. It will be similar to the “Secret”, only better, according to Dr. Demartini. He says that it will be called: “Oh My God”, and will include many people, including the Dali Lama as well as members of the Taliban. It will be about peace and God.

You read it here first!

I caught some of Dr. Dan Murphy’s talk, which I loved. So many references to books and studies to support the harmful affects of chemicals entering our bodies and contributing to not only poor health, but the effectiveness of adjustments. (For example: Toxic Overload by Paula Hamilton, Health & Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life by Blaylock, M.D.; Poisoned Nation by Loretta Schwartz-Nobel.)

And then there was the trade show. It was like a circus with booths everywhere. The larger ones included the major sponsors like Pro-adjuster, Foot Levelers, and Chiropractic Leadership Alliance/Creating Wellness.

Hundreds of booths, probably two football fields full of chiropractic products and services all manned by doctors and attractive sales people. Maybe next year Petty, Michel & Associates should have a booth?

Early Saturday I went for an walk through the trade show before it was officially opened. I observed Dr. Gentempo, who had his sales team mustered in the booth, going over the plans for the day. A few isles over, Dr. Pisciottano was talking with his booth people before the day had started. It would be at least ½ hour before other booth operators showed up.

This was kind of a homecoming for me. About 18 years ago, or more, was the last time I attended Parker Las Vegas. I remember being invited as a guest of one the speakers to a special reception where I met Dr. Jim Parker himself.

I had a chance to sit down and catch up with our old friend Dr. Jim Sigafoose. Dave Michel and I worked with Dr. Sigafoose years ago. He continues to be one of the profession’s great philosophers. In my opinion, he is so connected to innate wisdom, has such a strong conviction and purpose, and is so utterly un-commercial, that he has been able to help many doctors and staff move beyond their comfort zones and improve their practices. We have seen it and can testify to his ability to motivate doctors, staff, and patients. He is not the youngest fellow, and if you can, I would highly recommend attending an event by him and spending some time with this truly worldly healer. (And we don’t give out many recommendations for other services.)

Actually, while we were talking, a young doctor with just a few months to go before he graduating from Parker Chiropractic College came by introduced himself. He related that he had gone with a chiropractic friend to a talk Dr. Sigafoose gave 5 or so years ago. He said it was that talk that finally convinced him to become a chiropractor. (Hi David D.!)

Phyllis gave a stirring talk to a hundreds on Friday afternoon. I continue to be impressed with her innate skills, power, and dedication to chiropractic. We appreciate her association with us, as do our clients.

Just before my plane left, I sat outside the hotel and took off my shirt and took in some warm Nevada sun. It was actually hot! I couldn’t enjoy it for long though as I had to catch my Midwest Express flight back home. Imagine my shock when I walked out to my car and the temperature was minus 5.

Over all, what a great experience! Even though the Midwest winter is cold, the warmth of the friendship, camaraderie, and mutual purpose shared at Parker will help keep me warm till the next time I attend a Parker Seminar.

We have always recommended Parker and will continue to do so. Maybe next year we will see you there too!

(More Parker Seminar Photos)

Wausau Seminar Was A Success!

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We just finished our first seminar for 2008! And, from the comments of those attending (see below), our 3 Goals Chiropractic Seminar was a success.

(Photo of Phyllis giving her presentation. More photos here.)

For our part, we loved it. Dave, Phyllis, and a guest consultant, Mary Jo who is an expert with all things insurance, and me, Ed, had a great time.

The 3 Goals concept seemed to make sense to everyone in that it helped to provide a clear cut path to practice success. We covered how it applied to practice development, marketing, and particularly to many staff functions, from the front desk to financial consultations. Our guest billing consultant, Mary Jo, always appeared to have a crowd around her discussing effective reimbursement tactics.

Our next seminar is in Milwaukee, WI, on Thursday, April 24th. It is an all day seminar, from 8:30 to 5. We will be sending and posting more info on this soon.

After that, we will be hosting a seminar in Minneapolis on Thursday, May 15. Again, it will be an all day seminar. (We will have a special guest which we will be telling you about soon.)

Here are some seminar comments:

“Everyone did a great job!”
“..the presenters were engaging”
“..liked how the program was laid out in easy, step by step ways.”
“Encourages everyone to find their greater purposes.”
“..helped me understand my role in the clinic more specifically.”
“I got more ideas for our patient education.”
“..there were many ideas to improve the our office procedures.”
“..learned how mission affects everything we do inside and outside of the office.”
“..learned about enthusiasm and its role in promoting the office.”
“..got ideas on more structure, policies, control, and the importance of more patient guidance.. throughout care.”
“…reaffirming… learned new perspectives or twists on how we already do things in the office.”
“Phyllis gave great insight into how things can be changed positively.”
“..very informative.”
“..everything present was useful and will help to improve our office.”
“..was wonderful and motivating.”
“..useful ideas on a marketing person and marketing procedures.”
“..excellent presentations…”
“..liked systematizing procedures and getting help on focus on goals..”
“Good ideas on how to monitor clinic performance and set goals and keep track with goals…and marketing meetings..”
“Good for team to hear Phyllis she is very motivating… They got the Big Picture…”
“Good ideas on marketing!”
“..liked the motivational aspect of the seminar..”
“..good review on the Marketing Manager Toolkit for ideas…”
“..high energy.. and kept to time agenda..”
“I liked having a clear concise road map for practice development..” Continue reading →