The Mental Immune System

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Edward Petty

A healthy body has a well-functioning system to protect it or make it physically immune from disease. I am sure you have seen this occur with your patients as you adjust and treat them.

But there is no doubt that the mind also affects the body. In your practice, could you improve your patient’s mental immune system? Of course, and already do. I am sure you bolster your patient’s mental immune system even though you or your team may not have looked at it this way. Providing your patients with genuine positive feedback and showing them gratitude for their regular visits can go a long way in enhancing their mental well-being.

A mental immunity system would help individuals be protected, or immune, from negative influences or circumstances in the environment. This would be the ability to “roll with the punches” and keep one’s stress level low despite potentially stressful situations. You can’t be expected to help your patients achieve this in all areas of life, but you can help them with this regarding their health.

Your patients and clients are under a constant deluge of frightening and drug-related messages that can be demoralizing and lead them to less than optimum health choices. There is not much incentive for large corporations to promote exercise, eat organic food, take vitamins, and encourage people to be nice to their neighbors. Instead, there is more money in promoting drugs and fast food, and beer. It took a long time and great expense to stop cigarette advertising, but pharmaceutical advertising has now taken its place.

So, it is for this reason I recommend positive health advertising to your patients regularly. The more they know and understand how to maintain their physical health, the better prepared they will be to critically interpret the corporate advertising of products masquerading as “healthy.”

Here are some methods to improve your patient’s mental immune system regarding health:

Extraordinary customer service. Through empathic communication, get to know your patients so that they know you care about them and can trust you. You are in their corner and have their “back.”
Positive reinforcement. Genuinely recognize their good efforts to improve their health and any positive responses to your program of care.
Table Talk. Listen to their stories and provide quick positive educational tips about health related to their story.
Educational themes. Pick an educational them each week and have literature for patients.
Patient successes. You can include notable case successes with your education themes each week or each month. Spread the good news!
Lending Library. Stock your book shelves with books on subjects you would like your patients to read. Encourage your patients and staff to study. (See a sample list of books we selected a few years ago over at pmaworks.com.)
Workshops. These can be done virtually or in person.
Newsletters. These can be electronic as well as hard copies by snail mail. They help “keep the conversation going.”

You are the positive lighthouse of health in a storm of gloom and unhealthy corporate products. You can improve the physical immune system of your patients by also improving their mental immune system regarding health.

Image from: Kellogg, Yevgenia Nayberg

KINDNESS and the Strength of Your Practice

Posted on September 9, 2021 by Edward Petty

A practice is a network of relationships
that is created and sustained through communication and service.

I have used this definition for ages.

Customers, potential patients, and clients, seek you first and foremost for your services and results. This could be relief from a troubling condition, or perhaps general wellness care. Therefore, in marketing, you want to promote that you can deliver the outcomes people are looking for, and prove that you can produce them. There are many ways to do this, but this is the basis of direct marketing.

Next to results, your patient wants to be understood. They know that no matter how competent you are, unless you really understand their condition, you may be applying the wrong remedy. Plus, you may come across like you really don’t care. You show how much you care by seeking to fully understand how they feel about their condition. This is called deep empathetic communication – feeling how the other person feels.

I think just being genuinely interested in the other person brings about this kind of communication and feeling on the part of the patient that you do care.

This type of communication determines the quality of the relationship. But I believe that it can go deeper. Let’s look…

KINDNESS

Kindness is more than empathy.

It acknowledges not just how the other person feels, but in fact, that the other person is privately fighting their own personal battle.

Every one of your patients is suffering — to a greater or lesser degree — though they may not fully confess it. Yes, people are tough. They must be. But when they see you, they hope that you will understand their struggles, their fears and their challenges.

There are many ways you can let them know that you grasp their situation. Most of all, seeking to understand their feelings and letting them know you, now, have a better sense of what they are talking about is sufficient. You can repeat some of what they said to emphasize that you heard and understood them. You can let them know you have experienced something similar, if you have, and sometimes, as appropriate, touching them on the shoulder compassionately can go a long way.

But there is no gimmick that expresses kindness – it is just deep human empathy.

Kindness doesn’t cost you anything, except a few moments of present time consciousness and mindfulness. Yet it strengthens trust, alleviates fear, and can help your patient improve faster.

You want to be a positive coach. But in the beginning, all your advice, adjustments and treatments, education, scheduling, and payments, must be based upon the trust you earn from your patient simply through your empathy and kindness.

Patients will seek you for your services, but they will stay with you because of their relationship with you.

Deliver excellent outcomes and promote them, initiate and maintain empathetic communication, and be kind. Include these as your goals in your mission, core values, and complete outcomes and see your practice and business grow.

Edward Petty

“…in the world, what counts more than talent, what counts more than energy or concentration or commitment, or anything else – is kindness. And the more in the world that you encounter kindness and cheerfulness … the better the world always is. And all the big words: virtue, justice, truth – are dwarfed by the greatness of kindness.”

Stephen Fry (azquotes.com)

Download PDF copy

GENERAL MARKETING STRATEGY — December 2020

Posted on November 24, 2020 by Edward Petty

Time to prepare for the New Year’s marketing.

But before we leave 2020, here are a few tips to help you round out this crazy year and lay the groundwork for a fresh, New 2021.

For December, work “internally” with your existing network, including your active and inactive patients and your external referral sources. But prepare for external marketing for the New Year now.

INTERNAL

The Team – Your First Line of Marketing
Every member of your office is a marketer – everyone sells health. 2020 has been one heck of a year. Why not acknowledge your staff as Health Hero’s with a pin, a certificate, or plaque, perhaps with a bonus if there are any funds available? You all deserve many “thank you’s.”

Holiday Cards and Letters to your Patients
Send cards and letters to both active and inactive patients. Recognize their good efforts to improve their health during this peculiar year and tell them that you look forward to helping them and their family stay healthy in 2021.

Health Never Takes a Holiday
Post a sign in your office in December that “Health Never Takes a Holiday” and schedule patients through December to January. We have a customizable poster on our Member’s site, and sample posters here.

Keep the Conversation Going.
Send out regular emails to patients. Email is more effective than social media, according to many studies, but social media has its place too. Assign email and social media posting to someone. A simple four-paragraph informal health tip from the doctor shows that you care and help improve your patient’s health. It is better that your patients hear from you than from the local chain store pharmacist.

Poinsettia Giveaway
Some offices have done well by giving away free poinsettias, or another holiday plant, one per family. Include a gift certificate with the plant for family members or friends. (See Member’s site for gift card samples.) Make a special arrangement with your local florist for a discount.

Patient Education
Now, more than ever, provide health tips for your patients to combat the heavy advertising of COVID-related reports. Stress is amplified by a lack of knowledge. Good education can help lessen the fear and help keep your patients stay healthier and happier. Plus, educated patients remain with you longer and refer more. There are many approaches that work, including: table talk, newsletters, whiteboards with “Patient Education Prompters,” and short five-minute weekly video health tips. The more you teach, the more you reach.

Donation Drives
Holiday time always brings an increased demand for helping those less fortunate. Within your office set up a collection area for any of the following programs and promote it in your newsletter. There are also other times of the year where donations are welcomed and needed. These can be scheduled throughout the year. Here are some sample donations:

Coats for Kids
Food for Families
Toys for Tots
Blood Drive
School Supplies
Animal Shelter $25 in exchange for first day services.

Also, you can support drives at local churches or gyms. EG “Free first-day services for every donation a member of YMCA makes to the homeless fund.”

Giving Tree/Angel Tree
The Giving Tree/Angel Tree Project is a great way to bring community awareness to your office. It is a simple project that can assist your patients to help others where they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do so.

EXTERNAL

Show Appreciation to External Referral Sources
Send a Holiday Card to any business or individual outside of your office who referred a patient to you or helped you with your marketing. Make sure you include a card of thanks and perhaps a fruit basket or other small gift. Let them know that you are looking forward to another year working together for better health.

Internet
Review your website with your Internet company. Set up a consultation with someone to review how well it is drawing new visitors. Make plans for improving traffic and conversion for the first three months of 2021.

Sample Plan for Special Events
January. Video series about improving the immune system: 10 Proven Shortcuts to Improving Your Immune System: 15-minute video every Friday. Include guest providers. PROMOTE these.
February. Valentines. Have a Heart gift certificate. Donation Drives.
March. Saint Patrick’s Day – Leprechaun Appreciation Day – A special kid’s day.
April. Earth Day. Community Clean-up Drive. Include external alliances to help.

100’s More Marketing Ideas
For 100’s more marketing ideas that have worked, if you are active with PM&A, go to our Member’s site, www.pmamembers.com. If not, we still have many effective marketing procedures right here on this blog.

Meet with Your Consultant
All offices are different. Some need fast action direct marketing — others benefit most from long term development of their external network. Meet with your consultant to make plans for the first part of 2021.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

In over thirty years of marketing practices, I have found the following two factors to be the most important:

Someone to Coordinate
It is essential that you delegate someone to coordinate your marketing as a project manager. Too often, marketing does not get done because, well, no one person is responsible. This is a major cause of the Practice Roller Coaster. While your entire office and everyone in it, staff and doctors, have marketing roles, one person aside from the doctor needs to ensure each project and procedure is implemented.

Goals and Attitude
Commitment to your goals and the right attitude undercuts everything. How strong is your desire to fulfill the mission of your office? Does the WHY? of your business enliven you each day, and are you happy about it? (Yahoo! Can’t wait to get to the office to see my next patient!!)

Of all the projects and procedures mentioned and the hundreds not mentioned, your drive to your goals and your attitude about achieving them is the most fundamental component to marketing success. Work and improve on this each day.

Ed Petty

Bonus Article: Health Tips from Mercola.com

Selling the Invisible — Patient Education: An Inexpensive Marketing Procedure with a Big Return

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Edward Petty

[Link to a checklist of patient education procedures below.]

Educate your patients!

There are so many reasons why — let’s look at a few of them. Then, I will show you how your team can implement your patient education procedures.

1. Selling the Invisible. Unlike buying a refrigerator, your patients are purchasing something they can’t see.

They are receiving a service for which there are no concrete, tangible references for them to judge whether the services were excellent, complete, or long-lasting. Outside of immediate relief from their symptoms, they may wonder if you provided a great service, shortchanged them, or are recommending more than they need.

On the other hand, you know the length, breadth, and depth of what you provide. Virtually, you can see the outcomes, know the measurements, understand the symptoms and know what they point to. But to your patients… it’s all an illusion. They have to trust you and what you say.

Typically, once the symptoms are relieved, many patients believe that the condition is resolved. But through education, your patients can understand how your treatment recommendations are a pathway to fully resolving their condition.

2. Beyond Your Services – Your Patient’s Optimal Health. Beyond your services and the treatment program you suggest, your patients will benefit from general health knowledge. Health is a lifestyle, including exercise and nutrition, but the healthy way of living is distorted by unrelenting drug advertising and propaganda.

Low-fat diets, diet soda, statins and other drugs are still an accepted part of the conventional health model. Pharma is increasingly pouring billions into advertising — $328.6 billion in 2016 from $116 billion in 1997.(¹) In addition, there are untold sums spent on lobbying your elected officials and paying for their election expenses.

Health reality is being manufactured for corporate profits rather than for personal and family health and longevity. Your patients and neighbors in your community don’t have a chance without your calm teaching of the facts on how to achieve a healthy and long life.

3. Customer Education — From a strictly commercial point of view, other businesses are seeing the advantages of customer education. According to learning industry analyst John Leh, “In a world where customer success increasingly determines overall business success, customer education has become an imperative.”⁽²⁾

Studies support the idea that customer education pays off. According to studies by ThinkJar, a customer strategy consultancy, “Customers are thirsty for more information and knowledge.”⁽³⁾And a study by Eisingerich and Bell conclude that customer education improves the trust in the company.⁽⁴⁾

Major businesses are investing large sums in educating their customers, and a leading customer education platform, Skilljar announced it has raised $33 million in funding. That is a significant investment! Their goal is to provide tools to companies to better onboard, engage, and retain customers at a large scale.

So if you want healthier patients and a healthier community, and if you would like to generate more profit, simply spend more time educating your patients. It is not that expensive! But as with most value-added programs in a practice, projects rarely start, and when they do, they are abandoned almost as soon as they begin.

To avoid this, use a checklist!!

Download the Patient Education Checklist for some ideas on what you can do to educate your patients. Assign a team member this checklist and give them 1-3 hours per week to work on selected projects and report on them at your meetings. They can take on the role of Patient Education Coordinator and help everyone on your team up their game in patient education.

The more your patients know, the further they (and you) will go.

Ed Petty

1. Consumer Reports, January 14, 2019 
2. Avramescu, Adam. Customer Education: Why Smart Companies Profit by Making Customers Smarter.
3. Interview with Kolsky, Foundoer of ThinkJar. Huffpost, 10/15/2015
4. Andreas B. Eisingerich, Simon J. Bell, February 1, 2008 
Photo from UCLA

Selling the Invisible – a favorite book of mine by Harry Beckwith

Do You Want More New Patients? Use a Checklist! Here is How.

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Edward Petty

Around the year 2000, I published the Marketing Manager System. It was initially a series of binders (3) to help chiropractors with their marketing. I received many compliments and positive reviews from both doctors and staff on how it helped them. Palmer Chiropractic College ordered a few hundred of the binders.

A couple of years later, I converted it into a software program and sold it as a CD package you could install on your computer. After a couple of years, I had to shelve the product. I was not set up to stay current with the constant changes in both software and the Internet.

Still, the information is sound, and it continues to work. Much of it is on our PM&A Member’s site, and though the graphics are somewhat outdated, the fundamentals still apply.

One of the motivations for publishing the Marketing Manager System was to solve a simple marketing challenge almost every practice we worked with had. In fact, the problem was so simple that it is almost embarrassing to explain.

We would get a call from an office requesting “something” to “get their new patients up.” “Got an ad that is working?” would be a typical request. And we would often hear this after working out an effective marketing plan that had been working for months at generating more new patients.

“What happened to your new patients? They were doing very well, even increasing,” we would ask. But when we checked if they were still implementing the marketing plan we had worked on, the usual answer was “no.”

We would go over the action steps on the marketing plan with them. “Are you still doing X?” “Umm, no, guess we forgot about that.” “Are you still doing Y?” “Oh yea, well, the staff member in charge of that took on another role so she couldn’t do Y anymore.”

You get the idea. What worked gradually gets abandoned.

So, I came up with the Marketing Checklists. These were a comprehensive list of marketing procedures, several hundred all told. They were a compilation of marketing procedures that we had used or had seen others use effectively. The idea was that by using the Marketing Manager System, the office would put together its own customized marketing checklists using ours as a template and reference.

This brings up the subject of checklists. In 2009, a surgeon named Atul Gawande wrote a book about checklists called The Checklist Manifesto. Here is a relevant section from his book:

“What is needed… is discipline. Discipline is hard — harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even than selflessness.

We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can’t even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at.

Good checklists, on the other hand are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything–a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps–the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss.

Good checklists are, above all, practical.”

By the way, I cover this in my new book, the Goal Driven Business scheduled to come out in early 2021. I have learned how to make these checklists more practical and, well, Goal Driven! (I plan to update all of the Marketing Checklists into their new Goal Driven version next year.)

So, from the archives stored away since 2000, enclosed is one of the 13 marketing checklists from the Marketing Manager System. This one is on Patient Referrals. It lists just a few procedures you can use to help generate more patient referrals. Of course, there are many more, and I recommend you make your own checklist and review it every 3 – 4 months.

And that is the key: keep marketing procedures that are working – working.

To help you do this, list them on a checklist and review the checklist regularly to ensure that they are still occurring. Use the checklist like an assessment. Look at each successful marketing action and ask: “Did this get done all the time, some of the time, or oops! Hardly at all.” Make sure all marketing duties are assigned. Then, where needed, improve them.

Stay Goal Driven and help your patients do the same!

Download the The Marketing Checklist on Patient Referrals.

Momentary Affluence — or Is the Tide Turning for True Health?

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Edward Petty

Over the last few months, we have noticed that offices have continued to grow – some even breaking their previous records!

Why is this?

I have heard from doctors and office managers that patients may be hesitant to visit medical offices and prefer seeing chiropractors, acupuncturists, and other health-oriented offices instead. Are they just afraid of the COVID at medical centers, or are they truly seeking to improve their health and immune systems?

What have you heard?

I am going to guess that your practice is filling back up as well. What should you do to augment your growth, sustain it, and even increase it?

RETENTION AND REFERRALS

You want to think about retention and then generating more referrals – from patients and from community members. Consider the following:

First, don’t take this growth for granted. Each patient is unique and special and important. Provide world-class service and deliver world-class outcomes. In the end, this will ALWAYS be your #1 marketing tool.
Educate. I can’t stress this enough. Please… Inform While You Perform. Factual information is one of the reasons patients see you. You are independent. Your strings are not pulled by Merck, Pfizer, or WHO. You can refer patients to information on your services, on Vitamin D, Zinc, and yes, Quercetin. They can trust you for the unedited and unspun truth about health.
Communicate. Newsletters, workshops via Zoom, or in the office, outdoor events (staying in compliance with local ordinances – as you see fit!) – keep the conversation going. Maintain and improve the relationship with your patients.
Capacity. Do you need another provider? Another team member? Don’t overextend yourself, but also, don’t stand in the way of your growth.
Partner with other providers and businesses. Medical doctors are discovering that health solutions they have for COVID are being suppressed. The braver ones are speaking up. Doctors of all kinds, now more than ever, can share the same goal and help each other overcome similar challenges. Businesses as well, want practical solutions for their employees.
Make a List. Make a list of patient retention and referral generation procedures that have worked for you and review them often. In upcoming newsletters, we will brush off some lists from our old Marketing Manager System_sm that has hundreds of marketing procedures. You know many of them, but it always helps to be reminded!

You can also take your marketing a step further…

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SELL, IT IS WHAT YOU STAND FOR

As a more aggressive approach, you may want to be more vocal in promoting better health in all its aspects, from what we eat, breathe, to the kind of health care we seek. In this regard you could take on the role of Health Rebel, or even Health Outlaw!

Your unique selling principle (USP) should include your noble purposes that sets you apart from comparable alternatives. Consumers are looking for businesses that take responsibility for social and environmental issues. And, according to several studies*, this is especially true for the younger generation – Generation X – those born in the 1990s. Speaking out for better health in your community and against toxic pollutants, for example, is not only a noble purpose but – if genuine, has practical marketing benefits.

There really are two sides in our health culture – one for optimal natural health of the planet and of our bodies, and the other as advertised by corporations.

Your community is bombarded with thousands of advertising messages each day, many of them promoting drugs and COVID hysteria fears. Advertising is a form of population control, which is an advanced science, and which may be used increasingly to motivate your community to consume more vaccines, including for COVID. Yale University, as reported by Mercola, is testing advertising messages to shame, embarrass, anger, and otherwise motivate people to take the vaccines.

And the campaign has already started. According to USA today, it is patriotic to get vaccinated.

And it is not just the push for vaccines. Corporate medicine has been discrediting natural health remedies, including chiropractic, nutritional supplements, and certain medical practices such as chelation for years. And outside of health care, we can see advertisements for the cancer-causing Roundup (with glyphosate), “foods” with toxic ingredients (e.g. aspartame), and the suppression of information about mercury, hexavalent chromium (as in the movie Erin Brockovich), and other toxins currently in our drinking water.

This is really your time. This is a contest for health independence from corporate tyrants that have set up laws to escape liability for their actions. But those of you in the chiropractic profession are used to the fray. Now, you are not alone. Other doctors are also experiencing suppression and personal and professional retaliation and are joining the fight.

The sales of organic food and supplements continue to increase. And based upon your practice returning to pre-COVID levels, the tide just may be shifting towards true health.

But only with all of our help.

Helping you to help more people,

Ed Petty, and all of us at Petty, Michel, and Associates

Mercola has a couple of useful booklets that explain how to deal with COVID. These are PDF’s that you might want to print and go over with your team and pass out to patients. How to Stop COVID reports by Mercola (https://www.stopcovidcold.com/covid-research.html)
Generation Z https://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/cone-gen-z-purpose-study

8 Successful Marketing Attitudes

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Edward Petty

“Marketing is an inside job,” one business owner told me years ago.

He meant it first starts with your attitude and your drive to reach your goals.

Your mental outlook will determine the effectiveness of all of your marketing activities. The good news is that your attitude is something which you do have control over. Even if you have difficult personal and environmental factors acting against you, you still have a choice on how you decide to act. The way you look at your world is entirely up to you.

Practice marketing is ultimately an “inside-out job,” and though marketing includes “outside-in” activities, such as advertising, its success is dependent upon what is happening on the “inside.” On a scale of 1-5, where “5” is strongest, and “1” is weakest, you should work daily to reach a “5” on each of these eight attitudes.

At a team meeting every few months, you can hand this article out to each team member and have each person grade (1-5) how the office has been operating regarding each attitude. You can also have a team member summarize one particular attitude and describe it to the rest of the team in their own words. These attitudes are your marketing muscles that can drive and maintain your growth. Keep working them and making them stronger.

I have observed these eight attitudes in common with successful providers and business owners. I encourage you to use them yourself.

1. Friendliness and Cheerfulness. When you smile, the whole world smiles with you. And that is what you want: your whole community smiling with you. A positive and cheerful outlook opens the channels of communication between you and your community. It is an unspoken “open invitation” for people to interact with you. The happier you are, and the more positive your outlook is, the easier all other marketing efforts will be. “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone….” From a Poem by Ella Wheeler (1883)

2. Interested Attitude. Where I have been successful in selling and marketing services, this has always been my secret: be interested in the other person. Don’t fake it. Just start with whatever strikes your curiosity. You will find that having an honest interest in people is one of your best sales and marketing tools. People respond positively to sincere curiosity about them. “Betty, where did you find those blue shoes?” “So Frank, I have always wondered, why do you guys call yourselves the Kiwanis?” You don’t have to be interested in everyone. Be courteous and be professional, of course. But you’ll find that you can find something of interest in most people. Since your interest is genuine and not simulated, the other person can begin to trust you. You are not a phony operating off of a script. Even if your curiosity makes you seem a bit forward, at least you are honest. Behind your interest should be a desire to understand the other person, and this requires empathy. This kind of interest begets communication which lays the foundation for the other person knowing you, liking you, and trusting you.

3. “Get to Know Me” Attitude. You should want the community to know you. You should want them to know that you are an excellent provider and that your business gets results. Don’t assume people know what you do – or even care. Maybe they know you are a provider but think you are retired, or too busy and no longer taking new patients, or too important to talk to them. And let them get to know about you personally– that your dog’s name is Louie and you are not from Canada, even though you are very nice. Be willing to have the whole community know all about you, and believe that once they do, they’ll like you. Don’t hide. We all spend too much time in boxes – our houses, our offices, our cars, and other buildings. Get out of the boxes and be willing to be seen and heard. “It is better to be looked over than overlooked.” (Mae West)

4. “Gratitude Attitude.” This is a term often used by Zig Ziglar, meaning be grateful and appreciative. The “Gratitude Attitude” melts the ice between people. It shows respect and honors those around you, especially patients, prospective patients, your teammates, and of course, your family and friends. People hate to be ignored and too often we take for granted the amazing souls around us each day. Be thankful to be a provider and business owner and that you have an opportunity to help people. Show your gratitude to others. Let them know how you appreciate them. Count your blessings daily. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others.” (Marcus Tullius Cicero. 106 BC -43 BC)

5. Service Attitude. Be a missionary on a mission to help. Be a giver. In the office, think ahead of what each patient needs each day and make sure they get it. Outside of the office, realize that people are in trouble, have problems, and want relief, so help them. Many are looking for answers. Offer information, community services, consultations, and be a “do-gooder.” Find out what people want and help them achieve it – through your services or another’s. It has been said that “The hole that you give through — is the hole through which you will receive.”

6. Big Capacity Attitude. “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” (Napoleon Hill.) Hold the concept that everyone in your community should receive your services. THINK BIG. Think abundance. Be willing to meet hundreds of new people each day and be open to scores of new patients. The mechanics of paperwork, finances, and procedure will all follow. Don’t let yourself become encumbered mentally by these things now. Get rid of the yellow light in your business and turn them all green. “Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.” (David J. Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big.)

7. Industriousness Attitude. Your outlook towards moving the business forward has to be a vigorous one. You must be ready to jump into the thick of things any time and get the work done. You will need a “can do, will do” attitude, one that enjoys being productive. It takes much more energy and effort to get and keep a business going than most people think. Marketing is simply physics. If you expend energy into your business and the community, there will be a reciprocal force — in terms of goodwill and new patients – coming back. Like planting seeds in the spring. You harvest what you sow. Don’t blame the politicians if the tomatoes didn’t come in at harvest time this year because you were too lazy to plant them. The more you sow, the more you can reap.

8. Have Faith, Confidence, and Belief. Be forthright and confident about the benefits of your profession, your skills as a provider, and the services your office can bring about. From this knowledge, you can be authoritative in telling your story and scheduling new patients. Know that you can help your patient. Believe and decide that they will win and you will succeed. If you are confident in what you are selling, then others will be too.

Edward Petty

The Sickest Generation and Back to School Programs

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Edward Petty

In late summer, many offices sponsor a promotion for children and their health. This is often in the form of a backpack check-up, scoliosis and posture check, or a school supply drive. The idea is to link the new school year with children’s health to better promote clinic services, generate new patients, and of course, improve the health of the kids.

It’s been my experience that these events are usually only marginally effective. Still useful, I feel that the real opportunity is being missed.

You could be getting more families under care. How?

Educate your families and your community on:

1. The results you deliver. How the outcomes you generate with children’s health are extraordinary. Use written and video testimonials and endorsements.

2. What you stand for. Today’s children face more challenges to their health than their parents. In fact, our children today are sicker than earlier generations. Learn about this and make it your anthem, a flag you wave. Stand up for the kids in your community, and you will earn respect and allegiance of parents. Be their guardians in health.

3. Provide special promotions and events. These could be workshops, screenings, or a special day of services with donations going to a local charity.

4. Alliances and Partnerships. It would be a good idea to create alliances with midwives, doulas, biological dentists, acupuncturists, and other professionals who share a similar concern and goal for healthier children. Invite them to participate in your events. Have them contribute a short article in your newsletter – in exchange, you could do the same with them in their newsletters. Create partnerships.

5. Schedule an event every two months, or every month. Never stop.

Your leadership, based upon your awareness of the health crisis facing our youth, is the primary element that will drive the success of your kid’s programs.

Read the following from the ebook, The Sickest Generation and follow the link below to the entire article, and other resources to become even more acquainted with the challenges the next generation of children face.

American children have never been sicker. Over half (54%) are suffering from one or more chronic illnesses, with the late 1980s and early 1990s viewed as the gateway period that launched the decline.
Many chronic illnesses have doubled since that time. The “4-A” disorders—autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma and allergies—have experienced meteoric growth, affecting children’s quality of life and contributing to premature mortality. The spike in autism prevalence has been particularly dramatic, with prevalence as high as 3% (one in 34 children) in some regions. Pediatric autoimmune conditions also are on the rise.
U.S. children are far more likely to die before their first birthday than infants in other wealthy countries and life expectancy is falling, driven largely by rising death rates in adolescents and younger adults. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in teens, half of whom are reported to have at least one mental, emotional or behavioral disorder.
The proportion of public school children using special education services is skyrocketing, with estimates ranging from 13% to 25% of school populations.

Sincerely,

Ed Petty

To the ebook, The Sickest Generation and other references.

Facebook versus Email and “Conversational Commerce”

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Edward Petty

It’s a New Year!

And if you are just reading this in March or September, it’s a new month or a new week!

Whatever time of year it is, it is always time to get the “Word” out your servcies.

It’s time to tell everyone in and around your office and community — about your chiropractic and professional services and how they should get them now!

But what is the best way to do this?

Well, obviously, with each person you see when you are seeing them. You – and your health team – have a captive audience. Sometimes referred to as “Table Talk,” this is your way of educating your people at the time of service.

You can augment this with new patient workshops that motivate, educate, and entertain your people. It is a free class but is part of their treatment program because you have found that people “get better faster and stay healthier longer if they get a better understanding of the health process we are doing together.” Also…“It assists with your treatment program and you get a better return on the work you put in. It is just a good investment!”

Then…don’t forget your team. They need to hear about the successes and case stories of how their office really helps people.

But your patients aren’t always in your office. What then? Shouldn’t your conversation with them continue? Other vendors are certainly getting their “word” out. Pharmaceutical ads are pervasive.

What about people who have not discovered you yet – how do best tell them about how you can help them and why they should see you?

Many of you make posts on Facebook in hopes that this will help market your services.

Does it?

What about email? Some of you subscribe to template emails that go out to your patients. How is this working?

I have some strong feelings about this subject — but first I wanted to see what others have said and what the studies show. Here is the question:

Which is the better medium for marketing:
Facebook or Email?

Which works better?

According to most of the surveys that I have seen, email is the winner.

But comparing both mediums is like comparing apples to oranges — both work depending on how much time and expertise you put into it.

But it stands to reason that if you have someone’s email, they are a subscriber and have given you permission to address them personally.

From a sampling of various studies and surveys (references at the end of this article):

“Where is the first place you go online in a typical day?”

Email 58%
Search portal 20%
Facebook 11%
News site 5%
My company’s website intranet 3%
other 3%

“Where do you look when you want a deal from a company that you know?”

Email: 44%
Company website:43%
Search engine (e.g. for coupon codes): 6%
Facebook: 4%

Email reaches 79% of the people you send it to (this is the global average inbox placement rate). On the other hand, Facebook’s organic reach has declined to about 1 to 6%, depending on your total number of fans.

So the stats and studies seem to show that you are going to get a better ROI from email.

Over the years, I have observed that patient referrals, patient visit average, and reactivations improve with regular emails.

Facebook and social media can help create familiarity and trust. From this you can direct people to your website for upcoming events or information. You can also buy ads that target specific types of potential patients and set up workshops or make special offers. I have seen this work on occasion very well

But the algorithms, or computational rules, for Facebook and other mediums are always changing and what worked last month may not work this month. Currently, Facebook is becoming more of a “pay to play” medium – peppered with inspirational forwards and political rantings!

With email, you own your list and make your own rules. Plus, it is nearly free.

Email is a direct and personal letter from you to another person.

It is authentic and genuine. It is the reader – and you, personally. It is not manufactured “health news” which is just a mash-up of articles from 1998.

In this busy and more automated world, genuine communication is becoming scarcer… and more valuable.

The biggest challenge is simply getting the email out.

Actually, this is the big problem with all of your marketing – who is going to do it — and when?

We have found some simple procedures that work for getting this done which I offer below. But first, let’s look at the future.

The Future: Trending…

The future medium will continue to be more direct communication for selling. The trendy term is “conversational commerce.”

“Consumers are increasingly relying on messaging apps for all forms of communication, whether personal, business, or commerce. … Messaging apps are becoming the preferred means of communication.” (emarketer)

Messaging is personal, it is one to one.

According to a research commissioned by FacebookIQ and Nielson:

“53% of people are more likely to do business with a business they can message.”

This means, when people visit your Facebook page, if they can chat with you personally, half of them will be inclined to come in for a visit.

You can take a look at a couple of applications – Chatfuel and Manychat – for inexpensive chat programs that you can add on to your Facebook.

You can also ask your webmaster to install a chat system on your web site. An example is websitealive.com.

But the force of all this is personalized communication, something that emails and sales letters and video letters have always done and continue to do better than Facebook.

A few weeks ago I received an email newsletter from a yoga instructor I have followed off and on for a few years. I had question so I sent her an email thinking she might answer it. She did. What’s more, she included a short personal video – directly to me! I am now considering buying her DVD’s when I hadn’t even considered it before.

So how are you going to “Get the Word Out?”

I recommend personally. One-to-one. In a conversation in the office and out of the office through email and maybe… chat.

A Simple Procedure to Get Your Emails Out

Someone in Charge. Assign someone to coordinate your email messages and newsletters. (They can also coordinate Facebook and Chat.)
Time to do the Work. Give them at least 4 hours per month to get it done.
Monthly/Weekly Reports. Have them give you a monthly written report and review it with them. (Advanced: Include email stats and Facebook stats this month and if they are up or down from the prior month. Analytics!)
Email Content. The email should have a 3-4 paragraph (or more) candid letter from the doctor written as if she is talking to “Mildred” or “Jeff,” or just to one patient in particular. You can call it “Health Notes from Doctor Ed.”Or, publish it as a short newsletter, and include a recipe (My Grandma’s Buffalo Chili. I don’t like it but everyone I have ever met loves it. In fact, my uncle claimed it got him his wife, Mildred. Here is a picture of Milly (lucky guy!)” [show picture]
Dictate it on your way to or from work and have someone edit.
Email Service. Use Constant Contact, Mailchimp, or another service and send out your mail.
Frequency. Do this 1-3 times per month. Keep it simple.
Promotions. Attach a monthly promotion to it every now and then.
Funky Office Fluff. Add recipes, success story, local news, or other interesting notes every now and then. (Think of over the back yard fence, neighbor to neighbor, chatting about local news.)
Continue the Conversation. But most important is continuing your conversation with patients. The email is just you continuing your “Table Talk.”
Messaging! Add a messaging application to Facebook and to your website.
Don’t Get Addicted to Social Media. Don’t get sucked into Facebook drama!*

Remember that a practice is a network of relationships built and sustained in part by communication. Now and then attach a promotion to your email and this is one of the least expensive forms of marketing you will ever do.

Keep the conversation going…and going and going.

Till next time,
Ed

(*Facebook Drama. Social networking definitely has positive uses. But, according to one of its founding executives, it has negative effects. In an interview at Standard School of Business, Chamath Palihapitiya, (known as “C.P.”) who joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president for user growth, says that he feels tremendous guilt for the company that he helped make. Facebook, and others he says, have succeeded by “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works,” he told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He hasn’t used it for years and won’t let his kids use it either!

“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works,” he said, referring to online interactions driven by “hearts, likes, thumbs-up.”

It is a great interview that you can watch or listen – link at the end of the article.)

https://www.campaignlive.com/article/facebook-study-53-consumers-likely-shop-business-message/1404632

Email Marketing vs. Social Media: Is There a Clear Winner?

https://www.mailmunch.co/blog/email-marketing-vs-social-media/
http://image.exct.net/lib/fe641570776d02757515/m/1/SFF1-TheDigitalMorning.pdf
https://returnpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015-Deliverability-Benchmark-Report.pdf
https://support.getresponse.com/uploads/2016/01/The-State-of-Email-Marketing-by-Industry-January-2016.pdf
http://image.exct.net/lib/fe641570776d02757515/m/1/SFF14-The2012ChannelPreferenceSurvey.pdf

11 Reasons Why Your Email List Beats Social Media

https://manychat.com/
https://www.websitealive.com/alivechat/
https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Digital-Content-Advertising-Key-Revenue-Generators-Messaging-Apps/1013247#sthash.OEDM1ML5.dpuf
https://www.campaignlive.com/article/facebook-study-53-consumers-likely-shop-business-message/1404632
Talk on social consequences of Facebook. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMotykw0SIk

November and December Marketing — and Your Higher Purpose

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Edward Petty

November and December are special times for patient marketing, whether you are promoting to prospective patients, active, or inactive patients.

Usually, we have found that internal marketing is better during this time of year as you don’t need to compete with commercial businesses as they slug it out in an advertising frenzy. You can prepare now and schedule your external promotions and community services for January and February. Of course, if you see an excellent opportunity for external marketing now, take it. But the primary focus should be internal for these two months.

November and December are “cozy” months. In North America — we have Thanksgiving. This is a time we give thanks for all our blessings and gifts and family and friends. It is a time when people feel grateful. Christmas is also a time of good cheer and giving, as is Hanukkah and other holidays.

And, for some of you, it is also the season of the yearly hunt — when you bring home the ring tail pheasants, the turkeys, and “da ‘tirty point buck.” (Wisconsin-ese for “the 30-point buck.”)

Your promotions should align with the spirit of the season to be most effective. Donation drives are often held. There are many churches and associations in your town that need help as they prepare to assist the less fortunate.

“Toys for Tots”, “Food for Families”, or “Coats for Kids”, are many popular promotions by local media stations. I don’t doubt that they are helpful, but I do sometimes question their sincerity.

Of course, you want more customers, that is the nature of business. But you must lead with your mission statement first.

Any promotions should stem from your higher purposes.

The Higher Purpose Company
In The High Purpose Company, (Arena, 2007) Christina Arena reports on her team’s study of 75 companies’ efforts at Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

She shows how corporations, by doing good, by providing better conditions for employees, more sustainable sourcing of raw materials, and contributing to beneficial causes in their communities, generate more income.

“The central findings of my research can be distilled in the following way: superficiality fails whereas authenticity prevails. Companies that falsely approach corporate responsibility as a form of marketing, public relations, or even philanthropy don’t produce the most meaningful results. In fact, they often waste their money and create additional liabilities. Conversely, companies that truly approach the practice of corporate responsibility as a fully integrated business strategy, wisely investing in profitable solutions to meet unmet social and environmental needs and problems find their performance greatly enhanced.”

According to the Harvard Business Review, business spent more than $15 billion in 2016 on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. (Davidson, July 7, 2016) And according to, Linda Novick O’Keefe, founder of Common Threads, “that number is rising as businesses see signs that investments in CSR improve company performance, talent recruitment and retention. (O’Keefe, 2016) “Giving in Numbers”, a study published by the CECP that analyzes giving and corporate societal engagement trends, revealed companies that increased giving by at least 10 percent between 2013 and 2015 actually experienced upticks in revenue and pre-tax profit, while all other companies saw a decrease in both.”

Your “WHY?”
Marketing must be honest, and it has to tell why you are doing the marketing. As Simon Sinek reminds us:

“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief – WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?

People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.

All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year.” (Sinek, 2009)

I recommend finding charities or causes in your community that your patients care about. That you care about. Then, go talk to the head of the charity yourself – get involved – personally. Emotionally.

One office paid their staff for one hour for every two hours they went out of the office and worked on a community project.

And it doesn’t have to be charities. A Kid’s Day with “Saturday with Santa” can be a ball. One office holds a patient appreciation party with their patients each December with a Christmas Elvis impersonator singing Christmas carols. The one I attended was packed, and a little wild. But everyone talks about it for the rest of the year.

Your patients, and your neighbors, want what you want – a better and healthier community. Communicate that in all your promotions and you’ll get better results, and have more fun.

And, many thanks for you do from all of us at PM&A!

A list of sample promotions on our web site – see reference below.

References

Arena, C. (2007). The High Purpose Company. Harper Collins.

Davidson, R. H. (July 7, 2016). CEO Materialism and Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. Retrieved from https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2016/07/07/ceo-materialism-and-corporate-social-responsibility/

O’Keefe, L. N. (2016, Decembr 15). CSR Grows in 2016 as Companies Embrace Employees’ Values. Huffington Post – The Blog. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-novick-okeefe/csr-grows-in-2016-as-comp_b_13657368.html

Sample Promotions. Chiropractic Practice Marketing Ideas For 2016. Retrieved from www.pmaworks.com: http://pmaworks.com/observations/2016/09/20/chiropractic-practice-marketing-ideas-for-fall-2016/

Sinek, S. (2009, September). Simon Sinek How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Retrieved from TED Ideas Worth Spreading: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

The Real Reason For Low New Patients

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Edward Petty

Why Two Chiropractic Doctors Couldn’t Grow Their Practice

A few years back, a long-time client of ours gave me a call and said that he had hired two new doctors. He asked if I would visit his office and see if I could help them grow their caseloads.

I told him that I was happy to pay him a visit. A month later, I was touring his office and interviewing his team. I then went out to lunch with the two new associate doctors.

I got to know them and asked them questions. They were not shy about their goals. They told me that they wanted a “high volume” practice. They boasted that they felt that it would not be difficult to see as many visits per month as the senior doctor by the end of the year.

They went on about philosophy, BJ Palmer’s “Green” Books, clean food and wellness. Both were young and looked fit and seemed eager.

They said that they wanted marketing help. They talked about how they had been working on social media, but felt that the owner doctor wasn’t supporting them enough by buying advertising. It wasn’t blatant, but they seemed to be blaming him. I acknowledged this and said that was something we could look into.

I knew that their practice statistics were very low. I told them that marketing comes down to caring about people – caring enough to talk to them, and caring enough to be honest about how you can help them.

They nodded like zealots. “Absolutely!”

I then said:

“OK, look around this restaurant and describe a possible health issue with some of the customers. Just pick one and do a very preliminary screening based upon the way they are sitting or walking.”

This didn’t go as well as I had thought it would. Both doctors, I discovered, didn’t look at the fellow customers in the restaurant. So, I prodded and finally got one of them to mumble a possible health issue with someone who was walking out.

I then asked each for their business card. Neither had one on them. I paused to give them a look: “What?”

I had taken a couple of their cards each before lunch and placed two of them in front of each doctor.

Then I said:

“I liked what you both said about wanting a large practice and wanting to help more people. I would like to help you. So, to start, I would like you to get up from this table and find someone in the restaurant, introduce yourself, and hand out your card. If possible, make an appointment for them to come see you.”

They both looked at me as if they saw a ghost. Gripped by fear, they both slumped down in their chairs. Neither would do it.

Seeing this, I suggested they talk to the cashier or waitress, or the manager. Now the fear turned to a dismissive attitude, as if this exercise was beneath their dignity.

We ended lunch and went back to the office. We met with the owner doctor and discussed the situation. Over the following weeks the two doctors agreed that the relationship wasn’t working out and decided to leave on good terms to start their own office.

— — —

You don’t have to be a hyper-extroverted charming salesperson to be an effective marketer. In fact, this may act against you. The largest office I have ever worked with was seeing over 2,000 visits per week. And the owner was serious and gruff, and talked like an angry fishing boat captain.

Marketing starts with a burning desire. It begins with an almost obsessive drive and purpose to help others by getting them into your office. Marketing then depends on your belief and confidence in your skills and service. And it hinges entirely on how much you really care and empathize with each patient or prospective patient. And then, there is the effort you put in. You gotta do the work, and this means sometimes long hours, long weeks, and long months.

And as the C.E.O of your business, it also means getting the rest of your team to feel the same.

Again:

Desire. Drive
Confidence and belief.
Compassion and empathy.
Effort. Work. Sweat!

There are thousands of different methods to market your services. These may include “social media,” big goals, and “philosophy.” They may include newsletters, workshops, or back to school promotions. But in the end, marketing is communication, whether done electronically, through print, in groups, or one on one. It is always and especially – one on one. In time, you will find what works best for you.

But no number of manuals, books, or coaching will do a damn thing for you if you don’t have the desire, the belief, the empathy or put in the work.

The 3 Key Ingredients to Motivating Your Chiropractic Team

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Edward Petty

Most of your staff are not engaged in the success of your office. Most of them JUST DON’T CARE.

At least that is according to a 2015 Gallup report that interviewed over 80,000 working adults.

The report showed that there are twice as many “actively disengaged” workers in the workplace as there are “engaged” workers who like their jobs. The percentage of U.S. workers in 2015 considered engaged in their jobs averaged 32%. The majority (51%) of employees were “not engaged,” while another 17% were “actively disengaged.” (“Actively disengaged” means that they are actively sabotaging their work.)

But let’s say your office is different, which I am sure it is. You are motivated enough to read this article and I am sure that is reflected by your team as well. But all the same, take a look with me at the level of motivation of your office.

How was your last team meeting? Were you there? Was everyone sitting on the edge of their seat and contributing new ideas and plans on how to reach new goals in the office? Or, were most everyone pretty silent?

Sure, your employees smile and look busy when you are around, and often work hard and they do care. But really, how much?

What would your office be like if the motivation, creativity, and level of pro-activity was always very high at “10,” or even ranged from 7-10? If they felt that it was “their” business, where they took responsibility for the quality and quantity of outcomes, and regularly worked to improve the business – and themselves?

I have been reviewing the subject of motivation for some time, from my own experience over the years and from what social scientists have reported.

I have incorporated certain principles into a new system of business management that are specifically designed to unleash everyone’s innate motivation – including business owners like you!

Motivation is the foundational in a chiropractic office, or dental office, acupuncture – even with therapists and other service firms. It is a bedrock for any healthy practice and business.

Here is one very useful principle specifically about motivation and how you can use it to generate more engagement – and productivity — with your team.

3 Goals System of Business Management: Principle #5

Self-Determination and Motivation

Everyone wants their own sandbox to play in.

You do. This is one of the reasons you went to school – and why you started your business.

We all want to have something that we can call our own where we can create and demonstrate our competence. What we get in return is feedback that we can do something good, that we have power, that we can make something beneficial happen, that we can … make a positive difference. If only to ourselves, we can say: “Look what I did. I did this. This is my creation.”

You can see it in children, for example, when they bring you their colored scribbles on crumpled pieces of paper to proudly show you their great work of art. This is their sandbox.

Of course, we all work for money. But we also have deeper motivations that if tapped into and nurtured, can be very powerful. By harnessing these motivations, and then linking them with others who have a shared goal, we can create a dynamic team driven business that is very profitable.

This has been explored by social scientists who have studied what has come to be called Self-Determinism Theory. I have also seen it in action. Essentially, it states that we all have innate drives and inherent needs that motivate us to be more self-determined rather than determined, or controlled by, outside forces.

External motivation, like the fear of being fired, can only motivate us so far. Threats, criticisms, negative reinforcement may produce short term action, but in the end, they demotivate, or worse.

The level of employee motivation has a tremendous influence over the success of your business.

An unmotivated staff, one that only becomes engaged to the level of “I will perform just good enough so that I don’t get fired or criticized,” will weigh the office down.

Self-Determinism Theory (STD) has three components, all of which easily apply to your business. These are:

Autonomy
Competence
Relatedness.

And by the way, while reading this, consider how this also applies to you as well!

Autonomy

You do not want your treatment plans second-guessed by a clerk in an insurance company. Neither does your front desk want you breathing down their necks about where all the patients or practice members are, or why they used the blue pen. You should train and educate your team, but then get out of their way and let them succeed or fail.

Think of helping a child ride a bicycle. Sure, they will need your help for a while. A push now and then. Perhaps some training wheels. But you will have to let them fall down a few times and allow them to get the courage to get back on the bike and succeed. You can continue coaching them to improve, but you must let them go.

Even if you see employees appearing idle, or having brief personal discussion with another employee, back off. Tolerate minor errors. Give your team some rein. Come back around later to coach them and train them to improve. Mostly educate them on the mission of the office and of their roles, and get them to understand what outcomes they are supposed to be producing. Once they see that the statistics measure their performance, they will be more self-directed and want to do all they can to win the game!

We all want to be free to create our own enterprises, even if we work for someone else. As long as what we do is in line with the purpose or mission of the business and our role, there should be no problem. This helps us demonstrate our competence, which is the next element of Self-Determined Theory.

Competence

Doing a good job, all by itself, is its own reward. It pushes away self-doubts and shows us, and others, how good we really are. It is positive reinforcement.

And the better we can do a good job, the better the results will be, which demonstrates to us just how awesome we truly are! Plus, as we increase our skills, we also will find that our duties are easier to perform.

Your team wants to improve their skills. Help them do so.

Sign them up for seminars, webinars, give them monthly reading assignments, and give them a coach or three of them. But this has to be done in conjunction with your supervision. You will need to guide them through the training so that they see how it applies to their roles and the business as a whole. Quiz them on what they are learning and have them give presentations to the team on what they are learning. The old maxim applies: “to teach is to learn twice.”

And where possible, make sure they earn certificates and can wear pins or insignia that testify to their competence. This goes along with Game Theory – people win at one level and then want to go to the next level. They want their “badges.”

Business owners throw staff into their jobs and expect them to produce with little or no training. Without exception, the offices I have seen that provide more training and coaching for their team — do better. Companies spend an enormous amount on employee training. $161 Billion in the U.S. last year (trainingindustry.com). And, it pays off.

One study showed a comparison between car companies and how many hours they trained their new employees: Japan spends an average of 364, Europe averages 178, and the United States – 21 (Pfeffer –The Human Connection).

And you can guess which country has cars with the best frequency of repair record.

Children want to be super heroes and wear their capes.

Don’t we all!

Relatedness.

This is the feeling of being connected – and there are two aspects to this.

Family. First, “relatedness” is the feeling of not being left out of the “loop” and of being included. Staff meetings help with this as does the general work environment. This is the sense that we are in this venture, job, and profession together. That we are part of a family.

Keep your team involved with your decision making. Give them some of the issues you are dealing with and encourage their input. They are stakeholders – it is their office too!

Greater Purpose. The other aspect of relatedness is that people generally want to be associated with a greater purpose. The more that each member can connect to the greater purpose of the group and make it their own, the more motivated they will be. Taking it a step further, if employees have higher goals of their own that coincide with the organization’s and they are allowed to pursue them within the organization, there would be no reason for employees to work anywhere else.

Train your team, let them own and creatively improve their own areas – and help to do the same for the entire office. Nurture camaraderie and a spirit of family – and always remind them – and yourself — why we are doing what we are doing.

Do this, and not only will your business be more successful, but you too will be more motivated and have more fun in the bargain.

# # #

Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2017) and Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation Paperback – August 1, 1996

© Edward W. Petty, From the upcoming book: “Three Goals: A New Practice and Business Building Methodology That Is Simpler, Faster, And More Effective and Fun than What You Are Doing Now.” By Edward Petty, due to be published sometime before the Singularity. © May, 2017

Our Shallow World – and What Your Chiropractic (Acupuncture, Dental, Medical) Patients Really Want

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Edward Petty

We live in a shallow and superficial culture. It is fast talking, faster messaging, with abbreviated emotions and texts.

No one seems to really care, or takes the time to care.

Communication has become digitized and synthesized. We forward messages from some people we know, and from many we don’t, to people we know, and to many we don’t. We are addicted to our smart phones and “phub” each other. (Phub: The practice of ignoring one’s companion or companions in order to pay attention to one’s phone or other mobile device. Google.)

We buy things from “clouds” that seem to know what we want, as if they had been eavesdropping on all our personal affairs.

The Age of Artificial Intelligence that cares more for us than people who “friend” us is growing faster and faster.

Yet, somehow, shallow works. It is practical. It is fast and efficient. When I ask you “how are you?” I really don’t have the time to hear about how your kids did at their Christmas play, or how you like your new socks. I have my own deadlines and have to go.

We are caught up in minimal viable encounters. They are functional, but they provide the only the minimum amount of care. Any less, and there wouldn’t be any service at all. They are “duct tape” solutions.

This is our life now. The fast, the short, the immediate.

For all its practical aspects, this is the first goal in any business exchange. We must provide the outcomes and services that are initially wanted by our patients. This is a “drive through” consumer culture that moves quickly for things that are wanted. In return, business is trained to provide the minimum quickly, efficiently, and yet is still valuable.

But just because our society is shallow, does not mean that your patient is.

This may be the culture in which they have adapted, but privately, your new patient might not have been satisfied with the services they have been receiving from others. And as the expert and professional, you know that it is likely that they have been short-changed on their care.

No doubt, your patient wants relief – now. But if you want to know the truth, they probably want more than just a quick-fix.

Your patient is looking for someone who genuinely cares. They are hoping to find someone who listens, empathizes, and someone they can trust to help them get what they really want.

What do they really want?

Ask them:

What is most important to you about your health?

Then, find out why.

This is a broad and open ended question. It takes the both of you through the quick-fix drive-through to get to, finally, what they really want.

If I have a painful tooth, I would see a dentist to at least treat it enough so that it wasn’t causing me discomfort. But if the dentist asked me what I really considered important about my dental health, I might say that I would like cavity free teeth that never caused me pain. I would like all my teeth and gums to be healthy and look good until I am at least 105.

The dentist would then repeat back to me what I said that was most important about my dental health so that we could agree that this was my goal — something I wanted. With this disclosed and agreed upon, we could now dig into my history and perform the exam to see what was going on that was causing the symptoms.

Once all this was done, he would explain to me not only what was causing my pain, but what I needed to do, in the long term to get my mouth 100%, which we already agreed upon I wanted.

I definitely don’t want or need a hard sell for something I am not sure I need.

But if you find out what I really want and let me know that you can deliver, you won’t have to sell me. I am already motivated.

Confrontational Anxiety

Confrontational anxiety is that stress you, and your patient, can feel when discussing the length and expense of your recommended treatment plan. But it melts away and evaporates if you work towards what the patient really wants.

There are many different approaches designed to help get the patient to agree to a more complete treatment plan, including scripted words or phrases for the doctor and staff to say. Ultimately, the patient must trust you. They will have to understand what is causing the symptoms, what it will take to get better, and the benefits to be had. In the end, you will want to work out your own procedure. (Give us a call, we can help!)

Realize that your new and prospective patient is just barely trusting you, as it is. They would like to trust you more. They hope for more than just a “pop and pray” (“…and hope that they pay”) treatment and adjustment from you. What they usually offer you, or present to you as a new patient, is a symptom that may have deeper causes. Their condition is probably not new. They likely have had it, or some aspect of it, for some time. Only when it becomes more acute do they come to see you.

The analogy of the iceberg is useful.

Your patient wants relief, but also wants everything in life that the pain hampered or prevented. This might include less recurring episodes of pain, the ability to resume their hobbies and sports, improved performance in life activities, stronger immune function, better balance, increased knowledge to improve their health, more happiness, better weight management, and more energy. You can and should make a list of at least 10 benefits that come from a patient completing their treatment plan.

I buy a new car not to just have a better ride, but to feel that I have a better life. I pay for a cleaning service because I want a cleaner house, but deep down, I really do so because I want a happier wife.

Patients are too often short-changed because of a culture that is fast and shallow. You don’t have to be – and you can give your patients complete and thorough care. This is what they want – once they understand their condition and what you can provide. And, once they trust you.

Be interested in your patient and go deep to find out about their health, their history, and what they really want. Then, educate them on how the both of you, working together, can best help them get what they really want — and what you want and can deliver.

© Edward W. Petty, From the upcoming book: “Three Goals: A New Practice and Business Building Methodology That Is Simpler, Faster, And More Effective and Fun than What You Are Doing Now.” By Edward Petty, due to be published sometime before the singularity. © 2017

Comments?:

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Chiropractic Spring Marketing

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Edward Petty

(Free sample marketing planner below.)

Practice marketing may not be entirely what you think it is.

If you are having challenges with your “marketing,” or you just want to generate more new patients, you need to consider something.

There are many good and great marketing activities you can do. (You can go to our website under “Free Resources” and find buckets of marketing. And, for those of you who are active members, there are mountains of even more marketing programs for you on our Member’s site.)

There are many paid programs you can purchase that explain different methods of generating more new patients. You have seen them, perhaps purchased them: DVD’s on dinner talks, workshops on how to present to businesses, Facebook and print advertising programs, and automated newsletters and Facebook posts.

These all can be useful in generating new patients, but the results often fall short from what the few successful doctors who promote the programs claim. This is usually because there were two major components missing in the marketing.

When doctors return from marketing programs, I like to ask them what they thought of the material.

“Yes, I liked it. It was good info. Learned a lot.”

“Great.” I say. “So, who is going do it?”

“Well, Susan can do it.”

“Oh really, when? She has a backlog in insurance and is working overtime trying to work with your sketchy notes as it is.”

“Hmm, well, we’ll hire someone.”

“Great. Who is going to train them? You?”

Not trying to be a jerk, but part of any good consultant’s job is to provoke analysis!

Besides the marketing event or procedure, there are two other critical elements to practice marketing that have to be included for the promotion to work. These are not always taken into account.

This was the basis of the Marketing Manager System I wrote and published some 17 years ago.

Most companies, as Simon Sinek talks about in his TED talk*, boast about what they do, or how they do it. It is all about them. Look at us!

But the better companies talk about WHY they do what they do, and they do it for YOU. They do it for your kids, grand kids, community, and the betterment of the world.

This is practice marketing. It is personal. You tell people why the heck you do what you do — and you say all this with genuine care and confidence – in your own VOICE. You do this in your newsletter, in your talks and in your ads. The best marketers do this – often naturally.

So, the first missing component that must be included with your marketing is motivation. Marketing must have a mission and it has to be embraced by everyone on your team.
The second missing component is organization. The events and procedures must be assigned to different people with enough time for implementation.

Complete practice marketing then, has three major components:

Motivation. Why. Make sure you and your team WANT more new patients. Get that accomplished first. That may take a while. An office staff and doctor who are backlogged with their paper work, already working full time and more, who also may have a few inter-office unexpressed grievances, confusions, or doubts about your service or you… no matter how many programs you sign up for, nothing will work.
Organize. Then, work out who will be doing what. Spread the marketing around to everyone and put someone in charge just to coordinate.
Marketing Procedures and Events. With the above 2 components in place, you are now more likely to “rock” your marketing efforts more successfully.

Increase the WHY, increase the CAPACITY, then yes, please — lots of marketing activities.

Let the party begin!!

Ed Petty

Spring Marketing Planner- (DOC) Sample Marketing Planner for Spring

*TED Talk link: www.pmaworks.com/observations/2011/02/10/leadership-in-chiropractic-the-golden-circle/

Tent Poster – Einstein Bicycle Balance

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Linda

“People are like bicycles…they can keep their balance only as long as they keep moving.”

~Albert Einstein

For a printable copy of this tent poster visit: Einstein Bicycle balance

Chiropractic & Practice Marketing Ideas for Fall 2016

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Edward Petty

(Download a PDF of this article)

3 Echelons of Practice Marketing: Motivation, Management, Procedures

Most attention is usually put on marketing procedures. That is fine but when marketing fails, it is usually because the procedures just didn’t get done, or only half done. And this is because no one was put in charge of them and given the time to execute them. Pretty obvious, but easily overlooked. This was the essential theme of the Marketing Manager System I published in 2000. It is out of print now but much of the info is on our PM&A Member’s site.

And underneath it all is motivation. Who really wants to do the marketing? You may get excited from a seminar or about an event you have planned. But motivation can dissipate quickly and too often we are not active enough in keeping ourselves and our teams passionate and determined about providing more and better service.

So all three levels or echelons of marketing need to be in place. What follows is a brief list to help you set up effective marketing activities for the next 4 months.

QUALITY SERVICE AND CARE COMES FIRST
It goes without saying but it needs to be said – from an executive point of view, quality care and service comes first. Ultimately, an office that gives “WOW” service and produces extra-ordinary outcomes generates enough word of mouth to create a waiting list practice. Think of Clarence Gonstead.

MOTIVATION
Plan weekly motivational talks at your team meetings and major motivational activities each month. These can be discussing case successes, watching Doctored, or doing a free clinic for the underprivileged. Keep the saw sharpened. Keep reminded of WHY you all are doing what you are doing and your greater purposes. This is the fire that drives the engine of your practice.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Someone to Coordinate
Delegate someone to be the marketing coordinator. You could have someone for just internal and someone for external events. These roles are only a few hours per week as coordination jobs. The actual work is delegated as separate duties so that everyone on your team has a role in marketing. Your entire office is the marketing department but it helps to have duties assigned just like you do for the front desk or billing dept.

So Many Procedures, Which Should You Pick?
Select the marketing activities that have worked for you in the past and add a few at a time. Pilot each and see what works better for you. Marketing is all about testing. Find out what works and then put it in a system. Keep it simple. Get your marketing systematized and departmentalized and delegated.

Time to Plan
Part of marketing management is setting aside time to plan and coordinate upcoming events. At least monthly, schedule time aside to review past promotions and plan new marketing for the next few months.

Calendar
Make sure you have a large calendar to post all of your upcoming promotions.

MARKETING PROCEDURES
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
All your marketing does no good unless it is communicated. Marketing IS communication, so keep the communication going – in and out of the office. Make sure each month you promote via team members, “table talk”, e-newsletters, posters, Facebook, etc.

Recurring Procedures
The most important marketing activities are your usual, recurring procedures that you do on a daily and weekly basis. Many of these are already embedded in your routine procedures. Because they are done routinely, the usual and everyday procedures can be overlooked or not given the importance needed. For example, just answering the phone can make a big difference. Don’t let the routine become the mundane. Practice new ways to have fun with your recurring procedures.

Community Services
This is what I call the free or discounted services you provide in your community. Health screenings, workshops, networking events, setting up alliances with dentists, for example, or just conspicuously showing up at the Lions Club breakfast. I would delegate this to one person and give them 4-6 hours per week to schedule events and to help coordinate who attends these events. There is a good deal of administration in this role. I have seen events scheduled a year in advance that generated new patients and referrals from alliances that come in years after they were initially set up because the relationship was well maintained.

External Workshops and “Lunch and Learns.” Schedule external classes for January and February now. Business “Wellness Programs” or lunch and learns at the local YMCA or Senior center. Include massage to make it even more attractive.
Local Health Fairs. Contact all the locations you have held events in the past year and schedule events for the New Year.
Contact local businesses for health fairs in the New Year and get them scheduled.

Internal Workshops.
Internally, you can also schedule special classes over the next 4 months, including “Natural Approaches to Flu Prevention”, “New Healthy Ways to Lose Weight and Get Fit This Winter,” etc.

Google Reviews
If you get 4-5 star reviews on Google, you will get new patients. This is proven. It is true. Assign it to someone and do it. Now. It may take a few months, but if you do it, they will come.

Patient Education: Table Talk and the New Patient Care Class
In my opinion, educating your patients is more important than adjusting or treating them. Not all patients are easy to educate, but all can be gradually persuaded to understand the value of your services: what they do, how they work, and why they are important. Educated patients refer more. They stay with you longer. They are more enjoyable to care for. And, most importantly they are healthier. Table talk is an excellent practice with each patient. But your new patient care class is a proven winner. It just takes your intention to do it. Two times per month. Do with the fervor of a Sunday sermon or with the frankness of a fireside chat with old friends. It will boost your practice and you. And… how much does it cost? That’s right… nothing.

Care to Share
There are many ways to do this program but I like it because it encourages your patients to help you get the word out about their successes so that others do not have to suffer as long as they did. It gets them to help their community. It taps into their greater purposes and gives them an opportunity to help others. Set up a monthly drawing and give away a modest prize or two. Enter the drawing by submitting a Google review, by bringing someone into the office for a no charge consultation, or by getting a workshop set up in their place of employment. Run the program monthly or every other month.

Special Promotions
These are the big events that can be fun and energizing which you hold in your office every couple of months or so. I list some ideas below.

OCTOBER
October is National Chiropractic Health Month. (The International Chiropractic Association and the American Chiropractic Association once recognized October as Spinal Health Month, but now it is simply called Chiropractic Health Month.) This can give you a reason to do many different promotions. For example:

A banner in your office for patients to bring in family members for a free “Check-up.”
Reactivation Month – send postcards to all inactive patients who have not been in for at least one year or more for free spinal checkup: “Chiropractic Check-up Time.” Use an image of an alarm clock.
The ACA has other suggestions on its site. (http://www.acatoday.org)

Child Health Day
Under a Joint Resolution of Congress, the President of the United States has proclaimed National Child Health Day every year since 1928. It was originally celebrated on May Day, May 1, each year until 1960, when the date was moved to the first Monday in October. Use this as a great opportunity to have a Kid’s Day. (Google it. Many differen sites offer suggestins.)

National School Lunch Week
National School Lunch Week takes place on the second Sunday in October (http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/48412.htm ) You could have a workshop on fast and nutritious meals for kids targeting parents and moms.

Awareness Weeks
If workshops aren’t your thing, then set aside one week to focus on a particular condition, such as headaches and call it “Headache Awareness Week”, or “Pinched Nerve Awareness Week”, “Neuropathy Awareness Week”, etc. Schedule one a month where possible for the next 5 months as part of your Community Education Program. Detail procedure with posters in your Marketing Manager System Toolkit and on your PMA Members site under: “Community Education.” Offer free consultation, screening, and information regarding the condition.

Crazee Dayz
Select a day and make it special for your patients. Only one day a week is necessary otherwise it’s not special. It can be once per month or every week. Serve extra treats. You can have the staff dress out of uniform coordinated to the day. This can add some extra fun to the office and help with retention and long term referrals.

Muffin Mondays – Serve up a selection of health bran, blueberry, or gluten free muffins.
Two for Tuesday – Bring a friend for a complimentary spinal exam and offer the patient a free adjustment. “Two Fer Tuesday.”
Whacky Wednesdays – gag gifts for patients, “adjust-a-mints”, etc. (http://www.bannermints.com/)
Thirsty Thursdays — Organic apple juice served in plastic wine glasses with a sliced green apple on the rim. NA margaritas.
Fruity Fridays – Bowl of local fruit.

Chiropractic Opportunity Week (“The doctor is having a COW.”) (patient referrals and advertising new patients) Free consultation, exam, and x-ray if needed.

Hair Dresser/Beauty Salons/Spas

Offer a workshop on “How to Stay Fit While You Clip.”
Free massages (and screenings) for customers

Kids and Halloween Party
With Casper as inspiration, a kid’s Halloween party with a friendly ghost theme has the right mix of tricks and treats. Invite the young ghouls to come dressed up, but you can also have them make ghastly masks as part of the fun. Other ideas include spooky decorations, scary snacks and a friendly ghost hunt.

NOVEMBER
Thanksgiving Turkey Drawing Poster

Refer a friend and enter the drawing for a free turkey
Special for Organic Turkeys – announce in your newsletter
Make arrangements now with your local supplier

Thank a Veteran Day
Veterans Day – November 11. It is no secret that the physical and mental health support veterans receive is inadequate. This good time to set up a promotion honoring those who served. Special promotions including free or discounted services or donations to local Veterans organization. (More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day )

Donation Drives (patient referrals, advertising new patients)
Holiday time always brings an increased demand for helping those less fortunate. Within your office set up a collection area for any of the following programs and promote it in your newsletter.

Coats for Kids
Food for Families
Toys for Tots
Blood Drive
$25 in exchange for first day services.
Also, you can support drives at local church or gyms. EG “Free first day services for every donation a member of YMCA makes to the homeless fund.”

Deer Widows Week
During hunting season or first week of December offer complimentary massage for your patients who refer in a new patient

Girl’s Night Out
This is a shopping/gift exchange that can take place in your office. Have patients who have little businesses set up booths in your office and stipulate that they have to bring guests. Supply some refreshments and promote as great way to “Shop Local” for Christmas presents. Enlist the help of massage therapist, local spas and direct marketing consultants. You can provide free screenings.

DECEMBER
Holiday Coupons – Gifts Certificates (patient referrals)

Good for Massage, consultation, exam, x-ray
Denominations: Free, $25, $25 or food donation to charity.

Poinsettia Give Away
Give away free poinsettias, one per family. Include in the cards a gift certificate for family members or friends. (See Member’s site for gift card)

Saturday with Santa

Set up Santa in your reception room corner
Treats for the kids
Pictures with Santa
Free spinal check with Doc

Appreciation to External Referral Sources
Deliver a fruit basket or other present personally during December with a card of thanks and mention how you are looking forward to another year working together. This would go to any location where you had an external community services type of event, such as a screening or workshop. Include: “Looking forward to working with you next year.”

Health Never Takes a Holiday
Post a sign in your office in December that “Health Never Takes a Holiday” and review and re-schedule patients through December to January.

Giving Tree/Angel Tree
The Giving Tree/Angel Tree Project is a great way to bring community awareness to your office. It is a simple project that gets your patients be involved to help others where they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do so.

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY
Winter Workshops and Movie Nights – Internal
These, of course, can be done anytime of the year. Whether it is how to make organic soup for the week, or a talk on vaccinations with an MD, winter has been a good time for internal events. Weight loss, fitness, and food have seemed to be popular. These should be planned by December or even November. Ideally, plan your workshops with a guest speaker such as a holistic MD, biological dentist, midwife, etc.

We have a great deal of information on our PMA member’s site for those of you who are active clients, much of it compiled from the Marketing Manager System I published quite a few years ago. There you can find readymade posters and detailed information on how to do many of these projects.

Yes, I know some of the posters are old but we are not in the graphic arts business and neither are you. But they are on Word files and can be easily changed. A simple graphic and title is all you need with the specifics in bullet points. Depending on the level of your program, we can also put together simple posters to help promote your particular project.

If you are not active with PM&A, you can still find a great deal of info on our web site at www.pmaworks.com/observations.

With shared intentions to get more people healthier and smarter about their health!

Ed Petty
September, 2016

The Marketing Flywheel versus the “Paleo” Practice

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Edward Petty

If you are like many chiropractors, other doctors and professionals, you are wasting potential revenue and don’t even realize it.

Before I tell you how this happens, let me give you a definition that I have been using for years that has helped many offices.

Definition of a Practice

A practice is a network of relationships that is created and sustained through communication and service.

OK. Keep that definition in mind.

Now, here is how you can lose extra income and create extra work for yourself and your team: You start out spending a great deal of time and effort on generating new patients and then on processing them. You get to know the new patients and hear their stories. You empathize with them, ask them questions, and examine them. You explain what you have found about their condition and worked out what you see as their best option for treatment.

During their first few visits you are sensitive to how they are responding to your care and so continue to communicate with them. You put all this work into your new patient in order to help them follow your treatment plan and get better.

But as the patient improves and their frequency of visits decrease, your focus on them lessens. Your attention gravitates to the new patients.

When the patient has moved through your care plan, they often just drift back out into their community with an inadequate lifeline back to your office.

You have invested in, and created, a great relationship with your patient. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to stay in communication with them? They know you and like you and your team — shouldn’t you keep the connection alive and active? Just because their health condition has improved, don’t you still have approaches to help them become healthier and happier?

They have family and friends that can use your help now. They also belong to businesses and other groups that could use your help. Why let this relationship atrophy? Why not secure that lost income as well?

The Other “Paleo” Practice

In some sense, the business is constantly starting and stopping. It is nomadic. This is the other “Paleo” practice: each day when the sun comes up across the plains, you are out hunting for and gathering new patients. This may be good for a diet, but not if you want a low stress practice. Wouldn’t it be better to create a business where existing long time patients would routinely stop by for care and refer their family and friends? This would save you a lot of effort, money, and stress, wouldn’t it?

The Practice Flywheel

A practice should be supported by business systems.

These systems are like an engine. An engine has starts and stops, but it also has a flywheel. The flywheel is a heavy wheel that, once it begins to spin, continues to do so with much less effort than it took to get it going.

A good practice is supported by a business flywheel, or a number of flywheels as there are different sub-engines in the business.

For internal marketing, the flywheel is the conversation that you first began. You want to keep it going and going. After you get it spinning in high gear, it takes little effort to keep it humming along.

How Do You Do This?

You put in place a system of constant communication with your patients when they are NOT in the office through e-newsletters, hard copy newsletters, notes and cards, Facebook, and any other medium available. And of course, there is also personally seeing them at events in your community – county fair, grocery store, restaurant, salon or barber shop, etc. You want to keep the conversation going.

A very effective method is through electronic newsletters. Done right, and they usually aren’t, these newsletters can improve the numbers in your office.

We have tested this and found that the offices that do have personalized newsletters to their patients have more returning patients, more referrals, and more wellness visits as a result. Hence, more revenue and less stress about generating new patients.

See link below for a procedural article on what we have found that seems to work best for e-newsletters. Your customized e-newsletter can fuel your Facebook page, website, hard copy newsletter, and other mediums. We have worked out a relatively simple and very cost effective system that offices are using now to make this work.

Keep in mind that if your patients are not in listening to you, they will be listening to someone. For example, there are about 80 ads for drugs every hour on television (http://www.topmastersinhealthcare.com/drugged-america/) and this statistic is more than ten years old. It has been estimated that each of us are bombarded with about 2,000 advertising impressions per day. How many of these ads influence your patients toward unhealthful products or services?

Customized newsletters, and the cascading communications that they can feed, cost little but they help to keep the patient flywheel – and the communication – going. And in so doing, the patient wins, the community wins, and so does your business.
-Edward Petty

Publishing Your Newsletter – Does your mailing bottleneck when it comes to time to do the monthly newsletter Follow our easy steps to get your newsletter out “simple and fast”.

Newsletter Content – 9 suggested topics to include in your monthly newsletter to keep the conversation going.

Getting the Newsletter Out – Simple and Fast Steps

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Edward Petty

There is a fast way to “keep the conversation going” with your patients, vendors, allies, and other people connected to your practice and business.

Use an email service.

It has simple templates in which you can paste the content you want. Later, with some easy editing, you can also print out the newsletter and have a hard copy for in office fliers or mailers. You can paste the content of your newsletter to your website and to your Facebook page. You can even use short video clips.

The email service makes it easy. Smooth organization and delegation of the work makes it even easier.

Almost ANY communication is better than none. On a regular basis, get your newsletters out regardless of how neat or interesting they are. Quantity first, then improve the quality.

Here is a short outline of some of the steps you can use to get your newsletter out fast.

Someone in Charge. Assign one person to be in charge of collecting the info. I call this person the “Sunshine Coordinator,” though you may want to call this person the “newsletter assistant,” or some other creative name. (Sunshine Assistant: the one who helps bring the sunshine of our office to your home.)
Newsletter Content Assigned. Get different categories of the newsletter assigned. See the Content Checklist for ideas. Encourage photos of patients, staff, doctor, etc. Each person can take a section and be responsible for submitting quality content. However, they do not personally have to create the article. For example, whoever is in charge of testimonials can encourage any team member to solicit the testimonial from the patients. Not all sections need to be in each newsletter.
- Content Letter from the doctor. (Could be a video.)
- Recipe section. “Christina’s Cool Recipe’s”
- Try to get a photo. Take a quote and make it into the title.
- “Health Tips.” This is a practical section about health that the reader can use now. Sort of a home remedy section. Include citation to a study, a few tips on what to do for a condition. Always encourage them to call in for a no charge consultation. (This can also be a video.)
- Upcoming promotional events
- Office news, jokes, miscellaneous.

Digital Content. Don’t hand in slips of paper or a photocopy. Make sure the content is sent to our Sunshine Assistant in Word or text format. Include photos and video as attachments.
Set when the letter goes out and when all the content should be to the Sunshine Assistant –usually 1 week earlier.
E-newsletter. Use a newsletter service. They are simple, not that expensive, and for many other reasons, just the best way to go. Constant Contact is easy to use. There is also Mail Chimp, and many others that are available.
Publishing Steps.
- Someone should be in charge of this on line service.
- Pick a template.
- Acquire and upload existing emails to get started.
- Cut and paste text content in each block of the newsletter.
- Have someone qualified to review readability and edit.
- Regular uploading of new emails.
- Posting important newsletter content on website blog.
- Cross post info from website blog to Facebook.
- Convert email newsletter to PDF handout for hardcopy newsletter for handouts, statement stuffers, and mailers as desired.
Monthly. Some offices send out a short letter from the doctor two weeks after the main newsletter, along with upcoming notices on occasion. Generally, the more the better.
Video. You will need to make your own YouTube Channel, or use another service to upload your video. There is special formatting for ideal optimization to keep in mind. Once posted, the video can be included in your newsletter, on your website, on Facebook, and on other Internet properties. It does take some extra work, but in the long run, it is worth it. Video is very powerful. Think of T.V. and how much it is used. With Video, you are creating your own TV station.

Chiropractic Marketing and a Staff Member Conspiracy

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Edward Petty

This is a tale of a staff member conspiracy.

It is about a hidden and quiet plan by scheming staff members.

The planning took place towards the end of 2014 in a chiropractic office next to a river. By a lake. But that is not important.

Quietly, Ann and Betty met to discuss how they were going to fix the … situation. (I changed the names, but the rest is true.)

Dr. JM is an excellent and respected doctor who has a loyal following of patients. But as much as he wanted more new patients — as he was only generating about 6 per month — he just could not bring himself to do much marketing. And this is in spite of the excellent advice and support of his faithful and expert coach and consultant (moi).

But secretly, the two ladies hatched their own private strategy. And it worked.

More new patients started to come in. In fact, on my last visit to their office, they had three new patients come in, more than they usually see in a week.

What exactly did these enterprising chiropractic assistants do? Hmmm?

Maybe you could do the same?

Yes, you can and here is what they did:

Betty, the office manager, and Ann, the front desk coordinator, got together and worked up a procedure for generating patient reviews on Google.

The office manager wrote up a procedure for patients on how to post a review on Google. Ann, who calls most of the patients “honey” and says that they are all “her” patients, can be very forward and, well, controlling. She would simply get the agreement of key patients to make a review. She then gave them the procedure that was on a slip of paper and told them to go forth and spread the word.

In time, with her friendly but insistent nudging, they would. And now, their doctor has over twenty great reviews spread out over many months. The new patient increase is coming from people calling in off of the Internet.

Everybody is a reviewer.

People buy on the Internet from reviews. This is like word-of-mouth of old, only now it is a 4 or 5 star review. In fact, Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, uses reviews as their primary marketing tool. Once you buy something from them online, you are continually asked to post a review about what you thought.

I recently posted a review for something I purchased and found out that I have a “review rank” of 16,678,570. (But at least I earned 1 “helpful vote”, so that is nice.)

There are now many web sites that a consumer can go to review you.

Everyone is a reviewer. It is the new currency used to buy and sell products and services.

Get reviewed.

To help you, we have provided links on our blog for the following:

Article for staff on how to generate web reviews. (PDF)
Procedure sheet for patients on how to make a review on Google. (PDF)
Procedure sheet for patients on how to make a review on Facebook. (PDF)
A patient log for the staff to follow up on patients who have agreed to post a review. (PDF)

If you are an active client, you can go to our members site and download the same files as customizable WORD files. Get Reviewed info on PMAmembers.com

Start your own conspiracy to help share the successes of your services. But… get reviewed and watch the new patients come in.

Swiss Army Knife of Chiropractic Practice Development

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Edward Petty

Ever see a one of those Swiss Army Knives?

I have one. It shows up now and then in one of my drawers. I always forget how many applications it has and I am always surprised when I keep pulling out more.

Well, there is a particular practice building tool that works like a Swiss Army Knife for your office.

It is inexpensive, almost free, yet this one tool serves many purposes more effectively than most anything else you can do in your office.

You could call it the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development.

Once you, and your team, and especially your patients watch Bought, you will understand the power of the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development.

This one tool can be your most effective marketing procedure. It can be your best therapeutic modality or ancillary service. It can also serve as your best tool to boost team productivity.

But like with my Swiss Army Knife, it can easily get taken for granted and NOT USED.

I can guarantee that IF you energetically use the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development, your patients will stay with you longer, they will get healthier, your team will be more productive, you will generate more patients, and, yes, you’ll see your collections increase.

What is the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development?

Education.

Education brings about an increase of awareness and results in a motivation to make a change. It does this for your patients in terms of improving their health, in motivating them to get others to use your services, and in helping to make your team even more purposeful.

You know chiropractic and what it does for people. Each day, miracles occur. It gets almost routine. You know how chiropractic works and you know why it works. Your patients do not. And most of your staff only have a general, and perhaps forgotten understanding.

By educating your patients you are fortifying them with knowledge that makes them aware of the power of your services and the importance of continuing care. It counteracts the propaganda they receive in the form of hundreds of ad impressions we all receive each day for drugs and bad food. It increases their awareness and will motivate them to not only continue with their care, but to benefit more from it.

This will, in turn, encourage them to bring in their family and friends to see you. They may even encourage you to speak to their work place or organizations.

Education can motivate your staff. I have seen numbers go up 25% quickly once the rest of the team was educated more on chiropractic and natural health care.

Lastly, education motivates you.

Education is your least expensive modality or ancillary service, it is the most cost effective marketing tool you have, and costs nothing to educate your staff.

Here are some sample actions to take to improve your educational activities.

Look at your office as an educational facility even more than a care facility. You increase people’s knowledge so that they can take more responsibilty for their health, and for those they care about.
Spend a hour or more each week studying. Read, listen to audios, go to seminars, have lunch with a colleague. Call your coach!
Watch a movie with your staff such as Bought, Doctored, Food Inc., and then have a discussion period afterwards.
Staff Meetings. Go over a case history or two.
Patient Care Class.
Start a Lending Library and position your office as an educational facility. Even if you lose a few books or DVD’s each month, it is worth it as your patients will see that you are serious about health and health education. Give each staff member a bonus for a book report presentation at a staff meeting.

There are many ways to educate yourself, your team, and your patients. Done right, education turns into enlightenment and this will produce a greater return than many other activities you do.

Like a Swiss Army knife, health education serves many purposes. But also like a Swiss Army knife, it has to be kept out, used, not hidden away in the back of a drawer or on a bookcase.

In over thirty years of marketing practices, I have found the following two factors to be the most important:

RETENTION AND REFERRALS

You can also take your marketing a step further…

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SELL, IT IS WHAT YOU STAND FOR

Which is the better medium for marketing: Facebook or Email?

The Future: Trending…

“53% of people are more likely to do business with a business they can message.”

A Simple Procedure to Get Your Emails Out

Why Two Chiropractic Doctors Couldn’t Grow Their Practice

Self-Determination and Motivation

Autonomy

Competence

Relatedness.

Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2017) and Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation Paperback – August 1, 1996

© Edward W. Petty, From the upcoming book: “Three Goals: A New Practice and Business Building Methodology That Is Simpler, Faster, And More Effective and Fun than What You Are Doing Now.” By Edward Petty, due to be published sometime before the Singularity. © May, 2017

© Edward W. Petty, From the upcoming book: “Three Goals: A New Practice and Business Building Methodology That Is Simpler, Faster, And More Effective and Fun than What You Are Doing Now.” By Edward Petty, due to be published sometime before the singularity. © 2017

(Free sample marketing planner below.)

Practice marketing may not be entirely what you think it is.

3 Echelons of Practice Marketing: Motivation, Management, Procedures

Definition of a Practice

The Other “Paleo” Practice

The Practice Flywheel

How Do You Do This?

Which is the better medium for marketing:
Facebook or Email?