{"id":4806,"date":"2017-08-17T14:43:16","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T19:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/?p=4806"},"modified":"2017-08-24T10:24:30","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T15:24:30","slug":"the-real-reason-for-low-new-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/the-real-reason-for-low-new-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Reason For Low New Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Two Chiropractic Doctors Couldn\u2019t Grow Their Practice<\/span><\/h3>\n

A few years back, a long-time client of ours gave me a call and said that he had hired two new doctors. \u00a0He asked if I would visit his office and see if I could help them grow their caseloads.<\/p>\n

I told him that I was happy to pay him a visit. \u00a0A month later, I was touring his office and interviewing his team. \u00a0I then went out to lunch with the two new associate doctors.<\/p>\n

I got to know them and asked them questions. \u00a0They were not shy about their goals. They told me that they wanted a \u201chigh volume\u201d practice. \u00a0They 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.<\/p>\n

They went on about philosophy, BJ Palmer\u2019s \u201cGreen\u201d Books, clean food and wellness. Both were young and looked fit and seemed eager.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t supporting them enough by buying advertising. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t blatant, but they seemed to be blaming him. \u00a0I acknowledged this and said that was something we could look into.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

They nodded like zealots. \u201cAbsolutely!\u201d<\/p>\n

I then said:<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This didn\u2019t go as well as I had thought it would. Both doctors, I discovered, didn\u2019t look at the fellow customers in the restaurant. \u00a0So, I prodded and finally got one of them to mumble a possible health issue with someone who was walking out.<\/p>\n

I then asked each for their business card. Neither had one on them. \u00a0I paused to give them a look: \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

I had taken a couple of their cards each before lunch and placed two of them in front of each doctor.<\/p>\n

Then I said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

They both looked at me as if they saw a ghost. \u00a0Gripped by fear, they both slumped down in their chairs. Neither would do it.<\/p>\n

Seeing this, I suggested they talk to the cashier or waitress, or the manager. \u00a0Now the fear turned to a dismissive attitude, as if this exercise was beneath their dignity.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t working out and decided to leave on good terms to start their own office.<\/p>\n

— — —<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t 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. \u00a0And the owner was serious and gruff, and talked like an angry fishing boat captain.<\/p>\n

Marketing starts with a burning desire. It begins with an almost obsessive drive and purpose to help others<\/span> by getting them into your office. \u00a0Marketing 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.<\/p>\n

And as the C.E.O of your business, it also means getting the rest of your team to feel the same.<\/p>\n

Again:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Desire. Drive<\/li>\n
  2. Confidence and belief.<\/li>\n
  3. Compassion and empathy.<\/li>\n
  4. Effort. Work. Sweat!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are thousands of different methods to market your services. These may include \u201csocial media,\u201d big goals, and \u201cphilosophy.\u201d 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. \u00a0It is always and especially – one on one. In time, you will find what works best for you.<\/p>\n

    But no number of manuals, books, or coaching will do a damn thing for you if you don\u2019t have the desire, the belief, the empathy or put in the work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[361,44,421,143,359,377,367],"class_list":["post-4806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chiropractic-marketing","tag-chiropractic","tag-ed-petty","tag-edward-petty","tag-fall","tag-marketing","tag-michel","tag-petty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4806"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4825,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4806\/revisions\/4825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}