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When your patients come into your office,
they’re not looking for a specific chiropractic
technique, and they’re not even really looking
for a chiropractor. I know
that sounds a little strange, but when you
think about it for a second, you’ll probably
agree they’re only really looking for one
thing:
A way to feel better
Through your years of study in chiropractic,
you’ve discovered a LOT of ways that you can
help patients by giving them chiropractic
treatment. But just as
importantly, you’ve learned where chiropractic
treatment isn’t enough.
In some cases, you tell your patients that they
need to make dietary changes, or changes to
their habits.
In other cases, you realize that they would
benefit from orthotics.
In still other cases, you recommend daily
exercises/stretches, or working with a
physiotherapist, or a massage
therapist.
In fact, there are a whole host of treatments
that can compliment regular chiropractic
treatment to help your patients achieve a much
higher quality of life.
Here’s the problem…
Even if you offer these additional services or
treatment modalities at your clinic, it’s a
safe bet that a large proportion of your
patients have no idea that they could benefit
from doing more than seeing you every few
weeks.
For example, in one practice I worked with,
which offered chiropractic treatment,
orthotics, and massage therapy (among other
things), a large portion of the patients had
ONLY ever had treatment in the area they
initially came in for. So,
patients who came in for massages never tried
chiropractic. Patients who
came in for chiropractic rarely tried massage
therapy. Orthotics sales
were fairly rare.
This wasn’t because the patients were
uninterested - but because (like most
professionals) the doctor simply didn’t have
the time to explain to each individual patient
the benefits of having a deep tissue massage
before a chiropractic adjustment.
Or how getting orthotics could contribute to
their pain-free lifestyle (especially for those
people on their feet all
day).
How existing patient marketing
works
The answer, of course, is to engage in a
systematic patient education program - Because
after all, the best way to market is to make
sure your patients really understand the value
of what you’re offering them.
These campaigns work much like re-activation
campaigns. There are only a few
steps:
1.
Identify patients who meet the criteria to be
involved in the campaign
2.
Design a series of communications (at least 4)
to the patients in the campaign
3.
Create a communications schedule to ensure
daily action is taken by your staff
4.
Follow the schedule
5.
Watch as your patients develop an increased
understanding of what you can do, and how they
can fully utilize the services you
offer
As with most things, the devil is in the
details. Theory is easy to
understand; the hard part is making the rubber
meet the road.
That’s why we’ve developed a number of ways to
help offices implement existing patient
marketing. Whether you’re just
looking for a few hints, or you want us to take
care of the lions share of the work, we have
systems available that can make it much easier
to help your patients use more of your
services.
For more information on services available,
please contact Scott at
, with the subject “Existing Patient
Marketing.”
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