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NEW FREE SERVICE FOR CHIROPRACTORS STARTS ABOUT FEBRUARY 15TH . CAN’T TELL YOU YET, BUT IT WILL HELP YOU MAKE MORE $$$. JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE I DO FOR YOU. TO START RECEIVING THE NEW SERVICE, YOU MUST BE SIGNED UP.  

IF YOU ARE ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER TO THE FREE CD’s OF THE CONFERENCE CALLS THEN YOU DON’T NEED TO SIGN UP AGAIN, AS I WILL BE USING THIS DATABASE. 

 IF YOU HAVE NEVER SIGNED UP FOR THE CD’s THEN YOU WILL NEED TO   SIGN UP NOW  IN ORDER FOR YOU TO RECEIVE THE NEW SERVICE. (HINT-IT INVOLVES ATTORNEY MARKETING) 

”

.” –Albert Einstein

Have You Started Thinking About Your Valentines Day Promotion Yet?

It may sound like a strange question in the middle of January, but it really isn’t. When scheduling your promotions you should always be thinking at least 3-4 weeks ahead at a minimum.

Therefore you should have been thinking about your Valentines, or February promotions weeks ago, as a matter of fact you should already be thinking of your St. Patrick’s Day promotions. Getting promotions out takes time, so you need to have your promotions figured out that early.

By having it all worked out months in advance you give yourself enough time for the logistics. Getting the concept down, getting artwork put together, printing, and mailing all have to be done and this can take several weeks from being an idea in your head to being a piece of promo in your customers hands. You are also going to want to have the piece in your customers’ hands at least 2 weeks before the sale or event. You may even want to get the Message Out Multiple Times.

Getting your promo out early lets you drive your message home through repetition.

Take Christmas for example, the retailers have this down to a science. We don’t even get to celebrate Halloween and they are already prepping you for Christmas.

Thankfully marketing is one of the few things in a business that you can do far in advance. By scheduling your holiday promotions ahead of time you will make yourself available to wear all of the other hats that you do around your business.

Scheduling promotions can seem like a huge task, but some things are just worth the extra thought. It really isn’t that daunting. Once it is done, then you’ll have time to put your ideas and energy on other areas that need your attention so that you maximize your efforts toward expanding your practice.

Words And Wisdom From The Master

Most of you never had the privilege of hearing the great master of practice building speak. I, because I’m such an old fart did, I was in school at NYCC, when Dr James Parker came to Madison Square Garden in New York City. To sit and explain that experience would take forever, however his words and wisdom live on and are as appropriate today as they were in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and until his death. Below is a reprint from one of the Parker magazines where Dr. Parker explains how to nurture referrals. And although it is from, YES, 1959, you can see how you can still use these techniques today.

I will be bringing you one of Dr. Parker’s messages every week for the next couple of weeks. Read and then re-read them.

1959 - The other day I sat in a chiropractor’s office and watched patients come and go. I watched the doctor x-ray eight new patients. They were all referrals.

I asked the chiropractor how he got so many referrals. He answered: “Referrals don’t just happen: They are developed. They are like harvesting a crop. You first have to prepare the soil by tilling and fertilizing and then you have to sow the seeds and occasionally nurture them.

“Good service to my patients is like preparing the soil. Only then can the seeds (referral concepts) be sowed and expected to grow. I continually sow referral concepts and thus am able to continually reap the harvest. If you don’t plant seeds, the harvest will be meager. Likewise, if you don’t prepare the soil the seeds you plant won’t grow abundantly.”

The doctor explained some of the referral seeds he planted in the minds of patients each day:

· He said he steers the conversation to sick people in a gentle, natural way. “Whenever someone asks me ‘How’s business?’ I reply, ‘Wonderful! Thanks to a lot of good people like you who tell their friends about chiropractic.’ This sows a seed in the patient’s mind -that I expect him to tell others about chiropractic.”

· “When I notice a patient responding to treatment, I say, ‘My, you look well today, Mary. How’s everyone else in the family?’ If someone in the family isn’t well, the patient will tell me.

“I immediately tell the patient about a similar case. I might even pull out an x-ray or a heart graph to demonstrate the case in a visual manner.”

· “When a patient expresses how marvelous chiropractic is, the time is ripe to sow a referral concept. I ask, ‘Mrs. Smith, who referred you to our office?’ After she tells me, I say, ‘Mrs. Smith, you know now what a favor Mrs. Jones did for you. Why not be a Good Samaritan and take the time to tell some of your sick friends what you know about chiropractic? You may do them the biggest favor of their lives.’ Then drop the subject.”

· “Before I let the table up, I say, ‘You know, Mrs. Smith, there sure are a lot of sick people in this old world. If they only knew what you and I know about chiropractic, there would be much less suffering.’ This has been one of the most effective lines I have ever used.”

· “When I have an outstanding before and after x-ray or heart graph, I show it to patients. I might say, ‘Mary, come over here a minute, I want to show you something.’

Then I demonstrate the before and after and tell a little about the case (without breaking confidentiality, of course).

Often I add, ‘You’ll have to excuse me for bragging about this case, but it makes me feel so good I must tell someone.’”

· “I try to capitalize on the weather by tying in the patient’s comment with chiropractic. For instance, if the patient remarks about the heat, I say, ‘It sure is hot, Mrs. Smith, but at least one good thing about it is that all these arthritic people feel somewhat relieved. Of course, it’s not as good for arthritis as chiropractic, but very few people know that.’

“If the patient complains about the rainy weather, I say, ‘Oh, I don’t know if it’s so bad. At least it clears the pollen out of the air and gives a little relief to people who suffer from hay fever, allergy and asthma who don’t know about chiropractic.’”

Now you can begin to understand what this successful doctor means when he says he tries to steer the conversation to sickness, disease, health and chiropractic benefits. Remember, though, you must give the service and have the patient satisfied before these referral seeds start to grow.

 

Don’t Confuse Your Patients By Sending Mixed Marketing Messages
The one thing that all advertising/marketing experts will tell you is that when planning a brochure or advertisement or any other campaign is “Don’t confuse the customer.”

Otherwise you will suffer the consequences of sending mixed marketing messages to prospects and customers. What are the consequences? Failed marketing and advertising efforts, lost sales and damaged business reputations.

“Confused patients” are created by businesses that unintentionally send out incongruent marketing messages. CP’s may be patients who never sign up for a care plan or become short-term patients. Worse, they may even evolve into bearers of bad publicity - all due to the mental “bait and switch” they experience when businesses communicate one thing but deliver something else.

Keep in mind that how you formulate your practice’s marketing messages will help you prevent the confusion that undermines what you are trying to achieve. Keep in mind that marketing messages can be any information you present to the public with the intent of selling your products or services, as with routine marketing and advertising - or they may be present in more subliminal forms.

Every choice you make your office décor, your style of dress, your Web and print graphics, your office signage and every other detail “speaks” about your practice and sends a marketing message - Stop and consider how all of these features can work in agreement to help sell you and your practice - or how they can conflict; creating confusion and mistrust in the minds of your prospective, and current, patients.

Planning is the key to unifying all of these potential messages into a central theme. Otherwise, the various features of a practice can become a stew of confusing and unrelated messages to the prospect. And it takes carefully chosen specifics to differentiate a practice from its competitors or to identify it as unique or necessary to one or more target markets that it has selected to serve.

Athletic, pediatric and geriatric specialty practices, for example, would all make very different message choices in many areas. How well you refine the list to match your target markets often predicts your success in eliminating CPs and getting the business you want.

Here are some tips for making your marketing messages congruent.

· Know who you are. Don’t expect the public to get a clear grasp on what your practice is about if you haven’t defined it well yourself.

Every practice should have a solid understanding of who it is and how it wants to present itself to the public. Your practice’s identity (branding) must appeal to the target markets you wish to serve. You must then drive these messages consistently.

· Understand your target markets. If you hope to successfully serve certain target markets, knowing their needs and expectations is essential. A prime example of confusing the customer is a downtown weekday practice that advertises an understanding of office workers’ needs but does not offer increased staffing or extended hours either before work or during lunch!

Do your homework so you know what your intended customers want. Go one step farther and find out what you can offer that beats your competition.

· Watch out for subliminal slips. Just as we’ve learned that everything we are and do is “patient education,” the same holds true for our “marketing message.”

Learn to critique every detail - from your intake forms to the stationery, your voice mail message to your practice’s dress code - to be sure they are in agreement with the practice’s identity and the preferences of the target markets. Your chosen markets want to feel at home in your practice, so tailor every detail to seal the deal.

Those office workers and executives the downtown practice would like to attract probably would not be entertained by receiving teddy bear and cartoon appointment reminders or having to look at fluffy country décor in the waiting room.

· Unify your Web, print and advertising artwork. Graphic design is another area where messaging can spiral out of control. If your practice uses different graphics for your Web site, your stationery and your brochure, and then uses different art every time you advertise, your marketing message and logo recognition become confused and diluted.

Get some advice on choosing a single graphic concept to represent your practice consistently.

· Use top-quality text. Whether you are developing Web or brochure content or other important marketing communications. Don’t cut corners on your text development. There’s more to presenting and selling your practice than just getting some words in print. Poorly written communications will quickly torpedo your image and confuse your messaging.

· Analyze marketing and advertising opportunities carefully. It’s just as important for you to reach and attract your intended markets as it is to avoid wasting time looking in the wrong places.

The results of misdirected marketing as a form of mixed messaging can range from a poor response to the marketing effort to dissatisfaction from those prospects who do respond - arriving for one thing but finding something else. And, CCs are more likely to do additional damage by now having a negative experience to report to friends and family.

· Summarize your goal. You should be shooting for a continuum of practice identity and theme that pretty much permeates your practice, based on the needs of your target markets. You may serve a single market or even two or three closely related specialty markets if the features that apply/appeal to those markets overlap sufficiently, such as maternal/pediatric, or athletics/sports/rehab.

Marketing communications, advertising, event and promotional planning and all other aspects of the practice’s marketing efforts would then be planned to specifically reach and appeal to the target markets. In this way, mixed messages and failed marketing efforts are kept to a minimum. Through planning, rather than spontaneous choices, marketing becomes much more effective.

· Keep it clear, consistent, concise and compelling. And don’t forget about accurate and honest. If the information you present about your products and services passes this test, you’re doing fine. But think about all the ways your messages can get pulled off-track from inception to delivery. Put a communication plan in place to ensure that everything about your practice reinforces every chosen marketing message for maximum consistency and impact.

· Get help when you need it. Procrastination is costly, but unfortunately, many business owners avoid the planning that solves marketing confusion.

If you’re the type who keeps your operations manual up-to-date, has regular meetings with your staff, and works an annual marketing plan, you’re probably a born organizer and up to the task. (And don’t forget that all of these systems are important to your overall marketing success.)

Date Pending in February, Next Conference call is with Dr. David Seaman.

Dr. Seaman is an associate professor at Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida, where he teaches clinical nutrition, neuroscience and complicated case presentations. While in clinical practice twenty years ago, he became aware of the developing research that linked dietary habits to the inflammatory process and noticed that appropriate dietary changes could significantly improve various musculoskeletal and visceral conditions. Dr. Seaman will take questions regarding how to implement nutrition into your practice and how to ethically increase utilization by your practice members.

It’s Always Those Chiropractors, They’re All Frauds

Those of you who have PI practices know all to well the attitude of insurance adjusters when it comes to chiropractic care of automobile accident victims.  At best hey perceive the chiropractic treatment as unnecessary and over utilized and at worst they believe that most chiropractors are committing fraud of one form or another. Never do they think that their employer would be capable of fraud, of intentionally denying needed care to an insured just to save money. Never would it ever cross their minds that their employer was in fact the real culprit in the area of fraud. We all know better, it’s just tough to get people to listen and to prove it. This may change if the State of Florida has its way. Read the following story.

Allstate Sits on Documents Allegedly Tied to Profit Scheme

Florida insurance regulators have ordered Allstate to stop selling new auto insurance policies in that state because the insurer has refused to turn over documents detailing how the company sets rates and pays claims. The documents in question allegedly show a plan, developed by consulting company McKinsey & Co., for insurers to increase profitability by decreasing and delaying claims payments. Allstate is also paying a $25,000-a-day fine in Missouri for violating a court order to turn over the same documents.  Beatrice E. Garcia, Miami Herald  01/17/2008