CHIROPRACTIC EXCELLENCE

In order to go through the step by step process of building your dream practice, it is necessary to start at the beginning: That is; WHOM DO YOU WANT TO SERVE?

There are three main reasons why you need to define your “ideal patient“.

1) To make you aware of the people presently using your services, that you enjoy serving. By identifying who they are you can better understand how to best serve, reward and encourage these people.

2) So that you know how to attract these people to your practice by better understanding their needs and values.

3) To help you determine what systems and procedures you need to put in place to help the rest of your patients to grow into being an ‘ideal patient’.

DESIGNING THE IDEAL PATIENT:

Think of the patients you presently enjoy serving in the practice; the ones you look forward to seeing and when you see their name on the appointment book it brings a smile to your face. Why do you like them?

Some of the characteristics we might need to consider include: Age, gender, occupation, socioeconomic group, culture, health status, attitude, sense of humor, marriage status, hobbies, interests, values, understanding of health care and chiropractic, with or without kids, appearance etc…

AN EXAMPLE: MY ‘IDEAL PATIENT’:

• Communicative.
• Obedient.
• Positive attitude and outlook.
• Inquisitive.
• Health conscious.
• Believe in chiropractic.
• Value chiropractic care.
• Honest.
• Any age, gender, culture etc.
• Families.
• Pays for care.
• Refers others.
• Gives recognition for the care they receive.
• Smile!
• Doers.
• Reliable.
• Enthusiastic.
• Responsible.

Sit down with your TEAM and brainstorm the different attributes of your practice’s ‘ideal patient’ and come up with your own description…

I can remember paying good money to attend a practice management seminar that promised me I’d be able to see more people, charge more for my services, work less hours, convert everyone to lifetime care, and attract hundreds of new patients. The crux of the seminar was rehearsing, memorising and then regurgitating powerful “scripts” which if said in the correct manner, guaranteed that everyone would do anything you told them to do. I must say they did work well, but here’s the glitch: When you’ve been in practice for a little while, and you start to see the same people over an extended period of time; and you also see their family members, and friends and colleagues, and reactivated patients; and if your CAs and associates are also using those same power scripts - eventually you are all going to be “found out”. You see this technique is based on “Disney” systems - BUT; how many times have you visited Disneyland? Once, maybe twice, to go to the bits that you missed the first time? And guess what - you only have to listen to the script once! If YOU are going to be a wellness DC with people seeing you 12 or more times a year, for many years, then you’d better have something different to say… Here’s the best way to develop dialogue processes that evolve and adapt to where you practice members are at…

Ask better questions!

Here’s a really simple strategy that doesn’t take long; builds rapport, intimacy and relationship; and produces numerous opportunities for generating referrals: Get to know the practice member’s family, friends and colleagues by asking a simple series of questions… My CA even knows their Dog’s name/s!

It goes something like this:

Q: “What does your husband/wife/partner do for a living?” A: ……..

Q: “Wow, does he/she enjoy that?” A: ………

Q: “Has your husband/wife/partner seen a chiropractor before?” A: ……..

This is where the brief conversation can take a number of turns, but regardless of the answer, your questions should search for a reason for you to recommend that they bring their partner in to be checked to see if you can help.

On subsequent visits I’ll take some brief moments to get to know their kids, and then their friends, and then their colleagues…

I know this sounds really simple, but I have got to tell you that the conversations are much more interesting than listening to the sound of your own voice saying the same thing over and over again?

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