Taking it to the Street

Bringing new patients into the chiropractic office has al-ways been a hotly debated challenge. For many chiropractors, their very existence in business rests with this issue on a month-.to-month basis. After surveying many chiropractic offices, I have found that very few had yearly marketing plans, and the ones that did were not following them very closely. I have also found that there are a variety of attitudes about what is ethical and unethical when it comes to marketing. Many approaches are considered "unprofessional" by self-righteous chiroprac­tors that struggle every month with very few new patients and low numbers, due to poor retention. They rationalize that they could be as busy as the practitioner down the block, if they, too were to resort to the unprofessional marketing tactics that that person uses, as if people love spending money on professional services that are unprofessional. When it comes to marketing, it is time for chiropractors to take it to the street. Although the media has been uncharacteristically kind with the quantity and quality of coverage it has given chiropractic recently, you may have noticed that a steady flow of new pa­tients is not automatically showing up at your door wanting your services for the right reasons. As of yet, patients inter- ested in services other than back pain re­lief from the chiropractor are not brought to an office by a yellow page ad or news­paper ad. It is ironic that, when the num­bers drop in many chiropractic offices, the first reaction of many practitioners is to increase the size of their yellow page ads, and/or do some newspaper adver­tising. These are about the most costly marketing actions a chiropractor can take,_ and typically yield poor results, not only • quantitatively but also qualitatively. Life­time family wellness care patients typi­cally don't find their way to an office through the yellow pages. Educational systems can be set up in an office to try to take these people who show up for back pain relief, and convert them to wellness care. However, the problem I have with this is that, when a chiroprac­tor advertises strictly for musculoskeletal cases with the intent of converting these patients to wellness care, it becomes a bait and switch. Hiding one's true intent while luring patients into an office for other reasons is not ethical or effective. This is not to say that musculoskeletal cases should be refused. What I am say­ing is that, if you are going to advertise "danger signals", also in the copy of the ad your true intent should be expressed. It is not wrong for people with back pain to see the chiropractor. As a matter of fact, it is not wrong for a person with any condition to see a chiropractor. If they have a subluxation, they should receive an adjustment regardless of the condi­tion. What is wrong is intending to rec- . ommend wellness services and not men­tioning this in your ads. This, in part, is why a practice that depends on newspa­per and yellow page advertising usually leads to stress, burn out and failure. There is a better way. It just so happens that the most effec­tive way to bring quality patients into the office is also the least expensive way. It is time to take it to the streets. More that ever before, the public is conditioned to receive and understand innate philoso­phy, vertebral subluxation, and wellness care. These concepts cannot be ad­equately communicated in a print ad. You need to go out and talk to people. You don't like speaking in public? You don't like approaching people one on one in your community and telling them about chiropractic? You don't like giving lay lectures in the office? Get over it! Combi­nations of special events (i.e., Kids Day America/International) and regular mar­keting and communications procedures (i.e., in-office and community lectures), which include screening technology, are keeping chiropractic offices full of high quality new patients. People are looking for a voice of reason in the health care and wellness chaos that exists today. You need to be that voice in your community. Many times, you will have to get uncomfortable to express your purpose. You may have to deal with adversarial situations. But, if you take it to the streets, the continual result will be lower marketing expenses, higher quality patients, more income, more fun, and con-gruency of intent and action. The people in your community need you. They need your message. Go out and be a leader. Be a hero. Be the voice of reason. Next year, smile when your yellow page ad is reduced to a single line, and your practice is more prosperous than ever before. EEQ A 1983 graduate of Life College, Patrick Gentempo, Jr., D.C., is co-founder and CEO of the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance, in Maywood, NJ, and co-creator of the Total Solu­tion program. An internationally renowned chiropractor, lecturer, and consultant, he has helped thousands of chiropractors achieve suc­cess and balance in their lives. For information about CLA seminars, products, and services, call 800-285-2001, or visit www.suhluxation.com