Wednesday 28 September 2011
Making Your Chiropractic Receptionist Your Powerhouse - Chiropractic Marketing
Okay, so in our last blog we discussed how to improve the look of your reception area. Your reception area is the very first thing that patients see and what they use to make their snap decision on whether they like your clinic, trust you, and think that you are competent enough to treat them.
Next, they see your receptionist! So here we're going to discuss how to make your chiropractic receptionist a power house in helping you close your consults and converting them to new patients!
For the sake of writing, I am going to write as if you have a female receptionist.
Before I go on, I want to be perfectly clear that the techniques that I am sharing in these blogs is to be used only to convert your consults that are suitable for chiropractic care. Unfortunately, all too often patients have a negative outlook on chiropractic and so these techniques are used to help you get your consults to drop their guard and their preconceived ideas, and to understand the great benefits chiropractic care offers.
That being said, let's move to the topic at hand...
First... Appearance. We are not going to hold back on this and we may sound insensitive, but we are not going to make apologies. It goes without saying that you want your receptionist to have a professional clean look. No jeans. No shorts. At our office we had 2 full time receptionist that wore blue scrubs and white lab coats with our clinic logo embroided on it. Some chiropractors may not like this look as it gives your chiropractic office a medical office feel. I will get deeper into the "Medical Office" look on another blog, but this was the look that we were going for... and it worked... and it worked well! With our chiropractic marketing, we were seeing 80-100 consults per month and had an extremely high closing ratio.
It is important to have your receptionist's hair clean and tidy. I cannot tell you how many clinics I have been invite to, to help them restructure their clinic and saw their receptionist hair straggly and oily looking... like they haven't washed it in days! Just like the doctor should be clean and tidy, so should your receptionist! Having untidy receptionist instantly bites into YOUR credibility as a doctor.
Does your receptionist smoke? If so, does she wreak of smoke? How are you to encourage your patients to live a healthy lifestyle when your own worker is living an unhealthy one?
Does your receptionist hang her coat on the back of her chair? If she does make her hang it up on a coat rack or in a closet. It may seem like a small thing, but it's another sign of sloppiness and laziness. Two very unappealing things consults don't want to see.
Bottom line... just like you, the doctor, should look professional... your receptionist should do the same. After all, your chiropractic receptionist is an extension of you!
Two important, without exception, things she must do...
Have your receptionist say to your consult:
"Welcome to our clinic, we'd like to give you this little gift {describe what's in it} and please fill out your intake form to the best of your ability. Also, here is some information about our clinic (if you are using a "Consult Handout". Please take your time and if there is anything that I can do to make you more comfortable, please do not hesitate to ask. Okay? {smile}"
then follow by offering them a drink or something.
I cannot tell you how many clinics I have gone to where the consult sits in uncomfortable silence when waiting to be seen by the doctor. Why not take that opportunity to educate your consult and pump them up about starting care at your clinic.
One thing that ALL chiropractic clinics should have is a Reception room DVD (which Promodocs.com has nearly completed - our Promodocs.com DVD offers what no other company provides AND you'll be amazed at how inexpensive it is!).
Also, have your receptionist talk to your consult. People love to talk about their aches and pains and how it has impacted their lives. This is a perfect opportunity for your staff to boast about how good your are at treating conditions just like theirs and if there is a previous patient that had the same condition and had excellent results, have your receptionist talk about that previous patient.
Better yet... if you have a patient in your receptionist room whom you have a great rapport with and likes to talk, introduce the two! There is no more powerful selling point then a face to face testimonial! This conversation alone, will convert your consult to an new patient!!! We did it all the time and it was almost effortless to have consults sign up for care!
When it is time for you to see your consult, you can do one of 2 things...
I agree with this to a certain degree. Point A... don't do it because an M.D. doesn't do it! As much as you may not want to believe this, majority of people prefer and are used to the "medical" atmosphere. I had one of the most (if not the most successful clinic in the country and we had somewhat of a medical like style - we didn't pretend we were M.D., but we had somewhat of a medical approach in our clinic. But I will talk about this in another blog).
I, personally, never made a point of going to the reception room. In fact, over the 10 years of practice, I may have stepped foot in the reception room twice!
Why? For two reasons:
Well that's it for now! I hope that this blog has helped you and will make your clinic that much more successful!!!
For more blog updates and other power packed marketing tips, join our Promodocs Facebook FanPage!
For great chiropractic posters that will get noticed and will drive your clinic upwards go to http://www.promodocs.com - all posters are ONLY $29.50ea and check out our FREE shipping offer!
Next, they see your receptionist! So here we're going to discuss how to make your chiropractic receptionist a power house in helping you close your consults and converting them to new patients!
For the sake of writing, I am going to write as if you have a female receptionist.
Before I go on, I want to be perfectly clear that the techniques that I am sharing in these blogs is to be used only to convert your consults that are suitable for chiropractic care. Unfortunately, all too often patients have a negative outlook on chiropractic and so these techniques are used to help you get your consults to drop their guard and their preconceived ideas, and to understand the great benefits chiropractic care offers.
That being said, let's move to the topic at hand...
First... Appearance. We are not going to hold back on this and we may sound insensitive, but we are not going to make apologies. It goes without saying that you want your receptionist to have a professional clean look. No jeans. No shorts. At our office we had 2 full time receptionist that wore blue scrubs and white lab coats with our clinic logo embroided on it. Some chiropractors may not like this look as it gives your chiropractic office a medical office feel. I will get deeper into the "Medical Office" look on another blog, but this was the look that we were going for... and it worked... and it worked well! With our chiropractic marketing, we were seeing 80-100 consults per month and had an extremely high closing ratio.
It is important to have your receptionist's hair clean and tidy. I cannot tell you how many clinics I have been invite to, to help them restructure their clinic and saw their receptionist hair straggly and oily looking... like they haven't washed it in days! Just like the doctor should be clean and tidy, so should your receptionist! Having untidy receptionist instantly bites into YOUR credibility as a doctor.
Does your receptionist smoke? If so, does she wreak of smoke? How are you to encourage your patients to live a healthy lifestyle when your own worker is living an unhealthy one?
Does your receptionist hang her coat on the back of her chair? If she does make her hang it up on a coat rack or in a closet. It may seem like a small thing, but it's another sign of sloppiness and laziness. Two very unappealing things consults don't want to see.
Bottom line... just like you, the doctor, should look professional... your receptionist should do the same. After all, your chiropractic receptionist is an extension of you!
So what should your chiropractic receptionist do
when your consult walks in the door?
when your consult walks in the door?
One thing which is a very nice touch, is to have a sign on your desk that welcomes your consult by name. For instance, it can say "Welcome Mr. X to our clinic. We are looking forward to helping you get back to health" and next to that... perhaps have a small "Welcome Gift" to give to them. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Maybe put a small package of epsom salts, couple sample packs of biofreeze, perhaps some samples of the supplements you sell, your business card and a referral card.
Wrap it all in that clear plastic gift wrap and tie it with a ribbon (in your clinic colors) with your business card and referral card.
Wrap it all in that clear plastic gift wrap and tie it with a ribbon (in your clinic colors) with your business card and referral card.
Greeting your new chiropractic consult.
Two important, without exception, things she must do...
- Have your receptionist STAND UP and greet your patient warm sincere smile.
- Have them shake your consults hand - using either one or two hands. Grasping your consults hand with 2 hands when shaking typically indicates that one is more caring and nurturing.
****
UNIQUE IDEA: Just don't just give your consult the standard 8 1/2x11 intake form on a clip board. You may want to add what I call a "Consult Handout". That is to say, have a card stock folded 11x17 folder with you clinic information (i.e. pics of your clinic, your staff, info about chiropractic, your treatments, testimonials etc.) that you insert the Patient Intake form into. This serves MANY purposes...
- Excites your consult about your care.
- Gives them something to read while waiting to see you.
- Makes them remember the information that you explained to them about your care when they are home.
- Can share the information with their spouse - get them on board too!
- Great for referrals.
****
Have your receptionist say to your consult:
"Welcome to our clinic, we'd like to give you this little gift {describe what's in it} and please fill out your intake form to the best of your ability. Also, here is some information about our clinic (if you are using a "Consult Handout". Please take your time and if there is anything that I can do to make you more comfortable, please do not hesitate to ask. Okay? {smile}"
then follow by offering them a drink or something.
Patient has completed their intake form,
but the doctor is not ready to see them yet...
what do you do?
I cannot tell you how many clinics I have gone to where the consult sits in uncomfortable silence when waiting to be seen by the doctor. Why not take that opportunity to educate your consult and pump them up about starting care at your clinic.
One thing that ALL chiropractic clinics should have is a Reception room DVD (which Promodocs.com has nearly completed - our Promodocs.com DVD offers what no other company provides AND you'll be amazed at how inexpensive it is!).
Also, have your receptionist talk to your consult. People love to talk about their aches and pains and how it has impacted their lives. This is a perfect opportunity for your staff to boast about how good your are at treating conditions just like theirs and if there is a previous patient that had the same condition and had excellent results, have your receptionist talk about that previous patient.
Better yet... if you have a patient in your receptionist room whom you have a great rapport with and likes to talk, introduce the two! There is no more powerful selling point then a face to face testimonial! This conversation alone, will convert your consult to an new patient!!! We did it all the time and it was almost effortless to have consults sign up for care!
When it is time for you to see your consult, you can do one of 2 things...
- You can come down to the front and greet your patient (which I personally never did - I'll tell you why in a sec)
- Have your receptionist walk your patient down to your office.
I agree with this to a certain degree. Point A... don't do it because an M.D. doesn't do it! As much as you may not want to believe this, majority of people prefer and are used to the "medical" atmosphere. I had one of the most (if not the most successful clinic in the country and we had somewhat of a medical like style - we didn't pretend we were M.D., but we had somewhat of a medical approach in our clinic. But I will talk about this in another blog).
I, personally, never made a point of going to the reception room. In fact, over the 10 years of practice, I may have stepped foot in the reception room twice!
Why? For two reasons:
- Doctors that hang out at the front are not busy doctors.
- I like to be with my patients in the treatment room so that my consults can sit around my office to look at all my degrees, media interview pics, letters from my patients, etc. Plus, when you make them wait in your office, it will increase their likelihood of looking through your "Welcome Gift" and "Consult Handout" that was given to them and getting them excited excited about care.
Well that's it for now! I hope that this blog has helped you and will make your clinic that much more successful!!!
For more blog updates and other power packed marketing tips, join our Promodocs Facebook FanPage!
For great chiropractic posters that will get noticed and will drive your clinic upwards go to http://www.promodocs.com - all posters are ONLY $29.50ea and check out our FREE shipping offer!
Thursday 22 September 2011
Chiropractic Marketing - Maximizing Your Reception Room
Is all your chiropractic marketing drawing in patients, but your patients are just not undergoing care?
Promodocs.com is going to help you build your clinic by super charging each facet of your chiropractic office so that it is fully optimized to increase your rate of consult conversion!
First thing that has to be done, especially if you have been in practice for a long time (in the same office), you have grab a stranger off the street or a friend who has not been in your office and have them give you their first impression of your office.
Why a stranger or someone that has not been to your chiro office? Because they will see things that you don't! You are so used to seeing your clinic that you will not notice that it is looking untidy, dusty, out of date, boring, etc. And I'll tell you right now... your reception is your first impression, if it looks like crap... your consults will put up their defenses, have a negative opinion of you and it'll be a lot harder to close them!
Clutter... too many chiropractic reception rooms have FAR too much clutter. Whether that be patient files/ fax sheet/ photocopied documents lying all over the place, stock (i.e. supplement/ vitamins, orthotics, etc.) unsymetrically stacked, dust build up, plants brown and over grown, old faded painting and chiropractic posters, etc. Nothing is worse and gives the impression of the doctor being sloppy and incompetent as a messy office. Clean it up! Think minimalistically! Like the standard rule for backpackers heading to Europe, pack your backpack with what you need and remove 50% of it!
Promodocs.com is going to help you build your clinic by super charging each facet of your chiropractic office so that it is fully optimized to increase your rate of consult conversion!
Today's blog we'll talk about how to maximize your chiropractic office reception room.
First thing that has to be done, especially if you have been in practice for a long time (in the same office), you have grab a stranger off the street or a friend who has not been in your office and have them give you their first impression of your office.
Why a stranger or someone that has not been to your chiro office? Because they will see things that you don't! You are so used to seeing your clinic that you will not notice that it is looking untidy, dusty, out of date, boring, etc. And I'll tell you right now... your reception is your first impression, if it looks like crap... your consults will put up their defenses, have a negative opinion of you and it'll be a lot harder to close them!
So if you're spending all this money on marketing your chiropractic office, you're throwing money away because you are losing patients!
The good news... it's so easy to change!
We won't have time to go over everything in this blog, but you can find a lot of our concepts on our Promodocs Facebook Fan Page.
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| Maximized Chiropractic Clinic |
Walls... an easy way to modernize and give your clinic a classy upscale look (which is a must in chiropractic clinic in major cities) is to use earth tones. Don't use bright colours (e.g. pink and yellow - believe me... I've seen clinics who have painted their walls bright pink and that has caused patients to drop out of care like flies because it was just too harsh on their eyes).
In addition, if you are using old 1980 or '90's chiropractic posters that look out dated, it's time for a change. Just like you'd hang a nice picture/painting in your house to add to the aesthetics and to get notice, your chiropractic posters should do the same for your clinic! Here is a bit of a shameless plug on our part, but our chiropractic posters are specifically designed to aid in not only increasing the aesthetics of your office, but are Power Poster for getting noticed and educating your patients! (http://www.promodocs.com)
Lights... every clinic that you go to, whether it be a chiro, physio, M.D. they all blast their patients with those 4-tube florescent bulb ceiling fixtures. Why not create a more relaxed and calmer atmosphere but removing 2 of the 4 bulbs. It will not only create a better look for your clinic, but it will get rid of that Health Care Office feel. Yes, I know your chiropractic office is a wellness/health care clinic, but you don't have to make it feel like a sterile industrial cold office. Well, that may be a bit of an aggageration, but trust me one this, by doing this simple change, it will greatly improve the look and feel of your office.
To take it a step further and to create a more upper scale look, add wall sconces!
Clutter... too many chiropractic reception rooms have FAR too much clutter. Whether that be patient files/ fax sheet/ photocopied documents lying all over the place, stock (i.e. supplement/ vitamins, orthotics, etc.) unsymetrically stacked, dust build up, plants brown and over grown, old faded painting and chiropractic posters, etc. Nothing is worse and gives the impression of the doctor being sloppy and incompetent as a messy office. Clean it up! Think minimalistically! Like the standard rule for backpackers heading to Europe, pack your backpack with what you need and remove 50% of it!Scents... As you probably know, scents play a massive role in human behavior and emotions. How does your office smell? Does it smell fresh? Clean? Warm? Dank? Mildewy? Dirty? Well, truth of the matter is, you don't know. You have become so used to the smell that you no longer can determine what your office smells like. Just ask a family that cooks with a lot of spices. When you walk into their house you certainly can smell it, but the residence smell nothing.
Want a clean and fresh smelling clinic? Try scenting your chiropractic office with lemon. Want a warm, cozy scent that motivates people to buy? Use the scents that stores at Christmas time blast throughout their stores.. apples and cinnamon, cloves, etc.
That's it for now, but come back for our next blog post as we'll talk more about your reception decor and take your ordinary or good receptionist and transform her/him into a super charged consult converter!!
For more tips on how to make your reception a power consult converter, please visit our Promodocs Facebook Fan Page!
Thursday 15 September 2011
Chiropractic Marketing - Troubles with Patient Compliance?
Have you ever had patients that suddenly drop out of care? Never talked to you or your staff about discontinuing care, they just one day didn't show up. You had your staff call them to find out what happened and after the second time calling, they said that they didn't feel that they were getting better because they were still having days where they felt pain.
One of the most common reasons why chiropractic patients drop out of care is because they are not educated about how they will feel while undergoing chiropractic care. Or, if patients are fully informed, they will soon forget as all that they want to feel is better.
All too often, chiropractors will tell their consults only the "good stuff" (e.g.. they are going to start feeling better under care, we are going to get you back to being active again, you're going to have the ability to do more and more while under care, etc.) Although this is obvioulsy the main goal of any chiropractor, many chiropractors will neglect telling their patients the potential "bad stuff" because they are afraid that if they do tell their consults that, they won't undergo care.
To see our complete line of chiropractic posters, please visit our website http://www.promodocs.com and join our Facebook Fan Page and Twitter page from more great practice building tips and the latest developments at Promodocs.com!
We All Have Patients Like That!
One of the most common reasons why chiropractic patients drop out of care is because they are not educated about how they will feel while undergoing chiropractic care. Or, if patients are fully informed, they will soon forget as all that they want to feel is better.
All too often, chiropractors will tell their consults only the "good stuff" (e.g.. they are going to start feeling better under care, we are going to get you back to being active again, you're going to have the ability to do more and more while under care, etc.) Although this is obvioulsy the main goal of any chiropractor, many chiropractors will neglect telling their patients the potential "bad stuff" because they are afraid that if they do tell their consults that, they won't undergo care.
BIG MISTAKE!
It is for this reason (i.e. only telling the "Good Stuff") that the patient suddenly stops care for apparently no reason.
As with any course of care, patients as they heal will have their ups and downs. That is to say, patients will feel better one day, and the next they they may have regressed a bit and felt more pain. To you, the chiropractor, this is a normal event during care. But to the patient, this is a sign that your chiropractic treatments are not working!
Here is the other problem with patients, especially for those chiropractors that have a high volume, open-concept clinic where patient are not only having a fast treatment, but are not encouraged to talk (they have to book a special appointment if they would like to discuss their treatment or they may not want to talk about their problem because everyone will hear), patients typically, especially in the early phases of care, may be too shy or intimidated to discuss your treatments.
So, if you have a patient that is not only having ups and down in their symptoms, therefore questioning your effectiveness and are not airing out their concerns, you can bet without a shadow of a doubt, that they are going to drop out of care!
So What Can You Do About That?
Fortunately, the answer is VERY simple and easy! Tell the patient the truth! Patients, especially chiropractic patients are more likely to undergo care if you tell them the "good stuff" AND the "bad stuff".
Why? Because it will build trust between you and your patient!!
As unfortunate as it is, chiropractic consults can be very skeptical about chiropractors! You may not want to believe that, but it's true. Many M.D.'s knock chiropractic and the media tends to do a good job in putting chiropractic in a bad light. So, by addressing the "bad stuff" with your consult, it shows them that you are not hiding anything from them and that you're being HONEST about your care.
Here's a FACT... telling patients the "bad stuff" will increase your closing ratio!!
So make sure that you tell the patient something like... "Although it is obvious that our ultimate goal is to return you back to where you were prior to your injury, you may at times have days during care where you may feel pain. In fact, at times it may seem to you that your problem has returned. This is normal and as we start to rehabilitate your spine (or whatever area you are treating) and stabilize it, the frequency of these pain episode will be less and less" Followed by... "If you ever have any questions or concerns about your care, please always feel free to talk to me. You're treatment is a team effort and it's important to your healing the we have open lines of communication, okay?"
But of course, you will not always be able to continually remind this to your patients while they are under care. Hence, it is for this reason that Promodocs.com ( http://www.promodocs.com) has designed a poster that acts as a constant reminder of this concept to your patients!
We call this poster "Stay The Course" and it is one of our most popular chiropractic posters.
As you can read, this chiropractic poster reminds your patients that it is normal to have their good days and bad days while under care, and why. In addition, this chiropractic poster not only encourages patient to continue with care - Stay The Course, but it also encourages doctor-patient communication.
So this is a very powerful poster to keep in your adjusting room to maintain patient compliance and retention!
This poster is 18"x24" (HxW) and is ONLY $29.50! (check out our FREE Shipping special!)
To see our complete line of chiropractic posters, please visit our website http://www.promodocs.com and join our Facebook Fan Page and Twitter page from more great practice building tips and the latest developments at Promodocs.com!
Wednesday 14 September 2011
Chiropractic Posters for the Modern Chiropractic Clinic
Do you have tired looking chiropractic posters on your walls that no one notices? If so, then you are probably in need to freshen up your walls with better chiropractic posters!
The sole purpose of chiropractic posters is to educate your chiropractic patients and to encourage doctor-patient communication, in the absence of the doctor! Meaning, while your patient is waiting for you in your office, treatment room or reception, you want your chiropractic posters to always keep your patients informed thus making them better compliant patients.
But if your chiropractic posters are not being notice, then you might as well just paint over them... because it is having the same effect as your painted walls are.
Here at Promodocs.com we provide chiropractic posters for the modern clinic that will leap out at your patients, but more specifically addresses the issues that doctors have with patient.
To see our complete line of posters and to take advantage of our FREE Shipping offer, please visit http://www.promodocs.com.
For powerful practice building ideas, join our Facebook Fan Page and Twitter page!
The sole purpose of chiropractic posters is to educate your chiropractic patients and to encourage doctor-patient communication, in the absence of the doctor! Meaning, while your patient is waiting for you in your office, treatment room or reception, you want your chiropractic posters to always keep your patients informed thus making them better compliant patients.
But if your chiropractic posters are not being notice, then you might as well just paint over them... because it is having the same effect as your painted walls are.
Modern Up Your Walls and Have Your Posters Noticed!
Here at Promodocs.com we provide chiropractic posters for the modern clinic that will leap out at your patients, but more specifically addresses the issues that doctors have with patient.
For powerful practice building ideas, join our Facebook Fan Page and Twitter page!
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