So we are down to the last few ways of the 100 Ways for Passive Patient Acquisition for your chiropractic office!!

But before I begin the final count down, let me mention this...

after I wrote about putting an ad on Groupon in Part I (I know some of you are puking right now thinking that an ad on Groupon is devaluing chiropractic, but like I said, some of these ways that I have suggested, you may not approve with), a few weeks later, when I was checking out Groupon on my iPhone, I saw a chiropractor who had an ad for his/her decompression treatments and if memory serves, I think that in the end there were 390 purchases! That's to say... 390 potentially NP within less than one month!

In the ad  the doc was charging $35 for I think, 3 treatments (the average cost of a single treatments is usually around $200).   But here's the thing...a standard spinal decompression rehab protocol is 20 visits.  So the doc may have lost some money at the start of the treatment plan, but he/she gained massive amounts of new patients and income.

Now, some of you may be thinking  this doc got these patients who were looking for a deal and the people that they refer, may only come expecting a similar deal.  However, this can be squashed by making sure that patients know that this is a one shot deal and does not apply for any other person.

Anyways... just something to consider.


When you're done reading this blog scroll to the bottom. We at Promodocs would like to send you a free gift...NO STRINGS ATTACHED...  it's just our way of saying thanks for all your support!


So here are the final 10 ways for Passive Patient Acquisition (ya, I know... we got up to 70 in the last blog... but if you go through the list, you will realize that in the end, I will have given you over a 100 different ways).

Oh ya... finally... these are in no particular order and again, you may not agree with them all, but as I said right from the start, I have essentially done all of these techniques and they have all brought in new patients.

So lets begin...

1. Gym Membership Packages - Often when new members sign up at a gym, they are given their contract in a card stock folder along with some promotional material associated with the gym.  My suggestion is to talk to the manager/owner and ask if it would be possible to put one of your promotional postcards in their new members package.  In return, you will give your new patients a promotional piece of theirs. New gym members are great potential new patients.

2. Market to Moving Companies - Who has more torn up spines than movers?  As with the Police station or fire department , give the head of human resources, owner and/or head manager a stack of promotional postcards that you have created specifically for moving companies..  Explain to the owners/managers how chiropractic can prevent injuries and down time for their workers. 

3. Webinars - This is HUGE!!!!  I mean M.A.S.S.I.V.E.!  Webinars are lectures or seminars that are done online - on the web ("Web" "Seminars")  As you probably already know, everyone searches on the internet for all their information and purchase making decisions.  In fact, online shopping is a multi-billion dollar industry because more and more people prefer to do things from the comfort of their homes.

As such, what better way to reach to your potential patients when they can watch you live from their home?  Where they are comfortable and more receptive to your message.

Many people (i.e. potential patients) may not come to your office simply because they are apprehensive about going to see you - Why?  Because they don't know you.  They may be skeptical of chiropractic or since there are so many chiros to choose from, they just don't know who to see and who to trust.  So imagine how many new patients you are losing on a daily basis because of this?!

But imagine being able to spread your message, build rapport and trust with these people without ever having seen them!

This is what webinars can do for you and why they are now essential to driving new patients to your office.

With webinars, you can have your lunch and learns, lay lectures, promotions (e.g. Health Fairs) and your chiropractic info session performed online for everyone on the web to see - LIVE- while you're performing them.  As such... your potential for new patient reach and acquisition is virtually unlimited!

There are some great webinar companies out there (e.g Go To Meeting), but they can be expensive as you have to pay every time you use their services, pay for the amount of time you use for your webinar, pay for the number of people who are attending your webinar, etc, etc.

But what if you could have unlimited webinars and it's free*? Even better... what if your webinar function is built into your website where you can not only promote when you are going to perform your live webinar to every visitor that comes to your site (so your visitor can make time to watch you), but when a visitor  does a google search and lands on you clinic's website while your performing your live webinar, they will be instantly notified that you are performing a live lecture!

Think about it...  your visitors will not only get to know you, but you'll build rapport  and trust with them.  How powerful do you think that would be in getting those visitors as new patients?  Do you think that those visitors would more likely book an appointment after they see you live than if you just had some static chiropractic website?  How about if your visitors could interact with you online and ask you questions... and you can reply back?  What if your visitors can  download your Gift Certificate during your live webinar? How about if you could perform as many webinars to as many people as you want for free*?   If this was all possible, can you see how your clinic would blow up with new patients?


Promodocs.com has developed an advanced webinar feature that is exclusive to Promodocs Chiropractic websites that has all the above features already built in and it comes included in your Promodocs website!

Sorry...I know that was a total plug for our chiropractic websites, but we are so pumped about being able to provide our clients with this amazing feature simply because it is truly one of the MOST effective ways to market and grow your clinic quickly.

4. Sensible Shoe Stores - These are shoe stores that sell "sensible" shoes (e.g. Walking On A Cloud Shoe Store).  Again, like with the pro-shops, ask to leave promotional postcards at their sales counter.

5. Promotional Hats - For the winter - wool hats with your logo (everyone will wear it in the winter) or golf hats in the summer with your logo.  Just like the wool hats... everyone will wear them and they will get noticed!

6. Auto-Responders - A MUST HAVE on chiropractic websites (This is why we have included them in our Promodocs Chiropractic Website designs.  This is when visitors come to your site and request information and have to leave their email address to get it.  What happens here is that your website captures these emails and automatically emails out to them newsletters  about your clinic and the benefits of chiropractic.  WARNING: DO NOT barrage your leads with emails (eg. 3-4 or more emails per month) otherwise you will irritate your leads and they will remove themselves off your mailing list and you'll lose them forever.  The ideal amount of time is to email your leads once every 3-4 weeks

7. Radio"Ask The Expert" - now, this is not a passive patient acquisition technique because you have to go out to a studio and do it live. But I have included it here because... A. it's so fun to do.  B. you get huge numbers of new patients (especially if you do a call in show). C. you tend to get NPs days and weeks after the show (hence the reason I have included it in the list).  I used to do a lot of Ask The Expert on the radio and it was awesome.  Take my word for it and give it a shot.

8. Mobile Text Message - Just like in point #6, this is not really passive, but the WOW factor and the referrals after makes is passive.  At the end of the day, text message your new patients and message the following "Hello {patient's name}, this is my personal cell phone number.  If you ever have any question or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours, Dr. {your name}" 

This will blow your patients away!  This is not like calling your NP from your office and saying the same thing  and giving out your clinic number.  Here you are showing that you take a real personal interest in getting them better by giving them your personal mobile number.  You'll be surprised how many friends and family members your patient will tell.  You'll get a lot of referrals from just the one little thing.

9. Inhouse Referral Promotions - I left this for one of the very last ways for passive patient acquisition, simply because we all know about it and do them.  But I wanted to mention it because so many clinics have these promotions, but the "prize" is so lame.  Lame like a bank giving away a toaster when you open a new account.

What I suggest is having a competition within your clinic where the patient that refers the most people (and that undergo care - you don't want patients to send just anyone ~e.g. some tourist they met on the street from Guatemala that's leaving the next day~ to your clinic just to get their numbers up) wins the grand prize.  The first time I did this was when surround sound for home theaters were expensive and was the hottest thing going. You should have seen the number NP that came in!  It was amazing AND the majority of them were long term patients.

So don't give away a free water-based pillow, a pair of orthotics or some other lame boring item ... make it cool, exciting and motivational.  Like a trip for 2 to Mexico or something.  This will not only exponentially bring up the energy and excitement in your clinic, but it'll drive a lot of new patients into your office.

10. Lastly... and as cheesy as this may sound... be awesome.  Be awesome to yourself, be awesome to your family and be awesome to your patients and in return, you'll acquire new patients that pay, stay and refer.  Being great, kind, and caring IS passive patient acquisition!  Because when you do it everyday to everyone you meet, it simply becomes reflex action... it becomes effortless.

We have come to the end of the list of ways for Passive Patient Acquisition.  Remember, I have done almost all of these techniques and they have worked.  So chose as many as you can that you are comfortable with and start doing them this week.  Even if you do half of them, and each one only brings 1 NP/mo... that's 50 new patient... or 600 NP in one year!


Good luck and start today!


A SPECIAL NOTE...

We at Promodocs would also like to say a special thanks to all the docs that have read our blogs, like our facebook fan page, emailed us with your question, and supported us.  And to show our appreciation, we have designed a Chiropractic America and Chiropractic Canada print ready T-shirt design (based on the Captain America Shield) that you can receive FREE!

All you have to do is contact us by going to our website at http://www.promodocs.com and let us know which print ready image you want (or if you want both) and we'll email it right off to you!

To your clinic success,
The Promodocs Team

* the Promodocs Webinar feature is included in the monthly Promodocs website maintenance fee.

Okay... first of all sorry for the delay!

We had a lot of great feedback with Part I of 100 Ways For Passive Patient Acquisition and we are pumped about sharing part II with you!

Again, just like I mentioned in the last blog, you may love some of these ideas and some you may hate.  But, as previously mentioned, I have done them all (with just a few exceptions) and they all work.  So use what you think will work for you.


Lastly, these are in no particular order.


So, let's get started...



40. Mailers - This is an obvious one, but with a slight twist. You can send out a bulk promotional mailer by sending  massive quantities via the post or a mailing service... OR... better yet and to greatly increase your response,  you can hand deliver them yourself. But instead of just dropping them off in the mailbox, knock on their doors and introduce yourself.  This works incredible well and is a great idea if you just opened shop and you want to have that personal connection with your neighbors.

Going door to door and introducing yourself to your neighbors greatly increases the chances of them coming to your office as opposed to just sending a bulk mailer to their home.  Note: make a note of the people that you have a face to face contact with and send them a follow-up letter saying how nice it was to meet them etc.  and then continue with monthly mailers.

41. Senior Residence - this is a really good one!  You can go to those senior centers that are run by the government (where their residents are quite ill etc.) or you can go to the ones that are for healthy active seniors. I personally recommend the senior centers that are privately run where the residents live independently for 2 reasons... 1. Generally they will have their own cars to drive to your office with.  2. They have extra income to pay for your care.  Of course, you can always spend a 1/2 day there and perform adjustments on site.

42. Senior Centres - center organizers love to hold presentations and seniors love to listen to information on health.  Great place to get NPs.

43. Pro-Shops - (I'll put this under one listing, but it could count for 3-5 different ways as there are so many different types of proshops :) ) Pro-Shops at gyms, golf clubs, tennis clubs etc.

44. Sandwich Trucks - sounds tacky?  Not at all... especially when you think where these trucks go... construction sites and offices.  Great new patient potential.  And guess what?  The advertising gets noticed and it's dirt cheap.  Just negotiate with the truck owner.

45. Sandwich Trucks Pt. II - while your doing the ads on their truck, have special promo business cards (or postcards) made up the the driver can hand out to his customers.

46. Mobile Sign

47. Bill Boards

48. Lawn Signs - these are the little signs that you see stuck in the grass on the side of the road.  Very cheap and you can get like 100 done for very little.

49. Kids Sports Sponsor

50. Charity Raffles

51. Flickr - http://www.flickr.com A great site for pics etc and helps drive traffic to your chiropractic website

52. Mattress Company

53. Physiotherapist's office

54. Massage Therapist Offices

55.  Police Stations - NO... not for the criminals or the deviants of society.  lol  Make a promotional poster up and have placed in their meeting rooms or lunch rooms.  Police generally have great coverage for chiropractic.

56. Fire Departments - Same as the police stations.  They too have great coverage.

57. Ambulance - Same as above.  BTW, it has been my experience that these guys are HUGE supporters of chiropractic.  I used to have a bunch of them as patients!

58. Library - great place and the library will allow you to put up a promotional poster up a week or so prior to the presentation and most libraries have a calendar booklet-type hand out that they will write a small blurb about your presentation.  I have had some huge turn outs from this... in fact, I've had presentations where over 100 people attended!

59. Grocery Store Presentations - some of the larger grocery stores have community centers inside them that are dedicated for presentations and workshops.  Just like the library they have a hand  out that they give to their customers and they will help promote your presentation.  This was great because not only did I get patients from the attendees but I also go a lot of the workers to come in as well.

60. High Schools

61. University Lectures/ Sports Teams - great way to get the teams to come to your office.

62. Networking Clubs - I'm not a really big fan of this one and it really only brought me a couple patients here and there, but its helps.  You have to consider the time you dedicate to this vs. the patients that you get from it and determine if you think it's worth it.

63. Coffee Shop Cups - this one I have not done, but I know a doc that did this and it worked well.  Go to your local coffee shop (has to be an independently owned one - not like a Starbucks or Second Cup chain).  You can talk to the owner and say that you'll help pay for the cost of their cups if you are allowed to put your clinic name and contact info on them.

64. LED Lights - I have not done this one, but I did see another chiro do this. You may think this is tacky, and perhaps it is, but his car was a Mercedes and I thought that it lessened the tackiness of this concept. These are those LED message runners that you can place in the back window of your car that other drivers can see and read.  This will, without a doubt, get noticed.  I never had a chance to ask how it worked for him, so I can't report how successful it is.

65. Licence Plate Frames - these are relatively cheap to produce and they really get noticed.  Put your name and contact info along with a message like..."Feel'n fine cuz I got my spine aligned at XXX" (I know that was bad, but it was the first thing that came to my mind)

66. Mall Signs - can be pretty inexpensive and works well.  We got a lot of the seniors come in when they noticed it during their mall walks in the morning (before the shops opened up).

67. Pod Casts - if your information is good and  you have a following, it works well

68. Video Presentations - works well.  Check out http://www.promodocs.com and see how we have made video presentations HIGHLY effective in driving massive numbers of new patients to your clinic!

69. Staff Bonusing - don't overlook bonusing your staff  for both bringing in new patients themselves and helping achieve your monthly goals.  This doesn't have to be just money, I used to give them gifts or Gift Certificates.  Most I mostly gave them money as an incentive and that worked super great!

70. Taxi Cab Ads - This works well if you have a clinic downtown.

Well, that's enough for today.  I will put the rest up next blog.

I hope that you have found this useful and of course, I always welcome your feedback!

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Clinic burnout is a VERY common occurrence, whether you have a  busy clinic or a struggling clinic.

If you have a busy successful clinic, burnout can come from constantly having to go out to promote your office or almost being like a robot and repeating the same chiropractic message/script to your consults, ROFs and existing patients or from having to quickly bounce from room to room adjusting patients.

If you're just opening up a new clinic or you have a struggling clinic and you're burning the candle at both ends trying to make a go of your clinic and just trying to pay the bills.

Regardless of how you get to clinic burnout, the experience is the same...

• Dread knowing that Monday is tomorrow and you have to go to the clinic.
• Just don't want to get out of bed to face another day at the office.
• Don't want to spend another weekend doing another promotion.
• Don't have the energy and the focus to give what your patients need.
• Always tired during the work week, but have lots of energy on your days off.

We've all been there!

The great thing is... there are easy ways to re-energize and get back that excitement about practicing like you had on the last day of classes at your chiro college. And I'm going to tell you about it right now!

Here at the TOP 6 ways to get out of a slump...

1. The Pareto Principle: A.K.A. the 80-20 Rule - roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.  That is to say,  get rid of the patients that just whine and complain and bring down the energy in your office.  Do the promotions that bring in the best patients.  Don't waste your time on all those other promotions that only bring in a few, but  you have to spend HOURS getting those few. Of all the task that you have to do, only 20% of them matter.  So ONLY work on that 20% as those are the ones that will drive 80% of your business/clinic.
   
   
2. Write It Out: Often people become overwhelmed because they feel that they have so much to do and they just don't know where to start.  So they start tasks haphazardly and just spin their wheels and get no where because they are jumping back and forth from task to task trying to get everything done.   AND at the same time, busying themselves doing less important tasks and NOT the important ones that will truly benefit them and their clinic. But, if you write out your task in a list format, you will realize that you actually have less to do to achieve your goals and you'll know which tasks are the important ones.
   
   Here's what I do... on my wall (in my home office), using cue card, I have 3 columns.  The first column is the "To Do" column.  2nd column it's the "Doing" column.  3rd column - "Done" column. So I then write down each task on 1 card and put them in the "To Do" column and as I start a task, I move the card into the "Doing" column.  When I finish that task... I move the card into the "Done" column.
   
   You will be AMAZED how it removes your stress levels!  Because now you see what you actually have to do (and as  you move the cards to the "DONE" column you get a lot of satisfaction as you see your tasks getting completed) AND you realize that it's a lot less than you think you actually had to do.
   
   
3. Go On A Spontaneous Vacation: Right now, think of a place you want to go to (the Caribbean is really cheap this time of year), book it for 3-7 days from now (so that you give your patients the heads up), and then just take off!  Ya, you heard me... just jet!  I did this.  During a super stressful time in my life (and I had an insanely busy office), I took off for 3 weeks.  You might be thinking, "What are my patients going to think?!"  Well, when I got back after 3 weeks, NONE of my patients said anything and the clinic started back up as if I never left!  My advice... JUST DO IT!
   
   While I was on vacation, I not only came back super charged and ready to go back, but I also came back with amazing marketing and promotional ideas that built up my clinic that much more! And more importantly, my patients were feeling much better from my adjustments because I was able to focus more!
   
4. Change Up Your Clinic:  Paint the wall, get new chiropractic posters, new flowers, new furniture etc.  Don't have the money for that? That's fine.. then just rearrange your furniture, change the patient flow patterns in your office, change the music in your office to more pop or energetic music.  If you are already playing pop music, switch it up to jazz or ambient music.
   
   Instead of wearing jeans and a T-shirt or golf shirt in the office, wear dress pants and a dress shirt or vice versa.
   
   Or have some fun contest in your office.  Do some Give-Away to the patient that brings in the most referrals within the month, organize a food drive. do a Chiro Quiz Contest (i.e. make up a sheet of 10 questions about chiropractic that your patients have to answer and hand in on their next visit.  Then at the end of the month have a draw - person who's name is drawn must have answered the Qs correctly.  Winner get a gift certificate to a nice restaurant).
5. Go to a Chiropractic Seminar:  Although you may think that you're the only one suffering, believe me, YOU'RE NOT ALONE!  A great place to get motivated, learn new ideas, get the moral support you need, is from Chiro Seminars.  Not only is it a great escape from your office, but it sets your mind straight so that you can get back into the game.
   
   
   And My ALL Time FAVORITE... with LASTING Results...
   

   
   
6. Network With Other Chiros (WITH A TWIST!):  First of all get a Magic Jack (i.e. internet phone where you can call anywhere in North America (and some other countries) for free.
   
   Second: Find successful chiropractors in different states or provinces.  I did this by Googling different chiropractic websites. I had 2 main criteria that I used to gauged a successful practice...
1. Quality of their website - Was the site just slapped together with no thought just so that they had a website, or did they have a high quality site because they took pride in their clinic.
2. How did the office look - Did the office look professional, clean and modern or did it look like just a plain office with typical M.D. office chairs, plain walls, and just really no thought involved.

If the office met my criteria, I would call them up to talk to the doctor and tell him/her that I was forming a private group of just a few select docs where we can share marketing and promotional ideas, how to make our practice more fun, etc.

At first, I was met with hesitation because the chiros didn't know if I was their competition down the road.  So I told them that I am calling docs from completely different states so that there is no conflict of interest and we can openly share our insider secrets without having the office down the road using them. 

1. More people see medical doctors then any other alternative health care professional.
2. People will generally go to their M.D. for their input before undergoing care with an alternative health care professional.
3. Essentially, the ratio of patients visiting chiros vs. M.D's  has remained unchanged.

As such, an easy way to acquire new patients is to gear your marketing to the way the MAJORITY of people think, NOT the way the chiropractic doctor's mind thinks.

In other words, when it comes to health care, people typically function on the medical model of "I have pain/problem, please remove it!"  Therefore, create your marketing such that it talks about symptom relief! NOT about "Wellness Care".

Why?  Because the fact remains that the Wellness market is tiny in comparison to the "I have pain/problem, please remove it!" market.  Thus, you will get more bang for your marketing $$, marketing to symptom relief patients than you would to wellness care patients.

Now here's the "catch"...
Once you've have made these "Symptom-Based" people into your patients, treat their condition.  But in the course of care, educate them about chiropractic and what TRUE health is all about.

HOWEVER... keep in mind,  "Symptom-Based" people/patients have a different mindset than those who are interested in wellness care.

With wellness care patients you can talk all day to them about chiropractic principles, but with "Symptom-Based" patients YOU CAN'T! (of course, there are always exceptions).  

Want proof?  Ever have a Spinal Care Class with these types of people?  lol Trying to get them there is like pulling teeth and you get a lot of sighs in the process.

So, with the "Symptom-Based" patients, your chiropractic education has to be done gradually... and not every day.  

If you shotgun and shove the chiropractic philosophy down their throats, you will only frustrate and anger these patients, and if they don't drop out during care, they most certainly will at the end. 


However, when education is done on a gradual basis, these patients will be more accepting of the chiropractic philosophy and will develop a greater appreciation of it and the end result... a long term maintenance care patient.  That is to say,one that understands what true health is and how to optimize it without blindly taking medication etc.

Now that you have educated and "won" over your "Symptom-Based" patient, how do you get M.D. Referrals?

On the Patient Intake form and during your history taking with your patient, you should get your consult's medical doctor's name and contact information so that you can mail their M.D.'s a report of your examination and proposed treatment plan.

I recommend that you mail it in a #10 white envelope (if you mail the report in any other size, it will likely be perceived as a marketing piece).  

TIP: Hand write, in red at the bottom right corner of the envelope, "Personal - RE: Mutual Patient" (check your local state laws if this can be written - generally, there shouldn't be an issue).

This is done for 3 reasons...

1. Hand Written: does not look like a marketing piece.
2. Red Ink: so that message will get noticed. 
3. "Personal": so that the letter goes straight to the doctor.

After 3 or so days of sending the report (at this point the letter should have be received and hopefully the patient is under your care), follow it up with a phone call...

"Hello, this is Dr. X (don't tell the receptionist that picks up the phone that you are a chiropractor).  I am presently treating a mutual patient of yours and I was wondering if Dr. Y available to talk?"


At this point, the receptionist will pass you on to the doctor.

"Hello Dr. Y, this is Dr. X and I am presently treating Ms. Z as she is a patient at my chiropractic office for her XX condition.  She thinks very highly of you and I just thought that I would touch base with you in regards to what we have done so far and how she is responding to our care, etc., etc.".

At this point, the M.D. will have probably already read your report and is pleased that you called to keep him/her informed.

After informing the M.D. of  your findings etc., end the conversation with "Well, thank you very much for your time and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at any time". DO NOT START TO ASK FOR REFERRALS OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE!

As your patient is going through care, send follow up reports to their M.D., but this time include some business cards (or better yet, make a referral pad with your clinic logo on and send a couple sheets).  In the follow up report, at the end you can say something like...

"If you have any patients with XX condition that you think may benefit from our care, please feel free to refer them to our clinic"

(Although it is fine to send this note in the second letter, I would suggest that you send it the last letter when  you have done the final follow up exam with your patient).

THEN... sometime during the course of this patient's care, they are going to visit their doctor to give them an update.  Find out when your patient is going to do this and give them a brochure about chiropractic care so that they can give it to their doctor as they sing your praises. (note: staple on some business cards or prescription sheets).  At this stage, you want to start to inform the M.D. of the true meaning of chiropractic.

LASTLY, make another call to your patient's medical doctor and tell them about the awesome results they got.  At this point, the M.D. will be more receptive to understanding more about chiropractic care.  NOTE:  Just like your symptoms-based patient, do NOT go over board with the chiropractic explanation as you will lose their interest.  Finally, tell them that if they have any patients that they think could benefit from your care, that you will always welcome them and treat them with the respect and skills that they would.

LASTLY, LASTLY... put the M.D.s office on a mailing list and send them letters or postcards reminding them of your office.

GREAT NOTE: When you get one M.D. that refers to you, make sure to use that doctor's name (with his/her permission) on other marketing pieces/letters that you send to M.D.s  When M.D.s see other doctors trusting you with their patients care, they will send more patients too.

So every M.D. that send patients to you, put their name on each marketing piece.  EVEN BETTER... get the referring M.D. to write a one line testimonial that you can use! ~ THIS IS VERY VERY POWERFUL!

Hope this helps!

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below or email us at contactus@promodocs.com!

Don't miss our next blog where we will be talking about the best way to talk about the cost of care to today's patients!

Yours,
Promodocs!

Shameless plug... If you're looking for fresh modern chiropractic posters that really stands out and gets noticed, check out our Promodocs.com site at http://www.promodocs.com !

All posters are 18"x 24" on high grade poster stock with high gloss and are ONLY $29.50ea!  Check out our FREE SHIPPING SPECIAL!

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!

1. Have your receptionist STAND UP and greet your patient warm sincere smile.
2. 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.

After your receptionist introduces herself, have her give your consult the intake form on a nice clip board with a nice pen (not those 25 cent bic pens with the blue cap!) and have them place the "Welcome Gift" on top.

1. Excites your consult about your care.
2. Gives them something to read while waiting to see you.
3. Makes them remember the information that you explained to them about your care when they are home.
4. Can share the information with their spouse - get them on board too!
5. Great for referrals.

(If you would like to get a sample copy emailed to you, just email us at contactus@promodocs.com with the subject name "CONSULT HANDOUT" and we will gladly send you one.  If you need one designed for you, please let us know as well)


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...

1. You can come down to the front and greet your patient (which I personally never did - I'll tell you why in a  sec)
2. Have your receptionist walk your patient down to your office.

To address point #1.  Many chiropractic coaches will tell you that the chiropractor should come to the front and greet the patient.  A. Because medical doctors don't (and you want to be different from an M.D., right?!?!).  B.  It gives a more personal touch. 

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:

1. Doctors that hang out at the front are not busy doctors.
2. 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.

None the less, whether it be you or your receptionist (again, I prefer the receptionist) bringing your patient to your office, give them a tour of your office and explain the services that your offer and if you can, INTRODUCE them to your patients!  Show your consult that people love coming here, they are getting better and that its is a friendly/family and fun atmosphere.  Introducing the consult to your patients will drop their walls instantly!

Well that's it for now!  I hope that this blog has helped you and will make your clinic that much more successful!!!

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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!

Maximized Chiropractic Clinic

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.