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!

You don't have a lot of money to market, your clinic is slow and you need to bring in new patients!  What do you do?

Well the best way to market your clinic is to do it without spending a penny!  Right?!

In today's blog, I'm going to talk about how you can do a lot of chiropractic marketing without spending a penny!


I hope these ideas help you and once again, please feel free to comment in the box below or send us an email at contactus@promodocs.com!

HAPPY NEW YEAR DOCS!!!!
I hope that this year brings you all great happiness, health and prosperity!!!

So on the prosperity note... I thought that I would show you how to get MASSIVE exposure for your chiropractic clinic!  You may be presently doing some local marketing on a small scale (btw... stay tuned as I am going to talk about how you can make your local "small" chiropractic marketing in to a "Small"  POWERHOUSE marketing plan that will bring in tons of new patients), but why not start the New Year with a Go Big or Go Home marketing blitz?!  lol

Did you know that the words you say to your potential new patient while saying how great of a doctor you are, can actually drive them away from your chiropractic office AND make them lose respect for you?  And the reason is NOT what you think!
It is in my opinion (and many of my friends that also have bikes that watched this show) that Jesse James built a far better bike and that the placing should have been... 1st - Jesse 2nd - Paul Jr. 3rd - Paul Sr.

Paul Jr.'s bike liked like a bicycle from the 1920-30's with some pompous man with a full suit and cap on riding it down a country lane.  Whereas, Jesse's bike looked like a real bike, was completely hand made and functioned as a real bike, but he came in second.

And here is the reason... if you watched the series from the start of the competition, Jr. never once put down the other competitors, however Sr. and Jesse did.  Even at the very end, when the host encouraged Jr. to fight back and insult the others, he refused.  In fact, even when he did comment on Jesse's bike (not seen in the video) he didn't say it was a bad bike, but instead said that Jesse had made better bikes.

Because Jr. did not put anyone down and was a man of integrity (and he had an decent bike - although a small factor in the decision), he won.  Even if someone liked Jesse's bike more, chances are they voted for Jr.'s bike because of his ATTITUDE (as I would have done if I could have voted).

So in this long winded way, what I am saying is... DO NOT KNOCK YOUR COMPETITION OR OTHERS IN ANY HEALTH CARE PROFESSION.  For in trying to make yourself look better, you are actually making your new consult lose respect for you!


So now you may be asking, well what if the chiropractor down the road is a scam artist and that he only wants to rip his patients off, he's not as good as you, or whatever the case may be.  Well, my advice is to not even mention it to your patient because your patient doesn't know this to be fact and will most likely interpret that as you simply bad mouthing another doctor in your profession and YOU will look untrustworthy.

The best way to win a patient over, to get them to trust you and to have faith in you is to tell them about your achievements, why you're different, what separates you from others (this can be done without putting down your "competition"), etc.

Remember from my last blog, tell your new consults your "Competitive Advantage".  If you want to compare yourself with others, you could use the term "Industry Standards" or some variation of this phrase.

Be like Paul Jr. keep your integrity high at all times and you will have new patients at your door that will ALWAYS want to refer their friends and family!

Here's to your clinic success!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
Promodocs
http://www.promodocs.com
Chiropractic Posters for Chiropractic Clinics
email - contactus@promodocs.com

p.s. I just want to thank you all for the amazing response to our last blog!!  We had a record number of emails sent to us saying how helpful it was and how so many chiropractors overlooked such an important element to their practice.

Remember, we love when you email us your questions and comments, but you can also leave your comments in the box below.  We welcome your good and bad comments!  :)

So how do you set your chiropractic clinic apart from your competition?

First of all, before I go on, I would like to apologize to all of our followers for the lack of recent posting!  The reason why for this delay is because Promodocs.com has become so busy with our chiropractic poster orders that it, quite frankly, took us by surprise and we found that we were understaffed.  As such, all efforts were focused on poster production and filling out our orders and getting them out on time (with a couple delays here and there).

None-the-less, we are now fully staffed and orders are going out on time!
(p.s. thanks for everyone's support!)

Back to the topic at hand...

As everyone is aware, sadly, there is a fair bit of infighting with chiropractors.  "We're straight chiropractors.  We're the true chiropractors because we stick to the gospel of D.D. and B.J"  or "We need to change the name of chiropractic because there is a division between chiros and we need to deferentiate!" or "We are Mixed chiropractors and we are better than the straights because we offer more to our patients than just adjusting" OHHHH SHUT UP! ...BLAH BLAH BLAH.

1. In-home examinations if you are in too much pain to come in for a consultation.
2. The only chiropractor that X trusts (eg. politician, sports celebrity, actor, sports team etc.)
3. The only clinic that provides X technology/treatment to the community of {your town}
4. The only clinic that  provide "Free Adjustment Fridays"
5. The only clinic that provides 24/7 emergency Chiropractic care.
6. Profiled in X (new report, paper/TV article) due to our effective treatment
7. etc.

What do you offer that is different?  Again, "Why would a patient come to my office?"

When you figure out what your Competitive Advantage is, word it in a way that is eye-catching to your potential patients and put in on all your marketing material.  Have all your staff memorize it.  Teach your front end to tell potential patients who are on the phone, email or in your waiting room.  Make it second nature like breathing.

So now your new consult has been brought down to your office for you to get their history and to perform your examination on them.

What do you do?  Well.. you have to build rapport.


In my office, I had pictures of me with different people in the media that I have done TV or Radio work with and I also had this big blown up photo of me when I was in Berlin, Germany and I was standing in front of these 3 armoured personal carriers joined together to make an arch and behind that was the wall.

Anyways, it was a really cool pic and it really sparked up a good conversation with the patients (as did the other pics that I had).  So it was a lot easier to start a conversation and instantly build rapport with my consults.

Also, if you have Thank You cards from patients, place them on your desk so that the inside message can be seen by your consults when they are sitting.

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.

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.

To see our complete line of posters and to take advantage of our FREE Shipping offer, please visit http://www.promodocs.com.

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