4 Steps to New Patients

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

When it comes to new patients many doctors spend time and money on advertisements, marketing and PR and then have the question but ‘how do I get them in the office?’.  That’s a great question and it boils down to four easy steps. 

1. Belief

I believe that 99% of people on this planet do not have a chiropractor and therefore need to be checked. It is this belief that keeps me building my marketing and PR in my town and area.  I know that there will always be an ever-flowing stream of new patients who need my help.  

It is my beliefs that lead my thinking.  If I believe that there are more new patients than I know what to do with then I know that the next logical step is to get them in to get checked.  My thoughts are completely driven by my beliefs. 

Once my thoughts are such that I know that I must get my community members in to get checked then my thoughts will drive my actions. Actions are doing whatever it takes to get people in the door.  I will hand out 10 business cards, I will send a newsletter each month, I will attend Toastmasters, etc, etc… It is this drive that will ultimately fill my material world.

Our material world is the outcome of the actions that we take.  If your material world does not look the way you want it to then I suggest you take a step back and reverse engineer, the process.  Looks at your actions, what action steps are you taking? Look at your thoughts and what do you genuinely believe? 

Once you know what you honestly believe to be true and possible deep down inside you then you can those beliefs to drive the material world that you seek. 

2. Invite to Get Checked, Not Treated

Oncologists do not invite people in to get chemo, instead they invite them to get scanned. 

So why would chiropractors invite people in to get treated? We don’t know if they have a subluxation without doing a proper examination and that may even include x-rays. 

You must keep in mind that you are doing it for their sake, not yours. 

Be transparent, honest, caring and service minded. 

Educate the patient about the severity of subluxation, the ramifications of the adjustment, and the disease process. 

3. Remove the Obstacles

Patients will let you know if you are not open late enough or not enough days.  They will tell you what they are looking for in a chiropractor and how you can remove the obstacles that would keep them away from your clinic.  Listen to them. 

Make it easy access for people to get in and out.  You may need to add more parking spaces, open earlier, stay later, hire another doctor to help you, take more payment methods. 

Whatever the issue may be there is always a solution, you just must be willing to find it. 

4. Don’t Take It Personally

Some will come in, some will not.  It is just the way it is.  What people do or say cannot affect your core beliefs or thoughts.  If they are personal to you and the foundation of who you are then no matter what anyone says they cannot shake this or change it any way.  The results can vary from time to time and we expect that to happen depending on the economy or the time of year.  There are so many variables that make up the economics and psychology behind marketing. However, what we know to be true is that if you want it bad enough (read: your beliefs are strong and unshakeable) then you will approach it from many different angles so that you are sure to succeed. What separates the ultra-rich and successful from the everyday joe is their ability to attack a problem from many different sides and never give up despite failures.