Putting the odds in your favor

Use demographics to build your patient rolls

By Deborah Peterson, John Healy and Stephen Bolles, DC

You’ve heard the phrase, “Play it by the numbers.”
As you make decisions about marketing your practice to recruit new patients, “play it by the numbers.” Numbers — demographics, which are the statistical characteristics of human populations used especially to identify markets — will help you get the most for your time, your money and your efforts.

For example, here are some ways numbers can help you:

• Location. Conventional wisdom holds that most patients will come from within a five-mile radius of a clinic. Income ranges, single vs. multiple-income families, racial and cultural mixes, local industry and sources of jobs (as well as the regulatory and third party payer environment) all have a great deal to do with your success in practice.

As part of the puzzle of practice success, matching your services to the needs of a community is important. If there is a mismatch between what you have to offer and what the community needs, a red flag should go up. Marketing and promotion can bridge some of the gaps, but not all of them.

Ethnic populations are a perfect example. Let’s say you find the perfect building: the price is right, the terms are great and you find little competition in the neighborhood.

But — if the building is located in a neighborhood where little English is spoken and you don’t speak the other languages, your outlook for success is limited. Treating a diverse population can be a wonderful experience, but you have to be able to communicate.

Or, if you think the ethnic mix of an area you are considering seems right, but you find that the median income of the population is insufficient to pay for chiropractic care, will you be able to run your business with an appropriate profit margin in that market?

Deciding on your location by the numbers can help you avoid expensive mistakes.

• Accessibility. Demographics can also help you decide when to operate your business — and that may not be 9 to 5, weekdays.

For example, if you set up a practice in an area that has a high proportion of two-income homes, you may want to think about having hours that are early and late in the workday. Or if you are setting up in an area where shift changes at local industries make groups of potential patients available, your hours should ensure that your customers find you available when they are.

And you may find that because of the hours your patients are “mobile” between job and home, you can perform different types of programs, such as rehabilitation, classes, or health and wellness assessments and counseling during slower times when there is less competition for patient treatment appointments.

• Direct mail marketing. Thinking about your vital chiropractic services as a product can help you determine how to promote yourself.

What do you need to say to your prospective patients? How do you say it in a way that they can “hear” it? What do you need to do in terms of positioning your pricing so that your services are accessible? How do you successfully communicate with them when you can’t buy a TV or radio ad?

For many people, direct mail is a good approach. For doctors of chiropractic, it can be one of the best marketing investments available. The mailbox is the only communications vehicle with which the primary resident(s) of a household is virtually guaranteed to interact with an advertising medium daily.

How do you find direct mail lists? Lists of consumers can be purchased fairly inexpensively from a list broker. Check the phone book for list brokers in your area.

A typical list will cost a base price of about $37 per thousand names you buy. If you want more specific information about the consumer, it will cost between $3 and $10 per “qualifier.” These include such information as age, gender, household income, education, type of residence (single or multi-family), etc.

Hint: If you decide to do direct mail and you only have one shot at success because your funds are limited, purchase a list of women 30-60, single-family residence, in the area around your clinic.

Most research indicates that they are the prime consumers who will either purchase or influence the purchase of chiropractic services. In most cases they are the decision makers when it comes to their children’s health and the ‘catalyst’ in the health consumption decisions of most of their families.

No business is a sure thing, and there are many variables that influence your success. The biggest barrier will always be your own attitudes about your abilities, communication, or the limitless opportunity for health with chiropractic. Work with the right coaches or support for your most positive attitudes, solve the practical problems of location, customer availability, service and accessibility and get ready to change the world!

Deborah Peterson is director of Alumni and Careers Services; John Healy is director of communications; and Stephen Bolles, DC, is vice president for Institutional Advancement. All are with Northwestern Health Sciences University, 952-888-4777.