Only If You Use a Common-Sense Approach to Marketing Your Practice

By Timothy J. Gay, DC

What is the true secret to create the fantastic internal marketing machine that will attract the right patient to you? Where do you start if you want to develop a marketing plan to build the practice you’ve dreamed of? The first place to start is between your ears. There is no magic potion or special outside force that draws patients to your office.

It all comes from within you and your ability to have the major elements that are necessary to change your headspace into an extremely powerful piece to your overall internal
practice success.

When we talk about headspace, there are some important questions that need to be answered and clarified in order to make the necessary changes to go forward in the process.

Those questions include:

· Am I willing to do whatever it takes to rethink and reinvent my current practice into what I really want?

· Are my expectations as high as they should be to create what I truly want in my practice?

· Am I in chiropractic for the right reasons, or have I become complacent with my staff and patients?

·Will I work harder to take this practice to where it has the potential to be?

· When I get up in the morning, what do I visualize my day to be like?

Here are some actions you will need to take to make a change:

1. Demonstrate leadership. Not only will you have to change your mind, but also others must see you lead by example in order for them to buy into whatever you want to achieve. People want to work with a clinic leader who has a concise plan and is a good decision-maker. Patients feel the same way; they want a doctor who is completely interested in them and a plan that has been developed for them to follow. That is why you must have a solid report of findings and a map of where you are taking the patient. Explained properly, the patient will follow your recommendations.

2. Think outside the box. Set your practice apart from others by generating excitement about something happening in your office that is different or novel. Involve patients as active participants in their healthcare, not as inactive spectators.

3. Just do it. Waiting and over analyzing generally will cause chronic indecision and procrastination. These are definitely not leadership qualities that staff or patients will fall in line with. Make a plan and stick with dates that have been decided upon to accomplish your goals. How many marketing projects have gone by the wayside because you ran out of time?

4. Make your practice top priority. When you are in your office your attitude towards what you are doing has to be the strongest, most dominant thought in your mind. Present-time clinical consciousness is imperative in order to have a practice that will gain momentum.

5. Head onward and upward. Determination, desire, and perseverance are the qualities that will take you and your practice to new heights. Remember that it is “no” until you ask - and you must keep asking. You never know whom you might talk to or whose hand you might shake - that person could become a new patient or someone who will change your life. Next time you think about the magic that you need for your practice to grow, reach within first.

Dr. Gay has had a long-standing and successful 23-year career as a chiropractor. He is now a national speaker and president of Ultimate Practice Systems, consulting with chiropractors across the nation on practice success. He can be reached at 760-736-9330; ultimatepractice@aol.com; or via his company’s website at www.ultimatepracticesystems.com