By Jimmy Mack

You’ve seen those little boxes in retail establishments: They offer free services or a prize in return for filling out a simple information form or dropping in a business card. And every slip of paper that is dropped in the box is a hot lead for the owner of that box.

What you may not realize is that you can develop a lead-box marketing program to help build your practice.

Here are 10 guidelines to help you develop an effective program:

1. Design an attractive lead box. You’ll need boxes, pens, pads and headers that advertise the offer. Consider purchasing acrylic boxes whose headers can be changed to correlate with any other marketing campaigns you are running. The headers should include your location, telephone number and Web site, along with pictures of happy, smiling people using the equipment your facility has to offer. (Be sure to get appropriate permissions from patients.)

The form that people complete is important. It should ask for their name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and any special interests they have in chiropractic care.

2. Make an offer. The lead box needs to make an offer to encourage people to fill out the form. A free evaluation, an adjustment or a computerized back evaluation are good offers.

3. Name a coordinator. A lead-box program requires consistent attention. You might consider hiring a consultant to manage the details of it. An alternative is to appoint a staff person as the lead-box coordinator. Either way, allocate the resources (time and money) to do the job properly.

4. Place the boxes. Volume is what makes the program work. Aim to place boxes in at least 60 locations within approximately a six-mile radius. Target locations that are within a manageable distance from your office – manageable for the coordinator to service and for patients to find you.

5. Select target merchants. We’ve found that car washes, Chinese restaurants, cinemas, delicatessens and waiting areas in car dealerships and auto service stations are effective placement points.

Contact the owner, manager or other individual in a decision-making capacity at each location. Offer incentives in return for placing the lead box in the establishment, such as:

• Award certificates.

• Employee-of-the month incentive program.

• Discount or corporate rates.

• Reciprocal advertising. Let the merchant place his coupon in your business.

6. Organize. Prepare a record-keeping system (a notebook works well) to keep track of the lead generation at each company. Note the company, name, address, telephone number and contact name for each establishment, and leave columns for dates you collect the leads as well as the number of leads generated at each location.

7. Service the route. The lead-box route must be serviced weekly. When your coordinator checks on the boxes, he or she should:

• Make contact with and thank the merchant;

• Check to make sure the box is in the agreed-upon location;

• Replace supplies;

• Replace damaged or vandalized boxes;

• Collect all registration forms.

• Discard undesirable leads. Toss forms completed by kids or containing graffiti or jokes.

8. Build a profile summary. Develop a computerized database on each lead to track information such as origin of the lead, health concerns, interest in your facilities and other concerns.

9. Contact the leads. Consider hiring a part-time scheduler to contact leads, using the information gathered from the lead form.

10. Set and measure goals. A successful lead management program rests on setting and measuring goals. Some goals to consider include:

• The number of business locations where you have boxes placed.

• Route homeostasis – replacing box locations lost each week.

• Lead-to-appointment ratios.

Jimmy Mack is a managing partner in www.healthclubexperts.com. His expertise is lead generation and database management. He can be reached at 864-972-1139 or jimmymack@ttinational.net.