If you have chosen to include ancillary products - such as nutritional products - in your practice, it’s important to let your patients know what you have to offer. Displaying your products in a professional way is a key factor in successfully integrating ancillary products and services into your practice.

The following are some tips for marketing and displaying ancillary products:

• Display Area: Have an area in full view of your patients where you display the products you offer. You do not necessarily need a large amount of display space. Studies have shown that you only need to display three units of the same item at any one time. Too many of the same item on display results in slower sales, and too few creates the same result.

Make sure your patients can fully view and even shop for products. Patients often like to browse while they are waiting to be checked out. Items should be close, but not touching. Similar items should be kept together. For example, you may group ice packs and mineral ice, cervical pillows and cervical collars, vitamin E and vitamin E cream, etc. A small explanation label should accompany each product or group of products. For instance, if you offer a special vitamin cream that helps with skin conditions such as burning or scarring, be sure to mention those uses on the label. If you offer supplements that help with allergies, asthma, and sinus problems, reference those conditions on the label. Just make sure the labels look neat and professional. Also, if the uses have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), you should also mention that.

• Front Desk Display: Have a small area at your front desk where you can offer samples. Keep the samples in a nicely presented basket. Be sure your staff is enthusiastic about the products. In the winter, a great sample to offer is chewable zinc tablets. Whenever patients complain about having a scratchy throat or coming down with a cold, you can provide them a sample, along with an explanation of how the product can help them. Your front desk display and samples should be changed often, or they will lose their “newness” and appeal and will be ignored. Your displays should be appropriate with the season or a monthly theme.

Let’s say that in March your monthly theme is boosting your immune system. Offer suggestions about how to keep those colds and flu away, and prepare a Colds and Flu Survival Kit that patients can purchase for themselves or a friend or family member. You can even include special skin products to help with cold weather and dry skin. Be sure to write a short article on why some people tend to get colds and flu, while others do not (referencing the immune system). In the article, explain why you are recommending each product, and include instructions for use. Articles should be in a display container near the product.

Another idea is a Spring Survival Kit. In the spring, patients come out of “hibernation,” and often sore muscles and back pain are a result. You could include an ice pack, mineral ice, lumbar support, calcium to help with spasms, and niacinamide for aches and pains. Your survival kit should also include some preventive tips and some muscle-strengthening exercises.
Another spring promotion could be a Weight Loss Survival Kit. This kit would include supplements, digestive enzymes, exercises, etc. Your nutritional supplement representative(s) should be able to help you with appropriate products.

A Summer Survival Kit may include tips for traveling and could include a small cervical pillow to use in hotel rooms and airplanes, a lumbar support to pack in case lugging all those suitcases or all that driving results in back strain, a small ice pack, etc.

The basket you use for each “survival kit” can be decorated in keeping with the theme and/or season. Some of your staff may enjoy using their creative abilities
to put these baskets together. Use a seasonal linen napkin as a basket liner, then arrange the products you are recommending. You can even sprinkle snow around the basket to give it a winter look or fake grass for spring. Then the entire package can be wrapped in “cello” (cellophane) wrap, available at craft stores, and tied with a small bow. Presentation does help.

• Gift of Health Displays: There are certain times of the year when patients tend to give gifts. At those times, why not offer small gift bags that include season-oriented products. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are some examples. Have a display sign at your front desk that says: “Give the gift of health to your loved ones.”

Offer patients an opportunity to give gift certificates for products, an adjustment, or first visit. They don’t usually think of these things on their own; you must plant the idea. With the purchase of a gift certificate, you can include a small gift bag of sample-sized products, with supplements, creams, etc. (massage cream is a nice gift). These healthy gifts make nice stocking stuffers and are appreciated by patients, because they offer convenience and a unique way to say, “I care.”

• Product of the Month Display: Many offices have a “Condition of the Month” that they focus on to educate patients. Besides offering an educational seminar on the topic, offer a nutritional supplement that helps with that particular condition. Make sure you create a short product sheet about the supplement and display it. Also, offer the supplement at a special price that month. In addition to the front desk area, display the product sheets in every patient adjustment room and in every changing room. Have a small bulletin board in all these areas so patients can read about the products while waiting for their adjustments.

Make sure you and your entire staff are educated about your products. An added benefit of having a product of the month is that by the end of the month, you and your staff are well-versed, and product details are etched into your memory. Remember, 30 days makes a habit. By the end of the month, that product should be ingrained in your minds, and you all should be in the habit of recommending it. You will be well on your way to having healthier patients and a “healthier” practice to boot.

Ms. Hoy speaks to chiropractic team members throughout the country and is an award-winning team trainer and consultant. She is the author of several books and a team-training manual. She writes a newsletter called “Team Work,” which focuses on chiropractic staff issues. Ms. Hoy served as office manager of Snyman Chiropractic Group in Center City, Philadelphia, for 11 years. She can be reached at 215-674-0130, or check out her website at www.beefitup.net.