How to Get and Keep Corporate America’s Attention

By Sam Martin, MBA

Whether you want to provide health lectures, back schools, health screenings, pre-employment physicals, health fairs, or other services to businesses, you can only be successful if their management will agree to talk with you. Here are a few ways to break through barriers and make the contacts you desire:

• Membership in the local Chamber of Commerce can play an important role in your success with local businesses.
As a member, you will want to become active, attending social events and participating in business expos.
Set a goal of meeting five new people at each meeting. As you meet these people, don’t take the approach of, “I’m a local chiropractor, send me all your workers’ comp injuries.” Your approach needs to be gathering information about them. Before you start trying to fix their problems, you need to establish whether they have problems.
A simple question to ask may be, “How can my office and chiropractic make your job easier?” or, “How can my office and chiropractic save you money” If they can’t think of anything, then you can explain to them how you can help.

Once you have joined the Chamber of Commerce, get a list of members and send out a quarterly newsletter or fax to educate area business owners about musculoskeletal disorders. Add to this list any other businesses with which you make contact. The purpose of this newsletter is not to ask the recipients to refer to you, but to begin building your reputation as the musculoskeletal disorder expert in your community. If you find information about an Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) update, use that type of information in the newsletter. You can educate yourself about OSHA and retrieve updates on issues by visiting the agency’s website at www.osha.gov.

Make sure you put the newsletter on your letterhead or in some format that indicates who is sending the information. Make sure you include a contact person and phone number in case the recipients have questions. Some Chambers will send faxes out for you for a small fee.
Include information business owners will want to give to their employees or supervisors, such as proper lifting techniques, first aid for injuries, proper stretching, etc. If the company passes this information on to its employees and it has your name on it, you will become the “company doctor” in the eyes of the employees and your name recognition will increase.

Ask the Chamber of Commerce to allow you to provide a lecture or workshop on musculoskeletal disorders. Everyone associated with the Chamber will see the need for this information, and it will probably be one of the best-attended meetings. Explain what musculoskeletal disorders are, and then explain how chiropractors are the “musculoskeletal disorder experts.”

In your presentation, use OSHA’s definition of musculoskeletal disorders:
“A disorder of the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage, blood vessels, or spinal discs…. this definition only includes MSDs in the following areas of the body that have been associated with exposure to risks factors: neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, abdomen (hernia only), back, knee, ankle, and foot. MSDs may include muscle strains and tears, ligament sprains, joint and tendon inflammation, pinched nerves, and spinal disc degeneration….”

Then use the Encyclopedia Britannica to define chiropractic:
“A system of healing based on the theory that disease in the human body results from a lack of normal nerve function. Chiropractors employ treatment by... specific adjustment of body structures, such as the spinal column, and use physical therapy when necessary. Chiropractors thus are concerned with the relationship between the musculoskeletal structures and functions of the body and the nervous system in the restoration and maintenance of health.”
Then use these definitions to show how chiropractors are the best-suited health professionals to work with musculoskeletal disorders: OSHA presents the problems, and the Encyclopedia Britannica states that chiropractors are the answer to these problems.

• The next best place to start is with people you know. Those people can include family members, patients, professional contacts, and friends. If your goal is to provide health lectures, start with these contacts and ask them to allow you into their organization to provide this service, or ask them to give you the names of three to five people involved in business who might be able to help you get your foot in the door.
A novel way to work with patients to encourage them to introduce you to their businesses is by asking to visit them at work to observe what they do. Have them make arrangements with management to allow you to go in and observe. Your reasoning for this is to become better-educated to treat your patients and to be able to provide exercise programs that will strengthen areas that they use at work.

Make sure you wear a name badge or clothing (such as a shirt embroidered with your name and your clinic name), that identifies you, and speak to everyone you pass, introducing yourself. Now you have made that initial contact and have the opportunity to survey the businesses. Your patients will appreciate your efforts, which could increase referrals, and chances are good that you will make many new contacts within your patients’ workplace.

• Another great approach, especially for new doctors, is to make an initial contact with a local business by simply visiting the establishment and asking to speak to the human resources director or upper management. It is much more difficult to say no to people while they are shaking your hand than on the phone or responding to a letter. The purpose of your visit is to introduce yourself and learn about the company’s health-care benefits, and to find out who you need to contact to assure that you are a network provider for their employees.

If you are not a network provider, you want to get the contact name and number of the company’s health-care representative and make contact. If it is a closed network, you have a better chance of getting credentialed if you have a name to drop.
“The human resources director of the local Ford Plant gave me your name to see what I need to do to become a network provider,” would be a good opening line. If you are already a network provider, then your visit is to explain the services you provide, such as pre-employment physicals, health lectures, screenings, tours, etc.

• Hire someone to do it for you. Especially for the initial legwork, this is not a bad idea. Look for someone with sales experience and/or a lot of contacts, and someone who understands chiropractic.

• Focus on the benefits. As we approach businesses, we need to show them the benefits of working with us. Whether that is saving workers’ comp dollars, returning workers to work, educating employees about health, or anything else, this needs to be communicated.

Many companies are spending a substantial amount of time and money to promote safe environments at work, but they are not providing education for their employees to help them outside the office.

Develop and deliver a script similar to this one, and chances are good that you’ll see your success rate of scheduling events grow:

“I can see your organization has done a great job setting up your work stations correctly. How much time and money have you invested in educating your employees on health-related issues? Here is why it is important to educate your employees. You have spent much time and money to assure your desk is the right height, your chair is supportive, your keyboard is at the right angle for the wrist, the monitor is the right distance away, and the lighting is correct. Have you educated your employees how to set their computers at home?

How many of your employees have computers at home, and how many hours a week are they using them? If they are not set up correctly and they begin to show signs of carpal tunnel syndrome because of computer use at home, what will OSHA say about this repetitive motion injury?

It’s possible OSHA will blame your organization and the work they do. Employees often show signs of musculoskeletal disorders that are results of their lifestyle and abuse outside of work. We want to help you educate your employees. It is not uncommon for us to treat people for injuries as a result of vacuuming, carrying laundry, painting, taking out the trash and other household chores. We want to assist you in educating your employees so they are less prone to show signs and symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders."

Show companies how you can save them money by educating their employees and encouraging better health. This will open the door for many other opportunities. Now that you have some information to gain access to local businesses, your next step is to decide what services you would like to provide to the community, and begin planning your way to becoming the DC for businesses in your area.

Mr. Martin holds a master’s degree in business administration and serves as a consultant to Kats Management. He can be reached at 800-843-9162; info@katsmanagement.com; or sign on to www.katsmanagement.com