Secret 12:  How to Get Your Staff to Generate 90% of Your Referrals

Incorporate your staff into your patient education program - as a matter of fact – your front desk CA will be running this program for you (more on that later).

This consistent patient education program is one that will truly keep you on your toes about many different subjects and remind you of the power that you have in your hands.

This system that you are setting up will actually run you. Here’s how: Let’s say that you have 200 resource articles, you will group the articles together by topic and actually number them in a book. Each day you come into the office you will use the next article in your book to discuss with your patients that day. So, if you used research article #20 yesterday, when you come in today, you are going to want to use #21. Just follow your system.

It’s also a good idea to have a dry white-erase board at your front desk to display your topic of the day.

Every day – before the beginning of the shift – your front desk CA and any other staff that comes into regular contact with the patients (i.e. Therapy CA) will get together at a designated place in your office. This will be your meeting spot every day.

Make sure your front desk CA holds this book for you and keeps track of what topic/specific numbered visit you did the day before. I would have him/her have the book open and ready for you to review. Here are the exact steps taken once you meet:

1)   Tell your front desk exactly what to put on the dry white-erase board (i.e. Ear Infections and Chiropractic)

2)   Decide what you want your front desk to say. This should only be about 5 seconds long at most…usually one sentence.

3)   Decide what you want your other staff to say…same thing – only about one sentence, but complimentary information.

4)   Decide what you are going to discuss with your patients and let the entire staff know.

5)   That’s it! Then you and your staff are experts in one particular health subject that day and are ready to go out and tell every patient the story.

Objective messengers:

Because you are using research, you and your staff simply become objective messengers of information. It’s not that we are better than them, or they stink, or they kill people, etc. You and your staff get to share information with your patients that most definitely should be cited. You will earn instant respect and will allow your patients to discover (almost) on their own the power of the chiropractic adjustment.

The Players:

Front Desk CA – He/she welcomes your patients to the office:

“ Hi Mary, it’s great to see you today… Mary, today we are talking about Ear Infections and Chiropractic. Did you know that The Journal of the American Medical Association found that Amoxicillin is not effective…and…concluded that children who took the drug for chronic ear infections were 2-6 times more likely to have a recurrence of fluid buildup?”

Mary and every other patient that you have will have one of three reactions:

1)   “Wow!, I didn’t know that, how do I get my kids in here?”
2)   Some interest and they are intrigued
3)   Little or no interest

*** Your front desk CA can then indulge your patients in conversation about how you are able to help…or talk about other things as well…just as long as he/she gets the chiropractic information out there.

Then your front desk CA lets them know that “Dr. Joe (and/or another staff member) will be telling you more about this in a minute.”

If they go to a therapy CA, she might say,

“Hi Mary, did you know that the British Medical Journal said that 80% of children will receive their first course of antibiotics by the age of 6 months?”

And then when she is finished with Mary, she might say that Dr. Joe is going to tell you more about this in a minute.

***Remember, all of this is meant to attach value to the adjustment…as well as stir up thoughts and feelings about who they know with that particular health problem, as well as discover that medicine does one thing and chiropractic does another.

DC: “Hi Mary, it’s great to see you today.” As Mary is lying face down and you are palpating her you say, “As you know, today we’re talking about Ear Infections and Chiropractic (this is why it’s a system – you and your staff depend on each other to share the information) “Mary did you know that your first vertebrae surrounds your Eustachian tubes and the lymphatics that drain the middle ear? When your first vertebrae subluxates or misaligns it actually presses on these tubes and interferes with the nerve supply to the middle ear. When I adjust kids or adults, I take the pressure off the nerve and the tubes to allow the middle ear to function properly…and that’s why chiropractic works so well with ear infections.

Proceed with your adjustment and feel free to discuss other things.

At the end of the adjustment – before they leave – you ask Mary a VERY strategic question, “Mary, do you have any questions about the information I gave you today?”

This is strategic because what you are really asking her is to talk to you about the person she is thinking about in her head.

NOTE – My research has proven that at least 75% of all the patient’s that come into your office on any given day are thinking about at least 1 person that they know with a health problem that you can help.

If she says YES, then let her know how you can help and continue with the referral process (on tele-class 4) and if the answer in NO, then it’s SEE YA LATER TIME!

One last variable, if your waiting room is crowded, you will ask your front desk CA to actually stand up and announce to the waiting room the topic of the day and his/her specific research. On class 4, I will tell you how to turn this procedure into many referrals.

Secret 13: Enroll your patients in your purpose and they will stay for a lifetime.

An inspired patient translates into a committed patient.  Inspired patients leads to motivated referrals.  Keep your patients inspired by guiding them with your chiropractic purpose.

Most people live an unfulfilled life, a life without a purpose.  We find that in our society many people are desperate for a leader with a purpose. Be that leader with your chiropractic vision.  Share it with your patients and share it often.  Allow your patients to participate in your chiropractic purpose and watch them blossom into chiropractic warriors.

The road to lifetime patient commitment is through your chiropractic vision. You get committed practice members by involving them in your purpose and vision. Share your chiropractic purpose with them on each visit. This gives them the reason on why you educate. Remember, before you educate, motivate. To unleash the “heart--power” of your patients, enroll them with passion. Your patients will rally around a doctor when you clearly state what you believe in.

It is my desire to empower my patients with my chiropractic purpose. My goal is for our patients to take personal ownership in our practice. 

Secret 14:  Health Care Class

Simply put, the patient health care class is the single most powerful tool for inspiring, motivating and committing your staff and patients to lifetime wellness chiropractic.

The Format For the Health Care Class

1.    The lecture
2.    Office tour
3.    The workshop
4.    Chiropractic in motion
5.    Open forum on wellness

The Lecture:

There are six components to the lecture. This part of the evening should last about 30-40 minutes.

1.    Introduction:

Thank everyone for coming.
Explain your mission.
Discuss the objectives for the evening.

2.    Problem:

Identify with the group and seek a problem that they can relate with.

3.    Cause:

What is the true cause to this problem?
Challenge their belief systems.

4.    Solution:

Give them the chiropractic solution.

5.    Testimonials and Analogies:

Use at least 5 chiropractic miracle stories throughout your class.
Use metaphors and analogies to make each point understandable.

6.    Close:

Close with your best testimonial.
Invite them to refer at least ten friends and family members to be checked for nerve interference.

The Office Tour:  (5-10  minutes for this part of the evening)

This your opportunity to familiarize your patients and guests to all aspects of your office.  Introduce them to the learning library and how they can best utilize it.  Show them the exam room and explain how you examine and adjust children. A guided tour will help the guests feel more comfortable about becoming a patient.

The Workshop:

There are four components to the workshop and this part of the evening should last about 10-15 minutes.

1.    Teaming up participants:

Team up the participants in teams of 2.

2.    Instructing on how to evaluate an individual for VSC:

We first have them check each other for postural distortions that may indicate underlying subluxations.
Check for: foot flare, uneven hips, shoulders, head tilt, anterior weight bearing of the head and uneven shoe wear. One person plays the doctor and one the patient

3.    Third party evaluation and communication:

I walk around the room and point out individuals who demonstrate the various distortions. 
My goal is to teach my patients how to check others for possible subluxations so they can go home and check their families.  My goal for the guests is for them to be told by their friend (someone they trust) that they demonstrate postural distortions and may have a problem.

4.    Questioning the class:

I ask the group ”What do you see?” and “What might this problem indicate?”

Chiropractic In Motion:

During this part of the evening we will be examining the prospects and adjusting the regular patients. This section takes 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the class. There are six parts to this section of the class.

1.    Leg check or assessment:

I teach them a prone leg check and what it means.

2.    What I am thinking and seeing during a visit:

I discuss my thought process during my chiropractic evaluation.

3.    Chiropractic is safe and effective.

I adjust all my patients as the class views on.  I want my patients to know that on every visit I continue until their chiropractic checks are balanced.  Nobody leaves until they are balanced. I want them to know that I use the least amount of force, with the greatest specificity and focus to have the greatest impact on their health.  The class can witness chiropractic in motion.  They see the patients leg checks and postural checks showing significant imbalances prior to an adjustment and right before their eyes these people balance after an adjustment.  The prospects can witness that chiropractic is indeed safe and we won’t be “breaking any bones”.  They can also see we do make positive changes, it is effective and our patients can share their stories.

4.    Examination of the prospects:

While I do the adjusting our New Patient Advocate takes each guest and performs a complete Thermal Scan and sEMG on them.  After their scan they return back to the adjusting room.  With their permission we show their scans and ask the class “What does this scan possibly indicate?”  The class tells them how bad it is and that they need care just like they did.  Remember, they heard the lecture and know how devastating subluxations can be, they also learned subluxations are usually painless so they may have subluxations even though they may feel good, they saw pre and post scans in the lecture and they know what a bad one looks like, and they just had their friend tell them that have postural distortions that may indicate subluxations.

5.    Setting Appointments:

I turn to my Front Desk Assistant at this time and have her schedule the guest for a full chiropractic evaluation.

Open Forum On Wellness:

     I end the evening with a short question and answer period.  I want to make sure I handle any possible questions or fears my patients may have about their chiropractic experience.  I also want clear up any concerns my guests may have about starting care.

Suggested Outline For Health Care Class:

1.    Why you do what you do!

-Explain your mission and purpose.
 -Begin the workshop with your noble purpose, this pumps me up.

2.    Cover the objectives for the workshop

-Develop a chiropractic wellness lifestyle.
-Begin the Path-to-Wellness and away from disease.
-Shift their consciousness from a disease care model to a wellness care  model.
-We will ask  for referrals at the end so be thinking of who you know that may benefit during the evening.

3.    Clarify the distinction between disease care and wellness care

-Talk about the decline in the quality of life in our society.
-Discuss the difference between seeking care for symptoms and crisis care versus seeking care to improve their quality of life, performance, and the human spirit.
-Health continuum and wellness care.
-Most people enter a doctor’s office for treatment of disease or   symptoms, however, most people enter my office to improve their level of wellness.

4.    Where does health come from?

-Ask the audience, What do you think good health is?
 -Give example cases of asymptomatic diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure) ask them if “do you think they had good health or bad health?”
-Health comes from within. Nature provides all living things everything they need to be perfect for a lifetime, all the information we need to survive and thrive is inborn. In nature = innate. Give examples, sperm and egg.
-We are a self healing, self regulating organism, we have the ability to heal ourselves as long as there is no interference to this natural process or this expression of our innate. Explain
-Interference to innate causes all diseases. Explain

5.    Where health doesn’t come from.

-In a bottle
 -Cover the dangers and side effects of over-the-counter drugs
 -Cover the dangers and side effects of prescription drugs
 -Prescription related deaths
 -Medical malpractice is the 3rd leading cause of death

-HEALTH DOESN’T COME FROM DISEASE CARE!

6.    So what makes us sick?

-Germs, bugs, bacteria, viruses…not
 -bad luck..no?
 -Tell the Masha & Dasha story
-It’s interference to the natural expression of our life-force, innate and the inability of our body to properly respond and adapt to the environment, explain.

7.    How does our inborn intelligence (innate) communicate and organize our  body to keep it healthy?

-The mind body connection
-The brain, spinal cord and nervous system
-Discuss the 3 types of nerves (sensory, muscle and organ) and the consequences of disturbances with these nerves.
-It is these disturbances that cause all disease.

8.    The number one cause of this interference known in science today is called the vertebral subluxation!

-Explain what a VSC is and how it disturbs or interferes with the expression of ones self
-Explain the impact VSC has on human potential and performance at every human level (mental performance, immune performance, physical performance, spiritual, emotional, health performance)
-Explain how subluxations exist without pain.

9.    How do you know if you have a subluxation?

-You don’t, they are not symptomatic.
-You Wellness Chiropractor is the only one who can tell you by a subluxation examination which includes: postural exam, neurological exam, sEMG and Thermal scan, ROM and evaluating your system for tone and tension.  Explain what these exams indicate.
-Show pre and post exams with a testimonial.

10. What does a Wellness Chiropractor do?

-We work with your innate so you can begin your path to true wellness.
-We detect and correct subluxations to restore function and performance to your body.
-We awaken your inner doctor so you can heal yourself from within…

11. Please help us with our mission of…and share this with your friends.

-Who might Wellness Chiropractic help? Everyone!
-Please write down the top ten of your friends who need chiropractic the most!
-Handout Invitations to Wellness Certificates for each of their friends with a one week expiration.

Secret 15:  Chiropractic Seminars

The basics of the chiropractic experience begins with your initial Health Care Class.  The HCC establishes the chiropractic mindset.  The Chiropractic Seminars are advanced classes that run every 4 to 6 weeks.  You invite your entire patient database as well as your community.

            The purpose of the Chiropractic Seminar Series is to continue to support the patients new chiropractic wellness belief system and connect this new belief system to the possibilities that chiropractic care can hold for them and their friends. We want to continue the momentum we started with the initial class. The seminars are designed to inspire and educate.

Chiropractic Seminars:

Chiropractic Seminars will expand the understanding and awareness of chiropractic for your patients and explode your referrals at the same time.