I didn't realize it until it happened to me, but the following is quite common in the chiropractic industry. If you're an owner wearing the hat of marketing director or you've hired an associate who has "taken" that role over for you, let me show you a better way to gain a steady flow of new patients without wasting doctor time. It should go without saying, but this "norm" is confusing, frustrating and costly.
The Problem: No One Goes to Chiropractic College to Learn Marketing
Imagine the surprise when I graduated as a brand-new DC 18 years ago and on my first day as an associate doctor, was introduced in the team meeting as the new marketing director. Talk about confusing.
As the 7th chiropractor of 11 spanning three generations in my family, when I say I love this profession, I mean it's in my DNA. With diploma in hand, I was excited to put to work all that I had learned at Palmer College (Davenport). Yet none of my education prepared me for effective marketing!
So, why was I put in charge of marketing? Like you and your associate, if you have one, I spent eight years learning how to treat patients, not how to attract patients. Hence, our biggest ROI on doctor time is treating patients, not marketing for them (fairs, talks, networking, etc.).
Why, then, should doctor time ever be focused on attracting patients, rather than treating patients? Doing so is paying way too much for a marketing director who isn't qualified or trained to effectively fulfill the role (yes, even when it's you).
The Solution: Simpler Than You Think
In the evolution of chiropractic marketing, digital is winning the game. My own practice generated 127 new patients last month just from digital marketing. Imagine what you could do with a healthy stream of new patients that didn't require health fairs, talks, networking or your blood, sweat and tears. Would you hire more associates? Finally, work on your business rather than always in it?
Don't worry about how you (or someone in your practice) will handle it. The key is to hire a trained marketer who has the skill set to fulfill the role.
In this day and age, an effective marketing director will have a social media presence, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, email marketing, content marketing, reviews, SEO, and numerous other digital marketing strategies, creating a steady flow of new patients. The extent of your marketing involvement would be speaking at health events that your $14-$18 per hour marketing person set up.
Business 101: Effectiveness Is Efficiency and Efficiency Is Profit
Optimizing sales flow starts with hiring the right people for the right jobs. Each role in your practice should be filled with competent, well-trained individuals armed with the skill set to fulfill the role effectively. Having all the team members you need in the positions that play to their strengths is critical to running an efficient, profitable practice where new patients come, pay, stay and refer.
Three Steps to Gaining a Steady Flow of New Patients
Step #1: Share your company's "why" (why you do what you do, why your company was born, why it ticks) to attract people who believe what you believe. On every applicable channel and medium (e.g., website, Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, lobby wall), share your story. Let potential job seekers know what you're about before they even send in their résumé.
Show potential new patients why your business is different. Share this with your team, so they understand it intimately as well. When you infuse your passion in your team and inspire each of them to join your cause, they will help attract even more like-minded individuals to further the mission. And with quality hiring procedures and adequate training, you'll have competent team members able to effectively drive progress toward the goals.
Step #2: Work with your marketing director or marketing agency to implement a robust digital marketing campaign to 1) establish your voice and brand, 2) build a tribe of loyal followers and 3) seamlessly capture those leads (potential new patients). My clinic used these three key digital marketing strategies to double our website traffic and number of new patients in just four months.
Step #3: The key to improvement is measuring and monitoring performance. Ensure you have the necessary systems in place (e.g., a business dashboard, reports, team meetings) to track the performance of your marketing key performance indicator (number of new patients) and the upstream metrics that feed it. Here are a few upstream digital marketing metrics that feed your marketing KPI:
Monitoring these metrics, and others, allows you to identify where your weaknesses are. With that knowledge, you can begin working on those weaknesses, which gives clear direction to your marketing team and the ability to stabilize and grow your KPI: number of new patients.
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Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
