Training your mindset for growth

The art of practice building can be met with a myriad of challenges or obstacles that throw your focus off what matters most. Your practice always builds best when you learn to center your focus on the entire practice at once. I'd like to share seven "top tips" I give to my clients to properly train their mindset for growth.

#1 -- No matter how a patient hears about your practice (referral, screenings, telemarketing, ads, talks, etc.) or what conditions they present with, focus on your philosophy that confidently convinces you of their need for care. ...

All too often chiropractors get caught up with wrong thoughts that lead to lowered performance and poor decision making. By the time patients enter your office, regardless of how they got there they should be served as if they were your most prized possession.

It also doesn't matter what conditions they suffer from or how severe (including asymptomatic) they appear. Once again, our philosophy reminds you that each patient is valued equally, and each patient equally requires the powerful healing that can only come from chiropractic adjusting.

When you shake the hand of your next new patients, make sure your educated thoughts don't override the principles that anchor the foundation of your practice.

#2 -- Practice your scripts with obsession. Daily commitment to this process will pay off a hundredfold. ...

Your communication skills often determine the difference between success and mediocrity. Not knowing what you're going to say to a patient shows a lack of preparation and puts you at an unnecessary disadvantage. If you currently do not have a congruent system of scripts that produce a superior result, it's costing you at least $100,000 per year.

If you do have a system of scripts that give you confidence, don't just deliver them when you have a new patient or report scheduled. Practice scripts daily! Have fun with your C.A.s and get them involved with verbalizing a script while performing other tasks. It's this kind of readiness that leads to enthusiastic teams who build highly successful practices.

#3 -- Plan each day to start strong and finish strong. Big teams learn this early, and never veer from their plan no matter what the circumstance may be. ...

Simply opening your door for business and letting patients begin their care is the most damaging start you could ever have in practice.

Get to work early. Pray together, share something motivational about your chiropractic mission with your team. Honor your patients by saying their names (all of them!) with your team and how you would like to serve them today. Make you and your C.A.s accountable for a set plan of action steps and then hold an end-of-day huddle to confirm performance. Only through this kind of micromanagement and accountability can you generate the momentum required to stimulate lasting growth in practice.

Chiropractic is a zero sum game which means it doesn't matter if you had a great day or a bad day in practice yesterday. Today is a brand new day and deserves its own commitment to excellence. Leadership skills are an uncommon commodity, too, in chiropractic. Do what it takes to learn how to motivate yourself and your team to start strong and finish strong every day.

#4 -- Train only with like-minded chiropractors. ...

One of the most of difficult aspects of coaching is keeping my clients from getting off purpose by talking with off purpose chiropractors. Friendships are one thing, your chiropractic career is another. Get it right and do it now. Don't let anyone keep you from moving forward in your practice.

Conversely, by getting yourself involved with like-minded doctors, undergoing special trainings together almost insures your success!

Strengthen your practice discipline. Resist urges to surf the net, e-trade, take or make phone calls, read and answer personal e-mails, balance your checkbook -- or do anything else that's antithetical to the spirit of growth.

Your C.A.s and your patients will only be as focused on chiropractic as you are. It's up to you to show them the way. If you're not part of a performance-coaching program that can put you in touch with dozens of like-minded chiropractors, maybe now you realize why the biggest chiropractors in the in the country couldn't have it any other way.

#5 -- Don't read your patients, lead your patients. ...

Think about it. When was the last time you asked a patient for his or her tax returns, payroll stubs or bank account balances? The truth is, we don't need to know anything about our patients' financial status. We are in the healing business, therefore our recommendations must be based upon what we believe the patients needs, not what we think they can afford.

So, why would you ever judge people by how they look, what they wear, their age, hygiene, marital status, number of children, place of employment, type of insurance, race, creed, color, type of condition or any other inappropriate reading of a patient?

I have hundreds of letters from my clients sharing testimonials of patients who've taken out loans from credit unions, gotten loans from an uncle or grandparent, even assumed a second mortgage on their home, and yet pay-in-full by credit card -- all because the doctor stayed focused on the business of correcting subluxation, not the business of financial integrity!

The wealthy are often not as wealthy as they act. That being said, let's stop reading patients entirely and begin leading them toward the healthiest way of life on the planet.

#6 -- Promote as if you were building chiropractic first, and your practice second. ...

Remember, you carry a torch, you don't own it. Long after you and I move on, chiropractic will still be serving its mission. If your practice is growing like gangbusters, that's no reason to stop your promotion intensity. Likewise, if your practice is slow or down, you shouldn't be reducing your promotion intensity.

When your town thinks of health, they must think of chiropractic and when they think of chiropractic, they must think of your practice.

You don't have to be brilliant in marketing in order to effective and profitable. The key is to see your marketing plan as you do your front desk C.A. -- working full time for you all month long. Put your marketing budget in place and leave it alone! You should be spending a minimum of $1,000 monthly and up to 10% of your gross collections every month.

I highly recommend you keep track of your return or investment (ROI). In other words, for every dollar you spend you should be able to track three dollars of return within six months of expenditure. Many chiropractors are now using companies like New Health America to help keep them put an effective and productive marketing campaign together.

#7 -- Turn your office into "Optimal Health University." Even more than your patients getting adjusted, see them receiving a Ph.D. in chiropractic family wellness! ...

The practice of the 21st century is superior in educational skills, educational materials and tools, and educational programs for patients.

Your patients should see you as their health coach. They should come to you first for any health-related question or challenge their families are experiencing. The majority of WLP clients have accomplished this amazing transformation and are now viewed as their town's health expert.

It's not how much you know that matters anymore, it's how much your patients know that makes all the difference.

Doing one workshop for example, is old hat! Your patients must go through a series of workshops to see the absolute best results in your practice. Handing out two or three pamphlets to your new patients is obsolete. Your patients should receive a daily written message of principle, of hope, of family, of chiropractic.

Your C.A.s must become "Chiropractic Ambassadors" and learn to educate your patients.

If you want to find out what new materials are available for your practice or learn about what new training programs can catapult your team's performance, just contact my office and my team will gladly assist you.

The only way to make a significant improvement in your game, is to see the whole game in front of you. Only then can you make the proper adjustments or corrections to your practice that will result in lasting growth. I hope these tips serve you well as you continue to carry your torch proudly for chiropractic.