If there's one thing all chiropractors have in common, regardless of what kind of technique or affiliations they subscribe to, it's their search for the secret to retaining a larger share of their patients.

D.C.s often ask me how they can structure their office, communications and financial fees systems to support them in this goal. For myself and many of the chiropractors I coach, building a high-retention family practice starts with the following formula.

First and most vital is that you be focused on providing lifetime chiropractic care for everybody – at all ages and stages of life. This is the unshakable foundation your practice needs to remove any inconsistencies in your message.

If you ask chiropractors when they and their families will stop receiving chiropractic care, the answer will probably be "never." They and their loved ones will seek chiropractic care throughout their lives as part of their commitment to keeping themselves healthy and able to express themselves fully in this world.

The concept of chiropractic as a lifetime health care choice for everyone is easy for most chiropractors to embrace and implement in their practices because it reflects how they and their families currently participate in chiropractic.

Once you have this established as the foundation of your practice and market your services in this way, you will be speaking to your patients with sincerity about the way you really believe they should participate in care. There'll be no need for any games or bait and switch because this is something patients – and prospective patients – want to hear and live.

Learn how to communicate the concept during your lectures and screenings, as well as on a daily visit-to-visit basis and you'll begin attracting patients who are ready not just to commit to chiropractic, but to commit to you over a lifetime.

Make sure your communications are consistent with your vision and don't spend lots of time talking about symptom relief when what you really want for your patients and their families is lifetime wellness. Keep your conversation in line with the idea that every person was intended and deserves to be healthy throughout his or her life. Then, explain how chiropractic is a vehicle for accomplishing this goal. Lifetime chiropractic for everyone should be the foundation of everything you do. Let your true vision drive your practice.

The next step in making the high-retention family practice a reality requires that you speak your chiropractic truth with confidence. Once you've dedicated yourself and your practice to lifetime care for everybody, you must begin mastering how to communicate chiropractic in a way that will inspire your patients to commit to long term care.

To do this, you'll need to become a master "bridge builder" in getting people from where they are in their limited knowledge of chiropractic to where you want them to be – clear on the big idea about chiropractic and the importance of lifetime care. When you do this, not only will you revolutionize your practice but also, you'll be transforming the quality of people's lives.

Find out the personal history and background of your patients (health/economics/education, etc.) and then look to create some common links or bonds with them that will support the development of a strong relationship with chiropractic – and with you.

Ascertain what their health concerns are. Are there health issues to be dealt with on a daily basis? Physical weaknesses? A disease that runs in the family?

Discover their opinions concerning health care. Have they been let down by managed care or traditional medicine?

From this information, you should be able to build a bridge to help these patients understand the role chiropractic can play in enhancing their well being.

One great bridge-building question to ask is whether or not they have ever been to a chiropractor before. Then use these 13 magical words to get them across the bridge: "Let me tell you what we do, and how we go about it." Explain subluxation and its correction and the impact it can have on their overall health and quality of life. From that day forward, your patients will understand that chiropractic is about improving lives.

Chiropractors who follow this communication format say they are shocked at the results they get from this simple but effective dialogue. The only thing they've had to overcome is the fear that their offer of care may be rejected. In the end, they've come to realize that the more people they talk to and the more they speak their truth, the more they will eventually be accepted. With this acceptance will come trust, and with that trust the higher retention of patients.

In your practice, all of your systems should support your truth – family chiropractic for everyone. This means that your marketing systems and strategies should communicate this vision so that you can begin to attract lifetime patients from day one.

Your referral system and strategies should also be educating people about the benefits of long-term care. You can throw away your money in expensive marketing campaigns and fancy promotions, but if you're educating your patients from the very beginning, you won't need to budget those extra dollars later.

You should implement a financial system that is simple, easy and exciting for people to participate in long-term care. When you do this, it will enable you to attract highly committed new people right from the start.

Don't put in all that work and energy only to be singing the song, "Where have all my new people gone?" six months down the road. Have a communications system established in your practice where every member of your team knows how to communicate the value of lifetime care.

Everybody should be trained in the kinds of conversations to have over the phone and in person with potential new patients. Yours will be a super successful high retention practice when you and your team never miss an opportunity to say and do the right thing that will make a difference for that person, at that moment in time. Train yourself and your team to capitalize on these moments.

One way you can begin to convert your current patient base to more high retention, lifetime care chiropractic families is to pose the following question:

"Mary, you've had great results with chiropractic so far. Let me ask you this, if there were other ways that chiropractic could help you improve your health and quality of life, would you want me to tell you about them?"

Eighty percent of the people will say "yes," and the rest will decline. For the 20% answering "no," keep your current agreements and continue to serve them as usual. For those who respond positively, take the opportunity to educate them about the mind-body connection in detail and then present a life plan for keeping their bodies free from interference.

Your computer system should be one that supports high-retention family practice. You will want to use software that utilizes lifetime tools, strategies and communication principles most effectively in daily life.

Finally, do what you love and delegate the rest.

As you practice these steps, your practice will begin to grow. Be pro-active and ensure that rather than trapping you, your practice growth frees you when this expansion occurs. In fact, the only way to truly avoid the growth trap is to become a "master delegator."

Too many chiropractors get stuck in a practice that has grown rapidly without the systems or staff in place to support that growth. As your knowledge and experience increases in how to build and run a high-retention family practice, your confidence in delegating should increase as well. It's easy to delegate when you know what kind of results you want and when you're clear about your goals and objectives.

Commit to the important steps of getting focused, building bridges and implementing good systems, and delegating will easily follow.

Never has there been a greater time of opportunity for chiropractors to lead family health care than today. It's possible for any D.C. to go from a state of survival to one of abundance where he or she is having fun and helping more people live their dreams. Make your commitment to building a high-retention lifetime care family practice and this can be your experience too!