November 2003

Monopolize your town's mind share

by Dr. C.J. Mertz

This November, in Washington D.C., I will be leading a large audience of chiropractors to monopolizing the "mind share" in their communities. The goal is to have enough chiropractic teams develop mind share simultaneously, that we can shift the consciousness of an entire population.

You can attract new patients for 10 years in a practice and never establish mind share in your town. This has been the pattern for the majority of chiropractors around the world. In fact, it is entirely possible to build a relatively successful practice and never achieve mind share. So the first question has to be, what is my legacy?

I believe chiropractors want to leave chiropractic better than they found it, and the biggest impact lies in mind share. Word association is one of the first signs that mind share has begun and represents the infusion of a new belief or product or service into the community. Xerox has taught the world that making a copy of something and Xerox are one in the same. That's why you tell someone to Xerox a document, even if it's a Canon copier. Kleenex has taught the world that tissue and Kleenex are one in the same.

Recently, I was speaking to a waiter who had mixed up my order and his apology was, "I'm sorry, I must be subluxated." He didn't know who I was, but felt quite comfortable using the term "subluxation" in his everyday language. Later, I learned the name of his chiropractor and it was absolutely no surprise to me that this client had begun to build mind share in his town. The waiter could have said, "I'm not focused or I'm scattered," but he didn't.

You can spend thousands of advertising dollars every month and never come close to achieving mind share. The phone can ring and new patients can be scheduled, but gaining mind share takes something else.

Team chiropractic Hawaii is a group made up of individual practices that have joined together to market for mind share. They show my infomercial every week on TV and virtually every person who calls in asks to be scheduled for a subluxation check‑up. Their patients walk around town (hundreds of them) wearing t‑shirts that say "GOT SUBLUXATION?" Now they've recently locked‑in eight radio stations filling the airways with patient testimonials and the principled message of chiropractic.

Subluxation in Honolulu is nearly a household word, not just because of a joint advertising campaign, but because the D.C.s train their patients to become teachers who learn to carry our message to the streets. When the group does spinal screenings, an army of patients volunteers its time to come out and support the spinal screenings. It's no wonder why they schedule hundreds of people at their screenings.

Lifetime family wellness isn't a pipedream for these chiropractors ‑‑ it's a mind share. When people talk about wellness care or wellness provider, or subluxation, are they automatically thinking of YOU? If people talk about health care for children, do they think about YOU? Your promotions and marketing are suppose to build mind share first, and new patients second. When you achieve mind share, the next miracle appears: market share.

I was watching an NFL game recently and was astonished by what I saw. Both teams had jerseys, football cleats, and gloves by Nike. Even the football was made by Nike! Mind share leads to market share, which leads to monopoly. Chiropractic care is so vital to the well being of every family worldwide, that we must learn individually and collectively to achieve mind share, market share and monopoly.

We must come together as a profession and project one voice as the true leaders of the wellness revolution. We must proclaim lifetime family wellness as our highest purpose and most valuable contribution to humanity.

One day, not long from now, people will no longer ask "do you see a chiropractor?" Instead the question will be, "who is your chiropractor?" Achieving mind share is the difference. Steven Covey taught us to begin with the end in mind, which for us must be complete and total chiropractic dominance.

Building mind share is a skill, not a gift. You can learn to develop mind share starting from within your practice, then extending it into your community. Don't miss the chance to become a wellness expert in your community. Prepare yourself for what is coming. When the public soon learns what chiropractic really is, all those who have built corrective and wellness practices will flourish beyond their wildest expectations.

(Dr. C.J. Mertz is president of the International Chiropractors Association, executive director of ChiroUSA, and founder and head coach of the prestigious Waiting List Practice [WLP] chiropractic training organization. For information on WLP services and products, call Mark at 877/TEAM‑WLP.)