October 2003

The undiscovered key to financial success in your practice

by Jeff Smith and Dr. Tony Palermo

Every day, we see many chiropractors beating their heads in trying to figure out how to get patients to keep coming back, how to get them to perceive the value of being subluxation‑free and start living the chiropractic lifestyle.

And, every day we wonder how much better the lives and practices of these doctors would be if they just knew this secret of success: If you add value to others, as they define value, you'll be financially successful.

It sounds simple, but there's a profound "key" in that statement ‑‑ the word THEY.

As THEY define value

It really doesn't matter how you define the value of your services or why you do what you do. In the minds of your patients, their value is their value, not yours. And quite frankly, they couldn't care less about your value. They just want whatever THEY value.

You might want a subluxation‑free world. You might want everyone to totally believe in and continually talk about the benefits of chiropractic. You might want them to be so excited they refer all their friends/family. You might think the value of lessening nerve interference is "priceless." You may not have the foggiest idea as to why someone wouldn't get adjusted for the rest of his or her life. And so on and so on.

Who cares?

Your patients don't. They care about themselves, what THEY value, their own families, their own problems. They don't care about the values or the ideals you're trying to impose on them from the outside in.

So, in order to be a great marketer and a great doctor, all you have to do is meet them where THEY are ‑‑ wherever that might be.

Practice accepting them and accepting their values. Don't try to convert them to YOURS (a VERY key point...).

Acceptance creates abundance. Conversion creates slavery.

Acceptance is power, rising naturally from inside. Conversion is force, applied unnaturally from the outside.

In a power practice, patients are accepted for who they are and where they are. They come because they choose to come and look forward to coming. In a force practice, patients come because they're told to or because they feel guilty for not coming. They often dread coming.

Which practice are you running? Look at your referral statistics and you will know immediately.

If you're running an abundant power practice, patients are continually referring, usually without ever being asked. If you're not, then referrals are rare ‑‑ or you have to bribe patients into giving the few referrals that you manage to get.

Remember that the highest form of love ‑‑ and the highest form of service ‑‑ is acceptance, not conversion. If you truly want to serve on the very highest level, you must accept your practice members and their values, meet them where they are, express your own truth to them, but totally accept their own truth from them (even if it totally differs from yours).

When you meet them where they are and accept totally where they are without judgment, you are showing them unconditional love. You are serving them in a deeply moving way they have quite possibly never experienced before. And you are creating an accepting, loving environment that they will look forward to returning to ‑‑ and want all their friends and family members to join them in.

There you have it ‑‑ the key to a financially successful, referral‑based practice. And there is a perfect example of what love and service really mean.

Acceptance creates abundance. Conversion creates slavery. Which do you prefer?

It's YOUR choice.

Let us know which choice you've made by sending an e‑mail to Dr. Palermo at drtonyp@aol.com.

(WCA Executive Director Jeff Smith is an acknowledged authority on "outside the box" success strategies for chiropractors. As a non‑chiropractor who's been a patient of chiropractic since he was 17, his unconventional ideas have revolutionized the lives of an exclusive group of D.C.s in "The 2X+1 Chiropractic Mastermind," his private by‑invitation‑only community of the world's top doctors. Smith is the author of dozens of books and courses, including "The Stress‑Free Chiropractic Success System." To discover more about The 2X+1 Mastermind and how doctors are using the 2X+1 Principles to create their Ideal Lifestyle and Ideal Practice, go to www.chiropress.com.

Dr. Tony Palermo serves as CEO of the World Chiropractic Alliance. His Bethlehem, Pa. "dream practice" is 100% cash, 100% by referral/members only, catering to health‑conscious individuals and their families. He joins Jeff Smith as co‑leader of the prestigious 2X+1 Chiropractic Mastermind. In addition, Dr. Palermo offers success‑oriented chiropractors coaching for pennies per day! Visit www.DCStayingPower.com to learn more and be sure to take the FREE Practice Quiz!)