Building A 300+ adj/wk championship team

by Dr. CJ Mertz

Over the last 18 years, nearly 14,000 chiropractors have hired me in hopes of building a championship team and, fortunately, most succeeded. However, the journey of getting there was dramatically different than they were previously led to believe. If you want to grow your practice to consistently serve more than 300 patient adjustments per week, then you must acquire the skills and knowledge of building a championship team.

Mark and Colleen of Michigan are an exception to the rule. They have built a 300 + practice, and for the better part of two years, have had virtually no team at all. Less than 20% of all chiropractors will ever adjust 300 patients per week, although 80% that do, learned to develop a really strong team.

There are five key strategies vital in achieving the legendary goals of building a championship team and a 300 + practice. Regardless whether you have an established practice with veteran CAs or a relatively young practice with new CAs, you can make these changes and lead your team to the ultimate practice‑building environment.

1. Your team must completely "buy into" a vision they can both see and feel. Nothing big will happen, until this happens first. There is no such thing as a small vision, but you can get stuck playing small. Each member should "buy‑into" the vision passionately or it's best they move on. Becoming the lifetime family wellness center of your community and effectively reducing the use of drugs and surgery, is a vision. Eliminate any fear of resistance you may have to a bold vision for your practice. A championship team always starts with a champion's vision. Do not scale down your vision to something you think your team will believe. Set your vision so it takes your (and their) breath away.

2. Follow up your vision with a daunting challenge, referred to as a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). Your BHAG might be to see as many people per day as you currently see per week, in the same period office hours and 50% of your adjustments being children. You don't need to know how "to do" the BHAG, in order to lay down the gauntlet that you're going to do it. A small goal with a big vision walks around looking and feeling like a five year‑old dressed in adult clothing. Chiropractic improves life, extends life, save lives. Make sure your BHAG gives chiropractic a chance to shine upon your community. If you can reach a BHAG in less than a year or two, it was probably a "small‑hag" in disguise. Champion CAs are carved out of the pursuit of greatness. Good is truly the enemy of great, and without a meaningful BHAG to strive for, greatness won't be necessary.

3. Call us and ask permission for your team to go on a field trip to witness a BHAG practice in action. It's one thing to set a BHAG, it's quite another to see one at work. Once you have a model of possibility, virtually nothing can stand in your way of success. If you can let your ego down long enough to realize just how many practices are producing levels far beyond your own, then you can tap into the magic of building your own championship team! In fact, all of them did the same thing, which has helped catapult their growth. Now you have a vision, a BHAG and a model of possibility, you're ready to take the next step.

4. You must now carefully plan your work, then work your plan. Not just any plan, but a specific set of actions, drilled, again and again and again, which has proven to build a 300 + practice. No short cuts, no excuses, no second guesses, no quitting. Jennifer and David of New Hampshire have been growing 100 patient visits per week, per year, for the past eight years in a row. So have Mark in Massachusetts, Shane in Texas, Bruce in Hawaii, and so many others who have built a team that is totally committed to executing the plan. You must develop brand new training habits with your team. When your team trainings are exciting and uncomfortable, practice growth is inevitable. Champion CAs want to be pushed. They want to be held accountable for improvement, and they want to train often so as to sharpen the saw. Not all change produces growth, but all growth produces change. So your plan must anticipate the need for change and higher levels of energy output and intensity input.

5. Champion CAs have their roles and responsibilities written out in detail. They have a specific weekly report of their performance handed in on time, without being asked. Champion CAs love to be one‑minute managed, so you begin by telling them what you really like that they're doing, then break down one of their under‑producing processes to uncover a missing step that will help them get a better result and then pat them on the shoulder and tell them how much you love working toward your BHAG together. They want to learn, and change and grow, so you must lead them there ‑‑ even when you sense resistance. We are all slow to change but constant follow up to your training is what creates constant and never ending improvement. Reward them well for growth. Celebrate your wins. Never take your eyes off the BHAG. Talk through your vision on a daily basis.

If you incorporate the five key strategies in the proper order, you will experience the thrill of coming to work on a championship team. Your chances of being among the 20% who break through 300 +, just improved by 100%.

(Dr. CJ 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. See the WLP 300 patient per week opportunity on the back page of this issue. For information on WLP coaching services and products, call Kate Golle at 877‑TEAM‑WLP.)