May 2005

Are you a doctor or a salesperson?

by Dr. Kevin Pallis and Dr. Ed Plentz

The difference between a doctor and a salesperson will seem invisible to many, while to others, as vast as the great divide. To embrace the responsibilities of being a doctor means that you are in the position to create and promote education of a new health paradigm for society. Many talk of making a difference, but few actualize it. To be a salesperson is to settle for a future that is simply an "aged" version of the present dark ages of neck and back pain.

As a doctor, you are not owned by people's expectations of you. How many times have you endured being in a public place, only to have people discover you're a DC and say, "Oh, you're a back doctor, it hurts right here"? Doctors are driven by a vision or a mission larger than themselves or their individual offices, embracing change rather than resisting it. They stay strong by understanding that most of society has been raised in a sickness rather than a wellness atmosphere. People actually argue over who's the sicker ("You've had six operations, well heck I had six operations just this year"). After all, everybody knows you go to a doctor when you're ill, right? That tired, worn out way of life will continue to be embraced until someone steps up and contributes a different chapter. A doctor doesn't take it personally when patients don't "get it." They're doing the best they can, having been raised in the "stay sick" generation. The tools a doctor uses are patient education and communication skills.

Salespersons are commonly frustrated because they've lost their purpose and passion in life. With or without financial success, there's an ill‑defined gnawing in the gut that seems to be saying there must be more to living than pushing packaged programs and spinal screenings on people. The tools a salesperson uses are marketing and sales. They allow people to determine their identity as ache and pain therapists. And, they turn their backs on the next generation ...children.

As a doctor using patient education and communication skills, your practice continually grows with the times. Young and old alike are attracted to your office for all of the right reasons. The emphasis is on being healthy, not reacting once a person is sick. Who wants to have a limited future because of inevitable health problems brought on by no education and no prevention? Look only as far as your parents and aunts and uncles. They are the victims of a system of disease management that, plain and simple, doesn't keep people healthy. It can't. It's geared to care for people only after their health fails. Once educated, patients are in the position to make the decision that's best for their families. The decision to initiate care is based not on back and neck pain but on the new concept that spinal injuries (VSC) interfere with function of the body. And, there's always a sense of fun and adventure in a doctor's office, too.

As a salesperson using marketing and sales, your office won't grow with the times. Fear will always stalk you, as you wonder where the next new patient is going to come from. Why? Because getting new patients in and seeing them for a few forced visits is going Smithsonian. The future will view that "method" as a memory of our barbaric, non‑vitalistic past.

People's expectations get more demanding each year. Insurance coverage dwindles and the scramble for new patients intensifies. By using financial leverage and closing sales instead of patient education and communication, the true motivation of the chiropractor is not etched in people's minds as "healthier people make a healthier planet." Isn't it better ‑‑ on all levels, including financial ‑‑ when practice members want what you have to better the health of their families rather than feeling "pressured into" treatment?

Let chiropractic stand for what it is. It doesn't have to be modified, added to, hyped up or sold. You're a doctor, which means you're a teacher, not a salesperson. Allow all of your patients to experience the education, the passion, and the procedures and allow the "magic" to happen. People are empowered when they actively choose chiropractic, not when it's something they're being "sold." The result of this empowerment is people enjoying your office and making it a part of their lives rather than experiencing it as a burden and an interruption in their busy schedules. It takes no passion to sell, yet it takes thermal amounts of passion to change the world. Celebrate being a doctor, not a salesperson!

(The New Renaissance is a movement of passionate chiropractors dedicated to changing the world. The leader in patient education since 1977, the Mentor IV Coaching Program is a step‑by‑step navigational guide that embodies the very essence of The New Renaissance vision of healthier people creating a healthier world. Without patient education, your patients won't "get it." To learn more about The New Renaissance, contact world headquarters at 800‑525‑3879.)