February 2006

Make 2006 the best ever

by Dr. CJ Mertz

The New Year holds incredible excitement because everything's possible. The past is behind you and your future is looking better than ever. The goal is to turn your bad into good and your good to great. You must plan for change...embrace change.

I don't suggest improvement for my clients, I demand it. That's why they're typically the largest practice in their town within the first 12‑to‑18 months of embracing our patented improvement strategies. This month, I'd like to share some of those strategies with you so your new year can begin in record‑breaking fashion.

Record Breaker # 1 ‑‑ You are your only competition. Comparing yourself to anyone else is not only foolish, it kills your growth. Record breaking is totally inside out. Convince your heart you want to change and you need to change; then, plan your change and turn your record into reality. Keep your focus on the purpose of your change, the steps within the change, and nothing else.

Record Breaker # 2 ‑‑ Become obsessed with retention. Eight percent of all chiropractic records happen because of a substantial increase in patient retention. If you're good at relief care, get really good at corrective care this year. If your team can spend 80% of their time focused on growth‑related actions, record breaking becomes a natural result.

Record Breaker #3 ‑‑ Achieve three small goals and set a new record. Most chiropractors don't goal set at all, which is why record breaking is rarely experienced. Those who do set goals often set them so high that they fail from the start. The key to setting new records is setting a series of reachable goals. If 2006 is going to be your year, get your team to buy in on achieving a series of do‑able goals, incentivize them well, and you're already halfway there. Goals (breaking records) are always best achieved by the use of a buddy system. Hook up with another chiropractor who wants to grow at or near the same pace as you and make a game to see who wins. This is called "coopetition" when done with a friend who practices in another town.

Record breaker # 4 ‑‑ Promote check‑ups, not care. Open your front door in 2006 by inviting people to receive a chiropractic consultation, exam and any necessary x‑rays for $30 or less. The most powerful form of patient education is your check‑up. In less than thirty minutes, a person learns more about the truth of health and sickness than ever before. Record breakers focus on setting up as many check‑ups as possible and letting the conversions to care take care of themselves. You can be more assertive because your purpose begins with checking every man, woman and child in your community. "John, let's get your brother Sam checked this week." "Cindy, I want to check your friend Julie this week. I'm concerned about the medication she is taking." This is simple, honest, effective communication coming from both you and your CAs, which results in a schedule book full of new patient check‑ups. Goals are reached when you can produce three great weeks in a row. Records are broken when you post three sets of three great weeks, back to back to back. Your front door paradigm of "check‑ups" will be needed to get you there.

These are just a few of the record‑breaking strategies that more than 2,500 practices worldwide will use in 2006 to build a career year. If this were easy, everyone would be doing it with little to no help. The single truth is that chiropractors with a coach break records 10:1 over those who don't have one.

This year, do it different...do it better...do it bigger. Invest in coaching, and make 2006 the best ever.

(Dr. CJ Mertz is 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, call Tony Shinn at 877‑TEAM‑WLP. Top chiropractors in the world rely on our coaching. Call Tony and ask him for the brand new CD release on multiplying practice growth and please accept it as my gift.)