April 2007

Referrals, referrals and more referrals

by Dr. Eric Plasker

Ask any chiropractor what his or her favorite source of new patients is and the answer will probably be "referrals."

Referral patients are revered because they don't usually have to be "sold" on your services. They almost always come in already committed and trusting in you and the services your office provides. They are "lagniappe" from your loyal patients. Yet, they don't have to be.

Referrals needn't be an occasional extra bonus for services that were well‑provided to others. With the proper systems in place, your referral flow can go from a haphazard trickle to a steady stream of chiropractic patients and revenue.

The referral process

Whenever one of your patients tells you he or she is getting great results or knows someone who might benefit from your services, make sure you ask: "Why do you think they could benefit?" Then, let the individual tell you why. When you do this, you are giving your patient the opportunity to express his or her feelings about chiropractic and why he or she thinks that person is a good candidate. When your patient is finished and you have listened very well, ask what the best way would be for you to communicate with this individual in order that he or she might understand the benefits of chiropractic.

Your patient may suggest you provide an audio or video tape or reading material to take to the referral. Your patient might ask to bring the friend to watch as he or she gets adjusted. Or, the suggestion might be that the referral attend one of your lectures. Whatever the response, wouldn't it be advantageous for you to have all of these resources laid out in advance so you or your staff could quickly go into your referral system and make them available? In fact, to be really effective, you should have dozens of audio and video tapes on hand. These provide a great way for people who can't or won't come to a live lecture to receive information about chiropractic.

Here are more ways to increase your referrals.

***  Make mothers a referral target. In an issue of Ladies Home Journal, a study revealed that women make more than 70% of all the health decisions for their families. They were also responsible for more than two‑thirds of their family's visits to doctors and pharmacists. Remember, mothers will speak passionately to people (and other mothers) about their doctors and health care choices. Give them a reason to speak with passion about you and your services!

***  Create and post a "Special Events" calendar. It should promote all of your promotional and educational programs. Have handouts ready to give to patients and potential referrals, and make sure that you update your calendar each month.

***  Share a chiropractic testimonial with a patient. If he or she has had a great experience at your office, bring it up, and get the person feeling his or her results again and talking about it to others.

***  Ask for patients' help. Spreading the word about chiropractic is a big job. Tell patients you can't do it all by yourself.

Create referral packets and always have your referral material available to hand‑deliver to anyone who is interested. If you have to scramble around at the last minute to assemble these things, your office will appear unprepared and disorganized. And you'll block your capacity for self‑promotion and sabotage your own attempts to expand your practice patient volume.

Preparedness is the name of the game with referrals. Let me use one of our products as an example. I pointed out before when discussing proactive referral strategies, a 10‑1 return can be expected from our "Raisin' Packets." In other words, for every 10 pre‑prepared packets successfully handed out, you can expect to earn one new patient. If the aim is enrollment of 10 new patients, then staff needs to prepare 100 of these packets in advance ‑‑ 250 for 25 new patients, 500 packets if 50 new patients are sought.

Chiropractors are continually amazed at how these marketing statistics hold true. Don't hesitate to test the waters. Prepare yourself today and expect referrals, referrals, and more referrals tomorrow.

(Dr. Eric Plasker is a licensed chiropractor and founder of The Family Practice chiropractic coaching and training organization, which provides all the systems, tools and support to build a highly successful and profitable family practice. An internationally known speaker and educator, he is best known for rallying the chiropractic profession around the LCfE [Lifetime Care For Everyone] and Family Practice visions. For a seminar schedule, coaching, training, or product information, call The Family Practice toll‑free at 866‑LEAD‑DCS [532‑3327], ext. 118. Or visit The Family Practice website at www.thefamilypractice.net)