February 2007

I built my huge practice... by attending seminars

by Dr. Peter Fernandez

I guess you could call me a "seminar junkie" ... and I'm proud of it! I attended at least two seminars each month during my more than 20 years of active practice. I learned as much as I possibly could about how to heal sick people, and how to manage and build my practice. By attending seminars and learning from other doctors' successes, I avoided the "doing it on my own" mistakes, which not only saved me valuable time and money, but allowed me to learn a whole lot more in a lot less time. I'm a big believer in "buying knowledge," that learning by trial and error is a total waste of time and money.

Most DCs attend seminars and learn a tremendous amount from them. They take this new knowledge and use it in their practices. These DCs acquire a whole kit of effective techniques and the skills to use them, but their patients and community don't know what they've learned. The difference between these DCs and me is that I made sure the world was aware of every new practice skill I acquired. I not only used the information I learned at the seminars, I also used the seminars to help me promote and build my practice.

Here's what I did to turn my post‑graduate education into marketing opportunities. These procedures can do the same for you, and you'll have fun using them to build your practice.

Marketing your post‑grad seminars

Rule #1. Send a monthly calendar to each of your patients letting them know what your practice activities are for that month. When you're going to attend a seminar, put on the calendar ‑‑ "Dr. Fernandez will be in Houston, TX at the Texas Spine Institute studying the diagnosis and treatment of whiplash injuries. The instructor is Dr. Joe Smith, world famous orthopedic specialist who teaches at Texas Medical College." When my patients received my calendar, they would immediately want an appointment before I left for the seminar.

Rule #2. Place an announcement regarding your upcoming seminar on your reception room bulletin board, i.e., "Dr. Fernandez will be out of the office from March 1 through March 5, attending a post‑graduate seminar in St. Louis, Missouri at the famous Logan Chiropractic College. Dr. Joe Brown, the college's neurology instructor, will be teaching the "Diagnosis and Treatment of Neck, Shoulder and Arm Pain." This is the institution that Dr. Fernandez graduated from and where he does most of his post‑graduate studies."

Rule #3. If you have a newsletter that you send out to your patients on a monthly or bi‑monthly basis, feature the seminars you'll be attending, and the important "who, what, where" information. Also use your newsletter to report an "after the seminar" story.

Rule #4. Verbally tell your patients when you're going out of town to attend a seminar on a specific subject, who the instructor is, what college the instructor teaches at, what you are going to be learning, etc. And, when you return to the office after attending the seminar, tell your patients what you learned and the additional health problems you'll now be able to help.

Patient newsletters or verbal announcements not only motivate patients to call in and fill up your week prior to the seminar with appointments, they also tell your patients that you're dedicated to learning and providing the best patient care possible. This show of professional commitment is a superb patient confidence builder, which is directly reflected in the number of referrals you'll receive from patients, and how closely patients will follow your prescribed treatment plans.

Rule #5. When you attend seminars, network with all the other attending doctors. All of you share a common interest ‑‑ to learn how to fix the same problems. The more doctors know who you are, where you are, and that you're practicing the same specialty they are, the more referrals you'll receive from these doctors. On the average, I received 200 to 300 referrals a year from doctors I met at my post‑graduate seminars.

Rule #6. Immediately after attending a seminar, send out a "blizzard" of news leases to your daily and weekly newspapers, to your local radio and TV stations, to all medical doctors and attorneys in your town, and to all your patients that you can reach via e‑mail and/or a fax broadcasting program.

It's amazing how our minds lean toward "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" concept when it comes to designating someone a "better" expert. Amazing but true, most of the people in your community will regard an instructor from outside your community as more of an expert than someone within it. These news releases often generate requests for interviews on what you learned at these post‑graduate courses.

Remember to feature the speakers at the seminars, what they're teaching, and the institutions they represent. Do not feature yourself.

Still not sure about this program? How does enough referrals from patients and others in your community to fill you up and five associates at the same time sound? That's what it did for my practice. In fact, this program has worked for thousands of doctors I've consulted with. It can also work for you!

(Dr. Peter G. Fernandez, a Logan College graduate, is past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association, and past chairman of the Chiropractic Knights of the Roundtable, an organization of the world's most successful chiropractors. His practice with five staff chiropractors and 12 satellite offices was one of the largest all‑referral, high‑income chiropractic clinics on the US. A practice consultant for the last 27 years, he has consulted with approximately 5,000 DCs and in the opening of more than 3,000 new practices. Visit Dr. Fernandez online at www.DrFernnadez .com and be sure to sign up for his FREE newsletter. He can be reached by calling Fernandez Consulting, 800‑882‑4476 or via e‑mail: DrPete@DrFernandez.com.)