February 2008

Spinal stress screenings ‑‑ your tool for success

by Dr. Phillip Golinsky

When I first got out of chiropractic college in 1995, I was eager to open up a practice. Within six months of graduation, I had an office space and was ready to roll. All I needed was a sexy and sleek marketing campaign to build my numbers. I wasn't aware of any such campaigns, nor did I have the funds to finance programs like "Free Reports of headache, neck pain, Carpal Tunnel," PI campaigns, decompression campaigns, etc. A friend of mine finally showed me a way to boost my numbers with no marketing budget at all. His program was very simple: conduct spinal stress screenings.

With certainty, spinal screenings have been the cornerstone of many chiropractic offices worldwide. Spinal screenings have lasted and been utilized for decades, while other campaigns have come and gone, returned to popularity, then faded once again. Spinal stress screenings are the best way for a chiropractor to bring new patients into the office.

In fact, I would venture to say that advertising by conducting spinal stress screenings rivals word‑of‑mouth advertising for the easiest way to get new patients. This is because when conducting a spinal stress exam, you get to spend one‑on‑one time with each potential patient. Isn't that the goal of all the other advertising campaigns out there? You advertise in papers and phone directories, do phone campaigns and send newsletters to get patients to meet with you one‑on‑one so you can show them why chiropractic care is right for them. Why not skip the middle step and go right to the one‑on‑one meeting?

The marketing I've relied on to build an almost million dollar practice has been spinal screenings solely in corporations. One of the greatest advantages I now have is that I can screen new potential patients. Do you really want to tackle the person's barrier whose first statement is that he or she can't afford care and has no insurance? When I'm doing events, while people are sizing me up and feeling me out to see whether they're interested in coming in to see me, I'm doing the same thing. If I don't think the person I'm interviewing or talking to is a good candidate for my office, I give the individual my card and tell him or her to call me. They never do, but it's a graceful way to move on to the next person without being rude. However, if I do think I can be of great service to the person I'm interacting with, I suggest the individual come into my office and allow me to see if chiropractic might help with the problem he or she presented with.

Remember, I'm doing between 30 and 40 events every year, so I admit that I cherry pick. I select the most eager, easiest to help people. Each one of these events I do in corporate America will give me about the same number of people that one whole weekend would at the county festival. The difference is that my event takes three hours.

I can promise you one thing. Spinal screenings have been a foundation for decades to building chiropractic offices all over America. The unique step I've taken is that now I do spinal screenings at health fairs, or on "stress days" on location of nearby job sites.

Next time, I'll be talking about the first visit and soon after, the second visit/game plan. These first three encounters with the people who will become your patients set up your eventual success or failure in practice.

(Contact Dr. Golinsky's staff at 800‑996‑6031 or visit www.corpwellnessevents.com  to learn more about spinal stress screenings or discuss this article.)