January 2008

Going good to great in 2008

by Dr. CJ Mertz

My commitment to every chiropractor who follows me this year is record‑breaking growth. I can be confident of this because 20 years of coaching more than 15,000 chiropractic teams across the globe have proven that good teams produce good results, and great teams produce great results! If you're ready for "better than good," then records are about to be broken.

BJ taught us the principles of chiropractic are either 100% right or 100% wrong. If this is true, the power that made our bodies heals our bodies from "above, down and inside out." 100% intelligence plus 100% force through 100% matter, equals 100% life. Does that sound good or great to you?!

The way to get quickly on track with record‑breaking growth this year is to start over again. I don't mean literally start over from scratch. Instead, start from a completely "re‑thought through" point of view. While good thinking produces good results, it also produces ruts that you can fall into that obstruct your vision. The first step is to ask yourself the right questions that can help you determine whether or not you're in a rut.

Sometimes what feels like a rut is just a slump. You need to know the difference if you're going to spring board into breaking records this year. A slump comes from a lack of focus or confidence ‑‑ or both. Perhaps interests outside of your practice have become a distraction. Maybe a change in personnel has thrown you a curve ball. Nevertheless, you have the right things for the next level in growth. Reassume command of your ship, reset your goals and remember...you save lives for a living.

A rut, on the other hand, is different. The worst thing you can do is to keep doing what you've been doing. A "re‑thought through" point of view means some, much or all of your practice service and growth strategies have become obsolete. You don't need motivation, you need renovation!

Ask yourself these questions:

***  Do the majority of patients who start care with you continue care with you for at least two to three years?

***  Do you pay out growth bonuses to your team at least once per quarter on average?

***  Do you still look in the mail for insurance checks to pay your bills (versus collecting more than enough cash to cover all your overhead)?

***  Do you have at least two patients every day, who come in for an adjustment and give you the name of someone they want to refer to your practice?

***  Does your team spend an inordinate amount of time "chasing" or trying to follow‑up with missed visits or rescheduled visits?

When you allow yourself to honestly answer the right questions, your growth is able to regain momentum instantly.

Look back 12 months in your patient log book, and observe how many new patients who started with you then are still under your regular care now. Then, evaluate your system and ask yourself whether or not you're starting new patients today pretty much as you did then. If the answer is "yes," your results are going to be exactly the same!

While most consultants would have you begin making all kinds of changes with your current patients first, that's the wrong approach! You want to make radical changes in the way you start your next new patient and slow changes to your current base of patients. Practice growth is a science. When you follow the principle of chiropractic, sick people get well ‑‑ and stay well for life.

If you feel at times that you're being left with no other choice than to try to "re‑invent the wheel" and make‑up your own practice and patient management system, don't feel alone. This is the biggest dilemma facing the field of chiropractic today. Most DCs are using a hodgepodge of things they've picked up from here and there and have little idea what to do with now. Yet, record‑breaking growth is still in your sights for this year because chiropractic works. It always works. All you need is to be shown how to get out of your own way. More chiropractors in our program broke more practice records last year than ever before. Why? Because they made practice growth as easy as getting sick people well.

Every one of us made some sort of New Years Resolution to increase practice and help more people. Position yourself today to be one of the teams this year to be awarded as a record‑breaker in practice. Ask the tough questions. Contemplate the answers. Know if you are in a rut or not. Either way, there's no lasting value in doing it by yourself. Call me and we'll work out the kinks together.

(Dr. CJ Mertz is the founder and head coach of the prestigious Waiting List Practice chiropractic training organization. See the WLP 300 patient per week opportunity on the back page of this issue. For seminar tickets and information on WLP coaching services, please call The Waiting List Practice at 877‑TEAM‑WLP).