New article published regarding chiropractors and the credit crunch

Exert below:

......As a healthcare profession though, chiropractic is well positioned. Anyone with a spine is a potential customer so, Tax Inspectors aside, there is a population of 60m people ready to become your clients. And chiropractic is still in its infancy in the UK,  with still only around 2,500 registered GCC members, that's an opportunity to build your patient list from an average 24,000 people.

So where's the problem?......

Visit the website for the full report

To follow soon - Our 5 recession busters

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Many chiropractors are starting to realise that having a good website is a MUST now a days with everyone using the Internet as a means of finding information and booking their various appointments, whether that be holidays, business trips etc ..... and now even chiropractic treatments!

For those chiropractors with a website it appears there are two types on the web; one being the "brochure" site constructed of clinic contact details, meet the team (if you are lucky!) and a bit about the benefits of chiropractic. The second type is a fully functional marketing tool, where the viewers can book their appointments, they can refer a friend and be entered into a prize draw and they can sign up to a monthly newsletter, to mention a few. I can safely say there are not many chiropractors with the second type of website! AND, there are also still a vast number of clinic owners though who don't have any website at all !

If you do have a website or may now be realising perhaps you should have one, these are a few tips we think are important:

* The Meet the Team section is very important......and include photos, maybe a team photo as well as individuals. Most members of the public when deciding on choosing to book a meeting for the first time want to see that you look pleasant and friendly. Include the team photo on the home page if possible as this will help to breakdown the first barrier between you and a new patient.

* Put some special offers on your website to encourage people to book online. This will get word about as well as people are likely to mention it to their friends

* Make sure you get some testimonials from your existing patients and publish these online to give your practice some credibility

* If you can have a booking form where patients can select a suitable date and time for an appointment. This is an efficient way of managing the practice appointment diary as the practice manager can check the time slot is available and make contact with the new / existing patient to confirm.

* Look into paying for a good website designer to get your branding and website looking slick and attractive. We can recommend a couple of people who work on our website who are fairly priced and we think do an excellent job. If your budget allows, consider some website optimisation (again we can recommend someone) as this will ensure that when people search for a chiropractic clinic in your area that they will be able to find your website.

Hope this has been useful tips for starting to market online.

 

continued from yesterday.....

So what are systems? And why are they important?

Imagine that for years a patient comes to see you and likes coming to your practice because he / she likes your personality, the way they are welcomed by the front-desk team, the way you all know about their family, their pet dog, where they work.......etc .......

Lets then say you decide to employ an associate or a new practice manager and they don't then welcome that patient in the same way and they don't know all their personal details or they have a different style with people. That patient is then going to start to feel uneasy......its true, as humans we don't like change! And it is also true that we like to be treated in the same way every time we visit somewhere - it is predictable and safe.

Therefore, systems come into place to ensure that you, your associates, your practice manager and your whole team ALL operate in the same way. And, to ensure that if one of your team is unavailable (including you), the patients will have the same great experience dealing with someone else. It releases you from having to always be working "in" your business and gives you freedom to realise your personal goals in life whilst still earning an income.

Practical suggestions:

* Write procedure notes for everything! How to answer the phone, how a patient is welcomed into the practice, when they receive certain documents, when they pay, how they pay.... the list goes on. This needs to be updated regularly, referred to regularly and used to train new team members.

* Ensure good team selection when recruiting. Make sure your team "buy in" to your policies and way of thinking

* Don't fear delegation because you think "well someone else cant possibly do this as well as I can..." - it is better that someone else gets it 80% right than you having to be tied to your business, afraid to leave for fear of what may happen when you are gone.

* Invest a little money into good systems for the practice, such as a database. This can store valuable information about a patient (such as how they like their tea made!) so that if that patient visits it is not reliant on the person who knows how that patient likes their tea to be available.  Whoever is on the front desk can simply look it up on the database and say "Good Morning Mr Jones, Dr Smith is going to be a few minutes, can I get you a cup of tea? Milk and 1 sugar isn't it?" .....now ....would that impress you? And make you want to stay and make you want to refer others?

Finally.....

So these are a few suggestions of many. If this subject interests you and you want to find out how you can advance of working on your business not in it please get in touch. We run a number of different workshops (1-1 and group) that may be of interest to you.

If you fancy some further reading on the subject, I can personally recommend The E-Myth by Michael E Gerber

Hope this has been a useful 2 piece entry. More business tips to follow tomorrow.

Many chiropractors when considering owning their own practice, think that they can just set up and continue treating patients all day every day as they have done as an associate. Many don't take into account all the other factors that need to be thought about as a business owner; things like marketing, accounts, staff issues and monitoring the progress of the business.

2 things either will occur : 1) these extra things get forgotten and therefore the business will suffer or 2) these things will get done in the chiropractors own time / evenings and in turn the business is likely to suffer as the person will get worn out. Plus (very importantly)  a business should be a means to achieving your personal goals and I am sure most of you don't consider it a personal goal to work 18 hour days until you are 75!!!

A business owner needs to have certain qualities to be able to succeed. Although many practice owners do still treat patients, a proportion of their working day needs to be allocated to the running of their business. This means stepping away as a "technician" and thinking like an "entrepreneur".

The other thing which is vital to consider....... What if I wasn't here? Would this business fall apart or could it continue to run successfully? This is a major stumbling block for many practice owners as the business relies on them, on their personality and on their knowledge of operations.

Building systems for everything that occurs in the work place is fundamental to the business being able to survive if you are no longer there, whether that be for a holiday or longer term.

to be continued......

 

Like many chiropractic clinics, we are a small business and we grow by word of mouth.

We therefore welcome referrals and work hard to build good relationships with our customers so this comes naturally. However, it is also accepted that small businesses can ask people for referrals ....... but when we suggest this to our clients who have their own practice, many people find it very hard to do this.

Our suggestion: Why not consider putting some chosen wording onto your brochure / website / business cards / letter footers to get this message across. This is one we have provided to chiropractors before:

If you feel we offer a good service that someone else may benefit from, please consider referring us to colleagues, friends or family seeking a chiropractor. Thank you in advance.

If you are keen to build up your practice the quickest, cheapest, easist and most importantly successful way to get new high quality patients is to ask your exisitng patients for a referral. 9/10 people are happy to make referrals but dont always think about it until they are actually asked.

The clients and patients alike that come through from referrals, we find are generally nicer to deal with, stay with you for longer and refer others to keep your practice growing.