Not Just for Health Professionals
This post was initially written for my chiropractic clients, but I have since realised that it applies to most businesses. Don’t assume that your clients and prospects are familiar with all the services you provide, or understand their applications fully. I’d be willing to bet you are missing out on opportunities to serve them if you do!
I’m not a Chiropractor (obviously) but I am reasonably well-informed about the range of conditions chiropractors can alleviate. However, I only learned about Functional Neurology on a recent visit to my chiropractor. This is hugely exciting to me, because I know someone whose life this could transform, but I’d never heard of it before.
This led me to wonder how many of your patients come to you for one problem and have others which you could also alleviate, but which they don’t think of asking about, OR know people with different problems which are not normally thought of as being within the sphere of chiropractic treatment, but whom you could help?
Dangerous Assumptions About Your Patients and Clients
Sometime we make assumptions about what our patients (and clients) know, simply because we are so familiar with our own business. We need to remember that they are coming to us because we know something that they do not.
I once heard a story about printer who had been printing a certain company’s newsletters for many years. One day the owner of the client company showed up with a copy of his company’s glossy catalogue to show the printer.
“I thought you might like to see this.” he said.
“Nice job. Who printed it?” asked the printer.
“We started printing it a few years ago when a salesman from X came by and showed us a model.” said the client.
“Did you know we print catalogues like that?” asked the printer.
“Do you! I wish I’d known.”
Don’t ever assume, that just because you are aware of all the aspects of service you provide, that your clients are as well!
How many children are having unnecessary tonsillectomies, adenoidectomies and ear-tubes put in, when they could be helped by a series of chiropractic treatments? I’m sure that you can think of many more examples than I can of chronic conditions which could be alleviated or cured by your ministrations.
But what are you doing to get that message out? Could you do more?
The Fine Line Between Sales and Service
Yes, I am thinking of this from the perspective of marketing your services, but I am also thinking in terms of helping people find greater well-being, and live fuller lives. Selling your services is not just a question of making more money, but of bringing healing to those who would not otherwise experience it.
So, I challenge you to think about how you can educate your own patients about applications of chiropractic treatment beyond sore necks and backs, to better general health, and the alleviation of specific problems. You can do this through seminars, through newsletters, through a blog on your website, through books and leaflets in your waiting room (maybe replace some of your magazines with educational materials so that waiting patients think about these things and come into see you with questions) and through other channels, but your purpose is to educate and inform the general public of the potential of chiropractic treatment beyond the standard range of ideas that people have.
If you were to brainstorm the range of conditions for which chiropractic treatment has a proven record, how many would you come up with? A survey of my acquaintance revealed two groups – a large group of those who said it helped cure/alleviate 2-3 conditions (primarily necks and backs), and a smaller group who named 6-10 conditions it might be helpful for. My point is that there is a huge untapped pool of potential patients who might be searching desperately for solutions to major problems, but who have never even considered that a chiropractor might be able to help them.
I am not suggesting that chiropractics is a miracle cure for every problem, but if it is seriously under-considered in areas where it can transform people’s life then it should be part of your mission to educate people about it. The internet is an easy way of sharing your knowledge with people so that they can find it. It also has the advantage of not taking a tremendous amount of time to start getting it out there. You can post it in snippets, and add to it regularly. Including snippets in your practice newsletter is another way of informing your patients and has the benefit of being printed so that they can share it easily.
As time goes by you can also collate these pieces into a small book or booklet which you can distribute at seminars or hand out to new patients. This way, you are not only giving them a chance to learn more about the range of conditions you might be able to help them with, but also providing them with a useful way of promoting your services to their family and friends.
Putting things in print adds to your authority and helps you to stand out as an expert. If you are the recognised expert in a particular field then you will never lack for patients who need treatment for that particular problem – and a healthy practice is good for both you and your patients.