I still have two major massage deals (one a massage/chiro combination) set to run sometime [...]]]> Ok, I think most chiropractors know about Groupon, Living Social, BuyWithMe, and a bunch of other deal of the day websites by now. 2011 can pretty much be viewed as “The Year of the Deal of the Day.”

I still have two major massage deals (one a massage/chiro combination) set to run sometime next month with Groupon and Living Social. I set them up two months ago; it takes a while for massage deals to be broadcast due to the back up of these offers (the sites don’t like to run too many similar deals, as they fear it would hurt their merchant advertisers, but it is a mute point since other sites churn these deals out, too).

My take? The DOD rage is flattening out already. Merchants, especially restaurants, are finding that the DOD customer is not returning and paying full price, which is the whole point of doing these things since you don’t make much, if any, revenue from them, just a surge of new customers. They are hopping from site to site, buying DOD after DOD. They can sustain this because merchants are signing up with multiple sites. In other words, on ANY day, you can find a 50% off one hour massage in your area on one or even more of these DOD sites.

Have you run a deal of the day offer? I would like for readers to post their experience in the comment section. If you have, please share your thoughts.

Dr. Dan

It appears to be some kind of chiropractic franchise or group (if anyone has the time to check it out, [...]]]> One of the core principles of the Chiropractic Rescue Plan is to think outside the box and re-invent yourself.    Here’s something I ran across that I want to share with my readers that exemplifies this.

It appears to be some kind of chiropractic franchise or group (if anyone has the time to check it out, or knows about this please comment on what you know).  They are called the Specific Chiropractic Center and focus on upper cervical technique.  And surprisingly, they (each regional office) host a “Ladies Night of Indulgence” event.  I find this curious, as I view upper cervical practitioners to be chiropractic “purists.”  But, it’s 2011 and they are being smart by tapping into niche that can complement their main line of service.

I don’t know if these chiropractors offer some types of spa services in their office, which is something I myself do (see my EndermoCash system).  What they are probably doing is reaching out to nearby spas and massage centers and inviting the owners to sign up for a booth and provide free samples of their service (facials, pedicures, manicures, skincare products, etc.), and then promoting the event to their contact list via email, direct mail and social media and encouraging the spa owners to do the same to their lists.  Then of course, the chiropractors have their own  table, and may even give a presentation at the event since they are the sponsors, signing up a bunch of new patients.

If I am correct, this is a really good idea.  Women in general make better chiropractic patients because it’s well known that they tend to take care of themselves better than men.  This marketing technique is a “real world” version of two, major internet marketing techniques:  link building and integration marketing.    In link building, you draw traffic to a website (increase the # of visitors) by getting incoming links from related websites.   In this case, instead of other websites sending links, the chiropractors are getting actual local businesses to send visitors to their chiropractic business.  The second is called integration marketing, where several, similar businesses share their client list with each other and market to them, making everyone happy.

They even created a separate website for their Ladies Night of Indulgence event; check it out:

http://www.ladiesnightofindulgence.com/

So, hopefully this can get you thinking of ideas of what is needed to get business into your office these days.  Good Luck!

An example of the first kind [...]]]> There are generally two types of marketing:  high cost, low confrontation, low return and low cost, high confrontation, and high return.  What I mean by “confrontation” is the degree to which you leave your “comfort zone;” i.e., sitting on your chair, surfing the net, waiting for something to happen.

An example of the first kind of marketing is placing a display ad in the main section of your city’s newspaper.  The ad rep will convince you to run it daily or weekly for about six months, and it will cost you an arm and a leg.  Your ad will compete with huge ads placed by bigger businesses like Macy’s.   Typically, this type of advertising does not pay for itself.  This is low confrontation (you get to stay in your comfort zone), expensive, and low return.

Can you think of an example of the second kind?  I think you can.  It’s what a lot of us fear, and that is meeting people; strangers really, and talking to them about chiropractic.  When they didn’t even ask you to.  Yikes.  But guess what– all it costs is your time.  And if your schedule has big holes in it that you really need filled, believe me, you have the time.  How many people can you meet in two hours if you were really focused?  A lot.

So, here’s the technique:  Go door to door in your neighborhood and take a survey.  Choose neighborhoods that are within 2-3 miles of your office.  Ask people if you can borrow three minutes of their time to take a survey.  First tell them you are a chiropractor and your office is down the road from them, and are working on putting together your community outreach program.  Ask them what medium they use when choosing services:  TV, radio, newspaper, street signage, referral from friend, or internet search.  Then, ask them which health issues are a concern to them or members in the household:  back pain, neck pain, headaches, extremity pain, weight loss.  Then, thank the person for her time, and before you leave for the next house, say “because you took the time to take this survey, I want to leave you with a coupon for a Free initial visit at my office.  It will be good until (then write the expiration date on the coupon in front of her).”   Make sure your coupon looks nice and professional.  If you really want to be aggressive, and you made rapport with the person, ask her if she has any health questions for you.  If she starts talking about pain, let her talk and then tell her she should make an appointment.  Then, either make the appointment on the spot or tell her you will call her to set it up after you check your schedule.

That’s it!  The biggest thing keeping people from visiting a new chiropractor is the unknown.  But with this technique, you get to make a face to face impression.  They are now familiar with you.  Familiarity is a good thing.  That’s why major corporations spend millions on branding.  So, when the time comes when these people you meet experience neck or back pain, guess who will come to mind first?  You!

It’s a numbers game, so you’ll need to do this at least a couple times a week, 2-3 hours each time.  Do it for a couple of months.  There is no faster way to increase your patient visits.

You spent a lot of time and money to acquire all those patients.  And, those files are taking [...]]]> Dear fellow chiropractors, are you doing enough with your inactive files?  Are you convinced that these people are never going to come back to your office so it’s not worth your time to try to contact them?

You spent a lot of time and money to acquire all those patients.  And, those files are taking up space in your office.  You need to “squeeze” some money out of these files, especially during these times.

Here’s what you do:  you hire someone to call them (go through your inactive files yourself first and filter out the ones you don’t want contacted).  The phone script is simple.  Have your marketer say something like:

“Hi, this is Debbie calling from Dr. Jones’ chiropractic office.   It’s been __ months/years since you were last in to see us, and Dr. Jones wanted to check in and see how you are currently doing.”

From there, she is likely to  get all kinds of responses, such as

• I’m ok, thanks for calling
• Oh, we moved away last year…
• I’ve been so busy and I know I need to get in…
• My insurance changed, do you take___?

and others.  Make sure to give your marketer specific instructions on how to steer the patient to make an appointment.  The best way is to ask leading questions that convince them that they need to come in, and make it easy for the patient to come in (flexible days, hours, no waiting, etc.).

Just post an ad in Craigslist for a part-time telemarketer.  The person should have a good phone voice and confidence.

As an alternative, you could have this person prepare direct mail to go to these patients:  Sign the letters, stuff them in the envelopes, hand-address them, affix stamp, and take to the post office.

You can go bonkers and have the marketer do BOTH– send the letter to warm up the caller, then call three days later.

This can be very effective when done right.