I f you're like most other chiropractors, keeping a steady stream of new patients coming through your doors is an essential, but often challenging, aspect of your practice building responsibilities. How you approach the necessary task of promoting your practice will often predict the outcome. For many in our profession, booth events and screenings are popular methods for increasing practice visibility and meeting prospective patients. But, when it comes to maximizing the potential of off-site events, many doctors end up disappointed. It's these failed efforts that frequently cause them to "shoot the messenger" and label screenings as undesirable. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Face-to-face, personal encounters will yield more new patients per marketing dollar spent than most other advertising. And booth events aren't just summer festival fare. If you're doing your event planning homework, you'll find a good assortment of promotional opportunities in your community throughout the year. Networking with local clubs, agencies, organizations, businesses, and chambers of commerce will eventually produce more events than you need. Be willing to "test-drive" new venues and avoid making assumptions about events you've never tried. Overtime, you will identify the best activities for promoting your particular practice. But, today's spinal screening still needs to capture the attention and meet the needs of an evolving health care consumer. Presenting your practice effectively and credibly requires a new event blueprint. If you want to compete favorably, last minute planning and yesterday's booth presentation just aren't going to work. "In my opinion, chiropractic will sell itself, if people just understand it," says Joanie Schneider, St. Charles, Missouri. "One of the best ways to help people find the health care they are looking for is to bring it to them." Schneider should know, since her business is promoting chiropractic practices through booth events and spinal screenings. After eight years of taking shows on the road for chiropractors throughout the United States and Canada, she has some valuable advice for new and seasoned practitioners, alike. "People want what we have to offer them, they just don't know it. For that reason alone, doctors should be thinking about spinal screenings as a necessary method for getting their message to the public," says Schneider. Plagued by headaches for years, Schneider's own chiropractic success story motivated her to take the message of chiropractic healthcare outside the offices she was managing and out to the community. "My goal became to help people understand what chiropractic is and what it can do for them." Her mission became method for doctors across the country. A firm believer in projecting a "helping" rather than "selling" attitude at public events, Schneider focuses on education, information, and confidence as the foundation for successful encounters with potential new patients. "Doctors need to be assertive about the value of their services," says Schneider. "Be sincere, genuine, and speak to each person's individual need without relying on scripts. Your integrity and your confidence in what you do are key elements for positive interactions with the public." But there's more to consider. Attracting people to your booth and setting the mood for positive outcomes takes planning and effort. Every aspect of your personal appearance and booth presentation is an expression of your practice and the quality of your services. Make every detail count, and be sure your image outside the office is consistent with your practice identity. According to Schneider, "Public events are your opportunity to elevate the image of chiropractic, and your practice, by presenting yourself with professionalism and class. Leave the card tables behind and get a trade-show style booth and display. Today, people are looking for a quality presentation, credible information, and a progressive image. And technology should be part that new image." Technology: Choosing the Right Tools Schneider's mission to help people understand what cliiropractic has to offer has driven her focus on education, and she sees it as the glue that holds a screening together. When people understand why, the solution becomes clear. "I noticed a large shift in public response at screenings when I started using instrumentation," says Schneider. "Technology offers a visual way for people to understand subluxation and spinal function. The difference was so dramatic that I never do screenings anymore without computer technology on board." But choosing the right equipment is important. "I've used a variety of computer-based systems, both for screenings and for re-evaluating patients in office settings," says Schneider. "Before you buy, carefully evaluate features. SCREENING SUCCESS TIPS 0 Plan ahead. Be prepared 0 Go for the trade-show look 0 Dress to impress 0 Include technology 0 Emphasize education 0 Ask before you tell 0 Personalize your information 0 Try to "help," not "sell" 0 Ask open-ended questions 0 Focus on quality services 0 Consult experts when needed 0 Work that booth! Be sure the equipment you choose will make the transition from office applications to field use with equal effectiveness and convenience. "Make sure the programs are user-friendly and fast. People don't want to wait while you try to get the next screen to come up. Look for credible, reproducible readings and clear, appealing graphics. And don't overlook the importance of reliability, service, and technical support. It won't do you any good to be demonstrating technology that doesn't work. Choose equipment that offers you the flexibility to buy the features you need now, adding other components as you go along. You can't overcome poor programming or flawed equipment design with a lot of add-ons that you won't use." Schneider's personal choice is surface electromyography (sEMG). Since her success is measured by outcomes, helping doctors build every advantage into their events is crucial. "It's essential to have superior screening technology today," says Schneider, "especially when you give up your weekend to promote your practice and impress the community." Mobile, computer-based technology has provided a new set of tools for helping doctors introduce the big picture of chiropractic to the public. Many chiropractors today are more focused on communicating prevention and wellness to prospective patients, but have difficulty moving beyond the public's pain-based perceptions about chiropractic care. SEMG allows doctors to help patients understand the early signs of spinal dysfunction and to look to chiropractic for preventive benefits, instead of waiting for the manifest signs of a severe problem. For more successful screenings, always conduct your spinal evaluations with your guests in a standing position to reduce the "fear of commitment" associated with seated transactions. People prefer the control and mobility they maintain while standing, and research has shown that sEMG results are more accurate when performed in a weight-bearing posture. You should also consider the larger health and medical environment your booth visitors have experienced. Managed care has helped create a new health care consumer looking for personalized service that doesn't feel like an assembly line. A team of screening assistants all reciting the same dialogues, and overly mechanical booth routines, can be remi- niscent of exactly what they would like to avoid. Look for ways to make a personal connection with each individual guest. By asking open-ended questions, you can strategically identify needs and interests pertinent to each visitor that you can address in a personal way. Don't think that your show is all about chiropractic. Your audience may be viewing your overall presentation from a much broader perspective. Providing exceptional service before, during, and after the sale (or event) is an immutable success principle. High service standards also communicate to prospective patients on a level they can understand better than chiropractic proficiency. Potential patients can more readily assume that a practice that demonstrates high quality business operations will also provide quality care, and they will rarely believe that a poor business person is also a superior doctor. Your advantage in a competitive health care market is making sure every detail before, during, and after your event is of the highest quality and conveys complete professionalism. Announcements, literature, hand-outs, incentives, promotional items, post-event mailings, and all communications with patients should reinforce that message. If you're still working up your courage to do more screenings, consider this: Public events can exponentially grow your practice when done consistently and with quality. "Screenings are an essential investment in your practice growth and can rapidly expand your referral base," says Schneider. "While there's no magic bullet for practice success, a good mix of internal and external marketing, done regularly, will help you achieve your practice goals." Patricia Hospy, D.C., is president of The Parian Company, a communication and marketing consulting firm that understands the unique needs of chiropractors and their business environments. Additionally, Dr. Hospy has trained over 1,200 new chiropractors on the essentials of promoting new practices affordably through community visibility. The Parian Company provides consulting services to a broad range of businesses, including Myo Vision. Dr. Hospy can be reached at 650-557-0071 or visit their web site at www.pariancompany. com. Ms. Schneider can be reached at 636-44 7-8707 or bv e-mail atJRSJAS777(a)aol.com.
