By Sam Martin, MBA

In the book “Small Businesses For Dummies,” authors Eric Tyson and Jim Schell define networking as “the process of connecting with people in order to make good things happen.” We all know that word-of-mouth advertising is the most cost-effective way to grow any business. But it does cost something – your time and your commitment.

Networking has been the key to success in the business world as long as there have been golf courses and restaurants. It would be great if there were such a thing as effortless marketing “homeruns” that cost little money and took little effort. But if that’s what we look for, however, what we usually experience instead are “costly strikeouts.”

All is not lost, though. If you commit your efforts to networking in your community, you will receive a steady flow of extra base hits that will produce “runs” – or a steady flow of new patients.

This is an activity that should be implemented by every office, whether it has been open for 20 years, 10 years or one day.

The following four action steps can help you expand your referral bases three-fold by creating a snowball effect of new patients:

Start with people you know. Make a list of contact people. This could be attorneys, medical professionals, people of influence (political influence), business people, Chamber of Commerce members, social contacts, patients, and anybody you know who knows other people.

Explain to them the services you provide in your clinic and in the comm unity. If you offer any community services, you need to begin publicizing them. These services could be screenings, health fairs, lectures, industrial tours, worksite assessments, charitable events, and so on.

After explaining these services, you will ask one simple question, “Do you know anyone who could benefit from any of these services?” The idea is to get three to five names from each person. Many people will tell you they will talk to their contacts on your behalf. Do not leave it at that.

Use this statement; “I don’t want you to do that, because I don’t want your friend to feel obligated because of your relationship.”

Make contact. Make sure you drop names. “The reason I am calling is because your friend Bob and I were talking yesterday about some exciting things in our office and he thought of you.”

Then you can schedule a time to meet to discuss your services. Whether you schedule an event with the prospective patient or not, you want to use the same referral statement to get more names.

If the contact does not appear to be immediately interested in your services, don’t tuck your head and walk away, and don’t get upset. Instead, ask the person: “Do you know anyone else who might benefit from these services?”

This form of marketing works best when you are speaking face-to-face. It is easy to say “no” on the phone, but it is difficult to say “no” when you are shaking someone’s hand.
Get letters of recommendation. When you are planning events, be sure to get some letters of recommendation that tell of the wonderful services you provide. You should be sure to get your patients’ permission in writing to use these letters for marketing purposes.

Keep a log. Log all contact names and conversations, and any relevant information that could help you later. If contacts from certain people are successful, you will want to periodically go back to ask those people for more names. Be sure you thank them for their help.
Let’s walk through a situation that might help drive these points home. If you know an attorney who refers personal injury cases to you, there is no reason that attorney should not become a referral source for other types of patients.

Set up a meeting with the attorney and go through your normal P.I. routine; or if it’s a new contact, go through the basic P.I. information. At the close of the meeting, simply tell the attorney of the services you provide in the community.

“I want to tell you about these services and get your opinion about them.” Explain the services and ask the attorney what he or she thinks of them. The attorney will probably make some type of positive statement about your services, even if it is a token statement.

When the attorney agrees these are good services to provide, ask for the names of three to five people who could benefit from your services. Attorneys are men and women with a lot of influence in the community who will have contacts with other people of influence. Contact the people the attorney recommends, and let them know you were eating lunch with their attorney friend Joe, and he gave you their name as a contact because he was impressed with the services you provide and thought they might be interested.

This same process will work with anyone. If you work with medical doctors, their contacts can provide many more medical referrals. Contact these doctors and tell them you value their opinions, and as your practice continues to grow, you are finding the need to refer to more specialists. Because you value their opinions, you want to know whom they recommend.

You can name specialties and let them respond. “What podiatrists, internists, gynecologists, etc., do you recommend?” They will have a network of referral sources, and your goal is to become a part of that network.
Armed with this information, you now do not have to cold-call the medical doctors. You have a reason for calling when the receptionist screens your call. “I am calling because Dr. Smith recommended that I refer my patients to your doctor, but I would like to meet the doctor first.” This will get you a call back or you will be put through.

This procedure even works without leaving your office or picking up a phone. It is called the “Proxy Consultation.” You simply ask patients who have responded well to treatment to refer their friends and family to you.
Here is a statement that makes this conversation easy to begin: “I am glad you are enjoying the benefits of chiropractic care. Do you know anyone who has health problems who might also benefit?” Then be quiet and let the patient name someone. Encourage the patient to get the person in for an appointment. Write this name on the treatment card or file folder and periodically ask about the person, and chances are good that you’ll end up with another new patient.

If you belong to a local networking group, get as much mileage as possible from the opportunity. Try this at your next meeting. When you give your two-minute introduction to your clinic, hand out a referral form that gives other members the opportunity to give you the names of five people they know who could benefit from your services. If there are 10 other people present, you have the potential of leaving with the names and phone numbers of 50 people as direct referrals to you. If you want to see a steady growth in your practice, without a steady increase in your overhead, then begin this process of connecting with people in order to make good things happen.

Mr. Martin holds a master’s degree in business administration and serves as a consultant to Kats Management. He can be reached at 800-843-9162; info@katsmanagement.com; or sign on to www.katsmanagement.com.