How Co-ops and Joint Marketing Can Change the Chiropractic Profession

By Timothy J. Gay, DC

When was the last time you sat down with a colleague and discussed marketing issues, statistical analysis, or just general events that are going on in each of your practices? By “colleague,” I mean someone who might practice across town or right across the street from you - someone you may even view as a “competitor.”

Traditionally, members of the chiropractic profession have looked upon friendships with our colleagues as important stepping stones in our lives. We look to peers as people we can compare notes with, people we can talk to, people we can make differences with, people who carry the same “flag” we do.

The doctor across the street whom you may view as a competitor could also be one of those people. He or she could be an “untapped” colleague, whether you know it yet or not.
Unfortunately, when another chiropractor is within our marketing “radius,” we tend to automatically think of each other as competitors - both fighting for that new patient. Wouldn’t it be easier to work together to educate all the potential patients out there about chiropractic, a person at a time - for the benefit of every chiropractor’s practice?

These types of differences are not true of every health-care profession. However, some of the difference lies in the way information is distributed to the public. For example, medical doctors receive the equivalent of millions of dollars in free advertising every year (i.e.,“nine out of 10 doctors recommend this product”; “if this drug isn’t working for you, call your doctor”; and doctors appearing frequently on television shows). These are marketing opportunities even though they are subtle.

Many chiropractors have taken the stand that we are all in our own little “provinces.” We have grown into singular groups, with the mind set that our marketing and advertising should be for singular purposes (only for our clinic, only to recruit new patients for our own practices). What we really need is a unified group (or groups) that create cooperative marketing for a cooperative purpose to foster greater public awareness.

This movement could be started on a grassroots level. You could begin by calling your nearby colleagues to put together a regional education and marketing program. You’ll have the advantage of being able to put more money into a program, collectively, while costing each of you less than singular marketing. You’ll also have a greater reach with this type of program, since you will have more resources for marketing and advertising.

Cooperative marketing strategies simply make sense - the more people you have in a co-op, the more you’ll be able to bargain, negotiate, and buy with power.
The competition levels are growing in the chiropractic profession, as well as in other health-care professions. As torch-bearers for the chiropractic profession, we need to take a stand by dropping our swords and armor against each other. We need to do this for the people who really need us - our potential patients, specifically the ones who have never received chiropractic care.

An example of the current competitive mind set within chiropractic can be seen at a venue where spinal screenings are offered. It is not uncommon to see seven to 10 chiropractic booths at one venue, all of which have no continuity and no standardization. We need to step up to the plate, stop competing against each other, and become colleagues rather than competitors. With spinal screenings, this would mean that colleagues would collaborate, in order to make a sign of unity for the public. If these doctors got together at one venue, they could present an extremely professional-looking booth with many doctors working together for the good of the profession.

Regrettably, healthcare today has become a numbers game. In order to have more patients in your practice, it is important to have more patients coming through your doors. This can be challenging with the tight economy. The reason some members of the public still think that chiropractic is not necessarily what they want or need is because we still need to educate them.

Chiropractors are the best people to educate the public about chiropractic. It is important to realize that joining forces with colleagues can make a significant difference as to how the patients see your office, how they will be treated, and how the patients are recruited. With a strong co-op, when a patient comes to your office, it could likely be through a variety of cooperative marketing and advertising efforts, organized by as many as 10 to 20 chiropractors in a region or area.

Districting has become a popular way to create co-op marketing. In this model, each district in a particular area works together to create a marketing program to help educate and create chiropractic information for potential patients.

Public awareness is at an all-time high for healthcare. All we need to do is provide a good service, provide an excellent image, and create awareness through unified marketing and advertising efforts. More than ever, chiropractic needs to come together as a health-care profession. We need to educate the doctors coming out of chiropractic college. They need to know this profession does not have to be a dog-eat-dog situation, but one of an allied front that will continue to bring about a paradigm shift in healthcare, including a focus on holistic and preventive care.

If we continue to stay on our “islands,” we are not serving our profession to the best of our abilities. The time is now to create co-op marketing and brain trusts within our areas with our colleagues who want to participate. Those who do not participate will observe the shift taking place but will be left behind.

Dr. Gay was voted “Chiropractor of the Year” twice during his 23-year career as a chiropractor in Washington state. He is now a national speaker and president of Ultimate Practice Systems. He can be reached at 866-797-8366; drtgay@aol.com; or through the company’s website at www.ultimatepracticesystems.com