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June 2002 Stepping up to the plate There never seems to be a dull moment at Dr. Craig Cook’s Procare Sports Chiropractic offices in San Diego and Encinitas, Calif. Big-name athletes, weekend warriors, and all sorts of patients seeking chiropractic treatment for acute conditions and wellness care come in droves to Cook’s two-office, seven-doctor practice. To keep things even more interesting, Cook also does occupational consulting for Kaiser Permanente, the country’s largest non-profit health maintenance organization. This year, Cook estimates that gross collections for his two offices will reach about $800,000. He’s worked hard to make his businesses visible, both to individuals and to the entire community. Cook has carved out a niche despite fierce competition from chiropractors and other health-care providers in San Diego County. He says there are more than enough patients to go around, and the key is for patients to find the office where they feel there’s a good “fit.” As the team chiropractor for the San Diego Padres, Cook has major league baseball players coming to and fro’ on a regular basis. Interestingly, it was Cook’s treatment of several Padres executives that initially got him in the baseball team’s door. His focus on sports healthcare and sports-related injuries is what led them to make him a “part of the team,” so to speak. By becoming a certified chiropractic sports practitioner, Cook’s niche in the community is with the athletes - from pros to preps to weekend warriors who throw their bodies out of whack playing miniature golf. He has marketed himself as such over the years, using his affiliation with the Padres as a means of promoting himself and elevating his practice. That said, Cook insists one needn’t be the DC for a professional team to gain credibility in the local athletic community. In fact, since pro teams are limited to large cities, it’s more logical to zero-in on the beer leaguers and the local high schools, colleges, and rec leagues, which actually provide far more potential patients with far more potential problems, given the pros are typically in top shape. Cook, in fact, took that route, getting into a sports-focused practice before becoming affiliated with professional sports. “It’s how you market yourself after that to your patients,” Cook says. “How do you differentiate yourself from the chiropractor down the street?" Marketing Matters When Cook was working to make his name known, he focused on marketing himself directly - live and in person - to as many people as possible. “I was a marketing maniac years ago,” Cook says. “I would join up with other DCs around San Diego and set up spinal screening booths at street fairs.” Even if I got one or two patients it was a growth.” He also suggests joining local service organizations. Cook started with and eventually became president of a local chapter of the Lions Club. All of which, of course, leads to a chain reaction of new patients. “You develop that patient base and referrals,” he says. “The local people just start to know about you. Inevitably it comes up that one person says, ‘My neck or back is bothering me,’ and the answer comes back, ‘Go to my chiropractor.’ ” When it came to marketing himself as a sports-minded chiropractor, Cook spent a lot more time than money. He made himself and his practice visible by getting involved. He did it because he loves the games. He saw sports as a way to involve that passion in his professional life. When Cook initially had the chance to see professional athletes as patients, he saw it more as a marketing opportunity than a financial opportunity. “Eventually it turned into a paid position when the quantity of time they needed started cutting into my time with my regular patients,” Cook says. “They offered to reimburse me for my time with them.” Meanwhile, Cook saw a huge opportunity to garner new patients via his affiliation with the Padres, and he has leveraged that as a marketing tool whenever possible. He simply has made it a point of order to let anyone and everyone know, “I am the Padres’ chiropractor.” Press releases were issued about a chiropractor being hired to treat the Padres - which is noteworthy in that a minority of professional sports teams have DCs among their health-care staff - and Cook immediately posted the releases and/or related articles on his office walls, so incoming patients would make the connection. Leveraging Opportunities “I always used to think when I first started in practice that the things in the local newspapers or on the news, ‘These people must be important,’” Cook recalls. “These (media) people are always looking for heart-warming stories, local stories about something great that happened. If the star quarterback on the local high school team came into office, this is something special.” He started by asking that star quarterback if he could use his name in a press release to send to the local papers. Occasionally, it would result in a short blurb on the community pages. “It’s not the cover story,” Cook says, “but you build on that.” For doctors who have recently opened new practices, Cook says direct marketing becomes even more important. “When starting a practice, you have plenty of time and minimal income,” he says. “ Don’t get sucked into long-term advertising contracts or equipment leases. Get out and meet people. Never miss an opportunity to let someone know what you do for a living.” In addition to working with the media, Cook believes in going to athletes, rather than waiting for them to come to you. In the mid-90s, Cook sought out a San Diego-area Olympic athlete in training. Knowing finances for Olympians can be thin, he sent a letter to the athlete offering complimentary care. He tried this several times before connecting. “...I was really sincere and I explained to them that I was trying to build a practice and asked if I could let people know about it,” Cook says. “Why wouldn’t they say ‘yes’?” Once he had the Olympic athlete in the fold, Cook went to the local papers. “They’re always looking for these things,” he says of editors. “If they don’t use it, you send it again – and again. Thousands of press releases are coming in to these agencies every day. Sometimes they need something....” That makes every reader a potential patient, Cook says. He believes in capitalizing on those types of opportunities whenever possible. Occupational Consulting,
Getting MD Referrals This arrangement translates into referrals from MDs, DOs, and physical therapists. While it’s not a given thing, Cook leveraged the opportunity to earn the trust and respect of the MDs with whom he worked. “If (patients) have something the MDs know a chiropractor is effective at treating, they will refer to me. Now, they refer patients to other chiropractors as well, because they trust chiropractic more.” The relevant laws vary by state; California law states that if a patient asks to see a chiropractor in a managed-care environment, one must be provided. That, Cook says, is where the opportunity to market lies. “If you could just get in and show once that they can trust you, and you tell them you will refer patients back and ensure them they’re not going to lose a patient, you’re in,” Cook says of MDs. Any doctor of chiropractic can do this, Cook says. It’s just a matter of persistence, keeping after medical directors or MDs, and merely asking them to think of you when a chiropractic problem arises with a patient. “You’re going to strike out 10 times before one of them hits,” he says. “I wish I could say what I did worked every time, but I just wouldn’t give up.” Conversation Starters But when the team players are in the office, they’re treated just like any other patient. Although they may be expedited in terms of how fast they are seen, they still wait in the reception area and fill out the same forms. And like the rest of the patient base, the superstars aren’t asked to sign autographs for the staff. “We try to accommodate them so they aren’t hassled,” Cook says. “When it comes to my office, everything is professional.” Vital Statistics Procare Sports Chiropractic ENCINITAS OFFICE SAN DIEGO OFFICE Team Players SAN DIEGO OFFICE Annual Gross Billings SAN DIEGO OFFICE Annual Gross Collections SAN DIEGO OFFICE Average Patient Visits Per Week Average New Patients Per Month |
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