Issue 1 - January 2005

Don’t let fear get in your way
By Jon LoDuca

Many chiropractors are terrific practitioners but terrible salespeople. They know that they cannot put their great marketing ideas to work unless they get out of the office and promote themselves and their practices.

But the idea of selling themselves stops them from taking action: Why? They don’t want to emulate sales behavior because their opinions have been formed through unsettling encounters with telemarketers, insurance sales people and network marketers.

Here’s the good news: Salesmanship doesn’t have to be devoid of integrity. Salesmanship doesn’t have to be pushy or rude, inappropriate or embarrassing. Salesmanship can actually be fun.

It starts with a small change in the way you approach your business and the value you perceive that you provide. As a small-business owner, you are an entrepreneur. And that means you can’t just think of your practice as a place to treat patients, you also have think of it as a business.

And businesses thrive on sales — in this case, selling yourself.

What stops you from selling yourself? A four-letter word — fear.

Here are some tips to implement those same old sales ideas that everyone keeps talking about but scare the heck right out of you:

1. Pretend you are selling someone else. Imagine that you are representing a great doctor who is popular, talented, skilled and successful. You could talk to strangers about that person, couldn’t you?

2. Imagine you have the cure for the common cold. You’d shout the good news from the rooftops. Well you have something great to offer — chiropractic — so get out and tell people about it!

3. Set a goal to meet three new people each week. Just meet three strangers and tell them your name and what you do.

How to start? Sincere compliments can break the ice fast and so can remarks about the weather.

4. Get involved. Take the time to look into some business or community groups that interest you. Think of this involvement as part of your work, because it is. If you pick well, you may have fun or become more interesting yourself.

5. Listen to your self-talk. You might be telling yourself some really crazy reasons that need to be examined. Take a minute to hear yourself and decide if the risks of staying frozen outweigh the risks involved with growth.

6. Remember that everyone’s afraid. Some people cope with their fears better than others, but everyone harbors some fear of talking to others.

7. Don’t be ‘salesy.’ A long time ago I heard this corny little saying: Selling isn’t telling. Selling is actually the opposite of telling: Selling is listening.

Listen to what your patients say when they talk and then repeat it back to them to see if you heard it correctly. The act of doing so will communicate your willingness to really connect and it will create trust and openness.

8. Take good care of yourself. Know your own confidence buttons and push them! Those confidence buttons might include expensive clothes, a new car, professional certification or a personal makeover!

9. Remember what you’re selling. And it’s not chiropractic. People who decide to visit a chiropractor don’t have to be sold on chiropractic. They have to be “sold” on which chiropractor to use.

Your selling points include your experience, your unique community, your relationship with them, the experience they’ll have at your clinic and the value you can create for them.

10. Create a contract of your intentions. Include why you chose this profession; what you have to offer patients, the community and your family; and why success matters to you.

The lessons here might seem obvious but be warned: Looks can be deceiving. Defeating fear is an ongoing process. But remember: The successful people we read about in magazines and see on TV are just like you. The only difference is that they haven’t let fear stop them in what they want to achieve.