A 100-year marathon
Attracting baby boomers for lifetime care
By Eric Plasker, DC

Boomers, boomers, boomers. They comprise a big market. And everyone wants a piece of it.

It’s easy to see why. People who were born between 1946 and 1964 still have half a lifetime ahead of them. The numbers on aging are astounding. In this country, we currently have around 80,000 centenarians, and the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that there will be 4.2 million centenarians by the year 2050 in the United States alone. Nearly 400 million people worldwide will turn 80 or older by this same date.

The current nursing-home generation reached the 80-, 90-, and 100-year milestones by accident. Because they did not expect their extended life span, they did not prepare for old age and consequently are suffering from chronic pain, inactivity, sickness, and disease that would have and could have been avoided if they had prepared for a 100 year marathon instead of a 60 year sprint.

Baby boomers don’t want that quality of life to happen to them as they get older. Because they know they will have an extended lifespan, they are taking care of their bodies to assure that they can continue to work (if they choose), play, travel, and enjoy their leisure time. They are going to gyms, drinking bottled water, and visiting chiropractors in record numbers. They are spending money to keep healthy.

Pain-based marketing will not attract these folks. They are not looking for just a quick fix for pain. Have you noticed how companies like Volvo, Apple, State Farm, and other billion-dollar companies are marketing to this group? They are reaching them through lifetime care marketing strategies that appeal to their quality of life.

Adopting this strategy will have an incredible impact on your bottom line. Here are some ways to do this:

• Develop a referral system. The system should target people through each stage of growth and development, rather than attract people only for a given condition.

In this system, communicate the challenges to the spine and nerve system during every stage of life. Link their ability to be active as they age to their spinal health and well being. Make people take notice of the consequences of waiting until they have problems to make their health a priority.

• Implement patient education programs on lifetime wellness. One doctor who was having trouble getting people to attend his spinal-care classes and carpal tunnel classes changed his focus to an anti-aging chiropractic lecture program. Twenty-eight people attended and a number of new patients scheduled appointments with him.

• Give boomers options. Once these boomers enter your office, don’t ruin the relationship with hard pressure, in-your-face sales tactics, and scare-care strategies.

Sophisticated consumers can smell the sell from a mile away. Tell the truth from your heart, and present care in a compassionate, professional manner. Explain their options to them. Give them an opportunity to make choices between pain-based care and lifetime-wellness care. Then respect their decision.

You will be amazed at how many people are willing to commit to lifetime care once they know their options, and the consequences of their choices.

• Keep your financial relationships ‘clean.’ Finally, never compromise the long-term relationship for an extra quick insurance dollar on the front end. Keep your financial relationship with them clean and of the highest integrity.

The back end of your relationship with lifetime patients is worth 10 times the value of the front end of the relationship. You may collect $2,500 for the first few months on the initial care with a new patient, but the lifetime value of that patient coming to you for long-term wellness care might be $25,000 to $50,000 or more.

To make this happen, patients need to trust you and know that you are handling their finances properly. When they do, they will not only be your patient for life, but they will refer their families and friends to you for the same type of care, lifetime care.

You deserve to experience the fun and the freedom that the baby boomers will bring to your practice. U.S. News and World Report recently called this generation the “zoomers” because of their attitude and energy for life. Implement these strategies and watch them zoom into your practice.

Eric Plasker, DC, is the founder and CEO of The Family Practice, a practice management, coaching, and marketing company who provides doctors with the tools and training to build some of the largest, most profitable, lifetime care practices in the world. He can be reached at www.thefamilypractice.net or 866-532-3327 ext. 119.