• “Is chiropractic supported by science?”
• “I don’t want to have to keep going back for treatment.”
• “Will it hurt?”
• “Will it help?”

Moreover, according to a February 2002 Harris poll, 70 percent of Americans agree with the statement, “I don’t know who to trust.”

Trust is actually an important factor in nearly all buying decisions. A 2001 Harris poll showed a very strong correlation between personal experience and trust in companies. Interestingly, respondents indicated that when a company is responsive in satisfying a customer’s complaint or question that the highest level of trust is achieved.

MARKET TO BUILD TRUST

Since trust is so important in your patients’ “buying” decision, you want to select marketing techniques that engender trust. Some techniques, such as push marketing, generally do not.

Push marketing, such as television commercials, spam, direct mail, and billboard ads, forces a sales pitch at the target. This type of marketing is effective at getting a message out, but normally does not build trust. Push marketing is built on the paradigm that consumers are dense.

Pull marketing, on the other hand, is built on the paradigm that consumers are intelligent. It attracts potential buyers by giving them something they value. And, in the attraction process, it builds trust. A good example of pull marketing is Progressive Insurance Company’s Web page, which allows consumers to search for the best rates for Progressive as well as their competitors.

You can build trust through co-branding, where you decide to practice, health talks, promotions, and the quality of healthcare you deliver.

1. Co-branding. When you co-brand, you associate your clinic with another clinic, group, company, or association.

Co-sponsoring a walk for health with the American Heart Association, sponsoring a food drive for the local food-shelf, and sharing a booth with a neurological clinic at a health fair are all examples of co-branding.

Co-branding can build trust with prospective patients. The prospective patient, who knows and trusts the entity you are co-branding with, tends to project that trust onto you.

2. Location. Perhaps the strongest indication of the importance of trust is when a well known and liked recent chiropractic graduate returns to their hometown to open a clinic. There is no better trust activator. A study in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine (Jan.–Feb. 2005) found that 7.4 percent of the population go to a chiropractor annually. However, I have observed more than 50 percent of a local population treat with a chiropractor who returns to his/her hometown.

3. Health talks. These are a great example of pull marketing. Potential patients see a lot of value in hearing a talk on a topic of interest. They are able to get their questions answered in a non-threatening environment. Even if they do not treat with you, they will be more inclined to recommend you to others because you gave them valuable information and now view you as a reliable resource for healthcare information.

4. Promotions. Most promotions are push marketing, but can be effective if done in the right way, by being inclusive and incorporating trust-building ideas, images — and words into the offer.

Promotions should not promise something to only a select group of people, such as “free exam for new patients.” Current patients lose trust when you offer deals to someone else, but not to them. And, this type of promotion is illegal in some states.

5. Quality healthcare. Providing quality healthcare is a trust developer — and it is an indirect marketing method, since quality care begets referrals.

Quality healthcare from a patient’s perspective is getting exactly what they expect every time they treat with you. If they get something other than what they expect, they will lose trust. If you strive for quality healthcare, trust will follow.

A patient brings to your clinic an entire list of implied promises they believe you are making to them.

Keeping these implied promises promotes trust. Trust relationships take a lot of time and effort to build and can be destroyed very quickly. If promises are broken, it’s important to remedy the situation quickly.

Consistent process flowcharting and maintaining operational excellence can help avoid promise breaking by decreasing errors.

Service recovery programs, although difficult to do in healthcare, provide a pre-established way to handle broken promises should they occur. For example: If a patient has to wait longer than 10 minutes, his treatment is free.

Trust flows from a culture of trust. Basing your clinic’s operations and marketing on building trust with your patients and prospective patients leads to greater patient retention, new patients and the satisfaction of knowing you are doing the right thing.

SIDEBAR:
Implied promises

Todd Crabtree, DC, JD, MBA, is CEO of Clinic Doctor, Inc., a provider of online billing services and personalized marketing and business management consulting. He can be reached at 866-999-5859, Todd.Crabtree@ClinicDr.com, or at www.ClinicDr.com