TIRED OF THE NEW-PATIENT 'ROLLER COASTER'?
Schedule your marketing efforts
By Eric Plasker, DC

Many chiropractors are frustrated with the unpredictable ups and downs of patient flow, or what's commonly referred to as the new- patient "roller coaster." One week, their new-patient count skyrockets; the next week, it bottoms out.

What causes this critical fluctuation in patient flow and capital, and how can you stabilize it? It's simpler than you think and begins with planning and implementing a marketing calendar that will create a steady flow of new patients all the time.

EXAMINE YOUR MOTIVATIONS TO MARKET

As you begin planning and implementing your marketing calendar, examine your motivations to market.

Some chiropractors are only motivated to market when their practice or lifestyle is challenged. Dropping patient numbers and a dwindling bank account can be the instant spark of motivation they need to go into their communities and start telling the chiropractic story.

When this happens, they immediately put an influx of energy into the "consciousness" of getting new patients and become active in their communities again.

The payoff is great, and the practice starts welcoming many new patients. But then what? Those who haven't planned properly for that kind of growth will end up putting 100 percent of their energy into serving those new patients. They will find themselves with no time for continued marketing efforts. Within a few weeks, they are back where they started, scrambling for new patients. The roller coaster ride continues.

The best way to stop this pattern of crisis-mode marketing is to commit to creating and implementing a proactive annual marketing calendar.

Here are five simple steps that can get you off the roller coaster of reactive marketing and on the path toward proactive marketing and a permanent base of new patients.

1. Create an annual calendar. Many chiropractors operate a week-to-week or month-to-month calendar when it comes to marketing their practice. If you ask them where their practice will be or what their plans are for next year, they probably couldn't tell you.

On this calendar, schedule external (in the community) and internal (in your office) marketing events.

2. Create an ideal calendar. Take one month of your annual calendar and fill it in with your ideal schedule.

An example might include two community education lectures, four chiropractic "mothers' morning out" or "human potential" programs, and lunch with the staff of a local daycare center, law office, karate studio, or gym.

If you've been operating your calendar from a crisis mode, then you've probably been loading up the months in which you actually did market with too many events. Don't overwhelm yourself.

Remember you're looking for a steady, continuous flow of new patients. Get off the roller coaster of marketing like a lunatic for one month and then not doing anything the next. If you are marketing in steady amounts each month, you will create a balanced flow of new patients every month.

3. Create a focused calendar. Decide how many new patients you want to attract each month. Keep this number in mind as you create your calendar.

For example: If you know your lectures or healthcare classes generate five new patients each week or a direct mail piece usually brings in five, then plan appropriately for your growth.

4. Create an accountability calendar. Put someone in charge of this marketing initiative. All the great ideas that you've put on your calendar may never come to fruition if no one orchestrates the show.

If you operate a small office with no CA, put yourself in charge of the calendar. Larger offices can put a CA or another employee in charge of it.

Hold them accountable for following through with the marketing plan. Make sure you take the time to train and support this person so you can get the results your marketing calendar was designed to bring.

5. Create a balanced calendar. Balance your calendar with external and internal systems and procedures. Most chiropractors know the best quality new patients come from patient referrals.

Implementing a great system and strategy for these referrals is a necessity. Have your referral packets prepared in advance, so that you don't have to scramble for them at the last minute.

Plan internal new-patient procedures and systems, such as spinal healthcare, human potential, or mothers' morning out programs one day a week. Post patient success stories in highly visible places in your office and update them regularly.

Some effective external systems and procedures include creating relationships with businesses and organizations that share your vision. Imagine the impact of having four good community relationships from which you received four committed new patients each month.

When you develop solid relationships, they will be able to hand out referral packages for you and bring in the kind of patients you want to take care of, and attract others to your practice.

External spinal screenings and lectures at home shows, corporations, health food stores, and gyms are great ways to educate and attract a continuous stream of new patients. Balance your calendar with a good mixture of external and internal marketing and your practice will grow at the exact pace you want!

PLAN FOR GROWTH

After you create and implement your plan, your practice will start to grow. Avoid the roller coaster ride, strategize, and identify beforehand when you will need to expand your staff or alter your systems to accommodate growth. Riding the roller coaster will do nothing but create fear and insecurity.

Plan your calendar, plan for growth, and deliver quality chiropractic service to everyone you encounter. Enjoy the freedom and peace of mind that your marketing calendar can bring. It is very freeing to have this kind of plan on paper, be able to anticipate your growth and staffing needs, and not live from paycheck to paycheck.

Find the three to four hours of time that it takes to create a marketing calendar, and you will find how energizing and freeing it can be. You will be a better chiropractor because you will no longer be "needy" or dependent upon your new patients.

Being a chiropractor will become easier if you know and trust that you will have plenty of new patients, and that your financial life is stable. Plan your marketing calendar today, and build the practice of your dreams.

Eric Plasker, DC, is the founder of The Family Practice — a chiropractic coaching and training organization that provides the systems, tools, and support to build a highly successful and profitable family practice. He can be reached at 866-LEAD-DCS (532-3327), ext. 118, or through his Web site at www.thefamilypractice.net.