It can be challenging to find the time to juggle marketing while you’re operating a practice full-time.
The time-consuming duties of running an office, managing staff, and treating patients can make it difficult to put together a plan of attack to blanket your community with information about your services. That’s why finding ways to insert self-promotion into your everyday conversations is such an important skill to master.
Harnessing the power of an elevator pitch and learning how to turn a no into a yes can make the difference between running a thriving practice that’s intimately connected to the community around it, and owning a view of a dusty parking lot.
Find the niche
A big part of selling yourself is being able to correctly identify the perfect opportunities in which to do so. Do you have a friend who is complaining about tennis elbow during a friendly weekend match? Is your running partner lamenting about their knees? What about the guy sitting next to you at lunch who groans a bit and clutches his lower back while getting out of his chair? Each one of these instances offers a perfect shot at slipping in a little self-promotion. Find ways to start up a conversation and get the ball rolling in your direction.
Make the switch
Switching gears mid-conversation isn’t always smooth, and stumbling through a change of topic can turn your audience off before you have a chance to make your case. Wherever you find yourself within the conversation, steer it in the correct direction by building trust with your fellow conversationalist first. This means listening to them closely. Hear their story and ask pertinent questions about their habits and health. This can help you uncover specific needs to target when choosing to offer your services.
After all, building your practice is closely entwined with building relationships. Keep these three practices in mind when gearing up to make your pitch:
- Share the conversation. Don’t interrogate with too many questions or dominate the discussion.
- Keep your discussions about you and your business short, and pause to allow them the opportunity to ask further questions (or change the discussion if they do not show interest).
- Think of all the reasons that your listener might object to your offer and be ready with answers before you need them so that you can work together to find solutions.
Perfect the pitch
Marketing yourself through a quick and effective pitch is a vital part of making yourself your most effective advertisement. Throwing in a quick pitch that is short, to the point, and applicable to the discussion can turn a simple conversation with a new acquaintance into your first discussion with a lifelong patient. The following best practices can help you construct the perfect pitch:
- Identify your objective. Focus on how your services can help a prospective patient, and think about exactly what you want them to remember after the conversation ends.
- Limit your pitch to 20 or 30 seconds. Restricting your available time requires you to craft your pitch so that it is memorable and engaging, while remaining succinct enough to hold the listener’s attention.
- Outline what makes you unique and memorable. Focus on not just what you do, but how you do it and what makes your practice special.
- Engage your listener with questions such as “Have you experienced the benefits of chiropractic before?” Or “Do you currently experience any chronic pain?”
- Add in compelling statistics to establish relevance and clout. Refer when possible to other patients or community members who might bring authenticity to your practice. And tell success stories about your patients that might relate to the current conversation. (Maintaining patient confidentiality, of course.)
- Avoid jargon, acronyms, or industry- specific terms to make sure your pitch appeals to a broad audience.
- Practice, practice, practice. You must be comfortable with yourself and what you can offer if you expect others to be comfortable as well.
Pitch to your friends and family members first and ask for constructive feedback.
You know your business best. And you are out in your community every day having real conversations with real people and encountering opportunities to sell yourself and your services. Find the time to create and practice a compelling pitch and become your own best advertisement, free of charge.