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Despite what most chiropractors have been led to believe; quality care, patient education, and demonstrable patient improvements are NOT the secret to long-term chiropractic patient retention.
Nor is having a professional staff, a fancy office, or the newest in wellness gadgetry or techniques.
All of those things have a place within a patient retention strategy and the delivery of a quality patient experience. But, none of them will delivery big breakthroughs in your patient retention rate. Ironically, the thing that will, also happens to be the single most important element of a high converting report of findings.
I guess we could say it’s THE secret for attracting patients and THE secret for keeping them long-term.
It’s something master marketers have known and employed for years. And it’s how they’re able to transform an ordinary marketing campaign into a grand slam home-run.
It’s built on the idea and understanding of NEEDS and WANTS.
For the most part, we all spend money on products and services NOT because we need them, but because we want them. Unless we’re spending money on the absolute cheapest choices when it comes to food, clothing, shelter, transportation, etc., we’re spending money to satisfy wants, not needs.
Average marketers and entrepreneurs understand this. And, so, they focus on creating this level of desire in their prospects.
For example, doctors with average chiropractic marketing skills strive to get prospective patients to want the benefits of chiropractic care.
What Doctors With Master Level Chiropractic Marketing Skills Know That You Don’t
Doctors with master level chiropractic marketing skills take it one step further. They understand that the real secret to high-converting chiropractic marketing (and patient retention) is to create in prospective patients a desire for chiropractic care that is so strong, it feels like a need.
Let me say that again:
The real secret to high-converting chiropractic marketing (and patient retention) is to create in prospective patients a desire for chiropractic care that is so strong, it feels like a need.
When prospective chiropractic patients and existing patients feel that they want and need chiropractic care for their health and well-being, they’re not only a lot more likely to get started with care… they’re also a lot more likely to stick with it long-term.
People are much less likely to stop or get rid of things in they’re life – when times get tough, they’re schedule changes, or other priorities pop up – that they feel is essential or a need.
People handle wants much differently than they do needs. Needs are considered much more of a priority. And, when someone both wants and needs something, it becomes the ultimate priority.
So, how do you get patients to view chiropractic care in your office as something they want so badly they feel it’s a need?
When it comes to your chiropractic marketing, you must do the following four things:
1. You must make a big bold PROMISE that taps into what prospective patients already want.
2. You must elicit an emotional response from prospective patients by transforming your big promise into an exciting PICTURE that vividly conveys the enjoyment of the benefits they want to experience from chiropractic care.
3. You must make certain claims or PROPOSITIONS about what chiropractic care in your office does for patients.
4. Finally, you need to support your big promise, and all of your claims and propositions with enough PROOF to convince prospective patients of the validity and credibility of what you’re saying.
So, what about patient retention?
When it comes to chiropractic patient retention; you create the desire for chiropractic care that’s so strong it feels like a need by presenting chiropractic in the same light and category as other mandatory and essential aspects of health and wellness.
In other words, when educating patients, chiropractic must be categorized and talked about just like you would: vitamins, minerals, water, sleep, exercise, etc. All necessary, essential, and critical to the health and wellness of the body.
And, finally, this positioning needs to be reinforced in all educational material and on a regular basis.
Today, it’s no longer enough to simply have patients that just want to get chiropractic care. When you allow your care to be relegated to just “want status” your competing with every other want and desire they have and may have in the future.
When you create a desire for chiropractic care in your office that’s so strong it feels like a need… you now become a much more valuable and important priority. And that’s the most important secret to chiropractic patient retention.
Very good insight. This makes so much sense. I guess the battle is figuring out how to make this come out of your mouth and make sense while saying it. Thanks Todd!
Thanks Todd. Now please tell us what to say.
Great post Todd. With each practice focusing on a different type of care, this message can be tough to convey to a patient. More details are needed.
Hey Dr. Joe… thanks for the comment. I’ll definitely be expanding on this topic in a future essay.
Great post. I especially agree on point #2 where is talk about how “You must elicit an emotional response from prospective patients”. Most people make decisions based on feeling so it’s very imperative to make an emotional connection with them.
Thank you for a great article with a lot of insight into patient marketing.
I believe the basis of these strategies can be used across healthcare in today’s world.
I work for a company called patient reminders and patient marketing strategies is one of are key components to improving compliance. Patient Reminders send campaign alerts via SMS, Email, Voice Message and iCal the messages can be translated in to multiple languages and supports Unicode and Non Unicode.
I would be delighted to discuss this further with anyone, and thanks once again for a great post.
Bernie Thomas
Bernie@Patient-Reminders.Com
http://www.patient-reminders.com/clinical-trials/patient-retention/