Common Excuses, by Dr. Ogi Ressel

Monday, January 5th 2009

Warm hellos to everyone!
Module I in Clearwater was simply amazing! There was a palpable electricity in the room and I would say
that all the doctors present had their beliefs considerably challenged!
One of the doctors who attended, e-mailed this quick note to me when she returned home:
Dr. Ogi,
Thank you so much for the great, awesome, incredible, life-changing seminar.  We have never been so excited to get back
to practice in our lives.  We had always been struggling with trying to explain what we do to our patients, but NO MORE!! 
Thank you!!!  You are amazing, and you have a beautiful daughter and an incredible fiancé.
Dr. Tina

And the sad reality of it was that you were not there! You did not participate. But you had very good
reasons. And tons of well-formed excuses. And they all made perfect sense to you.
Right?
Of course.
Hmmmm.......

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty on this; many doctors seem to have every excuse known to Man why they
can't succeed.
Let's look at some of my favorites:
One doctor once said this to me; "You don't understand, Dr. Ogi. The people in my State have no money
for Chiropractic care. No one wants to spend money on Chiropractic" said he as he was going bankrupt.
(I was going to fly out there to meet these strange people!)
Four weeks after Module I, this same doctor called me on his cell phone, from his boat on the Pacific
(how cool is that?), and told me that he just bought a plane and that he doubled his practice.
I asked him if he moved.
He said "No, why?"  
I said, " Well, you told me that no one in your State has money for Chiropractic. So......you must have
moved."
He laughed at the absurdity of it.

 Another of my favorites is this one:
"My patients drop out as soon as their insurance is over."
Many doctors feel this is a real problem. I have to tell you that this in itself is not the problem. It is only a
symptom. Yes. Here is the problem: They have no idea why they are in your office. Do you think it is their
fault? As far as they are concerned, that is what Chiropractic is - an insurable "treatment" of something.
Whatever.
And the fact that their insurance company only pays a portion of their 12 visits must mean that this is all
they should require. Makes total sense to me! Why would they think otherwise? You never told them what
you really do. You just went along with their perception and accepted their coverage because you were
hungry and in a state of Lack. I totally get that - and they do as well!

 Here is another:
"It's just my luck. I just have bad patients."
Right. No comment here.

 Or another:
"I can't get my patients to bring in their kids."
I mentioned this in a previous article in the WCA Journal and an earlier THOT: The percentage of
children you see in your practice is directly proportional to the level of trust your patients have in what you
do. Ouch!!! That really hurt!
The reason the level of trust is not there is that your patients don't really understand what you do. And you
don't really know how to explain it to them at a level they need to hear! That's it!
Listen, I've said this before; if your patients really understood what you do, they would break down the
doors to get in to see you. Your CAs would be dressed in designer army fatigues with bazookas, grenades,
and whips, beating off the crowds. There would be a fire-breathing dragon in the moat surrounding your
office, saving your life. But the last time you checked, there was no dragon, no combat CAs, and no whips.
Damn it!
You patients will not bring their children to see you unless they see you as simply an amazing doctor.
If they see you as average, mediocre, Ok, good, nice guy, pretty good, wonderful - you are starving.
You see, money is plentiful and so are the referrals, just not for you. You are not good enough. You do not
measure up to their expectations.
Did I mention that people in your community have expectations? They absolutely do. And if you want to
have the Practice of your Dreams, you better exceed their expectations by light years - better than any
other DC else in your community!

I love this one:
"Dr. Ogi, in this economy, most people can't afford Chiropractic."
Don't even get me started on this one!

How about this one:
"But, Dr. Ogi, I work downtown and see mainly adults who don't have kids."  
And these people don't know anyone who has children of course. Why? Because they probably live on an
island and never speak to another Human Being.
Get real.
Everyone knows people who have children who need help. That is the reality. The only reason you are not
seeing them is because your patients have no idea why it is so important. Why would that be?
Well, most likely because you may not understand why it is important yourself and/or have not imparted
that information to your patients.
You see.....we expect our patients to know what we do. Somehow. By osmosis would be my guess.
I see this all the time when doctors discuss their Porsche tires (if you had one), their BMW (if you could
steal one), their sports team, their politics, their religious flair, their wonderful life (if you had one), their
amazing weekend (if you could afford one), and their golf club benefits (if you could play), etc., during their
regular office visit with their patients! And that is how your patients learn about what you do! From you!
There's a concept!

How about this excuse:
"I advertise, screen at malls, have the biggest yellow page ad, and we can't seem to keep 'em. I have a bad
location." I like this one - almost seems believable! That's not it. ...And this is the most difficult point to
have you see. The reality is that people have will not see someone who is mediocre or second-best. No.
They only want a doctor who is the very best at what he does.  They want a doctor who is caring, honest,
has integrity, and will go out of his way to help them and will not try to sell them. People are wary of a
sales pitch - as are you! They want a doctor who is the absolute best. May I remind you that you have the
same want. Here is the reality on this: When a patient finds a doctor who they consider to be the best,
would they be worried about his fee? Would they be concerned that his office does not accept their
insurance plan? Would they be concerned that he is on the 25th floor above Mario's Bakery overlooking
the back alley? The answer to all these questions is a resounding NO! These things pale in significance.
They are not important.
But here is the other side of this issue however: If they are important to a patient, then their perception of
you is that you are not the best. Period.

 And that is the very reason for the PEP Program - I will show you how to be the very best.
End of story.
And I do this as a hobby - I do this for fun! And I absolutely love what I do!

You see, success is not negotiable and failure is not excusable. You need to realize this truth: If you are not
succeeding, you are not helping as many people as you originally wanted to - and can.
So ....those who have not taken the PEP Program yet, let me help you get through the minefield!
I know the way. ...And I am really, really good at this. And I really want you to succeed - I want you to be able
to help as many kids and their parents ...And if you still have not done my Practice Health Mini Check-up
on my web site, what are you waiting for?
Make a commitment to do it now.
I know that this THOT was sprinkled with some "tough love" but I feel very strongly about this issue.
There is no reason why you cannot succeed. None. The only thing that stands in your way is you and the
myriad excuses you've surrounded yourself with.
You know what to do.....
Warmest wishes,
Dr. Ogi Ressel