Looking to the Future, by Dr. Ogi Ressel

Monday, February 16th 2009

Warm hellos to everyone;

Ok, Ok,....many doctors want to know about marketing.

So, let's talk about this for a moment;
I can already see all of you in the back rows stand up and cheer!
I want you to know that marketing your practice is important. Yes!

You need to be constantly positioned in front of your public and your
name must be spoken in the backrooms of the Church or Synagogue,
in public libraries, in all the service clubs, the various support
societies - such as the Colitis Foundation, The Asthma Foundation,
the Vaccine Foundation, the anti-medicine Foundation, the Wellness-
Approach-to-Health Foundation, and the Whatever-Is-Ailing-Me Foundation.

You name must be on everyone's lips and people must talk about you
behind your back (no pun intended). Everyone in your community must
know what you do, and you must be seen as a Health Coach by your town.
You must approach your community with great panache and flair. Don't
do anything which can be seen as "cheesy" or questionable. No.
For you, first-class is the only way to go.

So...choose your marketing ideas carefully - they speak to your people about you.
What kind of image do you want to deliver? How do you want to be seen?
What do you want to project?

And here's where the rubber meets the road: "Would you see you?"
Yes?
Wonderful!

How do you do all this?
One way is planning.
Yes, planning.

I recommend that you purchase one of those huge dry-erase calendars at
Business Depot or Staples and hang it on your wall.

Schedule a staff meeting with you and your staff (yourself or your spouse
if you don't have staff) and decide together what activities you'd like to do
for 2006 to promote Chiropractic in your community. When you do a community
event, make certain that you target the correct market - remember that c
hildren do not make health care decisions. So...marketing activities revolving
around introducing Chiropractic to children need to be focussed on moms - they
makeall the health care decisions. It's  nice to play with the kids, but your
plan must have moms understand what you do and why it is important to
have children checked for VS.
If not,you'll have zero NPs.

Plan as far in advance as you can - the whole year would be best. This builds
your foundation for your office.
As well, your marketing plan cannot be based on "old stuff" that "worked"
some 15-20 years ago.
No.
People do not think the same way as they did years ago - they are internet
savvy and will often know more than you about a particular subject. So, don't
get into "treatments" of conditions. Trust me on this: if a patient has a certain
condition, he/she probably knows more about it than you.
But...people do not know about your favorite subject - Chiropractic. So...talk about that!
What a concept!

The above will help you create a better vision for where you are going, and
where you are steering your ship. But I have to be honest and tell you this:
Once you've been following my PEP Program protocols for 1-2 years, much
of this marketing "thing" will not be neccessary. You'll have a waiting list of
new patients and your practice will be almost entirely referral based.

You'll be the doctor you've always wanted to be.

If you feel really stuck and don't know what to do, but know that things are
just not whereyou want them to be, here's a suggestion for you: For those
of you who still have not completed the Practice Health Mini-Check Up from
my website, then do it now!
Go to www.practiceevolution.com, hit the Practice Health Mini-Check Up button,
fill out all the fields from your heart, and hit "Submit" at the end. Your answers
will come right to me and I'll be able to see what challenges you are facing in
practice and what monsters are hiding in your closet!

We'll spend a little time on the phone and I'll give you my suggestions and
anti-monster advice which you can use right away.

Warmest wishes,
Dr. Ogi Ressel