ChiroMasterMind

The quickest way to get on the “fast track” to a struggling practice and becoming another statistic is to market your services to the masses. Why? We know chiropractic can help everyone and that’s how most doctors promote it. But, by having a clearly defined model of the kinds of patients you want, your marketing strategy becomes clearer and more cost effective. That’s the name of the game.

You need to be business smart and marketing savvy to thrive in a competitive industry. There are certain strategies to help you decide how to spend your marketing time, energy and money to increase the percentage of ideal patients and ideal referrals. You can still treat whoever comes into your clinic, but if you build your practice with patients you enjoy taking care of, you’ll have more fun, be more productive and be able to handle more volume.

 The truth is that when you narrow whom you market to (niche), three magical things happen.

1. Your service becomes more desirable. People want to buy stuff that’s made just for them…that solves their unique problems.
2. Your name spreads rapidly. People in groups talk! If you’re good and you provide services for a specific niche, your name will travel fast.
3. It becomes easier and less expensive to prospect. Most niches have a list of members or list of people. Instead of spending money on mass marketing, you can spend the money on getting your message to just the right people in your niche who want to hear your message.

The following are several questions that you should ask yourself when choosing your niche.

 Question #1: Can you easily and affordably contact the niche?

Question #2: Can the niche afford your product or service?

Question #3: Does your technique lend itself certain types of people? Ex. (Kids, elderly, sports)

So how do you niche a niche? That’s easy. Here’s how. You already have a niche that is called chiropractic. Now you niche this niche. What do I mean? Become an expert on one problem or treatment, and promote yourself as the expert. An example might be shoulder injuries.  Simply advertise and promote yourself as the go to doctor for shoulder pain. Become the “Shoulder Guru”.  Since your market is shoulder pain, find out where that market hangs out and promote there. Examples might include gyms, sporting events, tennis clubs, golf courses, etc.

You will get more than enough patients to build a practice from the specialty alone, and word of mouth referrals will spread quickly. Why? Because your niche patient base hangs out with other people who have similar likes, and they usually have the same problems. Before you know it, you will have more patients than you can handle. Then you can promote those niche patients on the benefits of chiropractic for other problems.  

 Here are several suggestions for determining your niche.·       

Personal characteristics, like age, size, gender·       

Types of conditions (Back, shoulder, neck)·       

Occupations, hobbies, or common interests·       

Acute or wellness care patients 

You may come up with other aspects of ideal patients that are important to you.  Get a clear picture of ideal patients that meet your criteria. Pick out six of your favorite patients. Which categories do they fall into? It’s a pretty safe bet that is where you are going to focus your marketing energy. We are always more successful when we enjoy what we do. Why not make your chances of success greater by creating a practice environment that is enjoyable to be in every day?

 When focusing in on a market niche, it’s imperative to speak their language. In other words, you should understand the market’s “hot buttons” and be prepared to communicate with the target market.  “Hot buttons” are the emotional triggers that inspire a patient to take action. You must appeal to their emotional desire to improve the quality of their lives before you can ever hope to turn them into lifelong chiropractic advocates. It’s the “WIIFM Syndrome:  What’s in it for me?”

Once they know you have what they want, not so much what they need; they will become your patients. Most experienced doctors recognize the value of targeting a market. But when you target a broad audience, you’re only targeting people who CAN use your product or service. You have to narrow your focus if you want to target patients who WILL use your product or service. A well defined, small niche market can separate you from competition. Other start-up offices are likely to overlook this strategy, giving you the opportunity to build the type of practice you dreamed always dreamed of.  

Dr. Perry Nickelston, DC is a 1997 graduate from Palmer College of Chiropractic. He operates four laser therapy centers in New Jersey and is Vice President of Practice Development and Product Integration for K-Laser, USA. He can be reached via his website www.painlasercenter.com or 1-866-595-7749 Ext. 2. 

Tags: Practice Tips of the Day, General //