Shameless Plugs

One of the most cost-effective, yet dangerous, marketing tools is word-of-mouth advertising. I mention dangerous because negative comments seem to spread faster and wider, to which the tabloid industry can attest. Just this morning, my colleagues and I were discussing the spate of Oscar-worthy movies. With a few well-chosen words, a colleague quashed my desire to see a particular movie. But, she also instilled in me the desire to see another film that was highly recommended.

This led me to think about an incident that occurred a few weeks ago. While waiting in the checkout line at Costco, I was shamelessly eavesdropping on a conversation between the cashier and a customer—shameless, because I looked as though I was watching a tennis match. They were discussing their carpal tunnel injuries and treatment. The customer was singing the praises of her chiropractor, who had successfully treated the injury. The cashier, who was still wearing an arm brace, related how her physician recommended prescription drugs, and if that did not improve her condition, then surgery! I could not believe my ears.

It was at this point I dropped all pretense of nonchalance, and interjected, "No, you cannot take any drugs!" Both looked at me in surprise—it had not been obvious that I was listening to their conversation. The customer agreed with me and advised the cashier to see her chiropractor. I told the cashier that in her case, traditional Western medicine would only mask the symptoms rather than treat and heal the problem, as chiropractic does. The cashier asked for the chiropractor’s phone number. I hope she took our advice, since we were so insistent.

Every positive experience yields a passionate advocate for you and chiropractic. People want to recommend chiropractic because this allows them to be an authority and magnanimous. All it takes is one positive chiropractic visit. For me, talking to doctors at chiropractic conventions and researching and interviewing the practice profile candidates have inspired me to barge in on a private conversation. I have never raved about how prescription drugs masked my symptoms. But recently, I became excited that 30 chiropractic visits per year are covered with our company’s new insurance plan. Under the old plan, only 12 visits per year were allowed. I told anyone within hearing distance to take advantage of this and visit a chiropractor.

Obviously, many others have been shamelessly plugging chiropractic. Otherwise, why would insurance companies listen? The hoi polloi have spoken.

Miwon Seo
mseo@medpubs.com