Build a good reputation and standing within your community for referrals and a good cause

Your presence in the community is an essential part of the marketing of your practice. An old adage is your reputation is what others think of you and your character is what you think of yourself. If your character and reputation are not congruent, you risk being presented in a negative light in the community.

The marketing of your clinic should have two components—internal and external. Designate internal marketing to existing patients and external marketing to potential new patients.

Within and Without
Whether internal or external, association marketing is one of the most powerful and cost-effective forms of marketing. Beer commercials use association marketing all the time. You see healthy, attractive people having a great time, and the message is that the beverage makes that time a whole lot better. The reality is that too much beer can result in anything but a good time and may even get ugly.

Pepsi used an association marketing plan with entertainer Britney Spears during the Super Bowl, who performs while the audience goes wild. People like Britney—her image, talent, and performance—and then the company pitches their product, Pepsi. The association is people who like Britney Spears get into a “state” of feeling great, and the association to that state is Pepsi. So you associate Pepsi with feeling great.

These types of programs are expensive, but effective. You can achieve similar effects in your community with little or no cost. Associate yourself with programs or activities that are perceived by the community to be worthwhile, respectable, and beneficial.

A familiar scenario is this: A person states that they have back pain and it is not improving. Your patient or acquaintance who is listening and talking to this person says, “Why don’t you go see my friend, Dr. Smith. She’s a really great person, who can help you.”

They like you and have a positive impression of you. They do not say you are an expert in the detection and elimination of spinal problems, or you are the best diagnostician or best adjuster. No, they say you are a great person. As your patient, you have helped him and gave a great service (internal marketing), and they know first-hand your track record. If he is an acquaintance from a service group or organization, he knows you personally, and your track record in this associated activity gives them a positive perception of you (external marketing).

Hope Springs Externally
What are some external and internal activities? Externally, membership in service groups is a proven way of obtaining credibility. Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimist, Lions, all have high levels of respectability. Chambers of commerce, city or church committees, Little League, pop warner football, or Junior All-America Football organizations all have leadership positions for exposure.

One mistake most business people make in this type of marketing is joining for the wrong reasons. It is not enough to be just a member, but an active and trustworthy one. Rather, more patients are a by-product of your services, and your participation is to further the cause of the association.

This gives you recognition and paints a positive picture of the type of person you are. The association is if you are wonderful in these activities, you must also be skilled at what you do. Anywhere people are needed to fulfill worthwhile endeavors is where you want to be.

By making that successful, you will also be successful on two fronts. The first is the satisfaction that you helped achieve a worthy ideal by your participation. The second will be the association attached to you by those who are involved and privy to witnessing your service. The new patients are a return on your investment.

A simple way to get more business is to give more business. For example, the chamber of commerce is a great way to meet the movers and shakers of your town. Learning as much as you can about those people and what they do gives you an opportunity to send business their way. This also gives you great credibility and puts them in debt to you. By you demonstrating the ability to refer and give, you shall also receive.

Always be on the lookout for opportunities to be where people are or where help is needed. You never know who you are going to meet and where that acquaintance will take you. I met an attorney who was a Junior Chamber of Commerce member at a basketball tournament for which I was providing care. She referred five personal injury cases that were settled with full payment. Although she has left her firm and moved back east, the firm still refers cases to me. People do business with people they like. Getting to know them personally on a professional level will open doors that may have previously been closed.

In my practice, I have built a majority of my patient base by this method. My external marketing includes being a team doctor at four high schools, regularly attending the chamber of commerce functions, being on the board of the Arthritis Foundation and National Football Foundation, volunteering at the Boy Scouts Explorer program, speaking at local service clubs and schools, contributing articles to local newspapers and publications, and supporting local theatre and music.

In every one of these instances, I can look back and identify people who have come to me as new patients because of my involvement. When I speak at high schools to students about a career in health care and my specialty, chiropractic, teachers ask me for my card and soon become patients. This opened the door to stress workshops for teachers, which resulted in more referrals.

An Inside Job
Internally, there are spinal care classes; birthday telephone calls; cards for patients to commemorate events; quarterly newsletters; food, toy, and blood drives; charitable organizations; and door prize donations to local organizations. And, above all, making every patient feel as if he or she are the most important person when coming in for care.

For example, donations of health evaluations has resulted in referrals on a regular basis. At silent auctions there is always someone suffering from some ailment, mostly back pain, who bids on the offer of a comprehensive consultation, examination, and diagnostic x-rays that includes a written and oral report of findings. When they come in and are given first-class treatment , they report back to the organization of the great experience. I am asked to donate again and again, and the words spreads. The best scenario is when you can attend the function and your new patient introduces you to everyone. By helping their cause in two ways—with a donation and attendance—this puts you in a positive light.

How you function and make the most out of these internal and external opportunities, is limited only by your imagination and willingness to put in the time. There are many books and programs on the mechanics of how to work the programs. The first thing you need is the willingness to serve. By serving people more, you will have more people to serve. 

Dennis R. Buckley, DC, is the vice president of finance for the California Chiropractic Association and is the past vice president of communications and department chair of marketing and communications. He teaches chiropractic students, doctors of chiropractic, and other professionals marketing tools. He can be reached at 626-792-3390 or via email: tridocd@aol.com.