As a chiropractic practitioner for 7 years, I have tried and sold many types of pillows and back supports. It wasn't until my second year in practice that I found the current line of products I use. Carrying pillows and back supports in my practice has helped my patients and has resulted in a nice profit center for the practice.

Contrary to what some practitioners think, patients do want their doctor's advice and recommendations on pillows and back supports. Sometimes we may neglect discussions with patients about pillows and back supports for fear that we sound like a "salesman." The truth is that when you are knowledgeable about a product and how it can benefit patients, they want to know about it. It's the old "what's in it for me" idea: Tell patients how it can help their pain or make them sleep better or make the morning stiffness in their neck more tolerable, and they will listen.

Pricing

The chiropractic care that we provide should be the main "thing." All else is supplementary. So the pricing scheme of your pillows and back supports should reflect that. At our office, we price pillows and back supports at $5 to $10 over what it costs us, and way lower than suggested retail price. Today's chiropractic patients are educated consumers who will undoubtedly research the actual cost of your products on the Internet. When they discover that your prices are so reasonable, they trust your recommendations and believe they are based on medical necessity and not the necessity of making a quick buck.

I like keeping our prices reasonable on take-home products because patients see you as a physician who offers and recommends beneficial and affordable products that enhance their health. This opens the door for patients to purchase other self-help items such as herbal hot and cold packs, liniments, vitamins, and herbal supplements at your office—rather than elsewhere—all because they trust you.

Cervical Pillows

Mel Youngs, DC, measures a patient's shoulders to see what type of pillow she needs.

Cervical pillows are essential for chiropractors to sell or recommend. So many patients' neck problems, upper back problems, and headaches are the result of an improper pillow and bad sleeping habits. A cervical pillow should come in several sizes so it correctly fits your neck and shoulders. We have a cervical pillow on display in our office, but how we get this pillow under patients' heads and out of our office is really a pretty simple procedure. We have our CAs tell all new patients that on the second visit they will be required to bring in their existing pillow. Then, our CAs evaluate the patient's pillow and measure the patient's shoulders to see what size pillow he or she would need.

A cervical pillow should be designed for the patient to lie comfortably on his back or side. The raised side sections of the pillow should accommodate shoulder height while the contoured head rests should keep the head and neck level. The side portions of the pillow should provide flexible cushioning, ensuring jaw comfort, and is essential for patients with TMJ pain.

We ask the patient to actually lie on a sample pillow so he feels the difference. Very often he feels it immediately and leaves with a pillow purchase that day.

I find patients that make positive changes to their daily routine, such as changing their pillow to a more supportive one, get better results from their chiropractic care faster.

Back Supports

Back supports should come in different sizes. I always order many different sizes and styles of back supports, because not one size or style fits all. I always put the back supports that I sell on display in the waiting room for patients to try. Back supports have been extremely easy to recommend and sell to patients, because the patients usually ask the staff about them while sitting on them! I found that making these back supports essentially self-explanatory was the key to effective patient marketing. I have the back supports labeled: Pettite (4 feet to 5 feet), average (5 feet to 6 feet), and tall (6 feet and taller). I also have them priced so patients don't have to wait for a CA to assist them.

It never ceases to amaze me that I see many more patients who sit for a living and have office/administrative jobs than patients who stand all day for a living. The ergonomic conditions of their workstations have so much to do with the patients' daily amount of pain and muscle fatigue. Just the simple addition of a full-spine back support to their office chair has helped countless patients with daily pain. A back support should fasten easily to just about any chair and stay in place all day while contouring the spine and supporting the kyphotic and lordotic curves.

Travel Pillows

Travel pillows are a great invention. I love the cervical pillow that I carry, but it is very large and bulky and I find it hard to bring with me while traveling. The new travel pillows are a "mini" version of the cervical pillow that is much easier to pack and great for sleeping on the plane. Many of my patients travel quite often for a living. These patients are constantly in pain from sleeping on different beds and less-than-optimal hotel pillows. I find that recommending a travel-size cervical pillow to them helps ease the pain of traveling and keeps neck and shoulder pain at bay.

Love It or Don't Sell It

The most important part of merchandising any product in your office is to first fall in the love with the product yourself. I don't sell anything in my office that doesn't excite me. If you don't use it or have firsthand knowledge of how it works and how well it works, you'll always feel like you are "selling" something, rather than just telling a friend about a product that works great.

The same goes for your CAs. The passion must come from the top! If they don't feel your genuine excitement about how good a product is and how much it will help a patient, they will shy away from sharing it with a patient and will be afraid that they will sound like a pushy salesman.

I use pillows and back supports in my office, sell them, and believe in them. I see the difference that it makes in patients' health.

For more on pillows, go to "Pillow Talk" in our May 2007 issue.

You can't sell what you don't know.

Be sure to offer your staff the products you sell at cost, and explain how the products will improve their health. Staff members should be walking ambassadors of the products, not just staff with a memorized pitch.

If any of your key staff members still haven't tried any of the health care products you sell, give the products to them! Your reward will be tenfold. Staff members will effortlessly talk to your patients about how they personally have experienced a benefit and will recommend the products with genuine sincerity. If your CAs haven't slept on a fabulous pillow, how can they sell it? You can't sell a Ferrari if you've only driven a Yugo!

Mel Youngs, DC, sells Therapeutica products at her practice in Cape Coral, Fla. Contact her at .