Class 113 - To answer a couple questions brought up in class:
1. Loopnet and other sites similar - what is their percentage of accuracy? The answer is: We have no idea but feel that it must be reasonable or else could not stay active. Again it is good to gather information from multiple sources for comparison and reasonableness. Loopnet has an email for questions...so there is a start. Sorry this is not more helpful.
2. Is it legal to contact other chiropractors to see what they are charging for services so as to help in deciding how much to charge for your own services? Yes. That is fine. Where is become illegal is when a group makes an agreement that they will all charge a certain price. This is price fixing. This falls under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. There is lots of information on price fixing on the web.
This week was the first of a four part series on the financial aspect of your practice. We discusses revenues and account receivables/collections. See the class web page for more on that section of the excel spreadsheet. Discussion revolved on how you plan to differentiate yourself from your competition - chiropractic or other. Also on how you plan to utilize your marketing dollars into the revenue stream.
Even Teams please comment on:
What will be your competitive advantage(s) and what marketing/advertising/promotion events will you use to achieve your revenue goals during your first year of practice. Be specific.
Have a great week. Alexis
Andy Dion (for group 20):
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough question to answer because there is literally no way of proving a direct correlation between dollars spent in advertising and those dollars being returned to a business in revenue. Although there tends to be a positve correlation trend. Marketing is such a specific thing to such a specific audience. What might have one individual laughing or intrigued will most likely have someone else rolling their eyes from either bordom or offense. Therefore, in order to advertise properly you have to know your audience. YOu have to be willing to attract this demographic and risk alienating other groups. Elite athletes do not want to be in the same clinic that might be focusing on pediatrics; perhaps it would be awkward for TO to be sitting on an exam table shaped like Big Bird. So that is the first step, by keeping a specific target, you can place money where it might do the most work.
Secondly you have to have have perpetual recognition. This was much easier 10 years ago. The game is completely changed and I think we are doing ourselves a dis-service by marketing the same way our parents/older siblings might have. Like it or not, we are still in a recession, which means that every dollar counts more than it usually does, (even though its actually worth less). Social media, costs next to nothing to utilize. Most people have 700 friends, that they have never met on facebook. So the goal is have multiple facebook pages, not just your personal account. Have at least one additional account, where you have can share helpful/healhty hints and talk about chiropractic. Twitter accounts should follow pertinant sites like local gyms, other chiros, healthy living stores etc..
Name recognition is good, facial recognition is better. Coach a local team. This will most likely cost nothing, but you might pick up one or two patients, who might refer you 10 more.
Like I said the value of the dollar is becoming simultaneously worth less and more at the same time for us. We can't spend an absurd amount on sinage and mail orders.
For Group 16
ReplyDeleteOne of our biggest competitive advantage is being a Palmer Grad. The Palmer name is well known and is associated with chiropractic. This alone will help bring in patients. While the legacy may get relied upon to much at times it is still an advantage that is note worthy. The other advantages that others have is the follow on training or specializing with one technique. This starts to provide the niche to help target a specific audience.
Collectively as a group it is really not feasible to say that our group would do this or that because of the different target audiences for the different soon to be grads. One thing is common is to utilize grassroots and keep cost to the minimal. One thing to do is get involved with ones community. A community is what is going to make a practice or break a practice. By getting involved with community events, your name becomes better known. When you are better known, more patients are going to come in. These patients may have been referred by someone who you may work with or just by the fact your face has become better known.
Marketing/advertising/promotion events are so specific in nature just about everyone has different ideas on how they are going to approach it. Again this is more dependent on what kind of practice one is going to have. Andy Dion commented on this fact also. An elite athlete is not going to be looking at a flier in a daycare setting for sports care. Fliers and posters are relatively inexpensive but one needs to find the right places to post them. Going to places for health talks are another way to approach the community to not only educate but they get ones name out.
Honestly I feel that hard work and pounding the pavement are going to bring in the first patients, after that if you take care of the patients, they will take care of you. My family business back home gets more revenue by the word of mouth referrals than the money spent on advertisement.
Group 14 (Alyssa Sollenberger, Sydney Johnson, Randy Belrichard, Christina Hall, Brandon Evans)
ReplyDeleteMarketing a practice is all about marketing the confident, competent, compassionate and credible health care provider. The doctor, in my opinion, is the best marketing tool and competitive advantage a practice has and they are the number one reason why a patient will walk in the door. The best way to use this doctor/competitive advantage as a marketing tool is to get the doctor into the community. As politician’s say, you have to ‘press the flesh to get the votes.’ This means that the more people the doctor physically comes in contact with, the greater the likelihood of positive impressions being made and the number of resulting patient visits will increase.
As a doctor of chiropractic, we each have the unique skill sets and authority to provide needed services throughout our community. A doctor of chiropractic may work under the Red Cross and volunteer by teaching back safety classes or CPR/First Aid classes. They can also volunteer by providing ‘lunch and learn’ events at local business, with topics that don’t need to necessarily be about chiropractic, they can be about nutrition, exercise, back safety, quilting, fishing, etc. Whatever the chiropractic practices demographic and target market is and whatever the chiropractor is interested in or well versed in, can provide the doctor the opportunity to get involved and form relationships with others. At all the events, volunteer activities and classes, the doctor will carry business cards that are unique and may offer a legal discount or incentive for the patient to come into the office. The business cards could be larger or smaller than the standard size, be a unique shape, color or material (paper, plastic, clear, etc) to set them apart from the run-of-the-mill standard business cards that everyone else is giving out.
To establish the doctor as an authority in their area, they may also be interested in writing health related articles in the newspaper or local magazines or conducting a radio or television health show that provides health information to the community and allows the listeners and viewers to call in with questions. This will provide a larger viewing and listening audience then the doctor could get walking door to door, but the patients still feel a connection or that the doctor has met them ‘personally.’ For example, patient: “you’re that guy that does the health show right?” Doctor: “yes I am.” Patient: “I really enjoy your talks, just last week my wife and I were discussing the Paleo Diet and we weren’t really sure what it was about, but your show the other day helped clear up a lot of questions we had. So what kind of a doctor are you?” Doctor: “I’m a chiropractor.” Patient: “Really! I didn’t know chiropractors were doctors. What do you do?” And thus you have been provided an open door through which you may discuss chiropractic and your office location, etc. Whether you’ve actually met the patient previously or not, the show you produce has provided them an inside look at your credibility and allows them to feel as if you’re already a part of their life.
ReplyDeleteOther options for doctor-patient interaction include health fairs in your community and just being able to get out and volunteer. Anytime you are around other people, you are marketing. Join a professionals group, or multiple ones, be it Elks, Lions, Rotary, Young Professionals, Chamber of Commerce in your area, you will be mingling with other professionals and can establish relationships that will lead to mutual referrals. I also think it’s important to talk to and meet with the other healthcare providers in your area including hospital personnel, physical therapists, massage therapists and acupuncturists. Together we can refer to each other and educate each other about our specialties. When you know, you are less afraid and more apt to use and refer to the services available to you.
I’m not convinced that direct marketing pieces and mailers actually provide a great service. I know when I get things like that in the mail it automatically is considered “junk mail” and goes in the circular file. I believe if you spend your marketing dollars on flyers, mailers and posters, you may as well just throw that money in the trash, because that’s what will happen when the piece gets to the consumer.
ReplyDeleteAs for tracking, when patients come into the office they will be asked where they heard about the practice. Examples for questionnaire include: just drove by, heard about you on the radio, met you in person, word of mouth, family member, etc. Also if you do choose to legally provide special offers when meeting others, you’ll be able to collect that data and track it.
As I stated before, the key to marketing success is the practice’s most valuable competitive advantage – the doctor. Spotlight the strengths the doctor possesses, provide volunteer service in your community with a joyful heart, love to learn and serve others and you will have an office full of more patients then you know what to do with. There is no marketing substitute for the impression a passionate and compassionate doctor can provide, nor is there the economic return that would match the success of these personal relationship building endeavors. As your practice grows, your reputation will speak louder than your words and your referrals will do most of the work for you.
Apparently I'm long-winded and the blog site doen't accept more than a certain number of characters... sorry everyone! :)
ReplyDelete(Jake Matrille from group 16)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that immersing yourself in the community is the best way of creating a competitive advantage. Furthermore, to start I think it may be best to find a specific niche that fits your personal interest or passion or skill. Whether it's giving health talks, being involved in a church, being a volunteer in an organization, all those things work to bring in patients. For me, my passion is running and I plan to use involvement in running clubs, races, and running stores (such as Running Wild) to establish a niche. It doesn't hurt that running also happens to be physically grueling, requiring chiropractic care. In addition, I plan on working with the local GLBT community in events and fundraisers such as HIV/AIDS fundraisers and pride events. No matter what organization, group, or club you choose to involve yourself in over time you will be recognized as a prominent member of that target community, and others will look to you for their health concerns.
Along with this theme, the first year I plan on avoiding all the things that cost money like newspaper ads, yellowpages, and mailing advertisements. I agree with group 14 in that regard...sending out junk mail is exactly that. Junk. Most of the chiropractors I have talked to agree word of mouth is the best advertising a clinic can do. However, this means there needs to be an established patient base first. In other words, you need patients to bring in patients. In my first year, I plan on putting together a "team" for one of the local running events. This team could be a way to promote health and help patients and workers feel accomplished. Anyone who gets involved is then given a discounted initial exam at the clinic. Furthermore, I would like to offer a health talk for those living with HIV on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Of course, some of these ideas only work because I plan on living in a large urban area. However, no matter what community size or location there will be a niche (yes, I like to use that word) for each clinician.
Of course, all these ways to promote and advertise are no substitution for skill, results, and passion but as Justin Bohn already stated: we will be Palmer graduates. I think the school has prepared us sufficiently, as long as we are willing to put ourselves out there and be an active member of our community.
Jason Pudenz- Group 8
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest competitive advantages for chiropractors is to set yourself apart from all the other chiropractors in your area, by treating patients with the most care and compassion that they come back and also refer friends and family to us as well. Every patient that walks through that door, you need to make them feel like they are the most important patient to you when they are in that exam room. You need to make them feel comfortable. I know this may be a very hard concept to do, but you just have to get to know the people in your community and let them know how their lifestyles can be improved with our chiropractic care. I also agree with Justin, to where being a Palmer Graduate is also a competitive advantage. If you are going out on your own and opening up your own practice, you will have to get involved with your community for people to notice you. Word of mouth from patient to patient will be the most helpful to bring in new patients.Joining the local Chamber of Commerce would also be helpful.
This past summer I visited multiple suburbs of Denver, and I hooked up with a few Chamber of Commerce representatives, and I found this very helpful. When you are planning on opening up a practice, another helpful thing to think about, is knowing how health oriented the community is. The healthier the community, the more likely they will seek chiropractic care for a means of alternative medication.
Some advertising and promotional ideas that could be set into play is the use of the internet. A lot of people use the internet as their means to locate a local business or obtain a phone number. Some types of marketing techniques you could do, are getting involved in health fairs and providing health information that would hopefully bring in new clients. Using direct mail could also work, if it is done right. You could send out fliers about an open house you will have to introduce yourself to the community. You could offer raffles at your open house to draw people in from around the community. You could have gift cards like free one month membership to a gym, or gift card for a local massage therapist, or simply a gift card to a local restaurant. This also sends the message that you are willing to help out other local businesses as well, and hopefully this will be a long term benefit.
Fredrik Balsnes (group 10)
ReplyDelete1. The first component to market any business is to have a Unique Selling Proposition. I believe that being a Palmer Graduate is a USP in itself. Palmer has a reputation of producing successful Chiropractors.
2. The first step to marketing any business would be accessibility. This could be achieved by having a newspaper ad, website, being a member of social media site such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.
3. Investing in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to reach a greater audience.
4. Another way to market a business would be to get involved in the community
a. Joining a local gym and offering to trade or donate service
b. Volunteering at local charity events or sporting events
c. Sponsoring local sports teams.
d. Volunteering to teach educational classes through the local Chamber of Commerce
5. Host free educational events for your patients and their families.
6. Donate to local charities or organizations
7. Make your patients feel special. After their initial visit, follow-up with a hand-written card.
8. Free Give-aways.
a. Drawings for free services.
b. Free gift for patient who refers the most patients in a 6 month time period.
9. Treating employees well. Providing incentives (gifts, bonuses, etc) to bring in new patients
10. Build relationships with MD’s, orthopedists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, etc to build a referral network.
11. Attend networking events to connect w/other local businesses.
12. Send out promotional coupons a few times/year
Group 4
ReplyDeleteAndrea - My competitive advantage will be that I will be a Palmer grad, family practice, offer PT/massage/rehab, offer exercise classes weekly, offer health talks and ergonomic recommendations to local businesses/schools/sports teams, and offer products to buy such as ice packs, braces, ergonomic supports in office. I will be doing a grand opening, health talks, exercise classes, sponsorship for local sports teams, and offer reward incentive for patient referrals as marketing/promotions.
Ed L- I like the idea of social networking, using facebook, myspace, and twitter to help market to the local community. My competitive advantage is having experience in the chiropractic field from my past employment. Learning the office flow and how a chiropractic office is run would be an advantage. Also, I’ve taken five extra elective courses. I figure the more techniques in my tool box the better, not every patient is the same.
Alissa-My competitive advantage will be my interest in continued education either in Nutrition or Acupuncture and, as Andrea mentioned, having an education from Palmer. Possibly implementing a holistic multi-disciplinary clinic will allow patients to have the benefits of going one place to receive all of their services. During my first year of practice, I plan to get involved with the community--volunteering, hiking, as well as some organizations of local community business. I will introduce myself to the local business owners, have a grand opening, as well offer myself for local health talks to the area schools and businesses. By putting in face time with the people of the community I hope to become a doctor that they will think of first when it comes to their health needs.
Ed K - My competitive advantages will be the experience that I’ve gained with extremity adjusting. Much of the population has some type of pain in their shoulders or knees, and having the knowledge and experience to help them relieve that pain will be a great advantage. I also plan to ultimately offer services such as spinal decompression, massage and flexion distraction technique. In regards to marketing and advertising, I plan on doing a grass roots style of advertising a few months prior to opening. This will be done by becoming more involved with the community; church, volunteering, high school sports, 5k/10k races sponsorship. I also think it is necessary to have a solid and clean website to advertise the practice. I believe that the small things in life go a long way. I plan on possibly sending out birthday cards, thank you cards and tokens of appreciation to existing patients; showing patients that you care about their health as much as they do will ultimately help grow the practice by referrals.
Ji Young Kwon (Group 22)
ReplyDeleteI agree with everybody. The strongest advantage is being a Palmer graduate. The Palmer name is well known and is associated with chiropractic. First I will star with media, such as newspaper, TV commercial, Internet, seminars, etc. I will have my own professional website and I will have an account of social media sties (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) I will use my website to accept an appointment and I will have a site where everybody can ask questions about chiropractic and general health questions.
I will focus my advertisements to specific targets. For example, since I speak Korean fluently, I will focus on people who can't go to chiropractic because the can't speak English well in Korean societies. Also since I am a women, I will focus on prefnat women and pediatric. They will be more comfortable with me than male chiropractor.
I will also offer a free gift or discounted services to patients who refer other patients and I will give an employee discounts to employee's families as well.
I will host free seminars at churches or local fitness centes to explain what chiropractic is and how important it is to our health. When I host a seminar, I will have a time to share with other people about general knowledge of nutrition, exercise, postures, etc.
I will have a feedback system that patients can share their thoughts via email or mail after clinic visit. So I can learn and see from their point of view.
In my clinic, I will have a playroom for children. So patients Don't have to worry about their children when they come if dor care.
There are many other ways to advertise and the location, interior, and size of clinic are also very important to success. But in my opinion, the most important key to success as a chiropractor is being a real doctor who has medical knowledge to diagnosis accurately so patients can trust their doctor.
Group 2
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous ways to create a competitive advantage for yourself as a chiropractor. A huge one that other groups have already eluded to is being a Palmer graduate. Palmer is the Fountainhead of the profession and strives to produce the best chiropractors in the field. Therefore, we should strive to continue to represent the excellence that has been instilled in us at Palmer. One strategy that our group believes will be successful is to incorporate specialty techniques into our practice. Extremity adjusting, soft tissue work including Active Release Technique or Graston, upper cervical specific, Flexion-Distraction, and other techniques can give you a greater range of treatments and a greater likelihood of successful results. Another advantage is to be from the area where you are practicing. Understanding how the people from the community think, act, and most importantly how they spend their money will lead to better strategies for improving brand awareness, patient care, referral based marketing, and patient retention. Competitive advantages specific to marketing could include treating children up to the age of 12 for free and giving a complementary evaluation for new patients. Also, being involved in the community such as volunteering at local schools, a press release on the opening of the clinic, health talks in the local paper, brand messaging on the radio, etc can create a buzz about yourself and your clinic.
Group 18 (Kiley Zimmerman, Maurice Woods, Krysty Martel, Kevin Stanek, Chase L'Huereux)
ReplyDeleteAs difficult as it is to speak for a group of 5, I think one of the major advantages each of us have, is the fact that we are all Palmer grads. Another advantage that each of us could have depends on how well we have honed our skills to "speak chiropractic". This is a skill that each of us has been encouraged to work on since the beginning of the program. We were told that the meaning of "doctor" is teacher/educator. If we educate our patients on what chiropractic is, we have an advantage on those who are not taking or utilizing the opportunity to do so in their office. We have also been advised through different sources that we should immerse ourselves in the community that we belong to establish ourselves and get our names out to the public. I have heard so many different points of view in regards to marketing, and as wonderful as our marketing classes have been here at palmer; i still feel inadequate to make a call on where to start. Speaking for myself, I feel that I initially would feel more comfortable having a mentor/coach to help me with some of those decisions. Someone who has been through the grind of it all and had some success. Why try to re-create the wheel if there is a blue print from someone who has been successful and can help guide you. I am not necessarily a business minded person, yet I understand that there is a business side to all of this and I feel like I need some guidance in the beginning stage of my career.
(Group 12)I clearly can' speak for everyone in the group, but there are definitely some things I plan on utilizing to my advantage. I think the biggest advantage that we share is being a Palmer graduate. People are very familiar with the Palmer name and respect the individuals that are produce at our institution. One of the things that I will personnaly use to my advantages are the additional classes that I took while at Palmer. These include Soft Tissue and Flexion-Distraction. Very few people that I have talked to while in the field know what Graston even is. Introducing people to this relatively new technique, especially to athletes will help me to get established.
ReplyDeleteI am still unsure of how exactly to market myself, but I know that I will definitely take advantage of free marketing tools like Facebook and Twitter. Some other things that I have thought about utilizing is talking with middle school and high school students. I plan on working with and training high school athletes especially, so this would easily be a way to market myself not only to the students but parents and relatives as well. As far as other marketing plans, I am planning on associating with someone so I hope that I can learn from them about additional ways to market to the community that actually work.
Group 24
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Palmer name is a great asset in marketing with people who are already familiar with chiropractic to some degree. There is an expectation of quality care that automatically associated with that name which is of benefit to us.
People who are not familiar with chiropractic, however, will need to be reached in other ways. I think that a lot of people look for proximity and possibly reviews in order to help them choose a care provider. Getting one's name out in different ways depending on the audience one is looking for is therefore important. As an example, social media and online presence will be much more useful and effective with certain groups than giving a 'Pain Talk' at the local library will be and vice versa depending on your target audience. I don't think one can do either exclusively but the type of practice one wants to have can help determine that strategy.
Community involvement and name recognition is also very important and can be achieved with doing the legwork of talks with community groups etc.
Dustin and Josh not sure about group number
ReplyDeleteOk, well i think that everyone has covered everything realy well. I especially like what Frederik had to say and I totally agree with his method:
Palmer grad
Community involvement
Social media (radio)
Free health seminar (in office)
networking events
Good relationships with MD's, Dentists ect.
send out a mailer
Telephone call to patient after first adjustment
Group 6
ReplyDeleteI think you have to make use of anything FREE that is available to you. Radio, Television, Newspaper ads are not effective unless you have the money to repeatedly place advertisements in those markets (which most do not). Even yellow page ads are less and less popular these days, because people don't really use the phone book as much anymore.
As far as free advertising, I agree with everyone else that said facebook and twitter. If handled responsibly, these are great forms of communication and advertisement.
Having even a basic website is important as well. I was surprised when doing location research in the area how many chiropractic offices did not have a website. If I am doing a search for any type of business, if there is no website, I skip it. It seems like common sense to me.
Others also brought up a lot of good comments: telephone calls after the first adjustment, community involvement and networking, and incentives for referrals. Having designated nights where you have a free health seminar at your office is a good event. Have patient appreciation days, attend a health fair at different businesses throughout the year, and anything else that can help you to stand out in a crowd. Basically, talking to people is how you are going to get patients to your office, and to stay with you. And that is usually free as well. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on advertising to have a successful practice...