:dropcap_open:C:dropcap_close:hances are you learned early on in your practice how effective patient referrals and testimonials are in bringing new chiropractic patients into your office. Marketing reports state that 90% of people believe and are influenced by the recommendations of people they know. 70% of people act on comments and reviews they read online. The evidence is clear; consumers do listen to the personal experiences and recommendations of others. It’s no wonder Amazon and other companies pester us for review comments after we’ve made a purchase online. If it didn’t have a positive marketing impact, they wouldn’t bother.
Are your patients spreading the word of wellness inside and outside your office? How are you capturing those heart-felt endorsements and utilizing them to resound again and again? Like a concert hall with great acoustics, you can make your patients’ voices resonate the beautiful message of wellness with chiropractic care to the community you serve.
How Patient Testimonials Fuel a Cash Practice
In this economy, running a successful 100% cash practice in a big city with so much competition is no small feat. Dr. Stephanie Maj explains how she runs a successful cash practice in Chicago. “In a cash practice, relationships are the fuel that propels growth. People pay out of their pocket because they know they are in a place they can heal. How do they know that? Patient referrals attract people to our clinic. This is a big reason why the use of testimonials is so important. It teaches patients how to tell their chiropractic story. I practice in a large city with constant streams of advertising trying to capture consumers. People want to have some idea they can trust their choices. Again, testimonials help assure a new patient that they are in the right place. It educates both new and existing patients to other conditions we help people with in our office, especially non-musculoskeletal issues such as pregnancy and pediatrics.”
Catching and Releasing Patient Testimonials In-Office
Dr. Stephanie Maj told us how vital patient testimonials are in running her cash chiropractic practice in Chicago. So, I asked her to further explain how she captures and utilizes them. Her effective, practical methods follow.
Patient of the Month- “We ask one of our ideal patients to be our patient of the month. That person’s photo and patient testimonial is hung in the reception room and announced in our newsletter.”
Testimonial Wall and Contest- “We have a wall of patient testimonials hung in our examination room, for new patients to read while waiting for the doctor. Twice a year we have a contest where we ask patients to write testimonials. We put them up in the office. All the patients get to vote on them; the winner gets a prize and we get people reading about how great we are and we also get a fresh crop of testimonials to use.”
(Dr. Maj has been in practice as a DC for more than 15 years. She is the author of the book You Can Be Well and owner of Community Chiropractic, Inc. in Chicago. In addition to having 2 full-time DCs on staff, the practice offers specialties in pregnancy and pediatric, massage, acupuncture, orthotics, weight loss and nutrition and yes, it all runs on a cash basis.)
Catching and Releasing Patient Testimonials: in Binders, on Video, Power Point, and Live Presentations
The waiting room is the ideal place to put patient testimonials to work in a variety of ways.
Keep patient testimonial forms on hand for grateful patients to write their story or comments and return to your staff. Place testimonials in page protectors and compile in a binder for new patients to pick up and read. Or, post on a bulletin board.
Videos are a wonderfully quick way to convey chiropractic success! Turn off the TV and use that large screen to advance your practice. Record patient testimonials and play the videos in the waiting room. In addition to showing these in your office, post patient testimonial videos or links to your website, Facebook page and Twitter. If you aren’t video savvy, contact the nearest college to solicit student assistance with your filming projects.
In the following testimonial video, an actual patient tells her remarkable account of going from wheelchair to skates in a week, after receiving chiropractic care from Dr. Frank Kaden, of Kaden Chiropractic in Hermosa Beach, CA. This video clearly demonstrates the potential patient testimonials can have in influencing others to seek chiropractic care. Watch Dr. Kaden’s video to inspire you to start recording your own. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1284410116941.
Power Point Presentations are yet another way to utilize the big screen as a chiropractic tool. Type patient testimonials and compose a PowerPoint presentation. Display in the waiting room, for everyone to watch.
Live Testimonials. If you offer community classes, screenings, or in-office workshops, invite a patient to give a brief, live testimonial to the collective group of prospective new patients, telling how chiropractic has improved his or her health and quality of life.
In this article, we’ve looked primarily at utilizing patient testimonials within the office environment. However, testimonials can greatly assist in marketing your chiropractic business outside the office as well. We’ll share those methods in a future issue. In the meantime, stay tuned and start collecting patient testimonials. If you’ve found innovative ways to use patient testimonials in marketing, I’d love to read your ideas.
Deborah Tukua is an author, natural health and chiropractic writer, and owner of Chiropractors’ Write Hand, a service specializing in aligning DCs with weekly, healthy-living posts for Facebook and other social media platforms, www.chiropractorswritehand.com. Deborah may also be contacted at [email protected] or www.facebook.com/Chiropractorswritehand