Take some time to wander around your marketplace and you'll have many close encounters of the third kind with the most interesting species in all of nature: the human being... your potential new patient.
And just as we have learned about the nature of other animals, we also know that the nature of humans isn't much different: All need to breathe, eat, drink, procreate, and survive. One of the manifestations of being self-aware is that beyond whatever humans need, they also want things.
The most essential fact that Chiropreneurs need to grasp about the nature of those very important humans... your Patients... is the difference between what they need and what they want.
Everyone who owns an automobile will need to buy new tires at some point. But what they want is to not blow an entire Saturday finding and acquiring tires.
So if you're in the tire business, should you advertise your tires, which are commodities and, therefore, very much like those of your competitors? Or should you develop a marketing initiative that anticipates when a customer's tires need replacing and handles that project for them, including pick-up and delivery?
How about this tag line: "New tires AND your Saturday back."?
Basically the hairless weenies of the animal kingdom, people, need the shelter of a house. But what we want is a home.
So if you're a realtor, should you focus your assistance on the obligatory list of a house's features, or how the physical setting and interior space fit what you've learned is your customer's sense of what a home should be? Try this on:
"Mrs. Johnson, countertops can be replaced. What I want to know is how much will you enjoy the sun rising over that ridge as you enjoy your first cup of coffee every morning?"
People, like thousands of other warm-blooded species, need to eat every day, whether they get to or not. But unlike other animals, only people want to dine.
So if you own a fine dining restaurant, do you emphasize the food that will soon be forgotten, or the atmosphere that can create a memory? Check this out:
"Long after you've forgotten how wonderful our food is, you will still remember that table for two in the corner or the booth next to the fireplace."
In the 21st century marketplace the difference between delivering what customers want and trying to sell them stuff you think they need is, as Mark Twain said, "like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
People don't want to purchase a quarter-inch drill, they want quarter-inch holes.
Now, how does this all apply to your practice? Well, People don't want to be patients. Just the word alone turns people off... it means in most cases that they have a problem. What they want to enjoy is a healthier and more active lifestyle... free from PAIN.
They don't want to come to your office and wait 30 minutes for their appointment. They don't want to run all over town "buying" health products and services, they want one-stop convenience. They don't want to gab with the doctor for 20 minutes on each visit, they want to be in and out in 3 minutes or less.
The want to LIVE. They want MOVEMENT. They want to be play with their kids or grandchildren. They want to work and provide for their family.
Is your marketing addressing what they want, or what you think they need?
Chiropractic survival requires that we do what we do better than anyone else: deliver what patients want.
Find out what your Prospex or Patients want, and then deliver it! If they want to come in at 5:00 A.M. or during the lunch hour or at 7:00 P.M. at night... deliver what they want!
No, I am not saying that you have to be all things to all people, but, find out what your optimum patient wants and then construct your marketing to attract more of those people.
Not everyone wants the cheapest office visit or one adjustment per year...
... some folks actual want to enjoy a healthier and more active lifestyle, everyday, all year for many years too come.
Now, come up with your "story" and let people know you have what they want, not what you want to give them.