External marketing: putting your clinic out there

Nothing is harder than convincing someone who's never heard of you, never heard of your clinic, never heard of chiropractic for that matter, that they need your help. But by brushing up on your external marketing skills, going out and getting new patients won't be something to shy away from – it'll be something you look forward to.

"We have to take the chiropractic message out of the chiropractic office and bring it into the real world in order for it to do as much good as it should," said Dr. Noel Lloyd, Five Star Management coach.


External marketing is all about getting out of your comfort zone – which we all know is the best way to grow. You'll talk to people you've never met before, you'll be in situations you've never been in, and you'll sell yourself and your clinic as their solution. Teach prospective patients about the importance of seeing a chiropractor, and make them realize that chiropractor should be you.


Moreover, there are a variety of different ways to take on external marketing; it doesn't always mean screening for hours in a mall. Here are some great methods that Dr. Lloyd recommends:

1. Set up a Health and Wellness lecture for a nearby business. Every employer is concerned about the cost of health insurance for their employees, and every employer wants to see their employees be healthy, happy and productive – that's just good business. So, host a lecture for them and speak on proper nutrition and excercise, how to take care of yourself, and relieving stress. And don't forget to offer spinal screenings during the lecture – the new patients will ne flooding into your office in no time!


2. Invite people to a Dinner with the Doc event. This event will pull in some of your internal marketing skills. Post a newspaper ad, hang flyers, and tell your patients to tell their friends, to come have dinner on you at a particular restaurant. During the dinner, speak about the importance of chiropractic and invite a couple of current patients along to tell their stories. At the end of the dinner, offer them an incentive to come in to your office.


3. Develop marketing partners in your area. Find five to 20 nearby businesses who are marketing to the same demographic (but not competing), and offer to hand out their flyer/coupons if they do the same for you. Find a new marketing partner every month, and you'll reach a whole range of people might not have met otherwise.


4. Introduce yourself to other health care providers in the area – MDs, dentists, etc. Leave a few business cards at their clinic, and get familiar with the referrals coordinator at every clinic you visit. That way, when the MD needs to send their patient to a chiropractor, you'll be the first one on their mind.

No matter what you do, just make sure to do something. Remember that even though you don't know these people, you do know they need to be patients in your clinic. Help them understand this as well, and your appointment book will be full before you know it.