Tip # 15

So Zone 1 is clean, organized and expressing chiropractic to everyone who enters the front door. Awesome. But, let's take another look just to be sure. Your office is an outward manifestation of your chiropractic and personal beliefs (possibly, if you are congruent in thought and action) so make your office true to whom you are but make it chiropractic.

I received one of the greatest compliments yesterday when my flight commander from the Asheville Civil Air Patrol came in for an adjustment. He is a new patient and like myself, a real New Yorker living in the south (and loving it) The first time he walked in, he was amazed. He perused the walls and everything was screaming chiropractic. In our Zone 1, we do not have testimonial books, we have testimonial walls. That's right, when a patient makes a testimonial type comment either before during or after their adjustment, we hand them a magic marker and ask them to write it on the wall (more later). He then came back to our open style adjusting room and there were kids running around and people being adjusted and everyone was laughing and talking with each other about their chiropractic experiences. To me, this is my dream practice. As he was leaving, he looked at all of us and said "I have been to a lot of "Family" chiropractic offices but this one truly makes you feel like family. It is like meeting a friend in their living room. He gave us all a hug and left. I hugged my wife and team - we truly have created our dream practice but is all begins in Zone 1 with the initial phone call.

Tip # 15 - The Initial Phone Call

There are probably no less than 25 procedures which go into making a dynamite front end, one which is congruent with your mission and is able to capture your vision and pass it on to patients. This is where is happens docs. Zone 1 can make you or break you. The right person behind the front desk and on the telephone is invaluable. They are the first people people talk to, so they are the first impression people get of your office. They are also the first and last person patients when they enter and exit your office. Give serious consideration when hiring your front desk person. I love mine and would not trade her for anything. Why? Because she has the vision - everything else can be taught.

As you may notice in my writings, I jump around a lot. The reason is because procedure is so technical. It is black and white and while running a practice is A LOT of black and white, it is more about feeling and passion and vision and leadership. It is philosophy and understanding and caring and compassion and motivation. To be clique, it is much more of an inside - out thing. When you get it, they get it. When you get the internal message and can act on feeling and passion, when you understand what chiropractic truly is and you then pass that on so others can feel it, all the rest are just words to memorize and organized tasks to accomplish.

This is when scripts come into play. In our office, a new team member is not allowed to answer the phone for at least two weeks. We are very protective of our reputation and since we know that new patients (and other chiropractors) are judging us every time the phone rings, we demand excellence on the telephone and in all zones. The new team member is given a script and a time frame in which to learn it. It they do not have it down in that time frame, they are not on board with our vision and they are released - but it is not a secret to them. They are forewarned. They must not only learn the script (word for word) but they must also hear our Super CA say it a few hundred times during the learning process. Then they have to pass a test where we call the office and pretend to be a new patient. We listen for voice inflection and passion. How is the tone of their voice, does it go up and down in the right spots; is it confident and does she/he follow the script word for word. As with all scripts, you may think they sound canned and phony - but they do not. The caller never has any idea they are listening to a script, they only hear a polite, confident and organized voice at the other end of the phone.

When a patient is moving, the first thing we do is call around to find them a new chiropractor and believe me, your CA will determine if you get one of our patients or not. If I hear "doctors office" and then silence, I just hang up. How yucky and uninviting. New patients feel the same way although by now, many have been conditioned to this type of experience. Instead, to stand out from the crowd, make every experience, starting from the first phone call a WOW experience. Let the caller hang up going "Wow, that was an amazing person I just spoke with. Make them want to come to your office.

Our CA Sabrina, starts each call with "Thank you for calling Cagen Family Chiropractic. This is Sabrina. How may I brighten your day? Isn't that awesome. The responses she gets are amazing and she immediately puts people at ease. They are having a WOW experience and they are just 16 short words into the process. Patients now know who she is, who we are and they are speaking with someone who wants to brighten their day. Who the heck ever speaks with anyone who wants to brighten their day? It is unique and totally appealing.

She then asks when the last time they saw the doctor was to determine if they are a new or existing patient and then asks if this appointment is for them or their entire family. Awesome. They now know we see entire families.

She then seeks to find out how they were referred to our office (so we may thank the person for referring) and then goes on to set the appointment. She asks for the correct spelling of the persons name, repeats the appointment time to them and wishes them a great day.

She has created a WOW experience. Today, create a wow experience for your patients. It starts on the telephone. More Zone 1 tomorrow.

PS. If you want to hear her, give her a call at (828) 885-7100. While you have her on the line, you may want to order a copy of our Ultimate Success Package. For Valentines Day, I am offering a copy of my Ultimate Success Journal, Ultimate Marketing Calendar and my new book How to Run a Really Cool Practice and Make a Really Big Profit for only $99. You will discover in a future tip the value of self-promotion. Have a WOW day!

Tip # 15 - The Initial Phone Call.