Chiropractors: 3 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Image

You’re only as strong as your weakest link. If there is a lack of congruency between your message and your image (e.g. “I save lives and I’m worth every penny” but your website is a $12 a month WIX template -or- your logo is a $99 knock-off of someone else’s), then you open yourself up to patients / customers questioning your worth and your words on a subconscious level.

The reason people aspire to get $225 massages at Ritz Carlton, think Louis Vuitton is the shit, or want a Range Rover in their garage before they turn 55 – without having heard any sales pitches or limited time / countdown to doom’s day offers – is because those companies’ brands are EXACTLY in line with the quality of their products and promises.

The most effective sales job is when you let the quality of your skills and result of your work speak for themselves. Where people flock to your company or practice because they want to be part of your brand, and are ready and willing to sign-up for whatever it is you are selling without questioning your prices.

It’s all about your work (quality and reputation), your brand, and your communication skills. Those three factors determine how good people perceive you to be, how much value they expect to get, and how trustworthy you are to follow through with your promise.

Unfortunately so many chiropractors are being coached to sell. Coaches take the same used car dealership sales handbook, or the same water purification MLM script to teach you how to sell patients using fear tactics, timed handshakes, and eye-locking nods. No wonder the stigma of chiropractic hasn’t been shaken off in 120 years.

As Scott Weiss says, “trust leads to approachability and open communication”. Another favorite of mine, Zig Ziglar says, “if people like you they’ll listen to you… but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”

In a world where trust is made or broken in the fist 2.3 seconds of someone landing on your website, or the first 0.08 seconds of someone meeting you, or the first 1.1 seconds of someone looking at your office decor – don’t you think investing in your image is more important now than ever before?

Here are three things you can do today to improve your image…

1. Clean Your Office – whether its unnecessary clutter, stains on the carpet, a home-made sign that’s run its course, outdated magazines in the waiting room, or even a funky smell from a leaky water cooler, it’s mind-blowing how many chiropractors don’t pay attention to little details that make a big difference in people’s subconscious opinion of you. It’s bad enough that 8 out of 10 people think chiropractors setup shop in strip-malls, but that doesn’t mean your office has to look and feel “old” or “dirty”. Go through your office every week with a Costco size trash bag, and throw away dying plants, printouts taped to the wall, old magazines, food in the mini fridge, and clutter / junk mail on the desks and shelves. Vacuum and dust every few days, get an essential oil diffuser to give the place a new fresh smell, replace dim lightbulbs, and repaint high traffic rooms.

2. Dress for Success – listen, I’m not here to debate the philosophy behind white coats, so put down your guard and listen for a minute. White coat doesn’t mean you’re selling out to the medical profession. White coat doesn’t mean you are spitting in the face of BJ or DD Palmer. It simply means you are smart enough to change people’s perspective about chiropractic care. In a country where the majority of people don’t think chiropractors are “doctors”, and hence your word doesn’t hold as much water as a medical doctor’s, you have to level the playing field one way or another. First, dress as if you are going to a nice dinner with your in-laws. Then, if you want to outsmart the medical profession, wear a white coat. It really gets under their skin, but it gives you a HUGE boost subconsciously in the trust and value department. Work smarter or harder… your choice.

3. Invest in Brand and Website – No, this doesn’t mean making your own logo on a boot-legged copy of PhotoShop, or going to 99Designs to have a cheap logo made. A brand is an extension of your personality, your values, and your message. Do you think third-world foreign designers participating in a crowd-funded sweatshop environment, will ever understand your needs, research your target market, understand your challenges as a chiropractor, and come up with unique solutions that add value and trust to your practice?

Whoever told you a website should be $49 a month and include SEO, custom photography, and custom content, LIED TO YOU. It’s like me telling my friends that a good chiropractor should charge $25 for adjustments, and they should throw in weekly deep-tissue massages, and six months’ worth of fish oil capsules. Don’t be duped in thinking your image can be tied together with a mishmash of elements outsourced to the lowest bidder. Today’s patients can read right through a template website and generic stock photos. Hire a professional firm that understands your challenges, knows your landscape, and can produce a brand and website that will be a worthy foundation of your marketing efforts.