Chiropractors: The First 0.15 Seconds Can Make or Break You

Humans scan and evaluate their surroundings thousands of times per day. Our subconscious minds force us to react, make decisions, or pass judgement within 0.15 to 0.25 seconds of seeing, hearing, or touching something. Whether right or wrong, this is the reality of human nature.

You may visit one of New York’s best-rated seafood establishments, but a lackluster hostess or a wobbling table, devalues the restaurant’s charm in a fraction of a second.

You may sit in the dental chair of a highly-recommended orthodontist, but the stained ceiling tile right above your head, quickly makes you question whether you’re overpaying.

You may be on a first date with a very attractive person, but the second you hear their snorting / pig laugh, it quickly changes how you perceive them.

Right or wrong, this is human nature.

Just because you’re a chiropractor and “Saving Lives” has become your purpose and mission, doesn’t mean the 95% of the non-believers are going to take you up on your word. Your profession has a reputation problem… and a lackluster image. Unfortunately the $49 cookie-cutter websites, home-made funnels, or crowdsourced logos are just fueling the already-negative perception people have of the profession.

In one of our focus group research studies in 2014, a participant stood up and passionately asked, “for a profession that claims to save lives, why are they (chiropractors) content with such a meager image?”

Most of you chiropractors reading this article may have been a chiropractic patient prior to making it your profession. But many of you haven’t been in the shoes of a desperate patent – like me – sitting at a pre-op appointment at an orthopedic surgeon’s office, because the alternative to surgery (chiropractic care), seemed too risky based solely on the profession’s reputation and poor image.

Just imagine if your image / brand was actually congruent with your message. Imagine if more patients actually stayed on your website longer, because they felt they had found the hope they’re looking for. Imagine more of your business cards and brochures made it to the family table, or to the wallets and purses of potential patients… simply because it portrayed the best of healthcare. Imagine you no longer had to worry about patient numbers, and actually concentrated back on your passion.

Your image isn’t something that SHOULD be whipped up by your IT person over a weekend, or by someone sitting 5,000 miles away in a sweatshop who’s never experienced the powerful awakening energy of a chiropractic adjustment. It should carefully be strategized by chiropractic advocates and designers that understand the profession’s challenges, and have the patient-side behavioral data and design skills to turn that 0.15 seconds into a lifetime of hope and value for those seeking hope.