They don't care.

Why do some stay for life?

Why do some patients ‘get it’ and some don’t? This is a perpetual frustration of chiropractors. You pour your heart and soul into a patient, you guide them, go above and beyond, teach them the importance of chiropractic on their health. They nod, and seem to acknowledge an understanding, and then out of nowhere they stop care!

Why oh why does this happen?

I want to be honest with you, they simply don’t care. They do not care about you, your practice, what you did on the weekend and they really don’t care about chiropractic!

Bitter pill to swallow right? Surely everyone cares about being as good as they can be, especially when you did so much for them or got them back to full fitness after being so broken. Nope, they don’t.

All people care about is themselves, their problems in this moment and doing what they can to solve those problems. One day it’s their pain and inability to play with the kids, the next it is their broken washing machine, and the next their marriage.

Now I’m guessing, but I’m pretty confident you’re not a plumber or marriage councillor and even if you’re good at that, it’s not something you offer at your practice.

So, with peoples priorities and problems ever changing, what can you do to keep a patient beyond their pain and solving their initial problem?

Clue, its not more chiropractic education. Sorry! I used to think that, honestly I used to preach it from the mountain top. And while it is important for our understanding, certainty, and congruency, it is not the answer.

The answer is so much simpler.

Listen.

Stop the conversation in your head, stop the narrative of your agenda. Be focused and present with your people, truly listen to them. The person who’s pain and problem you solved now trusts you beyond many in their life, if you now show an active listening, they will stay with you for the long run. Yes, you may not be able to fix their plumbing and marital problems, but you can listen.

And no, I am not talking counselling, I do this in just a 30 sec to 2 minute interaction.

Here is a simple question for you to start asking your patients each visit.

“what’s been the best part of your day?”

This question is brilliant, unlike the “how are you?” question where everyone answers with either “good” or “busy” and no one really cares.

This question requires the person to really think about their day, go to a happy place and give you an answer. It requires you to stop and listen to what they say and answer back.

This simple question shows you care. Build on this and they will stay forever.

With love,

Tom