What is chiropractic? And how can being true to the profession help you thrive in tough economic times

Tough times are here, people are choosing more where to spend their money, this makes it difficult to provide, for what many consider, a luxury service. By this I mean, it is a luxury for many people to see you, and as such when their pocket gets tight, they may choose not to spend money on such luxuries.

Now I know what you are thinking, chiropractic is essential and for everyone and of course it is. But never forget you are selling care and people have to choose to buy it.

So how can we help our patients understand the importance and what can we do to stand out in their buying decision?

STOP being vanilla, stop doing everything. Become the Purple Cow and stand out for what you do. Master your adjustments and deliver on this every time.
Contrary to what many believe, throwing in other therapies and extra time will not strengthen your position in the market, if anything it will sink you. It will move you down the barrel to compete with others who offer these therapies such as massage and acupuncture and stretching. For which your patients can go to, get more, have a longer appointment and be charged less… so in the race for price and ‘extras’, you become a commodity that cannot compete.

However, if you own your adjustment, own your skill, and deliver every time. This is what you will be known for, this is what people will see you for. Remember chiropractic is a ‘Philosophy, Science and Art of things natural. A system of adjusting the spine, by hand only, for the correction of the cause of dis-ease’.

How do we apply this to our practice? Remember that most things in life are ‘caught not taught’. Remember that time your parents told you to finish your vegetables, yet they never seemed to finish theirs? Did you listen, or over time did you learn that actually it is ok to leave your veg?

In practice, patients ‘catch’ what we suggest they watch how we live and listen to what we say. If chiropractic is first and foremost a Philosophy, Science and Art of things natural, then this is how we should be living, breathing, and speaking. Naturally!

Form there our purpose is to adjust the spine. To remove any interference, to allow the body to thrive. Give or take the ‘by hand only’ part for sure, some of you choose instruments or alike and that is fine. But own what you do, be the master at what you do. Because no one else is doing it. No other therapist in your town or city does what you do. Stop trying to compete and start standing out.

In this time of harsh decision and tight purses, people will choose what they want, they will choose people who are different, who stand for change and who can deliver on results.

So my question to you is, how are you choosing to show up?

Time to own your chiropractic, time to serve your people.

With love,

Tom