In our last issue of the Practice Builder, at the conclusion of the article on statistics, I mentioned that both the percentage of referrals and the number of referrals are important statistics. I would suggest that you take a moment to refer back to The Practice Builder No. 10, an article entitled New Practice Members. Now take a moment to count how many New Practice Members came in by the following means:
A. Referrals
B. Advertising
C. Other (read your sign, an acquaintance, self, web page)
Hopefully you have started keeping these statistics after reading the last issue if you were not keeping them before.
My statistics for January, February, March, 2006:
A. Referral PMs – Jan: 64 Feb: 62 Mar: 72
B. Advertising PMs – Jan: 1 Feb: 0 Mar: 0
C. Other – Jan: 14 Feb: 14 Mar: 1
(some of these just left that line blank and we failed to follow up. Likely most of these were referrals)
As you can see, we really have a referral practice. However, I am not satisfied with these numbers and I am working to make it better. How can you improve your numbers? Invariably, the practice management consultants will tell you that you have to ask people for referrals. That’s nonsense! If your practice management consultant has ever told you that, fire him on the spot. He doesn’t know the first thing about building your practice and I assume that’s what you hired him for. (Unless you hired him to get you to do things that are uncomfortable and that don’t work). Let me explain: First of all, it is uncomfortable, demeaning and embarrassing to have to ask for referrals. I know that garbage about stepping out of your comfort zone. Running naked through the local mall with a sign painted on my back saying, “See Joe Strauss, chiropractor” is also out of my comfort zone. (It most likely will produce equal results). Okay, you can stop picturing that ugly scene and get back to the issue.
The issue is that people coming into your office should want to refer others to you. They should not have to be asked. In fact, people absolutely want to refer others to you. If they are not, it is because you are doing something to stop them. You are interfering with their inclination to refer. You may even be, by yours or your staff’s actions, asking them not to refer to your office. Your actions, your attitudes, your procedures and even those of your staff speak so loudly that people cannot even hear your pitiful pleas for them to refer.
Now, tell me you aren’t a little relieved to know that you don’t have to grovel for new practice members. You don’t have to act like some multi-level marketing person or insurance salesman who has to cajole and beg people for new clients.
Your monthly referral numbers are an important indication of your practice. I am more and more inclined to say they are the most important. It is what your practice members think about you.
They indicate the following:
1. The quality of your service and I don’t mean how well you clear out nerve interference or “get results.” People should be referring from day one, long before they see a change. They should be referring even if they never see a change. The idea of being free of vertebral subluxation makes sense with or without “results.” They should be at least be saying, “I want to bring my family in the office on my next visit” and they should be saying it on their first visit.
2. What percentage of people in the community will avail themselves of your services. There are actual studies and statistics to show by the number of referrals what percentage of the public are potential practice members. The first step to building a practice is to know how many people are available out there.
3. Whether you are properly educating people. If people understood the bigger idea they would refer.
4. That certain procedures, attitudes and actions are causing people to leave your office. Happy practice members stay and refer, unhappy ones leave and do not refer. Stimulating referrals also stops the revolving door practice.
Here’s the point. If you are not getting 10 or more referrals a month, you probably will not make it in the practice. If you are not seeing 30 or more you probably will struggle throughout your career. If you are not serving 50 or more, you will never have a volume practice. And these numbers are for those in practice one month, 10 years or anywhere in between.
Building a referral practice is a learned task. There are principles that you need to know. Ideas that you need to implement and changes that you must make in your practice.