In an effort to continually build our referral members, it is important to know whether the people coming into our office are satisfied with the service that we provide. We have no control over people’s dissatisfaction if they come in for one thing and find out that we provide a different service, that is to say we should not worry if they come in for the treatment of a medical condition and learn that what we do is correct vertebral subluxation for better innate intelligence expression. We will definitely lose people over that issue and as painful as that is, it cannot be helped. For that reason it is doubly important that we do not lose people for the wrong reasons. I do not mind losing them for the right reason such as their inability to agree upon our established office objective, but I do not want them to leave for the wrong reason, for example something I or my staff is doing that offends them or chases them away. For that reason we have recently begun giving a questionnaire to new practice members so we can assess different aspects of our service.
I usually like to use something myself for a while to see how it works before I recommend it to those in the profession. I must admit that this is a new endeavor and I have no idea whether it will be productive. I also realize that everyone’s office is a little different and aspects of your practice that you may want to evaluate are different than mine so you will have to make your own survey. However, I have mine attached so you can get an idea. Adapt it for you own use and I hope it is helpful.
It is pretty self explanatory. We give it to all new practice members on the first visit and ask them to fill it out and mail it back to us. We provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope along with the questionnaire. Cost: about forty-two cents per person. We specifically tell them not to sign it. As of the writing of this newsletter we have received a few completed surveys. It appears that people are being honest with us especially with regard to their acceptance of our office’s chiropractic objective. A small number have indicated they will only come when they hurt. (Question #10)
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. The Foundation has put together a CD/31-page booklet that will help you.