One of the most difficult aspects of practice is having to confront practice members. For most chiropractors there are three major areas of confrontation. The first is fees. The second is scheduling people, how often you want to see them, and for how long. Lastly, is the idea of lifetime-maintenance care, coming in regularly for spinal checkups.
Where are you on this confrontational scale and how does that affect your ability to address these three areas?
Underconfronting—this is the end of the scale where the chiropractor is afraid to ask for money, does not schedule people as often or as long as he believes they should come in, and does not speak about lifetime care or if he does, it is never in the first few weeks of care.
Overconfronting—the chiropractor on this end of the scale is usually strong, often abrasive in his presentation and gives new practice members the idea that it is his way or the highway. He tends to scare away potential practice members or offend them early in their care.
Most of us fall somewhere in the middle of being an underconfronter or an over confronter but all of us probably lean in one direction or another depending upon our personalities. I confess, that I am more of an underconfronter. I realize I must confront people on some level at times but I have never liked it or felt comfortable doing it. The first thing you must acknowledge is that the confrontation benefits your PMS. If you can convince yourself that what you are doing is in the best interest of the practice member and is not for your benefit or to satisfy your ego, it will be a little easier for you. It is like confronting a misbehaving child in the role of a parent. If you ignore their actions, they will never learn to be responsible adults. It may seem easier to avoid the conflict but essentially you have failed as a parent which may be one of the most important roles in life. On the other end of the spectrum, if you confront someone knowing you will hurt that person or ruin your relationship simply because they bruised your ego, would it would be better to turn the other cheek and ignore the offense.
So how does all of this relate to the practice of chiropractic? Let’s look at the first area, fees. I have a box on the wall. Perhaps part of the reason is my underconfrontational tendencies. I like to think that is not the reason. I do it because I believe it is the best way to serve humanity. However, there is a confrontational and a non-confrontational way of having an honor fee system. Even confrontational types can have this system. They would say that unless you come regularly, bring in your family and tell others, you cannot use the fee system. Some of my chiropractic friends practice that way. I do not and I have my reasons, but some see that as a sign that I am a wuss. They believe that putting those confrontation requirements on people is in their best interest. I argue that you will chase away some practice members who will eventually become good lifetime people.
I think the real issue has more to do with your personality than anything else and the person who really must address the issue is the underconfronter. The first thing we must do is realize what type we are. That’s the task for this issue. Once you have recognized your personality trait, you can begin to do the things necessary to confront people, adapting to your personality and changing that personality to the degree you can. Next issue we will look at some practical ways to confront people even if you are the non-confrontational type but for now figure out where you are on the scale. I think deep down inside most of us know what we are but just to be sure you are not living divorced from reality, ask some people like your CA or your spouse.