It has always amazed me the number of new people who come into our office who have been to a chiropractor but cannot remember the previous chiropractor’s name. I actually had a person who had seen a chiropractor before but could not remember who or where. The name sounded familiar to me so I checked our files only to find that the chiropractic office was ours! Over 50% of our new people have previously been to a chiropractor. There are obviously many reasons why they did not go back to their previous chiropractor, but we must make sure that one of those reasons is not that they just forgot about us as their chiropractor.
You should be communicating with your active and inactive practice members on a regular basis. It is a sad commentary on our priorities that we spend many dollars to acquire new people but will not invest the pennies it costs to reactivate old people or to keep the active ones coming. It is a two-part process. First, you want to just touch base with them either by mail (which is becoming less and less cost effective) or by email (which is becoming more and more cost effective). Second, you should give them some information about regular chiropractic care for a lifetime as you touch base. Too often, we think that because a person has not been in for a while that they were dissatisfied with our service or with us. That is simply not true. I would guess that 90% of the people who go to a chiropractor have had a positive experience. They need to be reactivated or at the very least made aware of the fact that we are still here and we would love to see them.
Most people do not truly grasp the benefit of having their spines checked on a regular basis and the long-term, lifetime benefits of being free of subluxations even when they feel fine. We must continually drive home that point. There are many ways to do it either in office as they visit the practice or by mail and email. Most chiropractors don’t understand that you do not need to send them anything too involved or wordy. Just a reminder that we are here for them will suffice. I think that you should probably communicate with them at least twice a month. People always have the option to not open an email or unsubscribe to your email newsletter.
We have a calendar with special days and changes in our schedule that goes out each month. We also send a newsletter out each month with articles on chiropractic. Make sure there is a personal note for your practice members and an educational article. If you need help, our Weekly Articles are now on CD in a format that can easily be used in your emails (see right).
With regard to inactive practice members, try some of our postcards to let them know they have been negligent in their care and you would love to see them back (see above on right).
Keeping in touch will keep more people in your office in the long run as well as decrease your constant need for new people.