largely on the demographics of your patients, or target pa-tients, as well as on your personal preferences as a chiroprac-tor and the clinic owner. The sidebar below outlines some easy strategies for promotion available to you – you can use some or all of these. Working fewer hours allows you to keep your mind and technique fresh, see patient problems more clearly and treat them better than if you are overworked and demotivated. works in place of a routing slip. An iPad, BlackBerry or similar electronic device makes things even easier. Billing Insurance Companies and Paying Your Bills This area includes billing insurance companies for services ren-dered and also paying your bills and covering payroll. Bills are going out and bills are coming in. Managing this system is crucial. For billing insurance companies, create a billing cycle that bills insurance companies daily. Ideally, two people need to be trained on this process because having a backup person is key. The sooner you bill, the sooner you get reimbursed. For paying your bills and payroll, maximize what your bank and your bookkeeper have to offer you. Arrange, with your bank, to pay all of your bills online automatically every month. This in-cludes credit card balances, utilities, and your salary. Your book -keeper can arrange through your bank to pay your employees through direct deposit. Collecting I would like to revisit the idea that, although as chiroprac-tors, our main focus is to take care of our patients, we are also business owners who want our businesses to succeed. Suc-cessful businesses should model themselves around grocery stores. You have to pay for your groceries before you leave the store. Providing services without payment is like taking milk from the shelf and walking out without paying. It wouldn’t be tolerated in a supermarket – and shouldn’t be allowed in your practice. Creating a Team Environment The greatest asset to support you in working less and being more productive is utilization of your co-workers so that whether you are present or absent, they look forward to doing their work while promoting your brand. For your staff to become passionate and interested in their work, three ingredients are essential. These are: autonomy, effort and reward. (See sidebar on page 9.) WORKING FEWER HOURS IS BETTER FOR BUSINESS? Believe it or not, the answer to this is a resounding yes! There are two reasons for this. Working less gives you more time to focus on you and your practice. For example, working four days instead of five allows you to keep your mind and technique fresh. It can allow you to see patient problems more clearly and treat them better than if you are overworked and demotivated. Secondly, when you work less, your time is in greater demand. Therefore you have the ability to make your fees more competitive. * * * Remember, you are the expert in chiropractic. This means you should not expect to also be an accountant, a bookkeeper, a magician and a fabulous writer. Know what you are good at, where your limits are, and when you need to step away. Surround yourself with people who are experts in their own areas. This will naturally make you and your practice look good, while allowing you to be more productive. The most exciting part of building a practice is using the resources around you to make your life more enjoyable. Many people view work as a job and use future vacations and time off as motivators to get them through the day. Simply by creating systems in our practice, we will be able to create the life we’ve always dreamed of – and maybe even retire, move to a small town where we can sleep late, fish a little, play with our kids, take a nap with our wives, go for long walks in the evenings, sip wine, and play guitar with your friends . . . • Three Easy Promotion Strategies PROMOTION IN YOUR CLINIC Although I didn’t mention it earlier, some form of promo-tion must be occurring in your clinic in order to build and sustain it as a successful business. There are several ways you can promote your practice and how you do this will depend 10 • CANADiAN CHiROPRACTOR | FEBRUARY 2013 1. Social media Have your patients promote for you. Social media out-lets such as Twitter and Facebook allow patients to be-come part of your culture. Patients discussing your care will promote your practice to others while increasing the amount of online material relating to your practice – this raises your search engine optimization and makes it easier for prospective patients to find you online. 2. In-clinic promotion Every one of your patients waits in your waiting room. Use this time to make your patients more aware of what you and your clinic have to offer. Your reception and treatment rooms offer walls of space where you can post signage and screen educational videos. Employing these strategies should see you increase your clinic’s sales of goods and services. 3. Patient referrals Use every visit as an opportunity to grow and expand your brand. You are building a relationship with the pa -tient, so make it a habit to thank your patient in advance for their kind referrals, even if they haven’t yet referred anyone. www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor February 2013: Page 10
