There are 3 different stages of patient communication you should be using in your practice.
Using these out of place, or taking one of them out of your arsenal is a great way to decrease patient retention.
Watch the video below to see how many of these communication styles you’re currently using…
The famous UCLA Bruins basketball coach, who won 10 titles in 12 years (a record that’s never been broken), used to say the same thing to his new players…
“I’m not going to treat you all as equals, because you’re not all equal.”
This can be applied to winning over your patients, as they are all unique individuals and all at different stages in their chiropractic journey.
Stage 1: Crisis Communication
This is where people need a dictatorial leader who will tell them what to do. They don’t know what they don’t know. Tell them what’s wrong, tell them what to do next, tell them how to pay their bills, tell them when you need to see them again, etc.
Be very direct and very assertive. This is the authority they need at this stage of their chiropractic journey.
They have a problem and they need YOU to fix it.
Stage 2: Moral Leadership Communication
This is where your practice member has shifted away from pain and they’re responding to care. You need your communication style to shift as well.
If you communicate with them in a military leadership style, you’re going to turn them away. If the patient believes they have been healed by now because their pain has reduced, they are a flight risk… unless they are well-educated on the value of long-term chiropractic care.
This is where we take a more “Ghandi” approach – a lead by example approach.
Think about Ghandi’s story…
A small indian man was able to lead a nation out of oppression against the most powerful governing body in the world, in a non-violent way.
The more you can ASK and LISTEN, the more valued they will feel, and the more trustworthy you will remain. If you can keep their trust, you have a more captive audience to convey the importance of chiropractic beyond constructive, pain-based care.
Stage 3: Alpha Leadership Communication
Those who stay with you for long-term wellness care are the high-conscious, high-functioning individuals who are voluntarily investing in their wellness with you and your practice.
If you continue to talk to them in a stage one communication style, they will no longer resonate with your energy.
They will RUN.
This is the highest level of leadership, the Samurai status.
The Alpha Samurai leader lives with such integrity and excellence that people just want to be around them. They give off such a presence of silent authority that others automatically want to support them and do what they suggest.
They walk their talk.
- if you’re telling people to get checked once per week, YOU need to get checked once per week.
- if you’re telling people to do daily stretches, YOU need to do daily stretches.
- if you’re teaching classes on healthy eating, YOU need to consistently eat healthily.
Modify and adapt your communication style to the patient’s stage of chiropractic.
Don’t be afraid to be assertive in the early stages of a patient relationship.
The more you are willing to step into this role, the more value they and their family will receive.
Don’t let your own fear of discomfort and people pleasing inhibit your ability to heal those who give you the opportunity to do so. The world needs your gifts.
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Do you believe you need to grow yourself before growing your practice?
If so, you can access all of our exercises and templates from over 20 years of coaching to “fix” the driver before “fixing” the vehicle. It’s called the Chiropractic Excellence Academy and it’s designed to allow you to hit your patient visit & revenue goals while decreasing how much you have to be at work.