What type of emotion surfaces when I mention doing a spinal screening?
For many doctors, it’s a feeling of dread or perhaps even abhorrence at the idea of standing around for six or eight hours at a farmer’s market or in a health food store peddling your services to people that are seemingly healthy and happy as they saunter by arcing around your ‘area’ as to not get awkwardly accosted by a guy or gal in a polo shirt, holding a clip board saying “would you like to get your spine checked today?”
I’ll admit… there are other activities I would rather do on any given day.
However, when I take into consideration that the percentage of people seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis is pretty low, I’m not so sure my selfish desire to watch football or hit the gym should always trump what I have come to feel over the years is a responsibility as a chiropractor.
Responsibility you say?
Yes, in my humble opinion, part of being a chiropractor is taking on the responsibility of educating my community and helping more of the people in it discover chiropractic care.
And so yes, despite not needing to from a patient volume or revenue standpoint, I still get out there a few times a year and educate the public in a spinal screening setting.
Let’s face it, the widely accepted health care model in America is great at keeping people alive and dulled from pain (and reality), but restoring the body’s innate ability to function and heal optimally?… It fails miserably.
This is of course where chiropractic care comes in.
But… only if people are learning about it – Oh! And of course hearing the ‘right message.’
The ‘right message’ meaning the truth about how chiropractic can benefit their life, AND hearing it from a licensed chiropractor who is truly explaining to them from a place of compassion and caring verses just trying to figure out a slick way to get them into the clinic.
The good news is that it is through the process of delivering the right message with the proper intent that the real magic happens.
As you are conversing about chiropractic care and relating it to that individual’s own challenges, an invisible connection begins to take place between you and that once stranger.
This connection is called Familiarity.
And it is by becoming familiar with you that this ‘stranger’ will begin to trust you, your chiropractic message and your ability to help them sleep better, increase energy, reduce pain and all the other benefits that come with getting adjusted.
If you have more new patients pouring through the door than you can keep up with then perhaps taking time away from the office to educate the community and add more customers to your already packed schedule is just not feasible.
If, however, you have the time or you are one of the thousands of chiropractors that could stand a jolt in numbers, income and energy into your clinic, then I implore you to roll up your sleeves and get out in front of people.
When you screen the public with the perception that you and your staff are trying to share the right (and correct) message about our profession and simply coupling it with an ethical offer to come get checked out, your practice will grow, our profession will flourish and more people can live a subluxation free life.
And as a side note… if you and your staff could use a protocol to improve the effectiveness of your screenings, we will be releasing the Spinal Screenings Made Simple & Profitable very soon. Be on the lookout for it to get it at the early release discount.
