5 Quick Hit Referral Ideas

8:54 PM
Thursday
TEXAS TIME


Hey,

I've been busy.

How about you?

I found something on the internet tonight so I'm going to share it with you.

Every time I go out of town, like in TEXAS, I walk away with great ideas from the doctors. This trip was no exception. Here are 5 quick ideas, all of which can lead to more referrals, more patients, and more revenue for you if you're a go getter.

1. Start a Holiday Conversation - Put this item in your calendar to pop up in early November (for Thanksgiving) through the end of December (Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's Day.) You might start the conversation by saying something like: "Who do you get to see over the holidays?" or "Are you visiting with friends and family over the holiday?"

Now, you know what to do with this information, right? These people are possible fuel for a subsequent referral conversation (or on the spot depending on your relationship with your patient.)

2. Meet Them in Their Space - This is a little off the charts, but you have to do this if you want to make some headway FAST. If you are accustomed to your patients coming to your office, it's still a great practice to meet with them in their space from time to time. Offer to meet them at their home or office. Try walking them to their car after a meeting at your office if they're the last ones at the office. See how the nature of your conversation changes. Observe how much more you learn about different aspects of their life. Since money intersects all aspects of their life, what you learn could give rise to new business. At a minimum, you build your business friendship which supports loyalty and referrals.

3. Send Summary Letters - When you provide a brief summary letter or email following your appointment, you enhance the patient experience. It enhances loyalty and referrability. That's huge. With your more sophisticated or successful patients, where it's appropriate to have a business relationship with their CPA, get written permission to copy the CPA with your summary letters. This makes you referable in the eyes of their CPA.

4. Let Them Know About the Value Discussion - You know that the Value Discussion is the cornerstone for asking for referrals. Even if you don't ask for referrals, you should be checking in with your patients almost every visit to make sure the communication is to their liking and your relationship is on solid ground.

5. An Idea to Run by You - "Get Permission to Brainstorm." Some folks just don't find the word "brainstorm" natural in their conversation. Here's a different approach that you might like to use. After the Value Discussion, try saying to your patient, "I have an idea to run by you. Let's see if we can identify a few folks you think should know about chiropractic." (Or similar verbiage.) Oh yeah, this works no matter what type of work you do, from antiques to real estate. All businesses are the same. Everyone needs patients, clients, customers, etc.

Well it's getting late, and I'm going to watch a little TV in TEXAS. (*Like it's going to be any different here. Yeah right.)

Have a great tomorrow. I look forward to you reading this and commenting on it.