Building Your Tribe- by Beau Pierce of Circle of Docs

As a Doctor of Chiropractic we should always be looking for ways to grow our practice and make our personal brand synonymous with the words authority and trust.

One way to aide in accomplishing this is to have a great working relationship with other medical professionals. What was once generally perceived as an easy task of, “Just pick up the phone and call them” can turn quickly into a daunting situation. 

Here are strategies to help build your tribe of medical professionals in your local community.

1. Be a “Real” Person

If you want to reach other doctors, act like them. Simple right? Hardly

Contrary to perceived belief, medical doctors are living and breathing people. Yes, their ideas for how to best care for a patient may be slightly differing from ours, but at the core we are still all on the same team. 

A lot of people turn into robots when they get in front of other “doctors” and freeze up or become the “holier than thou” doctor.

Don’t be that guy or girl.

You can be different:

• Talk like a real person (even if it means breaking a few grammatical rules).
• Be accessible. Answer your phone when they call, respond back to emails promptly and send over detailed notes about the patients you share. 

Just don’t be someone you’re not. Be you and amazing stuff will happen.

2. Be Relevant

People don’t care about what matters to you; they care about what matters to them. If you want to attract more doctors, you need to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about how you can help them and their practice.

One thing I see Chiropractors do is immediately try to “talk shop” to the other doctor the day they meet them. 

Stop!  

They do not care. Why? 

Because the word “chiropractic” holds no relevancy in their minds… yet

Remember: MD’s are taught to find a problem, prescribe, and fix it.  Words like low back pain, neck pain, headache, etc are what these doctors associate with “chiropractic”. Be relevant in their terms and then let the conversation flow.  

Eventually you will be able to go into the history of Chiropractic, show them a presentation on chiropractic and channel your inner BJ Palmer, but not at first.

The first thing you should be doing is figuring out how to help them. Be their best marketer. Send them patients, answer any questions they toss your way and be a cheerleader for their practice.

Over- the top generosity is the best marketing you’ll ever do. Nothing builds an audience faster than freely giving without expectation

3. Create a Bond

In the words of former Navy Seal, Marcus Luttrell, “Bonds are created in times of Adversity”.  If you are working with another doctor by managing a case, use this “Adversity” to build a bond with that doctor and his/her staff. 

Perform!  

Do a great job caring for that patient and then follow up with that doctor. Forge that bond further by sending over your detailed notes and pick up the phone and have conversation about your care plan.  Show them that you are responsible for the patient and want to work with them further. 

4. Make them a Super Star

Everyone loves to see their name in “lights”.  Highlight the doctor. Write a blog post about them and their practice. Grab your iphone and do a quick interview with them on camera. Perhaps even create a page on your website for “affiliations” and put their practice logo and a snippet about them.  Make them a Super Star.

 When you make your practice about other people, they’ll make it about you.

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Dr. Beau Pierce is the Founder of CircleofDocs, the online network for the Chiropractic Profession. His expertise in digital community building paired with his medical background has catapulted him to be a in demand speaker and lecturer. His Chiropractic practice is located in Santa Maria, California and where he resides with his wife and two children.

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

3 Essential Questions to Ask an MD- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Using the Socratic method during your MD Meetings is absolutely essential for success. The Socratic method is "based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas". In the context of an MD Meeting your goals are to gain insight and position your message.

There are 3 main questions that you should ask during your meeting. These questions will give you the information necessary to match your "message to the market".  When you message matches the market it creates a foundation necessary to fluidly build referral relationships. Let's take a look at the 3 questions.

1. Do they see patients with spine complaints in practice?

2. What specific complaints?

3. What are their current treatment protocols?

Believe it or not, the first question is often overlooked by most chiropractors! While most primary care physicians daily case load consists of 20-30% spinal complaints, there are some which do not see any spine patients. This could be due to a variety of reasons. For some, their partner physician may see all the spine patients.  Others may have an affiliation with a local spine group. In either case you can see why its important to first confirm that they see spine complaints in practice. 

Second, you will want to determine what complaints they are seeing practice. It will very likely be a broad range, similar to your practice. However, you will find that a substantial amount of docs will provide you additional information. It may be an increase in lumbar disc herniation because the snow birds are back in town. They may see a lot of cervicothoracic pain because they perform in-office trigger point injections. Any answer they give will provide you with additional insight to refine your message to their exact patient profile.

Finally, you will want to understand their current treatment protocols. We have found that 99% of the time medical doctors refer to physical therapy, other MD's, or treat in-house (meds) for spinal complaints. Thankfully, chiropractic has distinct advantages over all 3 of these choices. These advantageous are reviewed in detail in our free MD Meeting guide and my book, Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors. By understanding their current choices you will be in the best position to fine tune your message to the market.

As you can see, asking 3 simple questions can give you a plethora of information to accelerate your marketing and outreach. Efficiency, affordability, and elegance.

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

Referral Patterns of Primary Care Physicians and Chiropractors- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Our July 2014 MD Research Brief is set to look at a piece of research from BioMed Central titled, "Referral Patterns and Attitudes of Primary Care Physicians towards Chiropractors".  This should be considered essential reading for any chiropractor looking to establish interdisciplinary referral relationships.  

In short, they found that "87% of MD's reported that their patients had asked them for information about chiropractic, and clause to 75% of PCP's have patients who have requested a referral to a chiropractor".  This is great information.  We can concluded that nearly every (over three-quarters) of PCP's have patients interested in chiropractic care.  However, they also found that "only 24% of DO's and 29% of MD's had themselves formally referral a patient to a chiropractor".  This is a huge opportunity.  Patients are asking about chiropractic care and their PCP's are making scant referrals.  By building the relationships with these physicians and showcasing the efficacy, safety, and satisfaction associated with chiropractic care, you can position yourself as their first referral choice.  Our friends and neighbors are counting on us.  We provide one of the best conservative care options in the history of healthcare!  

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the fastest growing chiropractic marketing group in the profession.  The service, founded and run by Dr. Jeff Langmaid, is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is proven, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.

" Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors" Now Available in iBooks - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Jeff Langmaid DC, founder of The Evidence Based Chiropractor, is proud to announce the worldwide release of his new book, “Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors”.  It is currently available worldwide in over 15 countries through iBooks.

“Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors” by Dr. Jeff Langmaid- https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/marketing-chiropractic-to/id878253789?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Published by The Evidence Based Chiropractor, this book continues to position Dr. Langmaid as the leading authority on interdisciplinary communication in chiropractic.  Touching upon his experience in practicing with one of the nations largest orthopedic groups, Dr. Langmaid provides other chiropractors with a step-by-step guide to build interdisciplinary referral relationships through research.

Dr. Langmaid commented, "Spine care in the United States is nearly a $100 billion dollar industry, yet clinical outcomes continue to languish and the number of people suffering from spine complaints continues to rise.  Evidence-based practice has continued to show chiropractic care as a safe and effective treatment option.  Unfortunately, many medical doctors do not have referral relationships with doctors of chiropractic, and their patients suffer.  My new book provides chiropractors with the tools and knowledge necessary to forge these relationships."

A leading voice in interdisciplinary communication, Dr. Jeff Langmaid, has been an active speaker, writer, and thought-leader in the marketing of chiropractic to medical doctors.  “Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors” will, for the first time, provided chiropractic physicians with a step by step guide to market their practice with elegance and professionalism to other physicians in their communities.  Dr. Langmaid remains in private practice in Tampa Bay, FL.

iBook Available Soon - "Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors" by Jeff Langmaid, DC

I am extremely excited to announce that "Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors" will be released in over a dozen countries shortly.  I could not have completed the book without the help of many friends.  Below you will find an early pre-release review of the book.

"This guide provides a step by step instructions on how to become integrated in your local healthcare community and organically tap into the enormous amount of referrals that can come with those relationships.  This is something every Chiropractor should do for their practice, it will elevate your practice, but on a grand scale the profession" - Chris Holloway, DC

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