If you’d like more patients next month than you have right now, this message is for you. But I have to warn you, what I’m about to show you is going to require a different way of thinking if you want to make it work.
First
Stop hoping for patients to just show up at your clinic.
If you’ve ever tried it, you know it’s a depressing thing to do.
Think about it, most likely you’ll just sit there hoping and praying for patients to show up - I call that "hope" marketing…
- Hoping patients show up…
- Hoping your schedule fills up…
- Hoping you’ll make enough money to pay your bills and student loans.
(Don’t get me wrong, I am believer in manifestation, but sometimes you have to rely on tried and true techniques, not just meditation or hope marketing.)
Second
Completely give up on the idea of "getting patients.?
That wasn’t a mistake or typo. I’m serious.
The goal is to shift your mindset from “getting patients” to “attracting patients.”
The first mindset requires you to sell. The second mindset requires you to be helpful and to become “valuable” to your patients.
You became an acupuncturist to be helpful, so building your practice this way is simply an extension of something you already like to do.
Building a successful practice starts with building relationships and trust with those who might become patients. The more relationships you build, the better your chances. So you need a tool to help you increase the number of relationships you can build and the amount of education you can provide without actually speaking to thousands of people yourself.
One of the best ways I know of achieving that is through your website.
But most acupuncture websites are little more than “virtual brochures.” By that, I mean you can go there and find information about the practice, hours of operation and fee information.
This is all helpful to your prospective patient, of course, but it does very little (if anything) to answer the only two questions your prospect really has:
- Can acupuncture help me with problem X, Y, Z?
- Is this the best acupuncturist to work with me on my problems?
The average acupuncturist will probably tell you their website doesn’t do a whole lot for their business other than cost them money. There’s a reason for that.
It’s because they think the purpose of a website is to distribute information. (This is why so many struggle.)
On one level, that’s true.
But just handing out information isn’t going to bring patients into your practice. To do that, you need to build a relationship first. That way, when they enter your practice, they’re not just looking for a treatment at the lowest possible cost.
Instead, they’re coming to you because they know, like and trust you.
People will pay for trust. Because trust is valuable and in very short supply in this world.
If your website isn’t building “trust” and helping you attract patients, then you need to make a change sooner than later.
A profitable website is such an important part of your marketing system, I’ve created an entire company that focuses on nothing but that for acupuncturists - www.acuperfectwebsites.com
But instead of telling you about it, I’d rather share with you a short blog post called the “6 Patient Getting Features Every Website Needs”. It’s free to watch and loaded with a ton of actionable information.
See you next time,
Jeffrey Grossman, EAMP
