Jose Canseco. Ricky Henderson. My favorite players growing up. I had all their cards. I used to love collecting baseball cards. Baseball, basketball, football, even hockey cards. I didn’t know who half the players were, especially the hockey players, but I liked them anyway.
Some of the funnest times I had as a kid were when my friend’s dad would drive us to the card shop. There was something magical about the scent of new baseball cards… aromatherapy for kids. Kind of like the smell in a bookstore.
I’d have a great time wheeling and dealing with the card shop owners… Making deals, making trades, convincing the guys there the deal was good and how it would benefit them…
I was good at it.
What happened?
When I started telling people about chiropractic and trying to get them excited about it, I’d fall flat on my face. They’d agree with me about stuff, then when it came time to schedule their next appointment… they wouldn’t.
“I’ll just call you.”
“Oh yeah I’ll come see you soon”
“I’m really busy these days, I just can’t come as often”
Disheartening. Disappointing. You might know the feeling.
Then it hit me, I was telling them about what I thought was awesome about chiropractic… not how it fit their individual needs and goals.
I didn’t even ask them about what they wanted or hoped to achieve through care.
Once I started asking, and showing them how chiropractic will help them, they became much more willing to adhere to my recommendations.
And usually, what they say they want, like getting out of pain or being “healthier,” isn’t the deep core desire or criteria driving their behavior (more on that later), but it’s a start.
When you push your desires on your client, you aren’t communicating to their needs and they probably won’t come back.
When you link up your client’s goals and needs with what you can offer them, you are doing them a great service. You are helping them reach their goals.
The key is asking the right questions and positioning chiropractic in a way where they understand the benefit. In this way, sales is empowering.
Effective selling allows the client to overcome their own hang ups and buying resistance in order to get exactly what they want and need.
Even selling a comprehensive treatment plan, which people seem to think gives chiropractors a bad name, does your client a great service if they will benefit from it. If someone comes in with chronic pain and an out of shape spine, they NEED a lot of care, not 5 visits and some take home exercises. If their spine is in pretty good shape, they are probably better served going on a maintenance plan.
If you are following good ethics in matching your services with the clients needs, it’s UN-ETHICAL to do ANY less than you possibly can to get your client the care they need.
So remember: it’s alllll about your clients. Your clients care more about themselves and what they want, than about you and what you want.
If you want to really learn how to sell and close for chiropractic check out Everest Boot Camp. Going to Everest Boot Camp is the best decision I ever made in practice.
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