Are you branded or stranded? There are thousands of chiropractic offices nationwide and around the world, but sadly most are not branded but are generic in terms of how patients and potential patients perceive the office. In this issue, we explore how to brand your brand of chiropractic: * A brand is preferred. What's your brand? * Silence is the ultimate communications skill. * Is your marketing patient-centric? Enjoy! These are powerful strategies that you can use to enhance your business. **************************************************** *********************** Branding Chriopractic: Are You Reflecting the Right Brand Image? **************************************************** *********************** Branding is your identity in the marketplace, is yours saying what it should? Your practice image is all about the appearance of your "packaging." What is your practice image saying to the marketplace? It's important to realize that "packaging" always either has a negative or positive influence on the Patient or Prospex. A negative impression can detour a potential Patient, just as a positive reaction can influence a Prospex to become a Patient. A time to pay special attention to your "packaging" is when you are in the launch of a "new" brand. How can you package your brand so that it is an integral part of your business and represents a strong identity? Keep in mind that I am not speaking of "packaging" as only a box that contains a product, but as a medium that reflects your brand of chiropractic and your image. Packaging can be judged and represented by the following common business tools: * business cards and stationery * office location * office space * T.E.A.M. appearance: physical and dress * Doctor appearance; physical and dress * patient forms * marketing communications * web site * answering system * email address * anything that can be seen, heard or smelled by your patients or the people in your marketplace! What image are you putting across with these business tools that you use everyday? What are they saying about your brand of chiropractic? Take a few moments and lets look at a couple of these. What are your business cards and stationery saying? Are they saying we are strong, we are confident, and we can succeed in helping you? Or does it reflect an image that says we are flimsy, our dynamics are minimal, and we will try but we cannot guarantee continuity? What does your web site say about your company? Does it reflect professionalism, clarity, and show them that you respect and care about them? Or does your web site confuse viewers, project an untrustworthy image of your practice and ultimately drive potential Patients away? What does your answering system and call return policy say about your practice? Does it say we are here to help, eager for you business and will do what it takes? Or is it putting across the message that you are too busy to cater to new Patients, don't care about their needs, and wish they would just quit calling as we are too busy already and don't need any more interruptions? What does your email address say about your company? Does it suggest your role in the practice, is it easy to remember, and does it say something about you and your business? Or does it project a meaningless or generic emptiness? If you are using the email address hotdoc4u@hotmail.com for your business dealings................it's time to change!!!!! As you can see all these things speak volumes about your image and they either strengthen or weaken your brand. Your image is all in the "packaging." Would potential Patients take a second look or is your message getting lost? If you thought these things were not worth the investment or didn't matter, you were wrong. Patients and Prospex will make assessments of your brand of chiropractic based on these things and while not always conscious, that Patient appraisal says much about your brand of chiropractic, your attitude and your priorities. Lawton W. Howell, Sr. Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 or 877.935.6371 ceo@wellnessone.net P.S. The WellnessOne National Alliance System is a "branding" powerhouse that is cohesive and comprehensive and turn-keyed to make branding simple and EZ. For more information, click the link below to download our 42-page PDF booklet: Learn More About WellnessOne: Click Here **************************************************** *********************** Here's what a Chiropreneur says about WellnessOne **************************************************** *********************** WellnessOne is not for everybody. If you are looking to turn your practice into a business, then WellnessOne is for you. I have always had the ³idea² of opening multiple practices. I think every chiropractor has thought about it. When I found out about WellnessOne, I realized they had taken the ³idea² and actually created systems, protocols and procedures to bring it to life. They had all the technology and training systems that would have taken me several years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to create. For me, joining well was a no-brainer. Why re-invent the wheel? I just hopped on board and implemented their systems and my business has never been the same. When we joined, we had one practice collecting 400K/year. I now have 6 practices collecting over 4.5 MIL combined with better profit margins. My favorite part of the program is the conferences which are held three times/year in different locations. It is great to meet up with my WellnessOne colleagues and share ideas. I learn so much from the conference itself and even more from sitting around talking at lunch and dinner. The other thing I am the most impressed with is the technology available at WellnessOne. With their web-based systems, it is quick and easy to get a question answered or to find files you need to implement systems. The system works if you work it. Following the WellnessOne protocols, I have been able to increase my business and still have more freedom to do the things I want to do. I have learned to work ON the business instead of IN the business and it has opened up a whole new world for me. If you want MORE than just a chiropractic practice, call WellnessOne. CEO Scott Dorrity, D.C. WellnessOne of Belleville WellnessOne of East Belleville WellnessOne of Collinsville WellnessOne of Swansea WellnessOne of Fairview Heights WellnessOne of Glen Carbon You can call Scott at 618.235.0777 Or email: drscott@wellnessone.net Or visit the national alliance website at: www.wellnessone.net Click Here to See if Your State is Available! **************************************************** *********************** The Power of Silence **************************************************** *********************** Listening to what people say really saves time. T.E.A.M. Players and doctors who feel you don't pay attention to them will tune out the conversation at hand, making it difficult to get your point across on the first try. Plus, those who know that you're really listening to them feel valued. This in turn makes them more likely to hear and consider your point of view. However, sharing your side doesn't mean interrupting others mid- sentence, as many often do‹especially when they don't agree with what someone is saying. Instead, wait until your patient or Player or Spouse or Kids has finished speaking‹and you're sure you truly understand what they have told you‹before offering your thoughts. Summarize comments or ask clarifying questions before responding. Check to see if you can restate what the other person has said to you. For example, ask, "So you are telling me that Tuesday afternoons are crazy because Dr. Jones always runs 15 minutes behind? Listen. Really listen before responding. Communications is a skill and listening is a skill-set of communications. Now, be silent. Listen. Rozlynne Rush, D.C. Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 or 877.935.6371 rush@wellnessone.net P.S. One part of communications is asking the right questions. Are you asking the right questions about your business? Click the link below to get the ultimate questions that you should be asking yourself! Questions for Exponential Business Breakthroughs If you are serious about building a business empire and not just growing a practice, you will want to tap into your innate intelligence and ponder one or more of the 51 questions asked in this white paper. There are no answers in this white paper report, only questions. Questions that will literally transform how you view your business and yourself, as the CEO of your business. Your answers will provide the clarity and passion you have buried inside to take your business to quantum breakthroughs. You can double, triple or even quadruple your business when you contemplate and access your innate power. The innate power that heals your patients can transform your business. You are perfectly aligned to maximize your potential and live the life of your ultimate dreams. Place this white paper in your shopping cart and you can download immediately. Answer the question: are you ready to move beyond where you are at, to a higher purpose for you and your business? Yes or Yes? Invest just seven bucks and ask the right questions today! Here's the Questions: Click Here Now **************************************************** *********************** It's Time for a Marketing Makeover **************************************************** *********************** There's lots of talk from CEOs and others about the need to be a more customer-centric organization, but very few actually heed the call and make real change, particularly in the marketing area. A new report from Forrester Research offers some suggestions on what it takes to become a truly customer-centric marketing organization. In its report, "Reinventing the Marketing Organization," Forrester defines a customer-centric marketing organization as "a marketing structure in which customer alignment is the primary organizing structure, with other groups, such as IT, channel groups, and product heads, supporting the cause." Forrester Senior Analyst and report author Peter Kim explains that the definition reflects the idea that all employees are essentially marketers. "It certainly involves the entire organization becoming more customer-centric, from the receptionist to the CEO," he says. "Marketing's job is to drive that and evangelize it throughout the company." Warning Signs It's about time for a change. Forrester surveyed 104 marketing executives as part of the report, and discovered that only 15 percent of respondents are responsible for all four "P's" of marketing -- price, product, place, and promotion. Most control only promotion. Also, 76 percent of respondents do not influence their company's customer service function, a key customer touchpoint. These statistics show a widening gap between marketing and customers. "Why do organizations exist? It's because of customers," Kim says. "It's a similar concept to Return on Customer -- if you don't have customers, you don't have someone to sell to, and you don't have a business. Some companies would rather focus on the product or service delivery, but delivering the customer experience is what will create real value." Talk vs. Action There's been plenty of talk over the years about why it's important to become customer-centric, but Forrester lays out a roadmap to get it done. "Unless you do something, it's another flavor-of-the-month idea," Kim says. To start, he highlights two keys to the strategy: Create a consolidated customer experience management at a customer cohort level. Group leaders orchestrate business operations related to specific customer groups. Each customer group retains responsibility for brand essence, strategy, creative, and data analysis as relates to itself, across channels and products. In essence, it's finding the right products and services for specific customers, instead of the other way around, a concept we've touted for years. Enable the infrastructure to support the experience delivery. Back-end tools, processes, and systems must be in place to allow the experience management teams to interact with certain customer groups. This includes CRM, database and analytics systems. Certain internal elements have to change for this shift to be effective, Kim says. On the infrastructure side, he advises that companies manage P&L by customer groups, allocate shared expenses based on usage, and use customer-based metrics and personas to align behaviors. On the culture side, customer insight should be shared with all parts of the company, and internal rituals (such as McDonald's Hamburger University) should be put in place to keep the customer focus. Investment dollars should shift away from mass media toward programs that invite customer involvement, and companies should hire agencies that understand the shift toward customer centricity as well. "The customer relationship will change as companies bring customers into the organization," Kim says. "More customer feedback, interaction and co-creation of products and services will help companies better understand the relation-ship and keep customers part of the process." The Ball is Rolling Some companies, like Best Buy, British Telecom, P&G, and Starwood Hotels have already started down this road, with some success. But Kim says more companies will get on board as they see that long-term survival is at stake. "Over the long run you'll see a difference in customer- centric companies vs. ones that are not," he says. So will customers. "[Such a move] isn't going to pay off in one quarter, but in the long run, the companies that do it will survive." Lawton W. Howell, Sr. Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 or 877.935.6371 ceo@wellnessone.net