Q:

I am planning a reactivation phone campaign in the office for patients who have not been in 
for quite some time.  My question is related to timing.  Do we start making these calls now, 
before the holidays?  Or do we wait until after the New Year?  Also, do you have any 
suggestions for an offer or scripting?

A:

Thanks for your e-mail. Below are some ideas. Timing is perfect now as it can be extended 
into next year as a RE "ADJUST" TO 2003 Campaign. Below are some ideas I gathered 
from my computer

Holiday Promotion:

Being that Thanksgiving is a comin¼ and Christmas and New Years will be upon us soon, 
it is the perfect time to re-activate patient¼s that haven¼t been in for awhile. Realize that there 
are many reasons a person stops care .. this is a retention issue and can be addressed at a 
later date, but in reality this is usually a stressful time of year for most folks. 

Therefore, review with your CA the new patient or drop out log .. you should have been 
keeping up with this .. also having picture ID¼s included .. as on page 101 of the Smart 
Start Book. Better yet, if you have a computer database .. a mailing label program ..  print 
out the names and note which people you wish to re-activate. 

Have a letter prepared to send to these people, and then the phone script which is below. If 
you haven¼t the time to send a letter, call anyway and a letter can be sent at a later date. 

„Hello, this is Heather from the Dr. Margolies,¼ office, the chiropractor. I am calling 
today to see if you received our latest mailing concerning our Patient Appreciation 
Week. The doctor told me it¼s been sometime since your last adjustment, and he wants 
to invite you to the office during this week for a free adjustment .. actually you¼ll have 
to bring a non perishable food item for the Atlanta Food Bank. This will be during the 
first week of December from December  2-6 (M-F). It¼s a great idea to get your „tune 
up¾ adjustment, can I make an appointment for you, either in the morning or 
afternoon.¾ 

Great: (Make the appt)

„Also, this is a great opportunity to invite someone else to our office for a 
complimentary evaluation. This usually cost between $75-100. They also need to bring 
a food item. Is there some family member, friend, or fellow employee that can benefit 
from an evaluation and possible care.¾

Leave a message on their answering machine similar to what is above with the inclusion 
that  should call to confirm their appointment. 

Have a Safe and Healthy Holiday

Dr. M

From: Dr. Margolies

Follow Through

This is a key phrase in marketing and public relations. How often do you have a creative 
idea that hangs on the vine never able to ripen because no one took the time to cultivate, 
nurture and harvest it. This is the death of a creative idea. You probably have closets full of 
these too full to pry open. 

In order to be on top of these ideas, whether gathered at seminars, classes, or even from 
these humble e-mails, you must have someone responsible for „follow through.¾ If you¼re 
a typical „mom and pop¾ office with just you and a CA, the responsibility must be shared. 
If you have an active office with multiple staff, then delegate a specific person(s) to 
„manage¾ these programs whether internal or external. As within my book and class (page 
45), I am a proponent of logs. These forms allow you to date and classify a program and 
follow it through. The person or persons responsible for follow through, via these logs, 
have a means to track the program and see that each facet is attended to. Lets look at an 
example:

At your next staff meeting decide on an internal program to generate reactivation of 
previous patients .. by the way this includes student clinic patients as well. Lets have a staff 
meeting now:

„The program for this month is reactivation. In order to recapture these previous patient¼s 
who dropped out for one reason or another, we¼ll have a three prong approach. First, we¼ll 
create a log of those we¼ll be sending material to and follow up with a phone call. Mary, be 
sure to look through the „drop out log,¾ (page 101) and determine which patient¼s we want 
to encourage returning to our office. Be sure this new log notes their last visit date; their 
symptom; if there was a reason they dropped out, and the number of visits they were with 
us, especially if these were than 15. (This should be noted on the drop out log). Next, 
we¼ll print up an office newsletter and mail it to these people .. be sure this is all done 
within three days. (Have a firm timeline). After this, we¼ll wait three days and start the 
phone campaign. Mary, be sure this is all completed, every patient called, within a two 
week time frame. Now, let¼s set aside some time for practicing the script: 
Hello is this John? yes, John, this is Mary from Dr. Margolies office, the chiropractor .. do 
you have a minute. Great, Dr. Margolies asked me to call. It¼s been sometime since your 
last visit. I¼m looking at your chart and your last visit was over six months ago. In fact, 
you were here only six times, and it¼s noted that you were concerned about migraine 
headaches and chronic neck pain. How are you doing? Well we¼re always concerned about 
our patients. It¼s noted also that you were concerned about finances, unfortunately this is a 
common reason people discontinue the care they need, would you agree? You should have 
recently received our office newsletter, did you receive one? No, let¼s see if I have your 
correct address ... (even if you never sent one .. this is a way to get your foot in the door 
and the purpose of the call), well, let me tell you a little about it. One feature within this 
newsletter was a Patient Appreciation Week.  This is a twice a year program we offer our 
patient¼s. During this week you have an opportunity to share chiropractic with your family 
and friends (give them the options), maybe those at work, church, or at other 
civic functions .. to receive a chiropractic evaluation, usually worth $100 (place a value and 
expiration date) at no charge, compliments of you our patient. By the way, this is also a 
time for our patient¼s who have not been in awhile to return for two complimentary visits. 
This is a great opportunity for Dr. Margolies to evaluate your spine, as well as discuss any 
of your concerns. I think this is a great idea. This program expires (give them a two or 
three week period). I think it¼ll be a great idea for you to take advantage of this .. can I set 
up your appointment? Great .. also, are there others that you know that will benefit from 
this evaluation .. remember, most folks have no idea about the value of chiropractic and 
this week is a great opportunity for them .. is there anyone you know of? 

Okay, I can go on forever on this, but you get the idea. Any active action step with 
continued internal and external marketing will open the flood gates of people innately 
desiring care. They just have an educatioinal block .. This script, written quickly for this e-
mail, is just a start. Use you own words, create your own excitement, and train your staff 
well. But, most important FOLLOW THROUGH!!!!


WELCOME IN THE NEW YEAR

RE "ADJUST" TO 2003

Your examination (if necessary) and one adjustment is FREE

This offer is also extended to your Friends and Family
one additional complimentary adjustment for each referral

We are an In-Network Provider For These Insurance Companies:

Aetna/USHealthcare  .. BeechStreet .. Blue Choice .. Cigna .. GA1st/MRN PPO
Georgia First  .. Georgia HealthCare Partnership (GHP) .. Health Star  ..  Humana
Mail Handlers Benefit Plan .. Medicare .. NovaNet .. One Health Plan .. PHCS
Preferred Plan .. Preferred Plan of Georgia (PPOG) .. Principal Health Care/SouthCare
State Merit PPO  .. UnitedHealthcare

This complimentary NEW YEAR program expires February 8, 2003