Rick WrenPOWERFUL PRACTICES FEATURE ARTICLES

FIXING THE LEAKING BUCKET
By Dr Rick Wren

In a recent Powerful Practices teleseminar, Dr. Rick Wren, Chiropractor from Sherman Texas U.S.A, presented his thoughts on how to improve client retention in our practices.

The following is a summary of Rick’s presentation which he calls “The 21 Success Principles”. Rick has adapted these from his own experiences and the teachings of the late Jim Parker, the founder of Parker Seminars.

  1. Conduct a principled pre-consultation which pre-frames subluxation.   (2-5 minutes).
  2. Always do a thorough examination (10 to 15 minutes max.)
  3. Always x-ray new patients.
  4. Do not adjust on the first visit. This helps to establish the value of your examination and x-rays. Make the 2nd visit later the same day if necessary.
  5. Do a written report of findings on every new patient including a digital photo of their x-rays.
  6. Conduct weekly “Spinal Care Workshops”.  Consider doing your workshop at a nice local restaurant and treating your new client and up to 4 guests to dinner. Rick averages a 98% new client sign up by doing this with a 28:1 return on investment.
  7. Set up a multiple appointment schedule up to and including their next progress exam.
  8. Keep complete and detailed practice statistics. Remember, “Record keepers are record breakers.”
  9. Always call new patients. The CA can do this after the first visit to confirm the report visit and seek any clarification on the home advice handout. The DC always rings after the second visit to ask if there are any questions about the report of findings.
  10. Routinely re-exam/re-x-ray and do a written re-report of findings to enhance rapport and keep clients (and sometimes the DC) on track.
  11. Have weekly team meetings (1/2 hour) and weekly team trainings (up to an hour) at a different time so that everyone knows exactly what to do, just like drills on the football/basketball field.
  12. Always ask for referrals, especially at re-exams. The number of new clients you see will be directly proportional to the number of times you ask.
  13. Always use chiropractic "Table Talk" and never social banter.
  14. Always “cluster book” appointments – for example 8.30-9.30, 11.30-12.30 and 2.00-6.00.
  15. Always stay on time – if you’re not early then you’re late.
  16. Use precision adjusting with high energy, cutting back the number of areas you adjust to 1-3 preferably.
  17. Set daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and lifetime goals.
  18. Practice team motivation exercises and use staff incentives. For example, pay a baseline wage then add bonuses for reaching weekly practice goals.
  19. Have consistent promotional activities planned for up to 12 months in advance so that there is always something interesting happening e.g. St Patrick’s Day, Have a Heart Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day etc.
  20. Always look, dress, and act successful where ever you are. Dressing well attracts people to ask or investigate what you do.
  21. Practice profitability and invest wisely so that you can continue doing what you do because you love to serve, not because you have to pay the bills.


Following these principles has helped thousands of chiropractors massively improve their retention and profitability.


If you wish to ask Rick questions or view his webpage for more information, Rick can be contacted by emailing wren@texoma.net or at www.wrenchiropracticcenter.com