*Yawn*- A Day in the Life of Boredom
You finally got that speaking gig you’ve been waiting for in front of high school parents that are concerned about their ‘at risk’ teenagers. You’ve got some light refreshments, there are 14 mothers with that ‘worried’ look on their faces. You’ve worked for a while to secure this opportunity and its going to be great. You know your stuff and you proceed to informationalize them and dazzle them with your knowledge of nutrition, drugs, disease and…
You bored them!!!
What went wrong? I thought I sounded rather like my professor at college! They said I was interesting, answered all of their questions and I offered all attendees a free coupon and nobody responded, although I got 3 Facebook likes!
Actually, you did sound like your College prof and that’s only the start of your problems.
In our info and social media driven society, communication skills offline are not given a thought.
Perhaps the most overlooked and hidden cause of a mediocre practice is poor, in person people skills.
Most of our lives are lived ‘digitally’ and it shows.
BEING EMPHATIC by all caps on texting is the trend nowadays, but lacking in the face to face ‘chops’ (not Facebook) hits you where it really hurts…in the wallet!
You already know how to communicate online, that’s a given. However, every patient that walks in your door will be an up front and personal encounter…not online.
Are you ready for it?
The DC who spoke to this group of 14 mothers was not. Teaching, lecturing, informing and boring people can be done much more efficiently online for a few reasons. First and foremost, the viewer gets a chance to opt out when the material or the speaker reminds them of their parents, teachers or another person of authority.
Secondly, they can view it at their leisure while entertaining themselves on their fav social media platforms. They simply won’t be held hostage by an average presenter.
If you’re not memorable, forget about attempting to communicate effectively with your patients.
Believe it or not, people pleasers and acceptance at all cost DCs get crushed when it comes to gaining patients compliance, trust and commitment.
It’s simply not given to anyone who doesn’t leave a lasting impression.
The reality is today more parents want answers, but if you are live, you are going to have to upgrade your communication skills and step up your game.
Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory would come home with no new patients.
A great communicator DC would walk out of that same scenario with many enthusiastic new patients, including difficult cases that have not responded to previous treatment.
If you’re still getting too many of the:
- I’ll have to go home and talk it over with my spouse
- I can’t afford it
- I’m taking online college classes
- Does insurance cover it?
You are not ‘memorable’ or on your patients radar. There is no respect being afforded you. They like you, but don’t really trust you. There is a sales tension present in the room.
By making the shift towards better communication skills and relationships, and ultimately helping the patient understand Chiropractic, your office is transformed into a ‘category of one’, a community that people want to participate in, rather than a place they have to be convinced, sold to or closed.
So make things memorable; have fun with it, enjoy the conversation, get to know them, make it exciting. This generation wants excitement, so find ways to spruce up your spiel. Maybe you meet outside the office somewhere, or maybe you create a colorful booklet to explain your practice to them. If your patient has glazed eyes, they aren’t paying any attention! GRAB THEIR ATTENTION! Even asking them for feedback is great, some might be nice and say it wasn’t boring, but you want the honest patients. Ask them what they could do better, what they would be interested it. Don’t settle for boring, go beyond and become exciting!
