When I first got my license, I opened my first business. Upstairs from a popular and loud bar in town, and beyond a tiny little waiting room about half the size of a small bathroom (which barely had room for two of the cheapest IKEA chairs, a hanging plant, and nothing else), was my treatment room.
I had my boyfriend at the time build me a door + a small wall that didn’t reach up to the ceiling (there was about a two-foot clearance from the ceiling- the landlord’s idea) inside of my treatment room as a hideout for when my patient was resting on the table. There wasn’t a lot of space in that treatment room to begin with, so my new “office” was barely big enough to fit one cheap IKEA chair, a 2 foot x 3.5 foot “desk” (actually just a piece of plywood mounted to the walls with shelving brackets), and nothing else. I found out later this office was conveniently turned into a dirty laundry hamper (a much better use for it)!
I barely so much typed on my laptop for fear of my patient hearing an overly-noisy key press down. I’m pretty sure they could hear me breathing. I breathed lightly.
I mostly just sat in my chair and stared at the window. Not even out the window. I stared at the blinds covering the window, because opening them would mean eventually someone walking by and seeing me looking at them while sitting in a tiny chair (that couldn’t even turn around) from a cramped and narrow “closet.”
Anyway, after the treatment was finished, I would literally say.. “Alright! When do you want to come back?” … and that’s it. No suggested course of treatment, nothing about what they could expect, just “Hey, when do you want to give me more money for sticking you with needles?”
I actually had a pretty awesome patient that kept coming back once/week because she had heard “once/week is standard for acupuncture.. right?” Other than her, my patients would come twice and be on with their lives.
Through trial and error, books, podcasts, videos, I learned some tricks of the trade. Following are the seven most essential and valuable concepts that have motivated my patients to return and return continuously.
1. A clear vision plan. A clear set of treatments laid out ahead of time on the first treatment, how often they are going to be, and what they can expect during the process gives people comfort.
My typical vision plan for a patient is that I recommend treatments twice/week for 2 weeks, then once/week for two weeks, then “spacing them out further from there.” Everyone responds differently to acupuncture, so this will generally vary (especially after the 3rd or so week).
2. “Each treatment accelerates the healing process in your body… and each treatment gains momentum on the last. If treatments are too far apart, we won’t gain any momentum on the healing and your treatments will be much less efficient.” ← GREAT explanation because it’s so true!
This is a completely real thing that happens in acupuncture treatments, and it’s important patients know this. I emphasize that we don’t want “backsliding” in their course of treatment, meaning if they wait too long between treatments in the beginning of their course of treatment, they will end up back at square one by the time of their next treatment.
This is so important to mention as well, because “backsliding” = they get absolutely no value from their first few treatments, even though they paid for them. The awesome health that could have been is lost in time now. Your patients will realize this, and will absolutely not want it to happen!
Then the responsibility is on the patient to come back, and because you laid out a clear plan for them earlier (like in Step 1), they know exactly when to come back.
3. Packaged Deals. Packaged deals offer greater value to individual treatments, and are yet another motivator for people to come back (they already paid for them, so the worst is over)!
I package my deals at 6 treatments and 10 treatments. So for example, If your cash rate is $95 per treatment, but you offer a package of 6 treatments for $475, make sure to state that it’s a “$575 value” instead of a “discounted price.”
I will talk more about the psychology of what makes people buy things in future posts, but it’s important to note that people like the word value. They like to know they are getting the utmost possible value for their money.
Packaged Deals are for cash patients (without insurance) only, because I believe “co-pay packaged deals” are illegal. =)
4. Rule #1 in content marketing = People only care about themselves. This is absolutely not true as your patients get to know you more (especially in our field, because it’s so personal and intimate), but it’s the best rule to know when wording your website, emails, brochures, business cards, and other things that potential patients are looking at.
Potential patients like to know you have great credentials (like your degree, license, internship in school, experience, etc.) because they want to know you actually are a professional, and they like a picture to know you look gentle and kind, but they mostly care about their own problem and how you can fix it. They are potentially going to give you time + money, so they want to have a reasonable guess that you can actually help them.
On your website, brochures, and in conversation, word how you can help them.
5. Confidence that acupuncture is wonderful, because it is. Acupuncture helps pretty much everything because it actually jumpstarts the body into healing itself.
This is amazing!
No other system of medicine in the world looks at the body so holistically, and no other system of medicine in the world works quite like this. I make sure to tell all my new patients that acupuncture works like this, and I am always continually emphasizing just how amazing it is (to everyone, not just patients)!
Honesty is my #1 rule in my practice, and if I really don’t think I can help someone (if they have a major structural problem, and their pain will most likely just return full-force after a few days), I will refer them to another healthcare professional, and do my absolute best to make sure that that healthcare professional is top-notch awesome. In my four years of practice, I’ve maybe referred out (before I’ve ever treated the person) twice.
Acupuncture helps so many things, and herbal medicine and functional medicine help just about everything else.
6. Packaged Treatments for Specific Conditions. People like simple solutions to complicated problems. A package of six treatments as an IVF protocol (I’ve used this one many times, and it works amazingly well) is one way to tell the world you offer IVF support, exactly how many treatments one would need for one complete cycle of IVF, and how much it will cost. It’s easy.
They know exactly what they are getting, when, and for how much, before they even communicate with you over phone or email (it’s all on the website)!
Many courses of acupuncture treatments don’t work this way.. like the explanation of “come in twice/week for two weeks and then taper off after that” wouldn’t work for a woman just wanting to make sure she is optimizing her chances of conceiving using IVF. By having this option, as well as your general explanation for building momentum on treatments, you are appealing to a larger market.
Another awesome protocol is the “Happy Baby Protocol” which sets up treatments once/month for each of the nine months that a woman is pregnant. Each treatment works on strengthening a specific system of the baby’s developing body.
7. Mentioning “seasonal treatments.” Sometimes people like to come in religiously once/week, no matter what you tell them… especially after explaining that acupuncture accelerates the healing process and helps the body to heal itself. Other people like to be told exactly when to come in.
For acute issues, I let the patients be on their way after their standard course of treatment (as long as they are 100% better, of course). They feel wonderful, and their referrals are enough to keep me busy. For chronic conditions, I always tell the patient that once/month or once/season treatments are recommended after we get them feeling great again, to keep their body from experiencing the problem again. This is always said on the first treatment, so the patient always knows exactly what they are getting into.
To finish up…
When I look back to my first practice, my first office, and my naive-acupuncturist self, I realize these concepts have skyrocketed my patient compliance rates! If a patient comes to me with a chronic issue now, they are usually a patient for life (because of seasonal treatments)! I guarantee they will do the same to yours too, and they can all be implemented immediately.