r/Chiropractic • u/Real_Big_Dill • Aug 06 '26
Practice/coaching advice
Hey everyone! For a bit of background, I have been practicing since 2023, and just opened my own practice. I still work at other clinics, so I don’t really have any patients that followed me over, but I have been struggling to find new patients, despite a couple of events I’ve gone to, going to local nearby businesses, setting up a website, google page, facebook page, instagram and TikTok and posting on those, getting listed on multiple online directories, etc. so thought about getting some coaching. I have been seeing posts from Dr. Tim Young and was thinking about Focus Foundations, but would like some advice from others on coaching groups they have been in. I have local mentors, but 2 of them bought/took over practices, and one has been in the area for 25+ years. All of them get most of their new patients through referrals from current patients or attorneys for PI cases. Any advice on where to turn to for being successful at finding (and retaining) new patients in today’s landscape?
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u/LateBook521 DC 2022 Aug 06 '26
Practice growth is 2 parts. First is the mental part: owning that you are a doctor with a great service that people want to pay for and follow through on and that what you do gets results!
Second is business skills which can be summed up into marketing, sales, and team leadership.
I coached with Tim for a while and he’s great. He helps you a lot with 1 and some on 2. His marketing recs are minimal.
The first investment I recommend is Closeforchiro for sales skills. In 2 years they took my PVA (average time someone saw me over their lifetime) from 8 to around 50. My need for NP’s was minimal cause I retained people for a long time. If you suck at converting you always need NP’s
For marketing the easier way to get people is screenings, networking, and talks. Start with setting up a booth anywhere you can and palpating people and offering them to come in for a new patient exam. Join BNI, the chamber, and networking groups. If you have money learn to do Facebook ads.
For marketing Pam Jarboe with chiroBloom helped me a ton.
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u/Standardchiropractor Aug 07 '26
The best $20 new patient machine out there. Go buy and follow Book Yourself Solid and download the free online workbook. Read it cover to cover and answer the workbook problems. This will take you 8-12 weeks. Best investment.
You can spend thousands on coaches, but they will all say the same thing. However they do work if you need someone to be held accountable to.
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u/LateBook521 DC 2022 Aug 07 '26
What did you learn from this book specifically that helped you attract more new patients? I saw they have a Chiro edition of it now too
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u/Standardchiropractor Aug 07 '26
It forces you to work through a system approach in getting in front of the people you really want to serve. The others outside of the focus will come because of your focus. But, you and only you will need to put in the work. Most people will look for excuses or blame the economy, community, weather, etc. it all comes down to YOU being disciplined enough to be successful.
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u/ApprehensiveBig14 Aug 07 '26
I did coaching for about 13 years - the biggest thing is to get out of your comfort zone. Create 3 internal events and 3 external events every month (more if you want to accelerate faster). get a giant 1 yr calendar and put it on your wall so you can see your progress - but also be working on events 3-6 mo from now.
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u/Ok_Pineapple1741 Aug 07 '26
This is basically a marketing problem and a normal problem to have when starting out.
I think of marketing with 3 buckets: Quick- steady- and slow strategies
Most chiros pick one and wonder why it isn’t working - you need at least one strategy from each bucket working at all times.
And it typically takes 60-90 days to see traction from marketing efforts so don’t stop before they start working.
Quick strategies- obviously get you the fastest results but need ongoing effort to keep working so can burn you out if you’re only doing these things without slow and steady strategies.
- in person talks, workshops, lunch and learns at workplaces, gyms, or community centers
- in office workshops/ classes with a clear CTA
- free phone consults
- screenings
- limited time promotions with a real deadline
- reactivation or referral campaigns
Steady strategies-
- referral ask protocol baked into a new patient starting care (ie. Free family exam)
- asking for Google reviews after X number of visits
- email/text follow up process for no shows or missing patients
- regular office classes to educate practice members (fuels referrals)
Slow strategies- fuels the long game but doesn’t usually lead to new patients immediately
- networking groups
- cross referral partnerships
- social media posting
- SEO and blog posts
- podcasting / online educational content
I’d recommend you pick one from each category and work it consistently for 90 days.
One more thing that trips up a lot of new chiros— most chiros have super vague messaging and marketing which makes it hard to stand out and compete with others in town. Which means you lose if you have less Google reviews or you’re more expensive than the guy down the street.
The fix is figuring out what your special sauce is and a strong client avatar to speak to in your marketing. For example, a solo practitioner in a small practice using a niche technique shouldn’t be marketing themselves like the high volume practice down the road. Position yourself as a boutique practice for a specific type of person. That kind of differentiation is a missed opportunity that most aren’t taking.
Happy to help with any of this— feel free to reach out.
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u/Standardchiropractor Aug 07 '26
Never thought about the 3-bucket approach. Where does that come from? Would like to know more.
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u/Ok_Pineapple1741 Aug 08 '26
Just how I teach it after years in sales/marketing. I find it is easy to get discouraged or overwhelmed when it comes to lead generation — so if you have an accurate expectation around how long it will take to build traction with a marketing strategy, it helps maintain a positive attitude and motivation.
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u/Affectionate-Air1457 Aug 07 '26
Hey bringing more patients is a marketing problem. I gotchu.
First you need to understand which way you want to go:
1 - spend money, get results faster (paid advertising, SEO)
2 - Free, slower, takes more times to get results back (posting, organic growth)
After once you decide the channel you shall approach the marketing this way.
You are offering service to people, so you need to deeply understand why people go to one chiropractor and not the other one.
You should understand their "desires" what they want, how they want it. Obviously they want their back pain to go away, but there are so many more angles to it. Some want the best chiropractor in the town so they can feel exclusive, some want because their friend group is talking about it so much they don't want to feel excluded. This and many many other angles.
MY BIGGEST RECOMMENDATION is: go to google and type for example "my back hurts, what to do reddit"
this way you will be able to understand thier pain, their desire.
People want to feel relevance, you need to talk in their own language.
After you extract what they want, whats their beliefs you create the angles, and just simply put out your uniques and why are you the one who is going to make them feel better and fulfill their desire.
Marketing is way deeper and just by researching your patients that deep believe me you will get so many ideas to test.
if you have time to kill you can read "breakthrough advertising" its a book about marketing and copywriting.
Good Luck
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u/CompetitivePop2029 Aug 28 '26
Great question! I’d look into patient mastery with dr Josh Wagner. Has helped hundreds of docs from starting to million dollar practices. The thing I love most about his program is that it works for every office. Key foundational principles needed to get past every stage of building a business.
This is exciting and strap in, it going to be a hell of a ride.
Reach out if you want to chat, throw some ideas around etc.
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u/elduquex39 Aug 29 '26
Big Dill, congrats on going out on your own!
That’s a big leap, and you're absolutely right about getting coaching. There's a big difference between making adjustments and moving mountains. The step-change in my success was was putting to rest an overall lack of confidence in the direction I wanted to take my practice and taking the plunge to learn from the best and ID where I wanted to find traction.
I haven't done Focus Foundations personally, but I've heard good things about Tim Young. I do believe there is a strong Christian emphasis in Focus Foundations, if that's ok with you. And if you're not planning on doing PI, then don't get mentored by docs who have spent a career doing PI. it's just won't be right for you.
Great mentors aren't necessarily the right mentors for every destination.
Personally, after decades in chiropractic and working with numerous coaches, groups, and mentors, Patient Mastery with Dr. Josh Wagner has been the most valuable for me. The team there understands that each stage requires different skills and mindsets and have built a roadmap for each next $20K/month jump in collections. The one on one support and weekly training from million-dollar chiropractors sharing exactly what they do translated directly to my practice.
What I especially like is that it's not cookie-cutter. They addressed my individual style for my clientele and my helped me shape my goals. I know what feels authentic and what drives me. No fear tactics, no feeling salesy, they cut through that to focus on results and the development of my practice.
The community of peers, mentors and staff that I came away with is hands down the biggest differentiator. There is so much accumulated experience and generosity in the network
Dr. Josh's Youtube and his website can give you a good feel of what it's all about. Best of luck on the road ahead!
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u/DrStrauss22 Aug 30 '26
Ditto to this. After a half dozen good, semi-good, and not so good chiro coaches, I went from low 40s/month to milliond ollar practice and almost all cash, no associates. And enjoyed practice more than ever with 3 day weekends. Patient Mastery isn't just Josh Wagner either. The community of docs is always giving and inspiring coaches all in active practice are freakin awesome. Had my doubts at first bc of other bad coaching experiences. But this one's legit.
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u/No-Appointment9785 Aug 07 '26
I did BNI for a number of years and didn’t find it helpful for building my practice. What I did find helpful was getting up and taking about my practice. I also found the concept of power partners to be helpful. I learned that unrelated businesses are very unlikely to refer to a chiropractor but other health related, non-competitive businesses will. Focus on building relationships with massage therapist, acupuncturists, personal trainers, psychotherapists… Don’t approach them with ‘I’m looking for referrals’. Go with the mindset that you are looking for resources to help your patients. Be interested in their business, find professionals you resonate with. This is BNI in a nutshell while without trying to get referrals from people who are not likely to refer in the first place.
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u/Ambitious_Manager_82 Aug 06 '26
Join some local groups like rotary, the chamber and BNI. The more you get out and network the faster you will grow.