Chiropractic is a highly competitive field, with over 77,000 chiropractors currently licensed in the United States. Because of market saturation in many cities, many chiropractic offices rely on referrals to grow their business. But sometimes, the challenge is just getting that first client in the door, then delighting them so that they want to promote your business. How do you create and add value for your patients?

Delivering Value in Four Steps

Referrals are one of the most cost effective sources for new customers, as they are obtained simply from providing excellent care and service. It requires no additional marketing spend when satisfied patients tell their networks about your clinic, and leads gained through referrals already have a positive perception of your business. So how do you deliver the value that gets clients excited to spread the word? Think of it in four stages:

• Education: In order to realize the extent of value your services bring to patients, they first need to understand those services. A multinational survey of chiropractic patients revealed that over 40% of people seeking chiropractic care did so to enhance wellness and prevent illness, while only 17% were seeking care and relief from an existing condition. Patients are seeking chiropractic care to learn more about how to be healthy, and educating your clients throughout the process helps them see more value in their visits.

• Execution: Perhaps the most obvious stage of delivering value to chiropractic patients is in providing excellent care during treatment. This is the part that most chiropractors already have under their belts: diagnosing a condition, recommending a treatment, and executing on that plan to deliver results. Setting expectations and delivering upon them goes a long way towards building trust and creating value, so exercise caution. Overpromising may get the patient excited to work with you, but they may be disappointed if they don’t achieve the results you advertised. Underpromising may amaze the patient after the treatment, but only if they decide to work with you at all. Personal care with a high standard of excellence forms a large part of value creation, and is a good starting point for practices struggling with customer generation and retention.

• Evaluation: Delivering results doesn’t just mean providing the correct intervention for a condition; it also includes how those results are conveyed. If a patient feels an improvement, they are experiencing the results of a treatment. If they require further visits or different therapies, results have to be conveyed in a different way. Be honest with patients - if something doesn’t work, explain possible reasons why, then recommend a different treatment.

• Exchange: Finally, if the client sees the value in your services, you will get value in return by way of repeat business and referrals, starting the entire process over again. Because the process of delivering value is cyclical, it easily translates to recurring revenue and business growth.

Creating Value for Your Target Customers

While referrals are one piece of the puzzle, bringing in entirely new customers means creating value in a different way. Using current customer information or research into a new target market, you can determine what people really need when they’re seeking chiropractic care. Have patients complained about some aspects of your clinic? Have you had to refer them to other offices for certain treatments? You may be delighting your current customers, but there may be opportunities for adding value by making changes to your practice.

• Convenience: Today, people always seem to be on-the-go, from busy professionals to harried parents. When seeking standard medical care, patients wait an average 24 days to schedule a first appointment with a physician. By making it more convenient for patients to schedule visits to your office, they become more likely to seek chiropractic care first, giving you opportunities to deliver endless value.

• Treatments: Practically every chiropractic clinic offers adjustments, and while spinal manipulation is a key and critical aspect of chiropractic care, patients have endless options for providers. Diversifying your treatment capabilities can help provide unique value to potential customers that they can’t find anywhere else, bringing in new patients. Consider adding nutrition, laser therapy, acoustic compression, or a spinal decompression table to your practice.

The key to sustained growth for chiropractic offices is delivering value, which is easier said than done. By taking a look at what your current clients and target market really want in a chiropractor, you can optimize your practice to create lasting relationships with patients who understand the value of your care services, and provide value in return.