Why competing on Quality WON’T WORK (and what will instead)

Now, I know I'm going against the grain with this, but I honestly have come to believe these last few years that competing based on the quality of your care is a bad move and it's not sustainable. Now, let me explain why, because I know that sounds counterintuitive. Most of us think when it comes to how we're going to stand out in our area, how we're going to show our community that we're the practice to choose when they have a problem. So we think we've got two options. We can compete based on price or we can compete based on quality. So competing based on price, generally, I wouldn't recommend to do that. You have to become the Ryanair of chiropractic. You have to offer very, very low quality and do a lot of it. So that's really high volume. That's the only way to be able to offer things cheaper than somebody else. You can't out price a low volume practice because they have the turnover for it. And if you know anything about me, you know that's not my bag. I have no interest in that. That's not something I can really help you with. So assuming that you're still watching, we'll say we're not going to compete based on price, so we're going to compete based on quality, right? Not really. See, the problem with competing based on the quality of your care is that chiropractic has this different problem. The quality of a good chiropractic treatment is very subjective and it varies a lot, patient to patient. What one patient thinks is great quality, another will really not. Like, for example, how many clicks did they get during the adjustment? We all know patients who think the more clicks the better, right? Wow, I really felt that. However, some patients really don't like that. They'll think one or two is nice and specific or nice and subtle, or maybe no clicks is better because they really don't like it. So already just based on that, you're gonna have a difference of opinion no matter what you do. Some will think that's low quality. Or how about this? How about not just the number of clicks they get. How do they feel the next day? Do they wake up feeling a bit better, oh, that's good. Or do they wake up feeling worse? So you think feeling worse would be bad. But some patients will go, yeah, that really hurt me. I. Others will go, oh, I felt really sore the next day. Yeah, that must have done something. So even post treatment, reactions vary. Patient, patient, even the length of time of your appointment. I realitis goes a little bit into competing based on price and I'm not arguing that you should just arbitrarily shorten it, but we nearly always think in the ethical domain of chiropractic that patients want longer appointments. However, I can tell you some of them are really happy if you can get the work done in half the time. I personally would love to see a chiropractor who get the same work done in half the time. That's more time freed up in my day. So even things like that, they're not really going to be universal. So we can't agree and our patients won't agree on what makes quality care. If you think you're going to compete based on that, you're going to still end up losing a bunch of patients because their definition of quality is different to yours. So what do we do? We can't compete based on price unless we're high volume. We can't really compete based on quality unless we're going to alienate a decent number of people in our community. Well, there's a third option that really dictates not just how successful you're going to be then, but how much loyalty you're going to build with patients. And this is the emotional experience of all their interactions with you. Now if you know me, you know my big thing is communication. So yes, obviously great communication skills are an essential part of that. If you don't know how to build trust and rapport with your patient through one on one interactions, you, you are going to have a tough time in practice. And if you want some help with that, I've got a brand new live seminar that I'll tell you about in a moment, coming up towards the end of the year. But anyway, putting that aside, let's say you've got great communication skills. There are many other touch points that really, really matter when it comes to that emotional experience. I can tell you in so many of our Google reviews and I'm really proud. We've now got 350 between just two practices. But so many of them mention things that aren't to do with the chiropractor. They mention how lovely the front desk team, how helpful they are, how nice the environment is, how lovely is sat in reception. We have patients who turn up early because they really like being in the clinic. So think about all these touch points. Yes, having friendly front desk staff is again to me a deal breaker. That's essential. But what is the clinic environment like when they come and sit in reception, how do they feel? Is it Comfortable? What, what are they hearing? Are they hearing sounds that make them feel good and relaxed? Are they feeling things that are stressful? What do they smell? Do they smell the lunch that was cooked in the microwave 20 minutes ago in the style room that's now seeping into the room? Is that going to create a professional environment that builds trust or is it going to take away from it? You know, you can't make up for bad communication skills by getting these things right, but you can certainly add to that and build even more trust or you can undermine it. So they won't set the bar, but they will then influence it quite strongly. Just to give you an example of something I saw in a business that I loved several years ago, it was a bit hard to find. It was, it was out in the countryside a little bit and they knew people are going to be a little bit stressed trying to find us, so they took a dash cam video of somebody driving to them and sped it right up. Every time we got to an important junction, it slowed down so you could see it and then it sped right up. And then you'll get to this. Turn right, then here, go straight on. It's about 20, 30 seconds and I love that. And when I turned up there, I turned up not just stress free, but actually happy. I was like, wow, that really worked. I really liked that. That really helped me out. So I came into this business already feeling good about them and I hadn't even met anyone, so it doesn't have to be that. But it's little things about the entire patient's experience of coming to see you that may not even happen in the practice. So I want you to have a think about that. This is your little challenge for today, is think about all the ways patients are interacting with you outside of the treatment room, maybe even outside of the clinic. How can you use those to build trust to increase that emotional experience? Because the emotional experience of coming to see you is what will build organic reviews and referrals that you haven't had to pay for. The I don't have to persuade people to do. You have not to have big marketing overheads bringing in new patients. It creates raving fans in your community, building your reputation. And it creates patients that will come back and come back year after year, anytime they have a problem, even if they don't want maintenance, they're still your patients. So have a think about that. Now, if you want some help with the communication skills or you're adjusting hands on skills, I've got a really, really exciting Seminar coming up. This is my first live event for four years and it's not just me. I'm teaming up with my good friend, Owain Evans. Owen is a BCA board member. He has been teaching adjusting and communication skills for years. He is a great dc, he's a great friend, he's a great human being generally. We decided to get together and offer one seminar with both of us. So you're getting two for one. It's going to be incredible value. I'm really excited for this because it's going to be one of a kind. It's going to be in September. Sorry, in London in September. Now all the details, I'll put in a link below this so you can check that out. This is the only seminar I'm doing this year. It's my only live event. I don't know when I'm going to do another one. It won't be for at least another year. So if you want to catch me live, this is going to be your best opportunity. And if you want to brush up on your adjusting skills, there's so many gems that Owain shares. Not just how to do it better, but how to do it safer, how to do it more comfortably, how to protect yourself when you do it. And Owen and I, we both talk communication. We have different points of view, we have different opinions on this. So you're going to get a real interaction where there's a variety of viewpoints. It's not one person just telling you how to do it their way. So it's going to be really interactive, it's going to be a nice relaxed setting. We're also going to have to limit the places here as well, just due to the venue size. We have to do that because of the adjusting requirements. We're going to keep it nice and intimate too. So we are limiting places to 30. That is going to sell out. So if you're interested, you want to grab one while you can and I'll put all the details below. You know, if you want to really take your communication to the next level, you're getting two coaches on this, not just one. And we're going to be going through some great adjusting skills as well. So check out the details below. If that's not for you, absolutely fine. But I challenge you to think about all those ways you can improve the emotion experience in your practice because I can tell you a sustainable long term practice growth that isn't a grind, that isn't a chore, you have to get that right. You compete on that you will offer a level of care and you will have a practice that lasts the test of time that is better than anyone else in your area. Don't compete based on price, but also don't think competing based on quality is going to get you there. If you've got any questions on this, you want some feedback on your practice, shoot me an email. I love chatting to people. Otherwise I'll see you soon for another video. Take care guys.