3 Ways to Get More Referrals

Hey everyone, Dr. Vince Leone here from Specialized Practice, and today I want to talk to you and show you 3 ways to get more high-quality referrals for your practice. And we're talking about for your high-ticket niches, right? Not just common chiropractic referrals, but good high-quality referrals for your spinal decompression, peripheral neuropathy, or chronic knee pain. Now, I, in my opinion, you should have 25% of your new patient flow coming from referrals. So maybe you have 20, like if you're getting say 20 starts a month, 5 would come from referrals, 5 would come from say Facebook, 5 would come from Google, and 5 would come from, you know, it could be newspaper, radio, TV, etc. Or maybe you have some type of relationship with other medical doctors in your clinic or in your city or PTs or other chiros or something like that. Right. Some other healthcare professional. So ideally, you're getting 25% of your new patient flow from referrals. So let's go ahead and dive into the training. Why are they so important? Obviously, we want to increase new patient flow. And by the way, when you have multiple streams of new patients, it creates more stability in the practice because it's diversified. Whereas if you only rely on one, so you're just doing Facebook or you're just doing Google or— YouTube. Or you're just doing referrals, not good, right? Because if that dries up for whatever reason that month, the practice tanks. Whereas if it's diversified over multiple new patient streams, then if one goes down or dips or goes off altogether, the practice is going to dip a little bit, but not that much, right? It's a good sign that your feedback— or it's a good sign that your service is remarkable. In other words, worthy of remark. If you're not getting any referrals, that's a problem. That's a sign that you are— there's an issue, right? Because if people are not excited about your service, or excited enough to tell their friends and family about how great it is and to spread the word, then you need to work on your service. You increase your profitability not only by increasing revenue, but by lowering your cost of acquisition, or your CPA, cost per patient acquisition. So, you know, obviously if you're running paid ads and say you spent, you know, $5,000 in ad spend and you get 10 new patients, well, that's a $500 CPA, $500 for each new start. But when you have a referral, it's essentially zero. So increased profitability, and then you help more people that your patients care about. So that's always a great thing. Why, 2 reasons, why do businesses not get more referrals? Now, by the way, I did not make this up, okay? So I took this from and learned this from Alex Hormozi, who, if you don't know who that is, you may wanna look into him. He's kind of an influencer, has a massive business, and teaches other businesses how to generate more leads and business and referrals. But the book that I would recommend if you're really interested in this is $100 Million Leads. Great, great book. Anyways, let's get back to business here. Their service isn't as good as they think it is and they don't ask for them. So that's really the 2 main reasons. Your service isn't— if you're not getting referrals, right, for your niches, either your service isn't as good as you think it is or you're not asking for them or both. So let's address both of those. So how to improve your service. The first way to improve your service is to clarify your avatar and enroll better patients. In other words, enroll more patients like those that are your best patients. And so if you think about your, you know, over the last, say, 6 months, who are your best patients? And there's probably like one, right? So they— maybe it's Bob Smith, right? So Bob showed up to every appointment on time. He did everything that you asked. He referred patients in, he got great results, he paid upfront, and you're like, I want more Bob Smiths. Okay, he's your avatar. And what I would do is actually get a picture of Bob and get a testimonial. First of all, if he's doing all that, then he'd be happy to give you a testimonial. But get a picture of Bob. In your staff meeting, say, hey, we want more patients like Bob Smith. Okay. Because of all these reasons. So you just start to set the intention first. First, you gotta get clarity on, okay, who are we looking to get more of in the clinic? So that's number one. You wanna enroll more patients like your best patients. Next, set better expectations. So when you are in your report of findings, do not promise the moon, right? If a patient is 75 years old and they have neuropathy and they've had it for 10 years, And they're like an 8 out of 10 or 9 out of 10, like, please don't promise them that they're going to be at a 0 in 3 months and that they, you know, are going to be able to do everything that they did at 30 years old. That would be a mistake. Now, if you deliver that, fantastic. But what is a more realistic expectation? A more realistic expectation for that type of patient would be someone that's, you know, maybe we drop them by 50%, they're able to walk more, they're They're able to sleep better, they're able to be in better moods, like their ADLs are improved, and their pain is, say, reduced by 50%, maybe 60%. That is the proper expectation to set in a situation like that. Now, you're the doctor, so all I know is our protocols deliver fantastic results, but we're also very realistic. Based on the presentation of the patient. But if you overpromise and underdeliver, you'll have unhappy patients and you will get no referrals. If you underpromise and then overdeliver, then, then you look like a rock star, right? By the way, did you know that for most spinal surgeries for a herniated disc, their threshold for success is a 30% reduction in pain levels? 30%, right? So Even if you were getting 50%, that would be considered a success. But point being is set better expectations so that you can overdeliver and that everyone is on the same page of what success looks like at the end of the protocol. That way you have less refunds and less unhappy patients. Next, model the success actions of your best patients. So, remember Bob Smith? Sit down with Bob. Hey, what did you— you were a fantastic patient. We loved having you in the clinic. Thank you so much. What did you do outside of the clinic? What did you not do outside of the clinic? Why do you think you got such great results? Ask them, right? Now they may have just said, hey, I just listened to everything you said. I didn't do any heavy bending, twisting, lifting. I didn't go run any marathons. I didn't go chop wood. Whatever the recommendations were, you know, they followed them. But the point being is ask them. And that way, what you want to do is then take those Those actions and tell your future patients, hey, this is what our best patients do. I want you to model these behaviors, and that's going to give you an even better chance at success. Okay, so that's modeling success actions. Make faster wins. So this, you know, right in this day and age, right, everyone wants things fast, as fast as possible. So What I would recommend is if you can deliver results, some results, some win ASAP, that would be great. Laser is typically one of the best ways you can do that. If you have a good, I like the MLS laser, it delivers fantastic results and usually pretty darn quick. So if you can front-load some of your care with laser, Or maybe just do laser for a few visits, and that way you immediately start to get a reduction in pain, they're moving a little bit better, their, you know, body's working a little bit better. Then patients will immediately be thinking, hey, I'm going in the right direction, versus, you know, it's 2 weeks down the road, they've barely gotten any results so far, and they're like, did I make the right decision? So give them faster wins. And then finally, make your service better by surveying your patients, both good and bad, right? So obviously, ask your best patients, hey, what went right here? You said that you really enjoyed your experience here. What did we do right? Was it the staff? Was it the office? Like, was it, you know, the fact that we have, you know, the office is always clean, super clean, and we have fresh flowers and baked cookies? Or what was it? Just ask them. And then for your patients that are not happy, sit down and say, hey, you know, I just have to apologize. You are not happy with your care here, and I want to know why because I want to make sure that we can improve it for the next patients. I know that doesn't help you now, but maybe we can help you in another way. I don't know. Ask them, hey, how can we help you? How can we make this relationship better? They may not have a solution for you, or they may, and then you can deliver on it. But ask them why were they not happy, you know, so that you can see. Because what I have found is, you know, doctors get lazy in practice in a sense of, you know, like they don't go into their bathroom. And the bathroom, there could be grime around the sink, there could be, you know, the soap dispenser is empty, the toilet is dirty. It's just like, if you're trying to ask someone for $5,000 and you can't even have your bathroom Have like, you know, fresh towels, like have fresh towels, have your bathroom remodeled. Why is the bathroom so important? Because everyone hits it, everyone hits it either on the way in or on the way out, and so everyone's going to see your bathroom, so it better look good and smell good. So, but that's just one example, you know, the clinic should be spotless, right? The clinic should be cleaned at the bare minimum of once a week, ideally twice a week, right? Mondays and Fridays. But the point being is survey your patients and they will tell you, right? If you ask them and you're being, you know, candid with them and coming from a place of, hey, I just want to improve what we do, they'll tell you. So that's how to improve your service, or those 5 ways to improve. There's more ways to do it, plenty of ways, more ways to do it, but those are 5 good ways to take a look at what you're offering patients and improve it. And then finally, let's get into 3 ways to get more referrals. First of all, ask every patient. The 2 best times to ask for referrals is when they sign up and on their final exam, right? So at their final exam, when they got great results, awesome, Mrs. Jones, I'm so happy and grateful that you got such amazing results. Who else do you know, friend or colleague, or friend or family member, that we can help? But when patients sign up, that's also when they're most excited. You know, they just wrote a check for $5,000 or whatever the number is, and they're excited about their care. That's a fantastic time to ask them for a referral. I'm so excited that you're starting care. Who else do you know that we can help? Next, Amazon gift card giveaway. If this is legal, you gotta check your state, right? Some states don't allow for giveaways of any nature, right? But most states do, and I think it's usually around the $25 threshold. But check with your state. I'm not an attorney, so do your own due diligence. You're the business owner, okay? Don't rely on a video on YouTube of how to dictate the business policy in your practice. But here's what I'll tell you, what works is get a graphic designer to create a sign, put it on the front desk, frame it, and put it on high-traffic areas, and it says, we love referrals. For every patient you send in, we'll We give you a $25 Amazon gift card. Just super dead simple, easy way to generate more referrals. And then finally, number 3, host a referral event. Now, events are usually 1 to 4 weeks, so I would just do it over the course of a month. And examples are spouse challenge, bring a friend, accountability buddy, right? Now, spouse challenge, I think, is perfect for our You know, niches because usually, you know, they're in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and usually their staff or their spouse is coming in with them, you know, to get the evaluation because they care about them. But what happens is when one spouse has a, like, a really serious condition, the other spouse probably has something else going on too, but because this one is so serious, they're kind of taking a back seat. So what's really great is you just say, hey, I'm so happy that you're signing up for care. What about your wife? Does she have anything going on? 'Cause we have a thing called a spouse challenge going right on. She gets $500 off her care plan if there's something we can help her with. And we help with chronic back pain, knee pain, and foot pain. So, you know, is there something that we can help? Easy, easy peasy, right? And then it's like, boom, hey, $500 off. They're already in the buying mood. They're already excited. Let's go. Let's get Betty Sue going as well. All right? So that's 3 ways to get more referrals. Let's look at some action items here. So, I highly encourage you, don't just watch this video and be like, oh, that was good information, thanks Dr. Vince, and then go back to your sandwich or whatever. Take action, take massive and imperfect action, okay? Don't wait for the stars to align, just take action. Go buy some Amazon gift cards, right? Go on Fiverr and order a graphic designer, or have your staff go on Fiverr and order a graphic designer to create a sign for you. 10 signs and then get the frames, you know, order the frames on Amazon. Like, just take action. Like, do something with this information. Start today. Create a plan. Have a staff meeting to discuss it. Buy the gift cards. Make the signage. And again, just start immediately because if you don't do something now, you most likely won't. Okay, so for more information about what we do, we have a webinar on what specialized practice does, the niches we help. How we do it, everything. You can go to drvinceleone.com to find that out. If you feel like you're well qualified, usually well qualified is doctors that are making at least $20,000 a month, and they want to either add a niche to their practice or they already have like a laser or a decompression table and they just haven't seemed to be able to make it work for whatever reason, then, you know, set up a quick call with me and we'll talk about your practice, and you can do that at drvincecalendar.com. So, I hope this has been helpful for you. Again, take action. This is, this is kind of free money, right? This is a great way to improve your service and get more patients in your community into your office and increase revenue. So hope this helped. We'll see you on the next training. Take care.