EveryBODY Hurts: An Interview with Joe Freeman of MedZone | Podcast Ep. 122

Hello and welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor. I AM your host, Dr. Jeff Langme. This week I am joined by Joe Freeman, CEO of MedZone and Joe and Medzone. I learned about them a few months back when I received a package at my doorstep. I opened it up and it had a variety of Medzone products, products inside, Pain Zone activity packs and much more. I tried the products out. I absolutely loved them and I knew I needed to learn more about Joe's story and about Med Zone, Pain Zone and much, much more. And that's exactly what we dive into on today's episode. Now, after Joe and I finished chatting, I wanted to go one step above and beyond for all the listeners of the Evidence Based Chiropractor podcast. And Joe agreed. So we actually put together two very similar packages to what I initially. They're valued at over 150 bucks. No purchase necessary. Head on over to the evidencebasedchiropractor.com MedZoneContest to enter your email address, we'll randomly pick two winners and send out a prize pack valued at over 150 bucks each. Again, that is the evidencebasedchiropractor.com MedZoneContest Drop your name in the hat and maybe you will be one of the lucky two to win an awesome package of goodies from medzone and the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Without further ado, here is myself and Joe Freeman.

But the other one that you come across, my desk was really when I was in the air and I noticed that you guys were doing some advertising not only for medzone but also for Chiropractic out on some of the major air carriers. So before we get there, I'll peel it back. Give me a little background on you in medzone for any of the docs that haven't met you yet in person at all the events you've been to.

Well, that's great. Thanks for having us on. I will tell you that I'm not surprised that a lot of people in the chiropractic community have met us yet, but we're excited to get that opportunity. MedZone has been around since 2001. It was created by a certified athletic trainer who worked in professional sports. I acquired the company in 2015 and at that point it was primarily working with athletic trainers. I saw the opportunity because my kids are athletic. It's a sports medicine line. It just seemed like a natural field fit. I was trying to figure out what the next step in my life was after running a large corporation and I found this and it just fit because it's a complete line of products. And so when I look like, okay, this is a great opportunity. And initially, two years ago, it was hard to get in the chiropractic market to get people to listen to me. It's one of the things that there were some players in the marketplace that had good, solid foundations and people really weren't interested in talking. But you know what? You keep knocking on the doors. Keep knocking on the doors, and things happen in the marketplace. And we've had a great response. We've really only been publicizing ourselves to the chiropractic market since really about November of 15, or, I'm sorry, November of 17. And so we've been at some national trade shows. We've been doing some local trade shows, a lot of direct mail marketing. And one of the things we did, like you said in the airplane magazine, we're in a large, major airline. And my issue was that we had to be on the game page, because on an airline, you play games or you look for the drinks. And we wanted to be one of those two. So we were on the game page and we did it. And we tried to promote the chiropractic community because we think our product line works very well with the chiropractic community. We are only allowing our products to be in the chiropractic community. Our Pain Zone product, our topical analgesic. So we're really trying to build a niche market. And there we go. Yeah, I've got one, too. So I've got lots of them, but it's a topical analgesic, and we wanted people to know that it's going to be unique to them. We were at a major national retailer last year, and we had a purchase order originally to go national with our Pain Zone product, plus some others. And I stopped it. I paused it, because I said, you know, I need to see if we can make some strides in this chiropractic market, because it just seemed like there was a lot here, and I'm glad I did. The reception thus far in this market has been great. There's just a ton of nice people. There's some incredibly brilliant, smart, intelligent people, and they're looking for options. And I tell people, when you learn about our product line, we want to be an addition to what you're carrying. You don't have to replace something that you already have. I get it, but it's kind of like Coke and Diet Coke, or my friends say we go to the pub and what's on tap, you have multiple beers on tap. That's what we want to be.

I love that. And regarding that product line, one of the things that I know you and I have talked about was, you know, when I opened that, you know, that's that sample kit that I got in the mail that I was very happy to receive. You know, even before I use the product, I noticed, hey, there's like, there's some depth to this line. I know. You know, the Pain Zone product is absolutely flagship. It's what you guys are really focused on. And it's one that resonates, I think, with all, you know, healthcare practitioners, specifically chiropractors. But for the more athletically minded practices, crossfitters, Runners, Sports Med, which is just a huge boost niche within the chiropractic world. I noticed specifically the Activity Pack and some of the other products and service offerings that you guys kind of had that I thought were unique and interesting that I really hadn't seen from a professional level line before. So for anybody that's not familiar, elaborate a little bit on some of the other products outside of Pain Zone, what some of the goals and ambitions were and how docs might be able to use them with their patients.

You bet. So we go by the model. Prevent, treat and manage. And so here's our activity Pack. It's a combo kit. It's got travel size of all of our products. And so you start out, if you think about, you know, we'll just take a basketball player as an example. So gets a new pair of shoes before basketball season. Well, we have a blister prevention stick called Blister Zone. Put it on your feet, put your socks on, put your basketball shoes on and go play. It helps prevent friction that causes a blister. We have a chafing prevention product. So basketball players, muscular guy, big guy, sometimes can get chafed on the inside of his legs up around his jersey. So you put it directly on the skin and it helps prevent chafing. So a lot of runners, cyclists, swimmers, CrossFit. We have our Pain Zone product, which is the topical analgesic. You get sore muscles, aches, pains, that kind of thing. And then we have a Burn Zone product, which is a minor first aid cream. So wood burn, turf burn, insect bite, anything that causes an itch, it's got 1% lidocaine in it. So it helps take the sting out. And so one of the things that makes us unique is that we have this product line. We also carry a wound wash, a sterile saline wash, but it's not just for athletes. And that's what the company has migrated to over the last, really, four or five months, is that we've got. There are a lot of patients of chiropractors who run a 5K, who are bigger people and get chafed, who wear high heels or running shoes and get. Or work shoes, industrial boots that get blisters on their feet. We have one customer that's a wine bottle making plant, and they're glassblowers. Well, they buy the Chase Zone for their customer, for their employees, because it's 120 degrees in there, and they get chafed and they look at that as a preventative tool. So when we. One of the surprises that we've had, we were at a big convention in Las Vegas a few months ago, and everybody picked up the pain zone and said, hey, that's great. I get it. You know, there's a bunch of others out there. Tell me why you're different. But we had just as much interest and people who picked up our Chase Zone product and said, tell me about that. I do have runners, swimmers, cyclists, CrossFit, basketball, football, soccer players. And so it's been a very nice welcome entree into this market niche. And we're going all out. We think this is something where we can provide value to the inpatient as well as to the chiropractor itself.

Cool. Are you sure that they just weren't walking the casino floor, James? I'm walking the casino floor. I need that.

It's a customer. If I can help them. You know, it's. I did have a large. I had an executive from a large distributor who came up to me. One thing about chafing is a lot of people are afraid to talk about it. But this, this gentleman came up to me and he goes, hey, I'm getting on a plane. Can you help me out? He goes, I'm. I'm really chafed. Like, yeah, absolutely. Use this. Sent me a note over the weekend. He goes, it was a blessing. It was a godsend. And that's the kind of response that we're getting from folks. And now we just have to get it out to more folks. So it could be casino floor, or it can be triathlon. Whatever we got, I love it.

And. And that really brings me to something that you and I have jammed down on the side a little bit. But I think it's important for chiropractors to know is, you know, I know everybody out there, including myself. Right. Most chiropractors have sold some product, had some product offering in their. In Their practice. Right. And, you know, for certain, for certain docs, it's been absolutely a godsend, not only in revenue generation, happy patients, everything that comes with having a great product for others. I know. You know, I spoke to a doc not too long ago, probably in the last weeks, you know, maybe had pillows, right. And he was like, they're dusty. Like, I couldn't, you know, and they just couldn't get over the hump of putting the pieces together on how to use it clinically. But make it a revenue generator without feeling cheesy or scammy in the process. And I know that that's near and dear to your heart and really where I know you've already started. But there's a lot more to go in terms of also showcasing the chiropractors. How can you, ethically and in a good way that makes you feel good, utilize the products as a revenue generator in your practice? So tell a little bit more about the educational initiative. And I know that you have a little bit of marketing and sales background. I think that just brings so much to the table because chiropractors are so underserved on that skill set. So elaborate a little bit on that.

You bet. Well, I would say first and foremost that we position our company as a complement to chiropractic care. There's no way we would ever say it's anything other than a compliment. I think it's important for the docs and the offices to be able to use the product that it works. And whether that's a pillow or a supplement, you know, I go into doc's offices and there's one that'll have, you know, six tubes of an analgesic in it. And then there's others that'll have 50 different SKUs of supplements and stuff like that. And I think that's depending on the doc and the practice. What we've tried to do is that a doctor's role is to help make patients feel better. I think we're a leg to that stool. So one of the things that we've rolled out is a program we're calling MedZone Minute. And so we're giving short minute, minute and a half videos about objections people have questions people have, how to sell it, how to offer it to people. Because we know the doc may know that, but what happened is the people at the front desk who are talking to the patient on their way out don't. And we know that's not the doc's first priority. So what we're trying to do is position our company in a way that we can help them be educated. Because I think an educated professional can explain the benefits of the product and then the patient will make the choice. It's not that you're, you know, you're pushing a product on it. We don't want that anyway. We have a lot of testimonials out there, and one of my absolute requirements of that is if someone's going to give us a testimonial or someone's going to do a blog for us or do a video for us, they have to truly have used the product. We want people to have very genuine and articulate feedback that they give to us. Because in some aspects, they give us feedback I may not want to hear. I want this in a different container. I want this in a different strength. I had someone tell us the other day that our product was too good, it was too strong. And I go, well, I'm not necessarily going to fix that yet, but let's have a conversation. But I think it goes back to the doctor feeling good about the product they offer, and whether it's mine or something else, they've got to feel good about the product they offer. And they got to feel good that that product is complementing and contributing to that, to the industry. In my view, that's just a personal opinion, but, you know, it's something that's unique and then it's a education. Because if you're explaining the benefits, the product kind of, you know, it kind of sells itself. And if you use it in the, in the treatment room as a compliment, then it's. People are going, hey, I get this. We're lucky from the standpoint that if we get people to use our product, you know, we've got a 90% success rate of people liking the product. And yeah, we have people say we wanted a spray or a pump or a roll on or different sizes and stuff like that, but we have an overwhelming majority of people who really like the product. And so that's our goal, just to continue to get it out there, but to work with that doctor and complement what they're doing. Because if that doctor is happy and it's complementing their practice, then we've got a customer for life. We tell people we want to have a million evangelists. That's our vision. But we want people standing on the mountaintop saying, that's a really good company to work with. They've got great products, they have awesome customer service, and that's the kind of company that we want to work with.

Sweet And I think that just rolls right into, you know, kind of what we teased on at the top, which is for docs out there, that this is maybe the first time they're hearing about medzone, first time they're hearing about, first time hearing about the products. Where can people go to learn more? Where can they go to get some samples? I know you're out of, maybe not you personally, but you guys are doing post office visits every single day, getting samples out there. And exactly as you said to me is what you said the first time that I spoke to you months back when you sent the package was try it out, see if it resonates with you. We just want the opportunity to showcase what we're up to and then have a conversation about it, which I applaud and I think is just a fantastic way to go about things. So for all the docs listening or watching that are interested in learning more or getting some ship to their door to give it a whirl, where can they learn more?

You know, we always tell people, just give us a chance, you know, let us be one of the products that you offer. And I think everybody will be happy. The easiest way to find out. So we've set up a professional only landing page that will give some information. You can go to iMedzone, the letter I m e-z o n e.com and you'll see some videos on there of the company, you'll see the product, you'll see testimonial videos. We were at Parker. We had a great response at Parker. We had people who were coming up to us on Wednesday, getting the samples, coming back to us on Friday, saying, this is the best stuff ever. I want it for my office. And that was very pleasing to us. But if you go to www.imedzone.com, you can sign up for samples, you can sign up for a wholesaler account. You can learn how you might want or how you might sell the products. All the products in your office. You can see the testimonials about it. Because I tell people if you try it and don't take just my word for it, then the product sells itself. Because like you, Jeff, when I sent you stuff, you had some skepticism up front. You know, hey, I want to make sure this works. I'm not putting my name or brand on this. And that's what we tell people. This year we're going to be at the U.S. open golf tournament. We're going to be in the wellness tent. We've had some great success with some local and national doctors, but it's just beginning. And so what we're saying is, just give us a chance. Go to imedzone.com get your samples, ask questions, see what others are saying, and see if it fits with your practice. It may not, but we're hopeful and we're pretty convinced that it can definitely be a piece of what these professionals are offering to their patients.

Awesome. Well, you guys are doing a great job so far. Imedzone.com, be sure to check it out. Thanks, Joe.

Thanks Jeff. Have a great week. We appreciate you joining us for this episode of the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Learn more tips for explosive practice development@the.

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