Often times after a great talk we as doctors have a tough time asking these people to “come on in and check it out.”
The biggies I hear are:
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“I don’t want to feel like or be perceived as a salesman.” Then DON’T!!! Don’t try to “close the sale,” simply offer to open a relationship.
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“I don’t feel right asking people to come see me…after all I’m a doctor.” Expand your definition of “doctor.” Remember doctor means teacher, teach these people that there is another way; we are not promoting the biomedical dis-ease care model. We are offering a completely different model of wellness care to these people. So offer it!!!
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“I don’t want to do a bait and switch” Then DON’T. Be very clear in your intent and purpose and mission throughout the talk, part of which is “I am here to offer another way…”
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“I don’t want to use any of those high pressure techniques; it’s just not my style.” Don’t worry; it is not mine either and this is a completely low pressure easy to stomach way of doing it.
Tip’s
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Remember that we are not trying to close a sale…we are trying to open a relationship.
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There are three types of people out there, those that know they want to see you, those that know they don’t want to see you and those folks in the gray area.
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These are the folks we’re really gearing this towards, and since they are at he talk, they are probably either people who know they want to see you or are in the gray area.
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Forget the folks who know they don’t want to see you, yes the strong arm fear tactics can work to get them in the door but 99% of the time they are a royal pain in the ass, they take up a lot of time and energy, get you out of the flow and don’t follow through.
So let’s forget the strong arm fear tactics…there don’t you feel better already?
Really all we tried to accomplish at the talk was to let others know some of what we know.
Most of us feel that if these gray area people really knew what we know they’d be breaking down the doors to get in to see us.
So, all we have to do now is let them know that “maybe I can help” and give them an offer or opportunity to come and open a relationship with you.
It really is that simple…
Speak from the heart, let them know your mission here on planet earth, let them know that you are one of the best in your field and help them to value this wonderful offer.
Try to touch on their values and what might motivate them to come see you.
Make sure you have an emotional close. I heard a story about two great Greek orators.
When the first one was done speaking the crowd went on and on about what a great speaker he was. When the second orator got done speaking the crowd said “let’s march.”
The point is don’t just be an entertaining speaker, touch them from your heart to theirs and move them into action.
Speak to their values… here is an example:
I like to start the talk off saying, “My intent tonight is to let you know, this is what I do, and this is not what I do. (I stand to one side when I say this is what I do, and then I move a few feet off to the other side when I say, and this is not what I do.)
By the end of tonight my wish is that you absolutely get that yes, this is what you want to do, or no, this is not what you want to do.
If the answer is no, then all you wasted was an hour of your time and you didn’t waste any money.
On the other hand, if you do get that this is what you want to do; my wish is that you absolutely jump in with both feet. My experience with patients is they either dip their toe in the water to test the waters, saying, “Well I’ll give this a try, I’ll do some of what Dr. Rosen says to do and follow some of his recommendations; or they jump in with both feet. They say, “I am absolutely ready for change. I want to regain my health and I will do whatever it takes to get the desired results. I absolutely get what Dr. Rosen is saying and I am ready to go for it.
For those of you who are already under my care my wish for you is that you recommit to your health and to this process.
I realize that this is an old clich?, but, there is no question in my mind that the most important thing in our lives is our health; until you have lost it you don’t realize this. But I can tell you from personal experience there is truly nothing more important than my health. By a show of hands can anyone relate to what I am saying?
Great, most of you are here tonight because you have some health issues that you would like to get better and stay better. I will be discussing my version of the causes of health and healing, and the causes of dis-ease. I will be discussing some things you have heard before and some things you not have. Most likely I will say some things that you disagree with and some things I say might even feel confrontational to you.
My request is that you listen with an open mind and an open heart. When you leave tonight you are welcome to accept my concepts as part of your belief system, or simply let them go. The point is, we all know the definition of insanity; “to do the same thing and expect a different response.” If you would like to get better, regain and maintain your health, then most likely you will need to do things different than you have done in the past. And sometimes it takes rocket thrusters to break out of our old patterns and regain our health.
So my wish for you is if by the end of tonight you do decided to work with me that you absolutely get that this is for you. And you commit 100% to do whatever it takes to not only regain your health, but maintain that new level of health.
Does that sound fair to you? O.k., let’s get started.
For the meat of the talk it is recommended to use the Problem, Reaction, Solution, Call to Arms approach. I will be happy to help you fine tune and tailor make this part of the talk during our coaching sessions.
You’ve just finished a wonderful talk and gave an emotional close (a moving story about one of your patients etc.) This is the Close.
Now we give an offer to open a relationship, not try to close a sale.
How do you give an offer to these people to come in and see you for their first visit?
I like to use metaphors whenever possible. If you use a thermograph/electromyography, or at least do touch, tell, ask and teach, you might say something like, “Let me ask you a question. Which comes first heart dis-ease or a heart attack? That’s right the heart disease is there before the heart attack. Which do you think comes first the subluxation or less than optimal health, (symptoms etc.)? That’s right the subluxation comes first.
You were able to see on the before and after electromyography and thermographs that we not only were able to pick up the problems the patient came in with, but we were able to pick up their digestive problems and other areas of concern as well. So let me ask you, when do you think it is the best time for you to get checked for subluxations, or for your spouse, or children, or friends and loved ones? Should you all wait until you have symptoms or should you come into the office and let me run this test on you and get my hands on your spine to see if you have subluxations now or wait until you have symptoms? That’s right, why wait? Get checked now! Of course if you or your loved ones already have symptoms, well it is absolutely time to get checked now!
For the people who have never seen you before this is one of a million possibilities:
“I want to thank each of you for being here tonight, I know we all have other places we could be. If this talk made sense to you and you would like to come in and meet with me to see if you have subluxations and I may be able to help you, I have a special offer for you. Just for sitting through the class tonight you can come into the office and get a full examination where we will discuss your health concerns, do a full examination including…… and a follow up visit where I will report my findings to you. This evaluation normally costs X $$$$ but because you were here tonight it will only be Y $$$$$$.
There are no other hidden costs; if after that you and I decide to work together we will discuss the fees for your program of care at that time. If we choose not to work together, bless your heart, and there are no other fees.
And here’s my promise to you, I will help you back on the road to health, and as you heal you will find many more benefits than just having your pain go away. As we discussed earlier, as people heal they get there life back, they get more energy, they find renewed purpose so they can fully express their greatness and fulfill there mission in life and truly be all they can be. And my promise to you is if I don’t see the types of changes I expect to see within a reasonable time, I’m going to do everything in my power to get you to someone else who can help you. Because the only important thing is that you get healthy in the fastest way possible.
So if you would like to take this opportunity to meet with me you can set a time right now, after tonight you’ll pay X $$$$$ just like everyone else.
For those people who are new patients of yours that have already met with you for the first visit, you can do something like this:
For those of you who have already started care with me, just for sitting through this class I am giving you this coupon for Y $$$$ off your first re-evaluation. It is my gift to you, the fact is I find that the people who take the time to come to this class really go for it, make better patients and get better much faster which is a whole lot more fun for me.
I’d also like to give all of you another opportunity tonight. How many of you after hearing this talk tonight have people in your mind who you wish knew about this information? How many of you know people who are sick or hurting or you just care enough about them that you wish they could come in and meet with me to get their spines checked for subluxations?
If you saw a person drowning in a pool and there was a life saver nearby would you throw it to them? Yes of course you would. Lot’s of our friends, family and coworkers are drowning out there. Their health is plummeting, they are on the dead end track of taking pills for all of their ills and they are going to become a statistic.
I am asking you to please just let these people know that help is available and there is another way. I have three coupons for each of you to give to the people you know who may be in need. These coupons are for X% off the initial evaluation with me.
Please let them know that there is another way. If they are resistant let them know that I would be happy to give them a call and give them a free consultation over the phone. I promise I will not pressure them; I will just answer any questions they have and help them see if this may be a possible answer for them.
So by a show of hands how many of you here tonight know people who need to hear about this? Would you please let them know?
Thank you so much for being here tonight. We do this talk every Wed night so please let your friends and families know that there is another way.”
If you review that information you will see that we “spoke to” all six of the values, theoretical, utilitarian, aesthetic, social, independent, and traditional. (Consider taking my P.I.A.V. Values course.)
Again there are lots of different ways of doing it. This is one of the least confrontational most effective ways I know.
You can do the routine where you ask each of them to grab the paper and pen under their chair and write down the names of three people with their phone numbers and you will call them. Although I have successfully done this one, it always felt a bit too high pressure salesman for me.
There are as many ways to make the “offer” as there are people.
The important thing is that you speak from your heart to their heart in a way that they can hear it…the rest is in Gods hands.
Take as much time to practice your opening and your “close” as you do with the rest of the talk. Let me help you personalize and fine tune both of these important aspects of your talk. Depending on your behavioral style and values there are different approaches that will serve you better than others.
Good luck!
Russ Rosen, D.C. – Feb 07, 2003
