Q:  What referral getting systems need to be in place?

That's actually a pretty complicated question. It's short but it's complicated and here's why... There are so many different things that add up to a referral in your office that there really is no one 'system'.

To answer what I believe you're asking,

Q: I'm a doctor who struggles to ask for referrals. What's the best way to overcome that?

First of all, know that you're not alone. Most doctors, if they're being honest with themselves, struggle to ask directly for something such as new business or money. Asking for referrals is no small task.

There are a lot of different strategies and a lot of different methods. I'm not going to go into those now. Your question was regarding what's the best way to overcome your struggle and that I can answer.

Q:  What is the best marketing you know of with the greatest return on investment?

I can speak from personal experience and by far, hands down, the best marketing in the world is marketing yourself and getting out into your community and giving talks.  Why do I say that?

For one thing it's relatively easy to do once you know

Q: What are your favorite external marketing ideas?

Much like internal, my favorite thing is to go out and speak. There are several reasons for that.

Q:  Should you adjust on the first visit or wait until the second and why?

I never recommend adjustments on the first visit - ever.

Of course there are exceptions to 'never' (strong word isn't it).  But even with the exception, you still don't adjust immediately after your exam.

Q:  What's your take on free consultations and what does that include? How do you transition them into an exam which there is a fee for?

Q:  Is it okay to mix adjusting hours with new patient hours? Can it be juggled without diminishing either one?

Mixing consultations, exams, and reports with patient adjusting hours can absolutely be done and many times can work very, very well. At the same time, lots of doctors prefer to have specific consultation times and specific adjusting times. They both have their pros and their cons.

Q:  How do I learn to read people better so I can understand how to communicate with them better?

Your ability to do 'read people' will determine the essence of your success. You have got to be able to read people and to transfer what you've learned from them into your communication. One of the best ways to do that is to

Q: Do cash practices provide a super-bill to those insurance patients that want it?

The answer is, "That depends." I did. I was real easy. Once every two weeks my staff would push a button, pop out all the super bills, and they'd attach them to the people's travel cards, and when they came in, they'd pick them up.

Like so many other areas of practice, the secret is