I’d like to begin today with a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have been so welcoming to the new members in recent weeks. On one occasion, one of the regular members sat down with a potential new member who was afraid of the open room and completely put her at ease. I’ve also noticed how some are beginning to engage the new members in conversation, especially when I am adjusting folks and can’t get to greeting them right away. The feel of the “office” is beginning to shape into that “living room” feeling we are going for. YOU GUYS AND GALS ROCK!!
So our last couple of posts had to do with me opening up and talking about things I’m holding back on. So the second has to do with my communication.
I’m actually a bit surprised because it was recently discussed that some of our own CT Chiros “script” their communication to their patients. They say the same thing at every first visit, a same fact at all visit twos, a same question at all visit threes, so on and so forth for up to 25 visits. Some actually have a cheat sheet that they use so they can remember to keep it all straight. And these are seasoned DC’s.
Our communication style is much more subtle and quiet. We do our best to relate our education and communication to what it happens to be that we are talking about in the moment.
For example, If I’m talking about a baseball game, I might say, “yeah that fall Jeter took last night, not only broke his ankle, but it subluxated him also.”
Or, if someone asks me about taking a medication, I may say, “well, yes, it may relieve your pain, but it also has the effect of interfering with your nerve system.”
Or, when someone starts pointing to where it hurts, I’ll ask, “I can see you are subluxated in that area, would you like me to adjust it?” YES. “If I find a subluxation in your neck where it doesn’t hurt, would you like me to adjust that one also?” Sometimes, when this one occurs, I say, “tell me about your ankle.” But doc, my ankle doesn’t hurt. To which I reply, “exactly.”
Now the part I am going to work on this year is educational communication surrounding themes. Each month we’ll have a different theme. January was children. We placed a quote on the white board and talked about different aspects of pre-natal, infant, and pediatric chiropractic care. Hopefully i’ve spoken to you about one of those elements. The best part is this is awesome, inspiring information that if more parents knew about, they would absolutely be bringing their kids into a Chiropractor, thus have healthier kids, thus seeing the MD less.
And here’s my disclosure… Sometime, I feel like such a broken record, saying the same thing over and over again, that I stop talking all together.
That means some folks slip through the cracks and don’t hear anything at all.
I have to do better in February!
