At Rosen Coaching, we speak with chiropractors around the world, day in and day out, about how to improve their communication so that people ‘get’ the chiropractic message.  Initially this concept arose out of a conversation with one of my doctors who was working on the ‘Whole Story‘, one of the most powerful parts of our visit 1 and visit 2. But it’s become a theme as of late and I’ve distilled three important pillars of communication that I’d like to share with you.  They are, what I have been calling, the 3 C’s of communication:

1. Clear

2. Concise

3. Concrete

None of this is going to appear like rocket science, but it’s important to look at each one closely and realize the bigness of small things.

If we are going to convey or transmit communication, it is essential that it is clear. We need to be 100% clear on what we are trying to accomplish, what we want to say, and be sure we articulate it with clarity. No fair having a communication subluxation when you’re trying to transmit your message!

Next we need to be sure it is concise.  If a Ph.D in biochemistry was trying to explain a concept to you, it is important that he doesn’t go into a 30 minute monologue about many different aspects of biochem. It is essential that he  keep it not only clear (so that you can follow), but also concise (so that your brain does not go into overwhelm).  Many chiropractors, when I ask them to tell me what they can offer, they give me a 30 minute lay lecture, sidetracking with research, vaccinations, health care stats etc.  We need to keep it concise, especially if we are going to ask them to repeat back to you what they understand so far!  Set them up to succeed, not to fail.

Lastly, but not least importantly, is making our communication concrete.  This means making it real for people! It is not to your benefit to use big latin words and appear ’smart’ to the patient, at the expense of  not being able to articulate or understand what you are talking about.  It is to your benefit to use concrete examples and real world analogies, so that they can understand and share their new understanding with others. Chiropractic itself is an abstract concept, so let’s help them understand a paradigm shift by integrating new concepts within their current framework of how the world works.  For example, a great analogy to describe a subluxation is ’static on a cell phone’.  Everyone has experienced this, or could at least imagine it.  So I challenge you to use real, concrete analogies at every step of your communications.

If you have any questions about the 3 C’s of communication, please comment below or join our global community on Facebook where we are happy to answer any and all of your questions!

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Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Success, communication, Leadership, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, rosen coaching

Both Dr. Rosen and I have both run highly successful vitalistic family wellness practices and sat in the coach’s box helping others to do the same.  At Rosen Coaching, we are so thrilled to be helping other chiropractors around the world looking to THRIVE in a Care vs. Scare True Wellness Model!

Speaking with chiropractors day in and out, whether for one-on-one coaching, group coaching or consults with those looking for guidance, I wanted to share a perspective from the Chiropractic Coach’s Box that may help you with the challenges you face in your personal life or your practice.

Sometimes our job is to help our clients see a Wide Angle perspective.  Perhaps they are stuck on a detail or issue and can’t see the big picture. So we ask questions to help them pull back and see the ‘forest for the trees’.  For example, if a chiropractor is having trouble with their Chiropractic Assistant doing recalls, there could be an underlying cause that we can’t see until we use the Wide Angle lens.  It could be that we’re not setting clear expectations with the patient on the Report of Findings about keeping appointments, leading them to miss and the recalls are just the symptom of this fact. But without the pulling back to get a wide angle view, we could never see this as a possible solution.

And sometimes we need to zoom in, using a telephoto lens, to really clarify what is going on, and what we are trying to accomplish.  Often times we will hear someone breeze over something that is very important and could be the major piece that is holding them back.  From the coaches box we zoom in and look at the underlying cause or details of the situation.  For example, a chiropractor may have a low sign up rate or see poor follow through with their care recommendations, and we need to zoom in on a need to be liked that is holding them back from speaking their truth.

Your ability to adapt as a chiropractor to different challenges, situations, questions and conversations with your staff or your patients is part of what will make you a masterful communicator.  You adaptability is based on sitting in a ‘coaches box’ as well, and listening for whether you need to help someone gain perspective or whether you need to help someone zoom in on the details and underlying cause. Each perspective is very different and often looks entirely different than the one we were in.

We want to help you be a wellness coach to your practice!  We want you to lead your team so they truly become a Dream Team!  We want to help you communicate in a congruent Care vs. Scare model to have the practice success you desire.

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Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, perspective, rosen coaching, telephoto, wide angle, zoom

Can a famous rock star perform the best show to his fans without the support of his road crew and managers?  Imagine if a rock star had to lug and set up his own equipment, do all the sound checks and then expected to perform at a high level and give his fans 100% of his creativity, music and performance.  Seems unrealistic, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s what most chiropractors do!  As a chiropractic coach I see it day in and day out.  They do all the details of running the office, cleaning it, micromanaging their team and then wonder why their practice isn’t at the level they’d like it to be! Like it or not, as a chiropractor you have to have a strong team to support you, ones you can rely on to do everything that isn’t what only you can do: serve people through the chiropractic adjustment.  We need roadies (our team) to have all the details handled, AND we need to trust that they will!

Many chiropractors I speak with don’t have any structured team training or team management, past the initial hiring.  We need to be creating an environment, AND leading by example, of always refining and striving to be better at every interaction with a patient.  Ongoing training and continuous learning is the key to having a Dream Team you can rely on.  Next is outlining performance expectations and creating weekly action plans to take performance to the next level and reviewed at a weekly staff meeting.

Lastly, ask yourself, “Do I really want a Dream Team”?  If so, we need to understand our team’s behavioral style and values and motivate them in an appropriate way!  Bonuses and rewards are key to having a team be on board to growing a practice.  Why?  Well, let me ask you…”Would you want to work twice as hard for the same pay”?

It’s time to get the right people in place, to get them well trained, to get them motivated to serve more people in your community.  We want your team to help you grow your practice so that you can really have a Dream Team and serve the masses. You are the rock star, they are the roadies.  I would argue that the roadies are more important than the rock star in the grand scheme of things, and it’s important that they know this!

At Rosen Coaching we are dedicated to chiropractors leading true health care and the wellness revolution.  If you want to THRIVE in a TRUE Wellness Practice, we’d love to see if we can help!

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Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Dream Team, Health Care, Rock Stars, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, Success, Team Management, Training, True Wellness Practice

As Valentine’s Day has just passed, many of our clients did Valentine’s internal referral promotions where they ask their clients, “What Do You LOVE About Chiropractic”? and gave them an opportunity to refer family and friends.

Coaching chiropractors and interviewing many who are struggling, I have seen that there is a huge portion of our profession who are burnt out, unmotivated and off purpose.

So I am asking you to contemplate what you LOVE about being a chiropractor? Please post it as a comment to this blog and let’s help clarify our purpose of why we do what we do.  Without this purpose, it is easy to be drained and burnt out with the ins and outs of running a practice and hard to stay motivated to do so.

At Rosen Coaching we want you to LOVE what you do! If you find yourself a little off purpose, a little unmotivated or a little out of love with being a chiropractor, we’d love to offer you a FREE 30 minute consult to see if we can help!

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Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, chiropractor, Leadership, Love, Passion, Purpose, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, Success, Valentine's Day

What are you going to do to ensure that 2010 is your best year yet, for your practice and your life?

As 2010 is in full swing, Dr. Rosen and I have been working with our coaching clients to clarify goals for the year and put together a powerful action plan to achieve them.

First things first, a goal is something you WANT.  If it comes from a place of lack, or is to avoid something you DON’T WANT then you need to do some KST, NET, EFT and get coaching to set a clean goal.

Secondly, ask yourself WHY you want it? What’s in it for you? What will be the driving force and motivation to doing what it takes to achieve it?  What’s in it for your community?

Next you need to ask yourself is it possible to achieve the goal?  Do you buy it? Is everyone on board?  If not, spend some time reorganizing your capacity blockages and working on your head space issues and level of certainty.

Then ask yourself what you will continue doing, that is working well, to achieve your goal?

Then ask yourself what you are willing to do differently to make the goal a reality? This usually means you either have to make space, or fill it!  Using our Rosen Coaching Systems, we will help you with your LAASR Communication, Marketing, Dream Team or personal life balance. If you need some help, use this worksheet to put together your action plan of how to accomplish your goal!

Fourthly, you need to take consistent action on the ONE thing that will have the biggest impact this week of moving you towards your goal.  Get accountability from your team, your coach, a friend or colleague.  Report to them each week on your progress, wins, challenges, and what you’ve learned and accomplished.

Lastly, need help creating balance in your life to manage yourself at the office and at home to get it all done? Find out how to create the perfect life and how to achieve your goals!

We at Rosen Chiropractic Coaching would love to help you make 2010 your best year yet! If you want to THRIVE in a Care vs. Scare TRUE Wellness Model, give us a call for a Free Consultation to see if we can help. No pressure, no obligations.

As a gift to you, please keep an eye out for a 35 minute audio file on this topic coming soon!  Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get the FREE gift, click here to subscribe!

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Tags: 2010, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, Goals, New Year

So the New Year is upon us!  We have a reflective perspective of last year and what we accomplished or didn’t. And we have a vision, hope and goals of what we want 2010 to be like.

Have you taken the time to do an inventory of your life? Where in your life are you incongruent or not performing and leading how you’d like to? Paraphrasing Dr. Patrick Gentempo, the level of incongruency leads to a proportionate level of destruction. As chiropractic coaches, we at Rosen Coaching help chiropractors reach new levels of success in all areas of their lives, including how to thrive in a true wellness model.

I speak to chiropractors day in and day out. And I truly feel it is time that our profession stand up and lead by example.  Are you the epitome of health, energy and vitality?  Is your diet full of rich, whole foods? Do you exercise daily? Do you live a healthy, vitalistic chiropractic lifestyle?  If you don’t, it’s time. And don’t try and hide it - take a stand to share with your office the lifestyle changes you are making. The time is now to create excellence in YOUR health. And ask them to join you.  If you do, good for you! Set some new goals and ways you can push your healthy lifestyle to the next level.

Excellence, leadership and health are not created by chance, but by choice: Every day and in every moment.  Choose to be a true leader in your community who leads by example. Actions are so much more powerful than words covering incongruence.  Be the change you want to see.  This is your year to lead your community to health and wellness!

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Tags: Certainty, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, chiropractic profession, Congruency, Goals, Health, Leadership, rosen coaching, Success, Wellness Chiropractic

Here is a post from one of my heros, Seth Godin, an author, marketer and thought-leader, on the lifetime value of a customer.  Too often when we’re coaching chiropractors or when chiropractors are considering coaching, marketing or any other ‘cost’ to growing a practice it is seen as just that - a cost vs. an investment.

At year end, have a look at your retention (Patient Visit Average) for the year of 2009.  We consider 60 PVA a bare minimum for a wellness practice.  Then calculate how much a new person is worth to you.  Not because we see people as dollar signs, but so that you can make good decisions on investments to grow your practice.  If a new person is worth on average $2000, don’t you think it’s important to have your systems and communications wired so you don’t blow it when they come in?  How about ROI and marketing decisions?  Without this knowledge, as Seth Godin states below, $50 investment can seem expensive.

Enjoy the read!

Embracing lifetime value

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Tags: chiropractic, Chiropractic Coach, chiropractic communication, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, chiropractic systems, Chiropractic Wellness Model, Lifetime Value, PVA, Retention, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, rosen coaching, Seth Godin

Whether or not you think you have a philosophy, you do. Even choosing to not have a philosophy is a philosophy! Chiropractic philosophy is one of vitalism and deductive reasoning.

The problem is, over the past 114 years we have fallen into the trap of looking to the mechanistic, allopathic model of science to validate what we know to be true. And it doesn’t work. It’s like trying to get insurance companies to pay for wellness care – it’s just not their model. But the funny part is, science and philosophy are not separate. Even scientists have a philosophy! Dr. Eric Russell, professor at Parker Chiropractic College gave a great four-hour lecture at Life Lyceum 2009 on Science vs. Philosophy. And the conclusion is, we need both…but in balance. Not the idea that science reigns supreme over everything else. That philosophy is the starting point of everything, even the god-like institution of science. (Have you ever wondered what a Ph.D stands for? Doctor of Philosophy in whatever the chosen field of expertise!)

So what is your philosophy? How grounded are you in the vitalistic philosophy that formed this profession? Why do you do what you do?

Mechanism vs. Vitalism: What is chiropractic’s philosophy?

Mechanism as a Philosophy, is defined as:

a. the view that all natural processes are explicable in terms of Newtonian mechanics.

b. the view that all biological processes may be described in physicochemical terms.

Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary,[1] is

a. the doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions

b. the doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self-determining

The great news is, science is starting to have research that is actually illustrating our vitalistic philosophy! I was so inspired listening to Bruce Liption, Ph.D speak about the vitalistic nature of cells, and their ability to survive even when the nucleous is removed. How is that possible if we are only the sum of our parts and the DNA is the “brain” of a cell? Hmmm, guess there is more to it!

I’ve been honoured to be involved with Tedd Koren and speaking at Koren Specific Technique seminars. KST is one of the great vitalistic techniques out there.  The time is now chiropractors to have a look at your philosophy and get clear on what you are trying to accomplish with your care. If there is any incongruence, it will inevitably lead to destruction.

If you are stuck practicing in a pain-based model, treating the body as if it was a machine instead of recognizing the vitalistic self-healing and self-regulating laws of the body and you want more out of practice… the time is now! People want vitalism and wellness care and it is time that our profession became the recognized leaders of this movement! Who wants to join us?  We are vitalistic chiropractic coaches who can help you THRIVE in a TRUE Wellness Model!

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Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Philosophy, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Science, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Eric Russell, Dr. Tedd Koren, Koren Specific Technique, KST, Life Lyceum, mechanism, Pain-based chiropractic, vitalism, Wellness Chiropractic

September 18th, 2009 is chiropractic’s 114th birthday!  On that day, Daniel David Palmer made the connection between the spine, nervous system and overall health and well-being. And the trusting deaf  cleaner Harvey Lillard allowed DD to adjust him, which resulted in his hearing being restored.

We’ve come a long way since then: chiropractic is a household name, from the original Palmer Chiropractic schools there are now dozens around the world including Australia, New Zealand, U.K and most recently Barcelona Spain! We’ve done a great job getting our name out there.

But where we’ve failed miserably in chiropractic is letting the public know what we do. I dare you to go outside your practice and ask 100 people what chiropractic is. What would they say? Neck pain? Back pain? Check out this video of someone who braved the streets and dared to ask:

What about inside your practice?  If Dr. Rosen and I sat in your reception area and asked the next 100 people who came in, “What are you hear for?  What is chiropractic?” What would they say?  If you don’t like the answers you are hearing, it means they don’t get the whole story.  You might be educating them, but they way you are educating them isn’t working. If they can’t articulate the whole story themselves, we’re in trouble. Our practice and our profession.

We feel there is a communication crisis in that the public does not know what we do. And our profession is stuck at a minimal percentage of the population utilizing our services. And the ones who do don’t really know that we are health and wellness doctors. They think we ‘crack bones’ to help back pain.

So what can you do to celebrate chiropractic’s birthday? How about commit to yourself to clearly define your Certainty as a chiropractor?  How about learning how to communicate the simple chiropractic truths in a way that people ‘get it’ and stay, pay and refer?  It is time for chiropractors to become the leaders of TRUE healthcare.  If you’re interested, we can help!  We are committed to helping the profession grow to lead the wellness revolution and transform the way the public perceives chiropractic care. We want you to THRIVE in a TRUE wellness model!

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Tags: chiropractic, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, chiropractic profession, chiropractor, communication, Leadership, Wellness Chiropractic, wellness re

One of my main sources of inspiration on leadership is author, blogger and marketer Seth Godin.  I feel his ideas on change and leadership are not only timely, but very relevant to the chiropractic profession.

I do not believe our profession has an identity crisis. As a chiropractic coach, consultant and speaker in our profession, when I survey the crowd we mostly all agree on what we do and what we are trying to accomplish. What tangles us up is the ‘how’ we do it.  We know who we are, but the rest of the world does not know what we do. We don’t have an identity crisis but a communication crisis! How do I know? For the last 100 years, although the profession has grown, we have not reached our Tipping Point. Still a measly 10% of the population in North America sees a chiropractor regularly. If we didn’t have a communication crisis, most people would know what we do! But they think we’re back doctors…

In Seth Godin’s recent talk at TED, he dives into concepts that are essential for chiropractors to embody if we are going to have a health care revolution and change the world!  We no longer can persuade and push people into our care using Scare Tactics. Rosen’s Care vs. Scare approach is the cutting edge of communication and leadership for chiropractic practice management.

Are you challenging the status quo?  We need to lead people, be a heretic and do the opposite of what ‘everybody’ else does and what ‘everybody’ else knows. Why do you want to be just like ‘them’ anyway? Trying to appease and belong to the status quo is what has damaged our profession in the first place.  If you are not stepping up in your community, speaking your truth and sharing the story, we need to address your mission, vision, values and Certainty. This is the first step in becoming a true leader in your community.

Are you creating a culture and connecting a tribe of people? If they are in your office, they want to be lead. What is the culture you’ve created? At my office, we had a culture statement about what we stood for. And then we created a tribe of people who wanted what we were about!

They key to building strong tribes is two-way communication. Have curiosity about the people in your tribe, help them share and connect their stories to spread the word. Ask questions of your tribe. At Rosen Coaching, our entire communication model is centered around asking questions! Long gone is the ‘I’m the doctor, you’re the patient’ approach. We are human beings first and doctors second. Let us help you connect and communicate in a way that is consistently building relationships with your tribe.

What do most people want? They want to be heard. They want to feel important. They want to be missed. Make them a part of something. Make them a part of our movement to change the world with chiropractic wellness care. Our philosophy of living is one that needs to be heard - the health of the world depends on it.

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Tags: care tactics, Care vs. Scare, Certainty, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, communication, Culture, Leadership, Seth Godin, Status Quo, TED, Tipping Point, transform, Tribe