Many people are excited about the Ask vs. Tell, socratic questions of our Rosen Coaching Communications! We’ve just finished our Wellness Practice Blueprint program and people around the world are implementing and changing their communication and having massive effects in their practices already!

As a chiropractic coach, when I listen to live recordings of patient interactions, or are talking down the concept of socratic questions with clients, I find a big piece of the puzzle is not JUST the skillful questions we are asking, but also the “tone” of voice or intention of the question.

From my perspective, the two opposing ways to approach a question are either: an intent of confrontation or an intent of clarification.

Our goal with our tone is not to be condescending but curious!  Our intent is to clarify, not be confrontational!  Truly our intent, our tone, our body language, our facial expressions all communicate a message to the person in front of us. We all know the same question, asked either way, can mean entirely different things!

I personally have heard chiropractors, who are thinking they are doing a good thing by asking questions, speaking down to people, asking rhetorical questions, and making the entire interaction awkward. I have also heard very skillful communicators ask questions to clarify what’s really going on, in a conversationally curious way to have successful interactions and build long term relationships.

If you would like to learn more about how to ask socratic questions in a way that builds relationships over time (as opposed to ruining them) we’d love to send you a free training module called our LAASR Orientation!  Please go to our website and enter in your name and email. In addition to that, we will send you hundreds of dollars of free products from our store as a gift!.

Tags: Ask vs. Tell, Care vs. Scare, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Practice Management, communication

At Rosen Coaching, one of our main tenants that we bring to our chiropractic coaching and speaking around the world, is the concept of “Care vs. Scare” communication. Both Dr. Russ Rosen and I work hard to help chiropractors communicate and practice chiropractic in a congruent model with our philosophy. Our vision is to have chiropractors step into their rightful place as the recognized leaders of true healthcare, worldwide!

Recently, while speaking at an EPOC group in Ottawa, and day in and day out in our coaching conversations with our clients, how deep this concept is embedded in the chiropractic profession really sunk in.

With each interaction in your office, you have a choice: To inspire others to action or to try and manipulate them.  This shows up initially during Visit 1 and 2, but will continue on through your daily interactions, and show up strongly again in your re-evaluations and re-reports, and especially how you handle difficult questions!

Inspiring others requires communicating the ‘why‘ behind chiropractic care and why you do it.  It requires a conversation of finding out where they are at, what they think and teaching under the radar to help them see there is another way. It means empowering people, giving them truth and consequences and leading them to choose what is right for them.  It doesn’t mean sugar-coating the truth, or not talking about consequences, but the intention is to inspire action and empower people.

Manipulating others uses scare tactics to coerce and strong arm people to choosing what you think is right for them.  It means a harsh tone and over-dramatizing the negative, making assumptions, painting people into a corner, giving them one good choice.  Yes this can work in the short term, but it’s not a good way to build strong relationships over the long run, in our opinion.  The intention is to manipulate people to do what you want.

The trick is to REALLY find out what is going on with them, and how we might be able to help them.  Then simply find out what they really want and show them how they can have it!

If you are up for it, I’d like to challenge you to see where in your practice and in your community you can inspire others more.  Will you take me up on it?

Tags: care tactics, Care vs. Scare, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Wellness Model, communication, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, scare tactics

In recent coaching conversations with Rosen Coaching clients, as well as in our Wellness Practice Blueprint program, it’s becoming more and more clear to me a key distinction in communication in the chiropractic profession.

Most of us were taught to communicate by telling, teaching, and downloading information with a one-way monologue.  This method can be frustrating as people don’t seem to ‘get’ what we are trying to get across, therefore the chiropractic practice results we are seeking (retention, referrals etc.) don’t seem to follow.  Eventually we start to doubt our ability and our certainty waivers.

Instead, how about opening up a human-to-human, two-way dialogue?  It will take time to learn to communicate this way, to literally re-wire your chiropractic brain to ask instead of tell, but it is worth it.  The dialogue instead of the download is the way to help people really understand your message, and also be empowered to take action from it.  It will generate the practice results you desire when you master your communication starting with Visit 1, and Visit 2 all the way through your Daily Interactions, Re-exams, Re-reports and how you handle Difficult Questions.

Rather than just downloading and telling them what you think and getting them to ‘YES’ you, how about having a conversational dialogue so that you can also find out what they think, what they want and find ways to show them how to have it?

This dialogue approach leads to greater practice success and being able to help more people, as well as less frustration and less burnout.  Do you want to master the dialogue?  Check out our training materials or send us an email for a free 30 minute consult.

Tags: Ask vs. Tell, Certainty, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, communication, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, wellness practice blueprint

Do you remember the Chiropractic Safety Pin Cycle from philosophy class 101? You know, Brain Cell (B.C.) has efferent transmission to Tissue Cell (T.C) and it has afferent transmission back to brain cell?  If not, I’ve included a diagram from The Chiropractic Textbook by R.W. Stephenson from 1927.  (If you don’t own it, I highly recommend it)!

However, when it comes to most chiropractor’s communication, they usually have a monologue or just the ‘efferent’ part of transmission, telling people their chiropractic story and wonder why they don’t stay, pay and refer?  Why don’t people ‘GET IT’?

With our Rosen Coaching clients and group coaching programs, we look at our communication from both the efferent and afferent sides.  As a profession, what if we could communicate in a way that was more congruent (inside-out) by asking questions and getting their input, as opposed to outside-in education?

How most of us communicate is merely the ‘efferent’ part, we never check in with the person and say, “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, what do you get so far?”  We never ask them questions, we just tell people what we think and leave it at that.   Our profession doesn’t, as a rule, close the safety pin cycle of our communication. No wonder we’re not shifting consciousness yet… It’s time we closed the safety pin on every communication we have! It’s time people really understood what we have to offer them and it’s time for chiropractors to start leading the wellness revolution, becoming the recognized leaders of true health care!

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, communication, Leadership, rosen coaching, Safety Pin Cycle

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.

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No gifts, no pressure. Just family, friends, and loved ones. The idea of just getting together to be together, being present, enjoying each other’s company and being grateful for what we have.  The most important thing in our lives are the relationships and love we have.

The first key to having the life and chiropractic practice of your dreams? Be grateful for what you have. What you focus on, expands.  So if you focus on what you don’t have… guess what?  It grows. So why not focus on what you are thankful you already have?  It will naturally expand. This mindset and feeling of gratefulness will bring you to an entire new level of attraction and success.

My suggestion? Write down 5 things you are grateful for in your personal life and 5 things you are grateful for in your chiropractic practice at the end of each day. This is the starting place for explosive growth and success in a TRUE Wellness Model. Have a mindset of abundance and satisfaction drive your decisions and actions, not from a place of lack and fear.

At Rosen Coaching, we are so grateful to have you be a part of our lives and to have you be a part of our mission to have chiropractors be the recognized leaders of TRUE healthcare and the wellness revolution!

Tags: Add new tag, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, Gratefulness, Leadership, Success, Thanksgiving, True Wellness Model