How to Create Internal Referral Magic in Your Chiropractic Practice

 Welcome everyone to the Chiropractic Deep Dive. This is our focused segment inside the Successful Chiro Podcast, and it’s brought to you by Five Star Management. That’s right. We’re your chiropractic consulting company really dedicated to helping you find more growth, more freedom and uh, ultimately more success in practice.

And today we are diving deep. We’ve got source material from a really high level zoom training that Dr. Noel Lloyd led. Yeah, this was powerful stuff. Yeah. Focused on a, well, a critical problem. Many practices face. The lack of what he called internal referral magic. Internal referral magic. Yeah. I like that.

So the goal today is to really distill the mistakes chiropractors might be making, maybe things they’ve forgotten Exactly. And also the, um, the very trackable, repeatable, mechanical strategies that Dr. Lloyd shared in this training. All aimed at getting, what was the number? An additional three to five new patient referrals per DC per week, three to five a week.

Think about that. It completely changes the game for a practice and it’s key to remember why this focus matters so much. Right? The advantage of that referred patient. Yeah. The source is really hammered this home. When a patient is referred, they essentially walk in already, like 80% sold. They come in believing and ready to pay, was the phrase used precisely.

Because that positive experience from the person who referred them, it just sort of washes over the new person is powerful. Totally different energy than someone coming in cold from say, a Facebook ad who’s never heard of you. Oh, completely. That marketing patient. Mm-hmm. They’re still asking, is this legit?

Is it worth it? The refer patient skips all that skepticism. The trust is prebuilt. So okay, if the clinical results are there, you know, the sciatica is gone, the headaches are better. Why the low referrals? That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? Right. Dr. Lloyd called this a misconnection. It’s not a clinical problem.

It’s a systems problem. A systems problem, meaning the practice assumes the patient gets the bigger picture, the philosophy, but they often don’t exactly. They assume the message is landing fully, but it isn’t translating into referral action. And what came out in the training, which I found interesting, was that many of these mistakes aren’t like huge complex failures.

No, not at all. Participants were saying, oh yeah, we used to do that, or I totally forgot to train my associate on this basic step. It’s often errors of omission, things that slip. Okay, let’s break down some of those key emissions. Where does it start to go wrong? Well, first off, the environment itself can kill referrals before you even ask.

Hmm. Number one mechanical issue discussed, wait times. Ah, the waiting room. How long is too long? Anything over 10 minutes consistently. 10 minutes. Wow, that’s, that’s a tight window. Most probably. Think 15-20 is okay. But think about the patient’s internal dialogue. If they’re always waiting their thinking.

He’s already swamped. If I send my mom here, I’ll just wait longer next time. Bingo. It’s subconscious self-preservation. They won’t refer if they think it negatively impacts their own experience, no matter how great the adjustment was. That’s huge. The patient is actually throttling your growth without meaning to, okay, so fix the wait times.

What’s next? The next big omission. It’s almost embarrassingly simple. Just not asking, really. Just failing to ask. Yeah. You have that patient. Maybe they’re emotional, thrilled with their results. Numbness gone. They can play with their kids again and nothing. The doc or the CA just moves on. Missed opportunity.

Right At the peak emotional moment. Exactly. You have to ask, but how you ask matters, it can’t feel like a sales pitch. Yeah. This led to a great story from the training. Oh yeah. The Brock Lovet script. This was golden learned from an older, uh, Jedi Master, a chiropractor Uhhuh. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently this guy, Brock Lovett was getting like a hundred new patients a month just from internal referrals.

Okay. So what’s the script? How does it work? It’s brilliant. ’cause it happens on day one. Sets the stage immediately you lift a new patient in the eye, shake their hand and say something like this. Okay, lay it on us. If you are ever unhappy with anything here, will you promise to tell me so I have a chance to fix it?

They’ll say yes. Then you add and one more thing. If we impress you, would you be willing to tell your friends? Wow. Simple, direct, but powerful. It establishes trust, feedback, and the expectation of reciprocity right from the start. It’s an ethical agreement. Very smooth. Love it. Okay, so not asking or not asking effectively, what else, what other emissions, ignoring what the group called green flags, these are like little golden nuggets dropped in casual conversations.

Green flags explain that. It’s when a patient casually mentions, you know, oh, my husband kept me up all night. His back was killing him. Or my coworker, Sheila is miserable with migraines again. Uh, those little comments we hear all the time, all the time, but they often just evaporate. The training stress,

these need to be captured, like written down. They should be a standing item in weekly team meetings. Who heard a green flag this week? What’s the follow-up plan? So a system for capturing those conversational leads. Makes sense. Otherwise they’re just lost potential. Totally lost. And the last big omission ties into that

logistical failures. Yeah. Not tracking who referred whom or worse, not even knowing the patient’s immediate family, like not knowing if they have a spouse or kids who could benefit. Exactly. If you don’t know, Mrs. Jones has three kids and a husband, how can you even invite them in for a checkup? You’re missing the most obvious built-in referral network.

You can’t rely on the patient to just offer up their whole family tree. You need systems to uncover that. The systems have to drive it. Okay, so that’s the problem side. The error is the emissions, right? Let’s pivot. What did Dr. Lloyd’s training offer as the solution? How do we build this referral army? It boiled down to a really powerful three-part strategy and strategy.

One is the foundation. It has to come first. Okay. What strategy one. The cultural foundation. One participant summed it up perfectly with the acronym LLL. Lather Love lavishly. Lather. Love lavishly. I like it. Sounds warm. It is. The core idea is your office culture must be so caring, so loving that patients genuinely feel like family.

That’s the bedrock. Without that, the scripts feel hollow. Okay, so how do you build LLL? It’s starts with who you hire, I imagine. Absolutely. You can’t teach someone to be a connector to have genuine empathy. The philosophy shared was clear. Hire connectors who already align with your core values.

Hire for heart, train the skills, hire the heart. Got it. Then what? How does LLL show up day-to-day through intentional, positive touchpoints? Every single interaction matters. Starts with day zero, the first phone call, can the person hear a smile through the phone? Hmm, good point. What else? Simple things. A welcome board with a new patient’s name when they arrive.

Staff making genuine specific compliments. Love those new glasses, or that’s a great color on you. Little things that make people feel seen. Exactly. The goal is that every patient leaves feeling, you know, lifted, carrying that warm fuzzy feeling as they put it. When people feel that good referrals happen more organically, they wanna share that feeling.

Okay. So LLL is the essential soil. You need that rich, caring environment first. Precisely then, and only then can you effectively layer on strategy two. The mechanical systems in scripts, right, the practical tools. What’s the first mechanical piece? The family pattern approach. This happens across day one and day two of care. Family patterns.

Explain that. On day one, during the initial exam, the doctor introduces the idea. You know, Mrs. Jones, we often see these patterns like this pelvic tilt or this forward head posture run in families planting the seed early. Exactly. You gently emphasize how important early checks are for kids to catch these things before they become major problems.

You set the stage philosophically. Okay. Day one sets the concept. What happens on day two? Day two, usually after reviewing the x-rays. Maybe showing them some wear and tear. The conversation naturally flows to prevention for the family. Makes sense. And that’s when the doctor offers, say, two gift certificates, good for a complimentary family exam, and maybe even x-rays if needed.

And crucially, make them time sensitive, usable within two weeks. Creates a little urgency, and the key improvement mentions a three-way handoff. This is critical. When the patient agrees, the doctor physically walks them to the front desk and says, okay, Sarah’s gonna get Mrs. Jones scheduled for her two family gift certificates.

It locks in the commitment. That immediate transfer prevents it from just becoming a nice idea that fizzles out. Okay, I get the logic. But let me push back slightly here. Please do. Offering gift certificates right after showing potentially concerning x-rays, doesn’t that risk feeling a bit salesy? Or like you’re leveraging fear, especially for chiropractors focused on trust.

That’s a really fair and important question. And the training did address that nuance. Yeah. The key goes back to day one, setting the philosophical stage. Yes. Because you already introduced the concept of family patterns. The day two offer isn’t framed as, oh no, look at your bad X-rays, quick- bring everyone in.

It’s framed as the loving, logical next step based on the patterns discussed. Ah, so it’s positioned as proactive wellness. Protecting the family’s future, not just reacting to the patient’s current problem. Exactly. It shifts from fixing pain to fostering family health. And if that LLL culture, that genuine care is palpable, the patient feels, the intent is generosity, not pressure.

Okay. That distinction is vital. Generosity on top of that ethical foundation makes sense. What’s the next mechanical system? The one pager? Yes, the one pager progress report. This thing apparently gets incredible results. It’s genius. What is it exactly? When do you use it? It’s a simple feat. A corrective care progress report, you give it to the patient before a key decision point, like a re x-ray review or discussing the next phase of care or finances and what’s on it.

It asks them to rate their symptoms one to 10 compared to when they started, but more importantly, it has check boxes for all the positive changes, sleeping better, more energy, better mood, less need for medication, etc. So it forces them to actually stop and acknowledge their own progress in writing precisely.

They internalize their success. And then right there on the same page, while they’re feeling good about their progress, comes the invitation. Something like, we love helping people like you who are three people you know who could benefit from a special health assessment for just $25.

Mentioning the usual much higher fee, like $225, and there are spaces for names and numbers and the success rate on getting names with this? The source material reported 80 to 90%. Wow. 80, 90%. Why so high? What’s the psychology there? It seems to be the principle of commitment and consistency.

They’ve just written down their positive results. They’ve reaffirmed the value. Asking for referrals right then aligns with the positive state they just documented. Plus, the offer is compelling, a low cost, high value assessment for their friends or family. But getting the names is only half the battle, isn’t it?

Absolutely. You have to do something with them, and that’s where the system discipline comes in. The training mandated a follow up sequence, a three day blitz of call, text, email to those leads. Then persistent monthly follow up calls. The magic is in the follow through. No dropped balls. Okay. LLL culture, family pattern approach,

one pager system. What’s strategy three? Strategy three is the new patient orientation, but they called it something specific. The special appointment. Ah, yes, the special appointment. Why that name? To frame it not as an optional class, but as a critical required part of their care plan, it elevates its importance, smart positioning, and the purpose? To really teach the big idea of chiropractic moving beyond just back and neck pain to the nervous system.

Vitalism true health creation. This boosts retention and fuels referrals because patients finally get why everyone needs chiropractic, not just people in pain. Exactly. It provides the philosophical why behind referring their loved ones. And how is it run? Logistics? Typically held outside normal adjusting hours, maybe a Tuesday evening, keep it concise.

45 to 60 minutes and apparently compliance is super high. Like 95% plus. Because it’s presented as essential. What kind of content is covered in that hour? Things like the state of sick care versus actual healthcare. How health truly comes from within, the nervous system’s role using visuals is key.

Like pre and post X-rays. Yeah, and especially patient stories. Showing those mother son X-ray patterns visually connects the dots about family health, legacy, and the close. How does it wrap up to drive action? It circles back reinforces the why. Includes a well somewhat provocative philosophical warning.

Oh, like what? Talking frankly about the limitations or even dangers of the conventional medical model. Hmm. Maybe statistics on adverse drug reactions or the influence of big pharma. The goal isn’t to bash but to create urgency. Urgency for people to share chiropractic as a vital alternative. Yes. It frames referring not just as nice but as necessary.

A responsibility almost. Then you naturally transition to offers for discounted family exams. Again, maybe promote upcoming workshops so it connects the dots. Understand the big idea, feel the urgency. Here’s how to help your family. That’s the flow. Yeah. So when you put it all together, Dr. Lloyd’s training really emphasized this synergy.

The marriage of the culture and the mechanics. Exactly. You need that fantastic welcoming LLL culture, that’s the heart. But you also need the mechanical systematized, asking procedures, the gift certificates, the one pagers, the tracking, the special appointment. The warmth makes the systems feel authentic and the systems make sure the warmth translates into consistant action. You can’t just hope for referrals. It’s not a strategy, right. You need intentionality. Absolutely. So if you’re listening to this and thinking, yeah, I’m leaving those three to five referrals per DC per week on the table, or my referral process feels kind of random, then maybe it’s time for a more strategic approach.

Time to build your own referral army. And the next step, if you’re serious about that, is to have a focused conversation. Definitely. We strongly encourage you to book a complimentary one-on-one strategy call with Dr. George Birnbach. This is a no obligation chance to talk about your practice, your challenges, and see how these kinds of referral systems could be implemented for you.

The link to book that call with Dr. Birnbach is right there in the show notes. Easy to find, just click and pick a time. Please take advantage of that and for those of you who are thinking bigger, ready for like massive acceleration across your entire practice, we’ve got something really exciting coming up our live two-day event in Orlando, Florida.

Mark your calendars in November 15th and 16th down in Sunny Orlando, and we’re actually running two powerful events simultaneously, so you choose the track that fits you best. Okay, what are the two tracks? First is the new patient edge. This is laser focused on one thing, how to get more quality new patients in the door fast.

All the latest strategies get the leads flowing. And the second event. That’s our Win-Win Associates event. This dives deep into our proven system for finding, training and retaining great associates, building a team that gives you more growth, but also more freedom and success. The win-win model. Two huge topics.

Running side by side, new patient Edge or Win-Win Associates, November 15th, 16th. Orlando, all the details, the agenda, how to register. It’s all linked in the show notes as well. We’d love to see you there live. Absolutely. It’s gonna be a game changer. So check out the link for the call,

check out the Orlando event links, and of course, make sure you subscribe to the Successful Chiro Podcast so you don’t miss any more of these deep dives and practical tips. Great stuff today. Lots to think about and implement. Always the potential is there. Just needs the right system. Thanks for listening everyone.

We’ll catch you on the next chiropractic deep dive.