If your business is like mine, the best mode of advertising is word of mouth. I have spent thousands of dollars on all kinds of advertising, with very little ROI. The best advertising occurs over coffee, at church, at the PTA meetings when friends ask my clients what they did in order to regain their health.
The worst type of scenario is the client who has come in based on someone else’s glowing testimonial, wants the same or similar results, but does not want to follow the protocol. I had one such client last week. She is a professional woman in her mid forties, with extreme health issues. She has been to numerous doctors, but is not able to get well. She is, so she says, ready to try something new.
With the chronically ill, I find that BioEnergetic evaluation along with iridology are the best methodologies to use. We did a thorough examination, and with the help of very sophisticated equipment, believe that we found the root of the problem. By all accounts she thought the appointment was positive. She bought all the supplements and homeopathic remedies that were recommended, even when our cashier asked her if she wanted to do research on her own before committing to the program.
The very next day, she sent me an email, telling me that she had done her own internet research, she had conferred with her chiropractor and other medical persons, and she had decided that she wanted to change the treatment protocol. She went on to say that she thought, she believed, she knew that a different protocol would be better based on the various opinions and personal research that she had obtained.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I totally appreciate and applaud people taking charge of regaining their health. I have no trouble referring clients to other professionals when the situation warrants. In fact, our clinic is full of different therapists who offer other complimentary modalities. What struck me with this lady was her testimony during the pre-appointment interview. In it, she told me that even though she had visited many different doctors, she was unable to get well. She was tired of taking drugs and seeing her symptoms worsen. In short, she was, she told me, ready for a new approach. We talked about reasonable expectations, and need to follow a holistic approach in order to see results.
Sometimes, clients just cannot make that commitment. Maybe it is because they did not listen/or don’t understand the instructions given during the examination. Maybe it is because they are pressured by loved ones and/or current MDs to stay with allopathic medicine. Maybe at the heart of the matter, they fear getting well.
Whatever is working behind the scenes, the outcome will be the same. This client, and others like her will NOT get well. She will tell people that she did come to our clinic, but did not get better. She will not say that she did not follow the recommended protocol. This kind of negative word of mouth is just too damaging for my practice.
So how did this end, you might ask? The client asked if she could return product that had not been opened. We do have a generous return policy, and we did allow the return. Moving forward, should she decide to visit us again, I am going to have a discussion with her and explain that this practice is not a good fit for her needs. There is way too much energy expended by both parties during an appointment for that energy to be wasted.
As a practitioner, I have to guard the positive energy in our building. For this reason, we only partner with practitioners with a shared healing philosophy. Likewise, I must guard my time and resources against those who say they want to be well, but really are just seeking another opinion to reinforce their own.
Until next time,
Dr. Polly
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that some people fear getting well. My conclusion from dealing with friends who are chronically ill is that they’ll either miss the sympathy they receive for feeling like roadkill, or they have self esteem issues and don’t think they deserve to be well. For whatever reason, they sabotage anything that might work. I’d have to figure out a different way to punish myself, like listening to rap music. If I’m going to be alive, I want to live while I’m doing it.