Chiropractic Marketing | Chiropractic Advertising | Chiropractic Ads

Recently, I received an email from a doctor about decompression tables and marketing. Here’s a summary of the email:

What is the most cost effective way (cost effective table) that you recommend to implement this into the practice? Also, could you tell me about your decompression marketing? Thanks

I commend this doctor not just for his questions, but especially how he is thinking through a marketing strategy before getting his table. Too many doctors buy expensive equipment without any idea how they will market this new service to prospective patients.

In today’s post I want to answer the first question, and in the next article we’ll take up the issue of marketing. But remember, these two are inseparable. So don’t just read this article about which table to buy and then neglect returning for the advice on how to actually get people on it.

Spinal decompression treatments are becoming very popular with patients. More and more of the aging population is seeking to prevent low back surgery for herniated discs and painful sciatica.

If you don’t have a table yet, you may be thinking you’ve missed the wave and now it’s moved on to some other type of niche product. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Now is absolutely the best time to get into decompression. Why?

Because competition in the market has brought the price of decompression tables way down. There is no need to pay $120,000 for a decompression table anymore (unless you just enjoy sending a mortgage type payment to the bank every week!) Just about everyone realizes you can get the very same function out of a table for $10k or $15k. Also, there are many used tables out there now which bring the price even further down.

So what table do I recommend? I prefer one of two types of tables. (And neither of them give me any type of kickback for mentioning them.)

These are just tables that I have either used or been treated on.

1. Chattanooga Triton DTS (cost approx. $10,500)

The DTS was the first decompression table I bought when I first got into the decompression niche in 2007. This table is super comfortable to lay on and the padding feels really good.

One advantage is that the newer DTS model has a cool looking computer interface with touch screen functions. Many of these older models have been refurbished and sell for around $3000-4000.

A major problem I always had with the DTS table was that patients were always slipping and sliding around. Even if the belt was so tight it restricted their breathing, the patient would slip. Which meant you had to turn the pounds of pull way up to get the desired effect. But the new model claims to have a new belting system that “allows a patient to be wrapped and set-up in under one minute”, so I assume they fixed this problem.

2. KDT (Jay Kennedy) Neural-Flex Decompression (costs around $11,500)

This is the newest decompression company and it’s becoming very popular in chiropractic offices. (I currently get treated on this table at least once a month for my L5 disc problems, along with my weekly adjustments.)

Developed by Dr. Jay Kennedy after years of teaching his seminars on how to use decompression treatments, this table is very nice. It seems to take a lot less force to get the same effect you would have had on the DTS. Part of the reason may be that this table really holds you in place and there is almost no slippage.

The vibration feature can be very helpful. I don’t think it’s recommended for the lower back, but I tried it a few times and it is intense to say the least. KDT has the best decompression belt strap on the market in my opinion. This thing gets snug and will not slip if attached properly. One of the negatives of the KDT table is that it seems very stiff when compared to the DTS, which means it’s not as comfortable to lie prone.

KDT also has a basic decompression table for $8,995 which does not have all the features of the neural-flex.

Both of these tables come with a cervical attachment that I highly recommend, as you’ll find almost as many cervical patients to help as you will lower back. It’s just that cervical disc problems usually present with other symptoms first: headaches, neck pain, etc.

There’s quite a few dealers who sell both the above recommendations as used tables, along with ebay and your local chiropractic college classified ads. Here’s one popular site that has a few used tables:

http://www.bryanne.com/usedequipmentdtstraction.htm

The tables will usually come with some marketing, or an “endorsement” to use a specific marketing company. I don’t really recommend you spend much money using the marketing material they send you. I’ll cover why in the next blog post, but it’s not just because I have decompression marketing material myself. It’s actually a fundamental principle of marketing that’s usually missing which causes their marketing to fail.

Questions about decompression? Post them below. If you have a table, tell us which one you like the most.

Why isn’t your decompression table packed with patients all day long?

This really is the ‘Million Dollar’ question for your practice. So the answer must be more marketing, right?

Well, yes and No. Join me for a Free webinar, where I’ll explain “How to Fill Your Practice With High Quality Decompression Patients”

To watch the replay, go here:
http://www.decompressionmarketingelite.com

You see, almost all chiropractors with decompression tables are using outdated, rehashed advertising and marketing techniques — those that worked in the golden days when decompression first came out.

But we both know these techniques don’t work anymore.

The world has changed. Potential patients you’re trying to persuade to come in have grown increasingly resistant to these obsolete marketing strategies

This year, I’m going to help one doctor per area have their best year ever by using my new Decompression Marketing Elite program.
Life’s too short to sit around waiting for the next patient to come in, while the table you paid thousands of dollars for collects dust.
No secrets held back.

Find out everything you need to know about this decompression marketing program now…without closing your office and spending thousands of dollars to travel to a high-pressure “Discovery Day”.

On this free webinar, here’s what you’ll discover…

• How to receive a new decompression marketing tool each month, bringing in quality new patients who stay, pay and refer.
• The only one-on-one personal decompression coaching, tailored to your practice to personalize the proven system to your own unique practice and city.
• How to get monthly decompression marketing webinars, where you’ll see exactly what other successful doctors are doing in their practice and discover how to increase your conversion rate to high-fee care plans.
• How to guarantee you’re the only doctor using this decompression marketing system in your area.
• How to finally stop living on the threshold of financial freedom and take your practice to a new level.

If you have a decompression table in your practice, you do not want to miss this call. Come and watch me reveal exactly how I’ll be doing it.

Because this program will be area exclusive, if you’re in a competitive area you should at least attend to make sure you’re not giving up a golden opportunity.

There was even a Q & A session after the webinar. Join me from the comfort of your office or home computer.

http://www.decompressionmarketingelite.com

P.S. Do you think there will be more or less patients with herniated discs this year? How about in 5 years from now?
Decompression is not a fad, because disc problems are not a fad. It’s time you really tapped into this booming market.

Do you have a decompression table in your practice? If not, are you thinking about getting one?

For years there has been quite a bit of hoopla in chiropractic around spinal decompression machines. Trying to get to the bottom of things is sometimes a difficult task.

First, let’s address a few issues some chiropractors have with decompression.

It’s not uncommon for people to say “that’s not chiropractic, therefore I’m not getting one of those.” Well, this person is correct, spinal decompression is not chiropractic. If you’re goal is to have an adjustment only practice without any instrumentation or electronic device, then you should not get a decompression table.

But for doctors who want an excellent way to help their patients, a spinal decompression machine is the #1 therapy device I recommend. Why do I recommend it so much?

Two reasons…

#1.) It helps herniated/bulging/degenerative disc patients get better in ways that no adjustment can. Some people will argue that their technique can do the same thing. I’ve not researched every chiropractic technique available, but I’ve yet to come across one that can pull on the pelvis of a patient with 80lbs of pressure, alternating between relaxing and pulling every 30-45 seconds for a total of 15 minutes.

#2.) The marketing for this is so much easier to do. No, not because it’s a fancy piece of equipment. Not because it’s a gimmick. But because the people who are suffering from disc problems are desperate for a solution. If you’re faced with a lifetime of shots, dangerous pain pills and/or surgical fusion of your spine, how quickly are you going to try something non-invasive like spinal decompression?

Realize, #2 would be insignificant if decompression didn’t work. Ethically it has to work before you can market that it does.

The Bad News

Unfortunately, some hyped up marketing a few years back really altered what chiropractors thought of spinal decompression. Many doctors thought “true spinal decompression” could only be found in spending $100k on a table. If you thought this, then the only 2 choices were to either send a house payment every month for this table or not pursue decompression in your practice because it was out of your price range.

Then, more hyped up marketing (in the form of patient advertising) entered the picture and state boards got involved in banning certain types of marketing. Some states even looked for ways to prevent chiropractors from using spinal decompression, saying it wasn’t in their scope of practice.

I realized that there had to be another way to do this whole decompression thing. One marketing guru couldn’t have cornered the market on spinal decompression in chiropractic.

After a bit of research, I found quite a few manufacturers that make good decompression tables. Of course, then I had to prove to myself that these tables did actually do decompression, since I had been brainwashed as well into thinking only one table was “TRUE DECOMPRESSION.” ( Turns out there all classified by the FDA as traction tables anyway

I won’t go into the details, but most tables that claim decompression actually do decompression. It’s just a matter of how easy it is to use and how nice it looks. Arguments against this are just an old marketing technique (which is sometimes valid, but not here), where you try to get everyone to think your product is the only “real” table that does decompression, and the rest just do traction. You probably heard of this, often times called the unique selling proposition.

The funny thing is, years later, very few people who bought a DRX table will argue that Chattanooga, Saunders, Lordex, (and all the hundreds of other manufacturers) are not doing decompression. Five years ago, ‘them was fightin words’. I even remember threats of lawsuits being thrown around and patenting the words “spinal decompression.”

For $8-10k I could get a table and start helping patients get better. Combined with chiropractic adjustments and other strength building therapies, I saw some amazing results. Not to mention my average case values went up considerably.

Was decompression just a fad, one that has died out?

Well, the $100k tables probably don’t sell like they used to. But spinal decompression is alive and well.

Do you think there will be more or less patients with herniated discs in 2010? How about in 5 years from now? Decompression is not a fad because spinal disc problems are not a fad.

Important: Marketing Is Key

Don’t do like many chiropractors I speak with have done. Don’t spend a ton on a table, and forget to market the thing. You’ve got to market it for what it does, otherwise it’s just an overpriced traction table sitting in your office collecting dust.

This is why I wrote the decompression ads in The Ultimate Chiropractic Ads. It was difficult to find ethical marketing that wasn’t hyped up, so I learned to write my own. And they have done extremely well.

If you don’t have a table yet, don’t wait. Start getting quotes now as the new year is right around the corner. Be ready to hit your decompression marketing strong in January.

If you already have a table, make sure you’re planning the first quarter of 2010 with some strong marketing.

Watch a free webinar where I cover my Area Exclusive decompression marketing program here:

http://www.decompressionmarketingelite.com