“That’s not nearly enough,” he replied, while sitting in his recliner.
Huh? Did I hear that right?
“You should be charging me more. I’m not going to write out a check until you give me a different price. I want to pay your maximum fee.”
Seriously? Was he really saying this to me?
I was staring at him in total disbelief. I’ve never had a patient tell me that I wasn’t charging him enough.
Once his words sunk in, I told him that I didn’t understand. I wanted to know why he wanted to pay more.
“Because you’re worth it. You should be charging a much higher fee for this type of service. Don’t charge what everyone else does when you do something so different. I want to pay the highest price you charge. What is it?”
I’m not kidding here either. I remember this as clear as day, and this is what he said to me word-for-word.
So I said a price that was 3x higher than what I used to charge as an associate. A price I’ve never charged before, even though I knew that I should be charging more. I held my breath…mildly freaking out inside.
Then he looked over his spectacles, gently smiled, and said, “That’s more like it.”
And that moment, right there, changed the entire scope of my house call practice forever.
As chiropractors, we often sacrifice our own schedule and income to provide the best care possible. We face the pressures of trying to maintain high volume practices, yet facing crushing overhead and making peanuts from insurance companies.
So we end up struggling to make ends meet.
That was me back in 2009. I was lost in the world of a fast-paced, insurance-driven practice. Seeing 70 patients a day but living paycheck to paycheck.
And I was completely over it.
So I broke away from all of it. From everything that convention taught me about how to build a practice and what it should look like.
Because I didn’t fit in that world.
I wanted more time with my patients. I craved a slower pace in practice. I wanted to bring my care to my patients. I didn’t want all of the stresses of a typical practice.
…and I knew that I wanted to do it all 100% CASH.
My colleagues thought I was nuts, and I was told multiple times I would fail.
But I knew in every fiber of my being that this was right. It made perfect sense. It was exactly what I wanted to do, even though I never heard of it and no one else was doing it.
So with little money, lots of burnout, and a ton of conviction, my journey to building a house call practice began.
And after figuring it all out, I created a practice where I made six-figures seeing only 5 house calls a day. Instead of 3-minute appointments, I spent 15-30 minutes with patients I absolutely loved working with.
And I learned the secrets to charging 3x more for house calls.
So when I hear from fellow DCs asking me, “will patients really pay more from house calls” or “can you really make a living on house calls?”…
…my answer is 1000x YES!
Let me break down how, with house calls, you can charge 3x more than the typical appointment and market your practice so you instantly stand out.
#1 Instant Curb Appeal
House calls are not just another way to build a practice. They’re not just another type of service or source of income for your practice.
House calls are a paradigm shift.
House calls give patients the chance to access chiropractic care in a way they’ve never been able to before. In the comfort of their home, office, or wherever they are.
Meaning that patients don’t have to deal with the hassle of rearranging their schedules to see you. Or fight traffic. Or sit in waiting rooms.
This instantly gives your care more appeal and more value, because of the convenience house calls offer.
With that convenience, comes a huge opportunity to stand out in your community and offer something that no other practice is, whether you want to start a new practice or add another service to your existing practice.
And this also gives you the opportunity to focus 100% on the patients you love working with and avoid the pressures of trying to market all over the place just to get new patients in the door.
House calls give you instant curb appeal that you can then use to your advantage in your marketing.
So if you want to incorporate house calls into your practice, think about how the convenience of this model applies to your community, then use that to set yourself apart from other practices.
#2 Find the Hyper-Responders
With a house call practice, what you say, do, and who you focus on marketing to will dictate that types of patients you get.
And you want to know how to get the best patients in your community, the ones that LOVE the idea of house calls (even if they’ve never heard of them before), and will gladly pay more for this premium service.
These patients are what I like to call the “hyper-responders.”
So the question then is, “who are they and how do you find them?”
What’s important to address first is that it’s NOT about whether a patient can “afford” house calls.
Regardless of income, every patient decides to work with you because they choose it. They make it a priority. They have to see the value of investing in their health and in you.
I’ve had anyone from blue-collar workers to single parents gladly pay me over $100 per house call appointment. I’ve also had multi-millionaires with mansions and yachts turn me down.
Seems like the opposite of what you’d expect, right? So what made the difference?
The formula isn’t about income. It’s about VALUE.
And the formula isn’t the same for every practice.
It’s about focusing on the types of patients YOU want to work with. That’s the first step to finding the hyper-responders.
Let’s say you love working with athletes. But, you spend your time and money advertising to “the masses” to try to get as many new patients in the door. You end up spreading yourself thin, feeling tons of pressure, and you never get into a flow with any one type of patient. You’re working around the clock, and you still feel unfulfilled.
But if you put your focus 100% on athletes, you’re reaching out to smaller audience, yes, but you’re reaching out to people that you completely get and gel with.
When you put focus around the patients you love to work with, your marketing is more effective because it’s easier to connect and relate with the right people in your community for your practice.
Plus, you end up with an all-star roster of patients that you LOVE.
Once you know who they are, then the next step is to map out what house calls mean to your ideal patients.
The value of house calls to an athlete vs. a mom vs. a busy professional are vastly different. It’s the same service, but the benefits vary based on their own lives and needs.
A mom will love the convenience of not having to pack up her kids to get adjusted, while the busy professional will appreciate being able to get adjusted in-between meetings and never having to leave the office.
When you can understand the mind of your ideal patient, then you can get really specific on not only how you can help them, but how house calls can help them.
That’s what attracts the hyper-responders, and that’s how you figure out who they are in your area.
And if you can connect with your ideal patients and show them why house calls are the perfect fit for what they need, you’ll be able to attract the right people for your practice, who will gladly pay significantly more for the convenience of your premium service.
#3 Create Stand-Out Marketing
So far we’ve talked about use the instant appeal of house calls and how to find the hyper-responders in your community.
Now I’m going to teach you how to connect with patients that are ready to spend 3x more on house calls rather than go to the chiropractor down the street.
Knowing what your ideal patient wants is key.
Personally, I’ve treated hundreds of house call patients, as have other DCs I’ve mentored, and there is one thing always stands out – chiropractic patients want more from their care.
Just because other chiropractors are building high volume practices –doesn’t mean you have to. If you don’t fit that mold, you have to listen to what your heart is telling you.
And your patients may be looking for a different experience, but don’t even know it’s out there.
Times have changed. Patients’ lives are crazier. They’re dealing with more stress and more health challenges. Their needs for health care are greater, but it’s getting harder to access the care the need.
They want more and they deserve more.
Patients want more face time. If you fill that need by making house calls, you’ve completely revolutionized how they experience chiropractic care. That creates an instant rapport that no traditional practice can match.
When you can give patients more time and an easier solution for care, they will gladly pay a higher fee to work with you.
Quick note: I’ve worked with house call patients who literally lived around the corner from another chiropractor, but would rather pay more for the convenience to stay in the comfort of their home.
Patients want solutions. With house calls, you can see the way a patient lives in a way that no other chiropractor can see. By being in their own environment, not only are your patients more comfortable, you can observe their stresses, routines, and challenges, so you can provide more specific solutions that they can easily do in the comfort of their own home.
If you travel to your patient’s home or office and see how they interact with their environment, not only are they willing to invest more in your house call services, they will also be more compliant with your care and your recommendations.
Patients hate waiting. With house calls, there are no waiting rooms and they don’t have to fight traffic. When you make life easier and eliminate time-wasters with house calls, those hyper-responders are thrilled to pay more for the convenience.
So when it comes to marketing house calls…
Most chiropractors put a sign out in front of their office and fight over the same drive-by traffic and spinal screening events. This leaves them gasping in a world of oversaturation.
In a traditional practice, you have to compete. But with a house call practice, you are competing with no one.
You easily stand apart, and above the rest. You are different, you are unique, you have more value in the eyes of your hyper-responders.
When you say “I’m a house call chiropractor,” it creates curiosity that draws patients to you, instead of seeing you as a dime of dozen and just passing by.
With house calls, when you easily stand out from your competition, you market to your ideal patients by offering these major advantages. You will attract the most eager and interested patients who are willing to invest more in your care – now.
Because house calls are a premium service and provide a higher value, you charge more, and actually earn more and work less in practice.
If this excites you and you want more freedom in your practice, while providing a completely new experience for your ideal patients, check out the free training available for the COD community.
Exclusive for Circle of Docs’ Members
As a thank you to COD for featuring Dr. Jen Faber this month, she is offering exclusive access to her FREE 3-Part Video Training on “How to Build Your Practice with House Calls.”
In this video series, you’ll learn:
- How house calls eliminate thousands in start-up and overhead so you can make profits quickly.
- The formula to having a cash house call practice and how to charge2-3x more per appointment.
- A 5-step blueprint to marketing house calls in your community so you stand out and attract your ideal patients.
CLICK HERE and Grab your 3 Free Training Videos.
This training is only available for a limited time, so sign up today!
