So today I’m going to talk about. Storytelling for your practice. And this is your introduction to storytelling, which is the science of storytelling to attract new patients who want your services now.
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Hi folks, Jeffrey Grossman here. And thank you for joining me. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to watch this video and thank you for the American Acupuncture Council for yet again, inviting me back to share some insights and wisdom and knowledge about growing your practice and marketing and business development for acupuncturists.
So today I’m going to talk about. Storytelling for your practice. And this is your introduction to storytelling, which is the science of storytelling to attract new patients who want your services now. And I just want to make one thing. Stories are elaborated patient testimonials and testimonials are short and they don’t necessarily have the triggers and the intrigue or the emotional connection that can really pull a prospect in and communicate to them that indeed, that you are.
Able to help them. And that you’re the solution that they’re searching for. So stick with me and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. So I’m going to share my slide deck with you. And what you’re going to do is you’re going to learn about the three things that every patient thinks before they choose you and why you must consider these as part of your marketing efforts.
We’re also going to talk about the various stories. To share with every patient to build rapport and trust with every prospect and every patient coming into your practice and how to use your stories to attract qualified new patients and more word of mouth referrals. So for those of you that don’t know me, my name is Jeffrey Grossman.
I am the owner and the president of Acupuncture Media Works, Accu Perfect Websites and Accu Downloads. And I’ve taught classes for and am a regular speaker for the AAC for several years. I’ve also taught the 60 hour practice management class at the middleweight acupuncture Institute. I taught at bass year Siam and Neisser and clock.
400 plus hours of online video trainings and marketing and business trainings for other acupuncturists. So I’m in this industry and I’ve been privy to what’s been going on for this industry for a long time. So my goal, our goal, our mission at acupuncture media works is to share the latest marketing insights with you and the techniques and the protocols with you that inspired.
And educate your prospects and your patients so that you can have a fuller schedule, make more money and effect positive change in the world by helping more people. So I started practicing in 98 in height, many of the struggles that many of you have experienced or may be experiencing now. And I took a.
Of $15,000 and started coaching with a chiropractic coach. And my life changed. My practice changed, my income changed. So I want to encourage you to take some chances, make some change if you’re struggling, if you’re not as full as you are, if you’re not making the type of income that you need, something’s got to shift and take that gamble.
Take that shift in order to take those next steps so you can grow. Throughout this year. So this training is about changing your life. It’s about changing your income and just one or two ideas can transform your practice in this year. So most of us think that marketing is hard, but it’s not. And we were went to school to become a healer.
We’re not that adept at becoming a business and marketing person, the honest truth is that you have to wear those two hats that. The hat of business person, and you’re the only person who’s going to be doing your billing and your marketing and your needling, your Grosh on your cupping and your scheduling and all of that.
That’s on you. My friends, you are an entrepreneur and you are a healer. So we’ve got to own that. And we’ve got to tap into marketing and business building strategies for your practice. Oh, I want to encourage you that if you need any help, that you should evaluate your plans to create actionable strategies and feel free to reach out to me, I’ll have my email address at the end of today’s training.
And if you need help, just send me an email, says, Jeffrey, I need some help. I’d love to get together with you and I’m offering free 15 minute consults for that. Also before I go on. I know it was a little late into the Chinese new year, but we’ve got a gift for you, which are if we put together a bunch of Chinese new year, social media graphics for you, we got some newsletters, some Facebook graphics, some Instagram posts, and some blog posts that you could copy and paste and use in your practice.
And you can grab them here at this link on the video. Just go to that link at the end of today’s training and get those graphics and start putting them into your social media strategy. Okay. So one of the foundations of building a sustainable and successful acupuncture practice is to build what I call the know like and trust factor.
And this is something that we will talk about as we go on, but it’s something I want you to remember. And if you want people to know like trust and refer others to you, nothing is more important and nothing is more fundamental than telling your patient’s story. About how you have helped people just like them.
Get better telling stories, build the know like, and trust factor from the moment they’re done reading it. That’s it. If it resonates with them and triggers them to take action. And I’ll tell you about that in a second, but before I do that, I want to tell you how to do it before, but I want to tell you why stories work so well.
Okay, so let’s read this together. Tell me the facts. And I’ll learn, tell me the truth and I’ll believe, but tell me a story. And it will live in my heart. Forever stories are how humans have communicated for tens of thousands of years long before written language ever existed. And the key is how our brains and bodies aligned.
When we hear a story, people know for thousands of years and. Is just now proving it to be a fact that a story can do what facts and statistics can never do, which are inspire and motivate the reader. So storytelling, it’s the most ancient form of marketing. It’s about getting that message through to the listener.
And when a good story is being shared, the listener or the reader, they’re engaged, they’re involved in both their mind and their heart. Okay. So stories do all the hard marketing work for you, and they make our prospects remember and clear and care and story marketing works because our brains are already programmed for stories because it’s embedded in our DNA.
And storytelling also helps with learning because stories are easy to. When we hear a story, we unconsciously take the place of the person in the story and the benefits that they receive become the benefits we think that we’ll receive. So learning which can stem from a well-told story, it’s remembered more accurately.
And for far longer than learning, that’s derived from facts and figures. And that’s from research. That’s been done by a psychologist called peg new Hauser, and there’s another. Researcher, another published psychologist called Jerome Bruner, who suggests that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they are part of a story.
So marketing comes and goes, but your patients will remember the stories that they read and that they heard and relate to for a long time. So having several great patient stories about. A patient’s searing back pain that goes away after true treatments or curing someone’s migraines that they’ve had for over 20 years or helping a woman have a child after not being able to conceive for many years.
It’s like having an. That people were role. Remember for years on end. And the great thing is that it’s zero cost to you. People remember, and they share stories far and wide. So stories create that emotional connection between your prospects and your practice. And they have that psychological effect that adds tremendous power to your marketing.
And this can add ultimate growth to your practice. So this. Yet another reason why I really liked stories because the advertising it’s free and the memories last and last. So hopefully now that you’re seeing that stories can be powerful for your marketing and your patient education process. Okay.
So that’s a very brief look into the science of stories and there’s real documented brain science on why this works. And when we’re done, you can Google a great Ted talk by Henri Hassan. And he did a fascinating study on how people’s brains, literally sync. When they hear the same stories and they put themselves in the story of the other person’s shoes.
So before that study, they’re like, brainwaves are all mismatched and they’re not sinked up. And when they hear that same story, they start thinking up. So do you see how this can be helpful for your practice? People read a well-crafted patient story and they resonate with it. They embody it for themselves and want the same outcome as the person that they just read about.
So I hope that makes sense. So we need to talk about how you will be using them in your practice and which ones to use. But before I go there, Let’s talk about this next aspect, which is the secrets of why people buy and what they really care about. Okay. So we’ve been buying things the same way. For thousands of years, something gets our attention.
It becomes top of mind and our interest is peaked. It increases our desire as we want to learn more. And then we buy, and this is the basic buying system that we all go through. It’s hardwired, it’s ancient human nature. And as we’ve just discussed, it’s better and easier to use the science of human nature than to just simply ignore it.
So the buying process is pretty much the same, no matter what business you are. So something, your triggers, your interest in, let’s say having lunch and you read the menu, your desire increases, and then you buy same process. When you go to see a home that you might be interested in purchasing the realtor increases your desire by demonstrating and discussing why this house is great.
They stage it beautifully. So you can literally picture yourself there and put yourself in the shoes of the owner of that house. You buy it’s the same for your practice in spite of what most people think, no matter how accomplished and brilliant you are at your modality. There’s only one thing our prospects really think about and believe me.
Unfortunately not you and it’s not your credentials and it’s not your modality. So while can it be well, they want to know what’s in it for me. And what’s in it for me is made up of three things. Okay. The three things that every patient thinks about before they choose you, and these are really important to consider as part of your marketing.
And, these are the things that prospects are concerned about. It’s what’s in it for me. And it breaks down into these three different parts. W here’s what I want right now, which is I want to get out of pain. How do I get it right? Who can help them? Okay. And what’s my life going to be like, after I get help and what will they be able to do after they are free of pain that they cannot do now, they want their pain to go away.
How could it possibly get done? And if it does, what is their life going to look like? And this is what’s on people’s mind. Excuse me. And that’s the process people go through over and over again when they’re presented with a buying decision is what’s in it for me. And this is with every single industry.
Okay. So let’s talk about how we use stories in your practice and in your patient’s journey. So right now, For probably 99.9% of you, the people in your neighborhood might not know you as the master healer. What we want to do is to get people’s attention, creating interest and desire by talking about what I, or better yet what they want right now, for instance, They want to get out of that pain, neck pain or whatever their problem is.
And they want to what that is, what I want to know. Okay. Then we want to demonstrate our skills and our success, whether it’s on the tele-health call or getting somebody in your office and sharing how you’re the best choice for them or getting them for an acupuncture happy hour or a stress reduction treatment to get them to devastate.
So you can share with them how your medicine can help them. And by using. This is where they get to know and trust you and they understand how do I get this and how can I get the positive results? W w that’s what’s on their mind too, is you have to present your treatment plan, or you present success stories.
And part of what you’re going to talk about then is how their life is going to change. And w after they received the results, of seeing you. Okay. And if the results are good, they’re going to refer friends. They going to refer neighbors and expand your practice through word of mouth in your community.
Okay. So I hope you’re following me. So now I want to discuss the three basic stories that you should be using in your practice. So there’s the initial. To desire story, which gets your prospect into your office to experience you, gets them interested in you and your services. And what’s great about this is when you use the template and practice it.
A couple of times, it only takes about 10 minutes to create because it’s only about 150 to 200 words and. Since our time is short. I’m not going to show you that what, I’m not going to show you a total interest story here, but I’m going to share a link to a video that walks you through a real world.
Example of a patient story. Number two is the desire to buy. Which is a story that positions you as the healer in your neighborhood. And this helps to create trust and rapport with your prospects. So they accept your treatment plan because they want it. And not because you sold it to them because they’re, they put themselves in the shoes of the person who shared whose story that you shared with them.
And they benefited from your care and their. Synced up with what the other person’s story is, what the other person’s experience is. And the third story that you’re going to need to have is you were own apifany story. And it’s your personal health story as to why you love Chinese medicine, why you love acupuncture, your various modalities that you offer and why you chose to do what you do.
Not about the number of credentials that you have, or the number of acronyms that you have after your name. It’s about realizing that you are human too. Maybe you had your own health struggles that made you seek out acupuncture that eventually led you to be the healer that you are today, or maybe you saw a loved one received acupuncture and it opened up your eyes and you said, yeah, that’s what I want to do.
So whatever it is. You have your own story, and it’s important to share that with your patients. In fact, you’ll be sharing it with whenever you host a class or give a talk or even meet patients for the first time, your story makes you human. It makes you relatable and real, your story should be on your website as your, about you pages.
You wouldn’t believe the, about you pages that I see are the about me pages I see on people’s websites. That’s all about how great I am. How many schools I went to, how many acronyms I do, right? When you meet somebody, you want to be like, hi, my name’s Jeffrey. I went to new Orleans with acupuncture and I have all these acronyms now my name, and these are the types of modalities.
I do know you want a story that’s relatable, that people can connect with. Okay. So what they. Is your story and your appify funny story. Okay. So imagine how much easier or how much is simpler that your life will be when you have the perfect story that makes prospects want to become patients because they instinctively know and trust you and can force the results that they’ll receive.
Just like the person in the story received. Okay. So imagine having the proof that you’re a great healer for allergies or asthma or back pain or neck pain or knee pain or gut pain or surgery, pain, or headaches or stress or not sleeping or infertility or weight loss. Whatever you specialize in your practice, when someone comes in, you have to have stories specific about the key problems that you help your patients solve and your patient’s stories are your library.
It’s your proof of success and your proof that you can address the what did it for me scenario. Okay. So the great news is that crafting the perfect patient story? It’s really not that hard. All it takes is to make it, to make a great story is answering 12 simple questions and these questions you already know the answers to.
So once you create your first patient story, you’ll be able to use it for years. In your practice. So I’m going to quickly review these 12 questions with you. And I reviewed these 12 questions in this video that I’m going to be going through, that I have a link for after this, that you can watch me go through an entire patient success story for yourself.
So the first question is who is. Excuse me, who is this story about? So you’ll be describing a patient’s age. Are they single? Do they have any children? What’s the patient’s health complaint in their words, right? Nonmedical non-technical. How long do they have the problem? What caused the problem?
How does the problem affect their. They’re looking for solutions. What did they tried before? What methods? What modalities, what are the treatments? How did that person use it? What were the results? What are the patient’s biggest fears? What were the patient’s biggest questions? Did the patient have any experience with acupuncture, Chinese medicine?
If so, what were the risks? How did you demonstrate or explain your solution and how would it be helpful? Did you do your occupant or did you do a stress reduction treatment? Did you do some Dr. Tan points? Okay. What did the patients say about the demonstration or the explanation? Did they have any answers?
What were they, did you ask, did you get questions? Did you get any answers to at least one of these questions above that I have here since you had. Had this problem. How many years in your mind would it be? What would it feel like a short-term success to start with your treatment? How will your life be different when this condition is under control?
The question number 10, did they accept your complete treatment plan or was it just a few sessions? What was their treatment timing? What happened the first few weeks or the first few treatments? They have a positive experience. What milestones did they reach? And then finally, did you get a testimonial?
What was it? Did you get a referral or did you start to treat any other family? Okay. So I, you can watch, I don’t have time to show you a real world example of the patient’s story and the 12 questions in action, but you can jot down this link here and watch me re review a real world example of a patient’s story.
And you can even download an example of. At that page as well too. So go to this link here at youmedia.us/story review. And you can watch me review an entire patient story and even download a template. Okay. So now that you’ve written and produced your story in at least one format, you’ll have to decide exactly where to distribute it.
And the goal is to choose a distribution channel that will get your story in front of as many people as possible. So you could put it on your website or your blog. You could use it on social media, you could put it in emails and you can use it for a part of your advertising. If you have. And the budget to do those kinds of things.
Okay. So now, you know why stories are important and how stories work to build an emotional connection and the universal buying decision process that a person goes through, that every person goes through when making a decision. And the one thing that patients think about that you might. Appeal to and when to use your patients’ stories and their journey and how to make a great story by answering 12 simple questions.
Okay. So time to get work on your story. So you could work with some experts, you could work with some writers, you can think about the patient complaints that you solve on a regular basis and make a list and focus on. Story first, or you can consider setting a goal by getting two patients stories done a month until you have 10 or more.
Okay. So here’s the link to the download the graphics. Here’s a link to download or watch the video that I put together for you. You can take a note of these slides here and I want to say thank you for joining me here. And here’s my email. If you want to reach out to me for any questions, if you need any help, a support, if you want a free 15 minute consult, so we can discover where you might need some help, feel free to reach out to me at this email address.
So I hope you are all doing well. I hope you receive some of the answers and the inspiration and the insight that you needed today. And I want to encourage you to reevaluate your plans and make actual strategies. All right. We’re here for you. Stay beautiful. Keep changing the world. One person, one needle at a time and talk to you soon.
Thank you so much for joining me. Bye bye.