Are YOU Replaceable?
Maybe…maybe not…but that’s not up to you to decide. If your target market views you as being replaceable, then you’re replaceable. Discussion over. I often hear small business owners tell me that “no one does what we do”…“no one has what we have”…“no one gets the results we get”…etc.
Really? Says who? You?
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
The answer is, YOU DON’T!
I must admit that it’s amusing to see what happens to a business when it BELIEVES that it’s the only game in town – only to have someone else come in and literally blow it off the map. It happens everyday, and it MAY happen to you.
Today’s post is going to be LONG. You may want to run to the restroom and/or grab some coffee before sitting down to be enlightened. I am going to present you with an example that can be applied to any field and/or profession. By the end of this blog post, it should be overwhelmingly apparent that STRATEGIC MARKETING (not “vanilla marketing”) is how you not only build your business, but prevent it from being REPLACED.
EXAMPLE:
Chiropractors have attempted to grab as much of the low back and neck pain market as they can. Sadly, many chiropractors are more concerned about money than they are their outcomes. They turn to scams and gimmicks in an effort to drive patients to their practices. Once the have the patient in the practice, many chiropractors (not ALL) utilize shady methods presented to them by practice consultants in an effort to “manipulate” the patient into care.
Some chiropractors have you watch videos, some have you write down your goals (lol), some question you on whether or not your health (and the health and welfare of your family ) is a priority, some have you take a quiz, and some just try to wear you down – no differently than a salesperson attempting to sell you a time-share. In fact, whenever I talk to audiences on a topic relating to health care, I WARN them to avoid chiropractors who utilize a variety of gimmicks. I am even in the process of preparing a booklet on how to correctly select a chiropractor.
CHIROPRACTOR: “Okay Judy…I would like you to write down everything that you want to accomplish in life.”
PATIENT: “But why Dr. Sleaze?”
CHIROPRACTOR: “Did I tell you that you could speak? Now do what I say…or else! It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again! Now write it down and put it in the #@$%king basket!”
PATIENT: “What? Uhm…uhm…I don’t understand…Mr. Chiropractor.”
CHIROPRACTOR: “I am a DOCTOR. Call me DOCTOR. I am a REAL DOCTOR! Judy, Judy, Judy…I want you to write down all your goals in life. And then I am going to tell you that you can’t accomplish them if you have subluxations. Subluxations are the silent killer – which means that you are going to die…I think…one day. Now let’s pray together!”
PATIENT: “Wha???”
CHIROPRACTOR: “That’s right Judy. You will NEVER go anywhere in life unless you accept my POWAAAH!”
PATIENT: “I’m outta here!!!”
Let’s just say that questionable marketing gimmicks combined with questionable business operations and billing pratices, have left many would-be chiropractic patients at home – suffering with a number of issues. WHY?
Well – as a whole, the chiropractic profession DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO MARKET ITSELF, and thus – the snowball effect has resulted in the use of even MORE questionable “marketing” gimmicks, a reduction in chiropractic college enrollment, and a number of “other trends” that end up doing more harm than good.
Meanwhile, there are millions of would-be patients who are sitting at home – thinking to themselves, “There ain’t no way that I will go see a chiropractor…”
Of all the issues that chiropractors address, it is clear that the chiropractic profession has allowed the public to perceive their niche as being…low back pain. Is it true that chiropractors do well with low back pain? Yes. But that’s just one little crumb in a giant loaf of bread. However, because of the public’s perception of chiropractors (and other issues at large), there is a very large opportunity for other entities to grab ahold of the low back pain market. Whose fault is that?
Enter BACK 2 LIFE…
BACK 2 LIFE is a home low back pain solution that claims to use “Continuous Passive Motion” to relieve your pain (or so they claim). The company that makes BACK 2 LIFE is selling these units like hotcakes.
Chiropractors are quick to discount this unit, yet – because their profession has done a lousy job of effectively educating their prospective patients, folks with back pain are now running out to stores and buying a solution that retails for as low as $149.99.
If you ask a chiropractor what he or she thinks about this device, they will smirk and tell you why it can’t work. But for many folks, it seems like a more realistic solution than sitting through a sales pitch…and a video…etc. No, that device doesn’t address structural corrective issues, but in terms of “relieving pain” – well, it does appear to be drawing buyers.
Hey – don’t get upset with ME for telling you the truth. None of this is contrived, and none of it is opinion. It is what it is.
Can this device replace quality chiropractic care? Not in my world it can’t. No way. No how.
This device has had so much success, and has sold so many units, they have now made their way into Costco:
As you can see, the BACK 2 LIFE has a nice prominent, visible spot at an end-cap in Costco. Notice, in the lower image, part of the description: Helps to align the spine. Does it really HELP ALIGN THE SPINE? I don’t know, but if it doesn’t, then whose fault is it that the public sees that claim as being viable? Whose fault? Whose fault?
Now I know what some of you are thinking. You’re thinking that no one is really going to buy this if they have low back pain, right? Soooo…what you’re attempting to suggest is that Costco, one of the most successful warehouse clubs on the planet, made a HUGE error in carrying this item and decided to allocate some of its valuable warehouse real estate to something that won’t sell and doesn’t work. Is that what you’re suggesting? Are you suggesting that you are smarter than the folks at Costco? That you know something that the Costco folks don’t? Sure thing pal.
If you’re a chiropractor, would it be unreasonable for someone to suggest to you that the success of this product COULD partially be your doing? You can yell, scream, and cry all day long, but the FACT is that folks who MAY – MAY – MAY have otherwise been chiropractic patients, have spent $149.99 or more on this device – a device that is marketed in a very suggestive manner (quite carefully) to be a superior choice to chiropractic (according to Rhonda B. – one of the testimonials on the www.getback2life.com site).
Oh sure, chiropractors don’t want you to believe THOSE testimonials – just their own testimonials (LOL).
The BACK 2 LIFE has possibly replaced many chiropractors in terms of a treatment option for their low back pain. Chiropractors, and the chiropractic profession as a whole, didn’t take certain measures in their marketing – and in their patient education, to pre-counter devices that have come on to the market, offering a solution to the some of the same conditions treated by chiropractic care.
DON’T GET MAD AT ME.
I didn’t create this product, and I certainly had nothing to do with its placement in Costco (LOL). If people believe that this device can save them one or more trips to the chiropractor, then chiropractors (as a profession) may have lost patients. To suggest otherwise makes you an idiot – actually a SUPER IDIOT.
CHIROPRACTOR: “Swerd-LICK! How the hell do you know that they would have gone to a chiropractor? Maybe it’s the medical doctors who are losing all the business!”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
If you’re a smart chiropractor (lol), then what should you safely assume? Should you safely assume that your profession lost that low back business (and a lot of credibility along the way) OR should you FOOLISHLY assume “that anyone who has purchased one of those devices wouldn’t have come to a chiropractor anyway, blah, blah, blah….”
A couple of other devices are coming on the market that will also attempt to take a bite out of the chiropractic pie. Will they succeed? If they offer a solution, then hell yes – they will do well. At the end of the day, the success of ANY product or service is dependent on one very important component. Do you know what that is?
Consider This: Are there services out there that are perceived to have no replacement?
YES there are!
In fact, I discuss this during my presentations, and at my seminars. One thing these irreplaceable services (and products) have in common is a STRATEGIC marketing agenda that clarifies their standing in the marketplace.
Chiropractors just don’t get this. If they did, they’d be knocking my door down and throwing money at me (LOL) – lots of money. I would have been named KING of Chiropractic (lol, lol, lol). Meanwhile, the chiropractic profession is now looking to “expand” beyond its borders – primarily because they don’t who they are, and because they are losing market-share. The only folks to tell you that I am wrong are…as you guessed, chiropractors.
Some chiropractors are looking to prescribe drugs, become your physical therapist, your hair removal specialist (yes, including genital hair), your cellulite reduction specialist, and yes – even your life and wellness coach. Meanwhile, if the public actually understood WHAT chiropractors did (beyond the cessation of pain), perhaps things would be different.
The chiropractic profession has a lot of
people they would like to blame.
I wonder who’s on their list?
Could it be… SATAN?
If you didn’t watch The Church Lady on Saturday Night Live, then you have no clue what the “SATAN” reference was about. Yes – I’m dating myself.
When something (i.e. BACK 2 LIFE) or someone comes along and finds an opportunity due to a “fault” within the chiropractic paradigm, the reaction is ALWAYS the same from the chiropractic profession; defensiveness, yelling, screaming, etc.
I’m not attempting to pick on chiropractors – just use them as an example. My intention was and is to point out that a lack of STRATEGIC thinking, could result in you having to defend your service against a $149.99 replacement that is now available (and selling out) at Costco and other retail locations throughout the world.
If you’re a SMART business owner, then you need to think strategically. You can’t LEARN how to think strategically. You must hire a strategist or learn from a strategist.
Now that you know this to be
the case, what will you do?
If I were you, I would keep my eyes and ears out for one of the Dark Lord’s (aka Dr. Marc) future seminars. The DARK LORD will show you what you don’t want to see, and tell you what you don’t want to hear. But in many cases, that’s how you grow.
THINK about it.
Have A GREAT Day!
…Dr. Marc, Chief Mind Officer – MIND VIRUS