This is a pretty quick piece of advice that you can implement immediately. And I mean that. You can start using it with the next client you see. It’s that simple.

So, what is it?

Agree.

Agree with the things your new clients say.

Agreeing Isn’t Always Easy

That’s it. When a brand new patient comes in and says, “Hey, you do the cracking thing, right?” do you say, “Well, I perform an adjustment that realigns joints. And during the process, the joint can open up a little, which creates negative pressure and yadda yadda yadda”?

Look, I get it. I like to nerd out about chiropractic, too. And I love explaining to people who aren’t in the chiropractic business how all of this works.

But, and this is important, I like onboarding patients and closing sales more than nerding out. I mean, two of those help earn money. The other one just drives normal people away because they don’t understand you and they just feel confused.

Here’s Another Example of When Agreeing Gets Hard

Maybe you don’t like nerding out as much as I do. You’ve had chiropractic training, so you almost certainly like to get into the weeds about the details. Just for this example, though, let’s pretend you don’t know anything about chiropractic.

Let’s say I walk up to you and say, “Hey, man, I love that white shirt you’re wearing today!”

The thing is… you’re wearing a blue shirt.

(This is a real example I used at one of our CloseForChiro events. Head over to our YouTube channel to check it out.)

If I said that I love your white shirt — but you’re wearing a blue one — don’t you instinctively want to correct me?

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it. But it’s blue. See?”

Yeah, that’s how I always want to respond, too. And that makes sense when you’re out and about or when you’re hanging with friends. You can laugh and ask what the hell they’re talking about. This isn’t some optical illusion where some people see a blue-and-black dress and others see a white-and-gold dress. Anyone can see it’s a blue shirt.

But it’s different when you’re talking to patients, especially new patients you haven’t formed a relationship with.

When it’s a patient, sales training tells you to say something like, “Oh, thank you very much. What brings you in today?”

You agree and move on to the matter at hand. You don’t let some piddly detail get in the way.

There’s Psychology to Agreeing With People

To a big extent, it just makes sense for a chiropractic CEO to skip the nonsense and get down to business. Agreeing with your clients isn’t just a short-term sales training technique, though. There’s psychology involved.

Imagine you walk into a bar and someone approaches you. They immediately start talking about how much they love the Cubs. Well, you’re a White Sox fan.

This is the only information you have about the person. Do you want to have a drink with them?

No, you don’t. You’d only agree to the drink if you want to go trash-talk them for an hour.

Now, let’s say the opposite happens. You enter the bar, and someone wants to talk about the Sox game. Do you want to have a drink with them? My guess is that you’re much more likely to agree.

You would choose the Sox fan because, more often than not, people like other people who agree with them. You expect less friction with someone you have a lot in common with.

In the Chicago area, where I live, this is all a big deal. The rivalry between these teams has been going on for a long time. It’s a game, but people aren’t playing.

But it doesn’t have to be something as serious as your lifelong commitment to a sports team. If you find something in common with someone, you’re just more likely to give them a chance. If you run into a disagreement right off the bat, come on. Who wants to stick around to see how that goes? Most people will go find someone else to hang out with.

Let’s apply that to the new patient who comes into your chiropractic business. Do you want to create friction with them? No! You just agree that the shirt is blue or white or polka dot or whatever.

And even if someone comes in and says, “How about those Cubs?” you answer, “Hell of a game. So, what brings you here today?”

I know this sounds like the easiest thing in the world, but it does take some practice.

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