Get More Referrals from Your Patients

In my experience, the best way to get more referrals from your patients is to ASK for them. That might seem over simplified, but you would be amazed at how many of my clients just didn’t ask for referrals before I suggested it to them. They were waiting for the patient to volunteer a referral. Given this basic idea, you can then get into the broader subject of HOW do you ask for referrals?

The first rule would be ask for the referral when the patient is doing better, and knows it. You have probably noticed that sometimes you have to show a patient they are doing better before they realize it. This is often true when the patient is still in pain. So make sure the patient knows he’s doing better before asking for a referral.

Then let the patient know you are happy he is doing better and relate it to your purpose as a professional, “That’s why I became a _______, I really love to help people improve their physical condition,” or something like that.

The next rule would be to ask for a name, not just “do you know anyone…” Ask something like “WHO do you know that has a physical condition I might be able to help with?” The question is designed to get the patient to LOOK for an answer. Otherwise, they can simply say NO without even bothering to look.

There is a lot more that could be said on this subject, but if you apply these simple points you will get more referrals from your patients and be able to help a lot more people. And after all, that’s what it’s all about, right?