Clinic Marketing – No such thing as new patient tap, clinic water pump insight.

One of our IDD Therapy Spine Centres called today to ask us to arrange for some new adverts in his local paper to promote the clinic.

The reason being there was a bit of lull in new patients starting treatment so he wanted to engage in some marketing activity.

This happens with all clinics and all businesses at some stage and is part of the ups and downs of being in private business!

But it illustrates an important point about marketing a clinic ,or any business for that matter.

The fact is there isn’t a tap you can simply turn on or off when you need new patients. There will always be a slight lag between activity implementation and the arrival of people needing your services.

The keyword to every successful clinic and business is consistency.

Using the water analogy and a metaphor from the legendary Zig Ziglar, keeping a flow of new patients is like pumping an old fashioned water pump.

You work hard and pump like crazy to bring the water up to the surface, then once the water starts to flow, you just need to keep pumping gently to ensure a steady flow.

BUT, if you stop pumping, the water drops back off and then you need to work really hard starting all over again to get it going.

So, however small the steps you take, taking the steps of implementing a strategy each day, week or month are key to ensuring a steady flow of new patients.

That starts with a goal, then a plan to get there and then the consistent implementation of the action steps to get there.

Now, one can argue that there are ways to get customers instantly.  e,g google adwords is an instant way to reach out to patients.  But, it is easy to blow your money on adwords so I would say that whilst it is a way to instantly get new patients, it does require some practice.

We could all be more consistent.

If you have a lot of patients, you may think that you don’t need to market your business for new patients.  That is particularly the case with established businesses who have enough business to be comfortable through word of mouth.

But how many times have you been so busy you were turning people away.  And if you are in that position, why not consider a satellite clinic so you can help even more people?

Consistency, consistency is the name of the game.

Expect to make mistakes along the way but that is part of the process.  Take anything which requires skill and know that the skills were only acquired by learning through mistakes.

If you need some new ideas for your clinic marketing, then get a free CD and some materials from leading international clinic coach Paul Wright to set you on the way, CLICK HERE

Author: Stephen Small
www.steadfastclinics.co.uk  

Clinics in the community – get visible to be seen and remembered.

For clinics without natural footfall or street visibility then you have to work harder.  As we come into the summer there are fares and local events where you (or your team) can be out and about promoting the clinic. 

Community Marketing

Get out and about to be seen by your community.

If you are engaging in building your brand through other media, local people will already have an imprint of your brand in their minds, so this is a moment for them to meet you.

My sisters live in Leicester and a couple of weeks ago sent me this when out and about at a local street festival. You don’t need to be there yourself.
You have team members who could get out there for you or you could even pay someone to talk to people and engage people to come in.

The best part is, they often only cost £30. If not events – often for free or a modest fee, local supermarkets will let you have a table with a banner.

Author: Stephen Small
Director, Steadfast Clinics Ltd
www.SteadfastClinics.co.uk

Google search results for Physiotherapist vs Osteopath vs Chiropractor in the battle for the hearts and minds of back pain sufferers.

What does Google tell us about back pain and the different professions?

Google back painWhen people are in pain, they go online.  Working with Google Adwords, I decided to look at the search volume and see whether the search patterns revealed anything interesting about what people are looking for.

I began by taking the three main professions which treat musculoskeletal conditions: physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors and then I looked at the search volume for specific conditions.

Google displays results in two columns, the first, for the world and the second, local to where you are – in this case the UK.  Here are the results:

Keyword

Global

UK

physiotherapist

1,500,000

368,000

physiotherapy clinic

60,500

18,100

chiropractor

2,740,000

165,000

chiropractic clinic

74,000

14,800

osteopath

1,220,000

135,000

osteopathy clinic

9,900

4,400

back pain

2,740,000

368,000

low back pain

673,000

90,500

herniated disc

368,000

27,100

slipped disc

165,000

22,200

sciatica

1,000,000

135,000

neck pain

550,000

74,000

shoulder pain

550,000

90,500

shoulder injury

74,000

9,900

knee pain

673,000

90,500

knee injury

246,000

33,100

sports injury

135,000

40,500
arthritis

4,090,000

450,000

Of course there are thousands of keyword permutations but these are the broad searches.

When people look for a clinician they do so because they have a condition.  Each profession has specialities but back pain is the number one reason that people visit a clinic.

Based on conversations with clinicians over the years, I would put forward the following general percentages as back pain-related patient visits for each profession globally:

Physiotherapy: 40-50%
Osteopathy: 60-70%
Chiropractic: 70-80%

The profession-related search reveals three interesting things for me. 

1/ When people need help, they are looking broadly for a profession.  The type of treatment is a commodity ie I just need a physiotherapist, chiropractor or osteopath.

2/ People are looking for information about back pain and they are looking for private treatment in very large numbers (you don’t need to search if you just go to your GP to get treatment/ referral)

3/ Clinics need to plant the name of their clinic in the minds of future patients so that when they do get pain, they won’t search generically, they will search for their clinic!

There are up to 10 times as many physiotherapists in the UK as osteopaths and chiropractors, but large numbers of patients are looking for osteopaths and chiropractors over physiotherapists.

If we take it that a search for a clinician is in essence a search for treatment for a condition, then applying some percentages we can see more dramatically that osteopaths and chiropractors are getting a disproportionate amount of search traffic for back pain for the number of clinicians in those professions compared to physiotherapists.

Keyword

UK Search

            % of Patients with Back Pain  

physiotherapist

368,000

50%

184,000

  

chiropractor

165,000

70%

115,500

  

osteopath

135,000

60%

81,000

196,500

This is search for broad terms only and the numbers may not be entirely accurate but they do give a ball park figure.  Combining the chiropractic and osteopaths (although I know the two professions are very different!) their combined search number of 196,500 is greater than the search for physiotherapist, 184,000.

What can we infer from this?

Quite a number of things but two things for me.

1/ The numbers show that in broad search terms for the professions, osteopathy and chiropractic are winning the day in the hearts and minds of back pain sufferers.

2/ With an ageing population, clinics can do worse than be the best for back pain … and arthritis.

Stephen Small
Director Steadfast Clinics

Steadfast Clinics is a dynamic medical company which helps clinicians do more for back pain sufferers and helps to grow clinics with the IDD Therapy spinal decompression programme.

For details request an information pack using the form below or visit www.SteadfastClinics.co.uk to read clinician testimonials and more.

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The Number 1 Mistake Clinicians Make When Seeking To Establish Relationships With GPs

For most clinicians getting GPs, or indeed any other clinician, to refer to them seems highly desirable.  However I consistently hear the age-old complaint from clinicians that ‘GPs just aren’t interested in them’.  Why is that?

The answer is not that GPs are interested per se, rather the fundamental problem is that most clinicians simply fail to establish relationships with their local GPs.

In this post I will tell you the Number One mistake clinicians make when seeking to establish relationships with GPs and outline 3 steps which MAY create the relationships you seek (and in turn get you referrals).

So if you want to engage GPs there are two important questions –

1/ Why should they be engaged by you? 
2/ How are you going to get your message to connect with them?

To begin with I’ll assume you have a compelling reason for GPs to be interested in you, but if you don’t, you can still establish a connection as the first choice treatment provider in your field.

Whatever your engagement means, the number one mistake clinicians make is to give up on establishing a relationship too soon.  

So many clinicians have the unrealistic expectation of getting an instant response or, for one or two letters (or other communication means)  to lead to the establishment of a meaningful relationship with their GPs.   Relationships don’t work like that.

The three pillars of any relationship are well documented – Know, Like, Trust. 

My brother-in-law is a GP and so are some of my old school friends.  They are snowed under with paper work, sales messages, drug company reps, government initiatives and of course patients!

If you want to engage GPs, you have to let them get familiar with you over time.

Here are 3 simple ways for you to engage GPs:

1/ Case History – If you successfully treat a patient, write to their GP with a brief case history. You should have their GP name in your notes, but if you don’t then make sure you get it! This will really set you apart from your competitors and the GP will remember your name and respect you.

Include a business card since whilst we tend to throw away mail, if we like the essence of a letter we will keep a business card.  Include an open invitation for them to visit the clinic at any time (they may need treatment themselves!).  So start by producing one patient case study a month and build from there.

Add the contacts to your database of “influencers” and send them a Christmas Card or Happy New Year card.  They get hundreds of Christmas cards so why not be different – send a Happy New Year card as in all liklihood yours will be the only positive message in the new year mail … be different!

2/ Newsletters – A 2 sided A4 newsletter sent quarterly should not be too much to ask of any clinic to produce.  All your contact details will be there and over time you will create familiarity if you have some interesting content.

3.a/ GP Talks – GPs need CPD and regularly get together.  If you have a compelling service, programme or something you are particularly good at, they will be interested in a short presentation (offer to bring lunch, they expect this!).  The talk is a great way to engage GPs but if what you offer is not discernibly different to what anyone else is offering, then you will probably get knocked back or more likely – ignored!

3.b/ Consistent marketing – If you can’t do talks, remember that GPs are residents of your community.  Whatever marketing you do in your community will be seen by the resident GPs.   Plus, patients go along to their GPs with information from the internet or newspaper so put interesting content out there consistently and people will notice you and talk about you.  That includes your community of GPs and healthcare providers.

Need a database of your local GPs, go to www.nhschoices.uk enter your postcode and you will get a list of all your GPs.

Some clinics will do better focusing on patients but if you do have something special to offer, then you have a good chance of being heard if you apply these principles.  PLUS, there will be very few, if any, of your competitors doing anything to engage with GPs.  

It’s an open field for you and yours will be the only voice heard!

Author: Stephen Small, ‘Mr IDD’ – Director, Steadfast Clinics Ltd
International distributor of IDD Therapy Spinal Decompression for herniated discs and sciatica plus Thermedic FAR infrared therapy systems for joint pain relief and soft tissue rehabilitation.
www.SteadfastClinics.co.uk

Clinic marketing – Pricing strategies for the benefit of your clinic

The majority of clinics have a uniform pricing structure.  In this article I want to highlight the benefits of a dual layer pricing structure for the clinic owner, clinic associates and the clinic as a whole.

There is so much competition that it is more important than ever to stand out from the crowd.  There are a number of ways to doing this but having expert status or having specialist treatment programmes are two key ways to stand out from the masses.

Pricing

Pricing is an incredibly powerful marketing tool to give signals to your audience:

High price = higher quality/value
Lower price = lower quality/value

There are some consumers who only want the best and then there are consumers who are happy for standard service e.g Tesco Finest vs mid range branded item 

What clinics can learn from hair salons

Have you ever been to a hair salon where there are different prices for different levels of stylist?

I have never had a hair cut at Toni and Guy, but to my mind at least they are the brand which says quality haircut.  As for the stylists, well, they work at Toni and Guy so you expect them to all be very good.

The artistic directors are priced higher than the senior stylists and the pricing differences suggest that the artistic director will give the best haircut available.

Some people will want to pay more the artistic director whilst others will be satisfied with a senior stylist.

So for clinics…

It is expected that the clinic director should be the leader of the clinic.  They are (supposed to be) the best clinician and their leadership status sets the course of the clinic brand.

Some patients want to see the leader, the best so it makes sense to affirm the clinic director’s status as the best by having a visible higher price point.

The clinic director will see existing patients and attract new ones – and these patients are happy to pay a higher price.  If a patient wants to see the director but the director is fully booked, the receptionist can book them in with an associate who is equally capable of treating the patient.

Additionally, the higher price for the clinic director has the effect of making the associate price look good value.  No change in price, but new perceived value and this is attractive to would-be patients who are mildly price-conscious.

When a prospective patients looks at your website, they will see by the price points that the clinic is good because it is run by an expert (this person must be an expert – the higher price tells them that).  This reflects well for the associates as they are members of the expert team.

The patient then has a choice as to who they want to see.  I only want the best person, or I am happy for the associate to see me because I am assured that the associate will give me the service I need.  

Whether it is £5, £10 or £20, any price differentiation has a subtle but powerful effect on the perceived expert status of the clinic in the eyes of the would-be patient.

That is good for everyone. 

Author: Stephen Small
www.SteadfastClinics.co.uk