They're not just going to know: Educating your patients about your services

Often times when my clients think about marketing, they focus most on attracting new patients. Obviously, this is an important goal but there is another, often overlooked, marketing opportunity within your practice: Telling your patients everthing that you do and increasing your patients' utilization of your care.

Many doctors I've worked with believe that their patients already know everything there is to know about their practice. Let me tell you, in reality, your service offerings may be something that your patients know least about.


How do you tell your patients about additional services?

Take one minute at each visit to relay a short story message about something you offer. Make it easy to relate to, like a dentist might say, "I had the wife of a patient come in yesterday and she said "please do something with my husband's teeth. They are so brown, I'm sick of looking at him." This opens an opportunity for you to talk with your patient about an offering that they may not have tried in your practice.

My favorite tool for educating patients and igniting treatment requests is a practice newsletter. You can create one as an e-zine or a mailing - both are great. The added benefit of a mailing is that the newsletter can be a referral tool. It can be left on a coffee table (where it can be seen), or given away and shared. If you need help getting started with a newsletter, email me: sarah@focus-evolve-succeed.com or visit www.npressnewsletter.com. I've spent a lot of time researching and testing the best way to use this tool and I am happy to send you a sample.