Inspiration - Avoid the Always, Notice the Never

I've know a lot of successful private practice owners who have grappled with burnout from time to time. Between seeing patients, managing staff, and thinking about marketing and business growth - it's easy to see why its hard to stay inspired and passionate.

I've personally gone through burn out in my own business and come out the other side several times. Here is an exercise that has helped me jumpstart my marketing imagination that you can use today in your own practice!

First, make a list of the things that your practice and practioners in your industry ALWAYS DO. For example, at my doctor's office - I ALWAYS have to wait in a room by myself for 10 minutes before I see him. Or, at the dental practice, the chairs are ALWAYS really uncomfortable and I feel weird when my dentist talks to me while I'm laying down.

Next, make a list of things that your office or industry NEVER DOES. An example could be the doctor personally calling new patients before their visit to welcome them to the practice.

Now that you've got your lists - and a whole bunch of ideas for differentiating yourself and improving your patient experience! Undoubtledy, you will find opportunities to reconnect with your patients and jump start some buzz within your practice.

Work with your staff and creative around implementing those NEVERS. Think about the referral potential if each patient who leaves your office, jumps in their car, gets on their cell phone, and calls 5 friends saying: "You'll never guess what happened at my appointment today..."

The lesson for today is: avoid the always, notice the never.

Assortment: How many marketing weapons are you using?

I had a meeting yesterday with an oral surgeon who had been running ads in a local magazine for several months. "I feel like we just advertise to check it off the list" he said. "I don't know whether its working and we are putting our whole advertisting budget into it."

Key lesson for today: Your Marketing Assortment

Instead of relying on a single marketing weapon, think of combinations. Remember that, your marketing will be the sum of all contact with people in your area.
Make a list of 5-10 marketing activities to use at any one time.
Do you go regularly to networking groups? Add it to your list.
Give presentations to local organizations? Add those too.
Ask you patients for referrals? Each time you do, you are marketing.

For easy implementation, create a simple and consistent action plan to keep track of what you’ve done each week. Then, work on your system for tracking new patient calls - and where they are coming from, and put more marketing money/focus in the things that are producing. That way, if you do decide to invest in an advertisement, you won't have all your eggs in one basket, and you will be looking at the return.

Ask yourself: How many marketing weapons are you using at a given time?
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