What's in your new patient packet?

I always remind myself that new patients don't know how good the practice is or the clinical skills are- they only know how good the marketing is. Given that, have you looked at your new patient welcome packet lately?

The new patient welcome packet is the patient's first experience with you after their intake phone call which makes managing the details very important. A new patient welcome packet can be an excellent way to build value and start a relationship before your patient walks through your door. Not only does the patient receive the medical history forms and practice information they will need for their visit, but they can get a sense of your practice personality and feel good about the decision they've made to come see you.

I just remade a dental practice welcome packet to be sent to new patients before the first visit. Here's what we included:

1. Glossy print out and bio with a photo of the dentist, team, and practice
2. Q & A sheet about what patients usually ask at the first visit
3. A "What to expect at your first visit guide"
4. 8 pages of handwritten patient testimonials that we photocopied
5. 3 pages of recent press clippings (from the PR campaign we had been running for the past year)
6. Professionally produced patient testimonial DVD
7. Medical History Form and privacy policies
8. Financial arrangements form
9. Copy of latest practice newsletter

All of these pieces were sent in a glossy logoed folder. Think about how long it would take to get through all this material. That is a lot of time for a patient to spend "getting to know you" before they enter your practice.

If you would like a FREE new patient packet critique, send an email to sarah@npressnewsletter.com

Email Marketing - try it today!

No matter what type of practice you have, you should be collecting your patient's email addresses. Simply add the prompt to your new patient information form, medical history sheet, or ask them directly during your initial phone call. If you start doing this, you'll open the doors to inexpensive ways to stay connected with your patients and educate them about your products and services.

Once you've collected a few emails, you can use a service like T-Link or Mail Chimp to send special announcements and promotional emails. These services will protect patient confidentiality by keeping the lists private.

Before you get started with email marketing, here are a few things you should know:

* Not all of your patients will want to hear from you. If they receive an unwanted email from you, make it easy for them to get off your mailing list. Most email services will have an unsubscribe feature that allows them to select out automatically. If yours does not, and the patient calls your office to be removed from the list, do it right away. Unwanted email can be really irritating to those patients with busy jobs and schedules.

* Have a reason to send an email. There's a saying that if you have nothing to say, you shouldn't be advertising. Make sure when you do email your patients you are saying something new, engaging, or interesting. If you send emails everyday, you'll notice that people will tend to ignore them. Try to send them only when you have something cool and exciting going on or something to offer.

* DON'T SHOUT! Using all caps in email headlines is the equivalent to yelling your message in your patients face.

There are tons of ways to use email to market to your patients without spending a ton of money. If you have some success stories or ideas, please share them here!

- Sarah Nelson
Sarah is the President and founder of Npress. She works with health care providers who struggle with marketing and attracting new patients. Npress makes patient newsletters that are customized to look like they are straight from the doctor's desk! Check them out at: http://www.npressnewsletter.com

Quick guide to getting testimonials

Testimonials are one of the strongest tools we have for educating patients about treatment. In fact, what someone else says about you is 3x more impactful than what you say about yourself. Testimonials move you from saying, in effect, "I'm great and you'd better believe it!" to "I'm great and here are real people who say so." They also help you convey elusive qualities about yourself and your practice that don't easily come across on paper otherwise. Remember when you were a child and learned about the world around you through stories? That is exactly what using effective testimonial usage does for your patients!

The most credible testimonials typically include the following:

1. Emotional link to treatment that has been done or proposed.

Ex: Before I had my wisdom teeth removed w/Dr. Nelson, my gums were infected and I had so much pain!

2. Something specific about the experience that we provided.

3. For maximum impact, testimonials end with a person's full name, his or her title where that's applicable, and either a company name, preferably recognizable, or a city and state

Ex: - Sarah Nelson (or S. Nelson), President, Npress, Portland, Maine


How to start collecting testimonials today:

Many people are under the impression that a testimonial should take the form of a complete, signed letter on a company letterhead. But because you're asking a lot of someone when you request one of these, you'll get many more usable quotes if you simply go after two sentences from each testimonial giver. Here are a few ways to get a testimonial quickly and easily:

1. If you happen to receive a wonderful letter of thanks, find the strongest two sentences to excerpt for your promotional materials. Feel free to combine several phrases and condense the wording, so long as you don't change the essential meaning. Many times the context is missing, and you need to supply it so an outsider understands the praise. If you do much more than change the punctuation, and add or omit little connecting words, get the writer's permission for the changes.

2. Over the telephone or face to face, whenever someone spontaneously utters quotable praise, grab a pencil or tape recorder, ask, "May I quote you on that?" and scribble it down.

3. One approach that I've seen work well is to say you're collecting success stories from clients and would they like to be included? Putting it that way flatters clients and presents the blurb to them as a compliment rather than a burdensome request.

- Sarah Nelson

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.

Why do you need a good headshot?

I'm getting some professional photos taken this week for my own marketing materials. After talking with my photographer and friends, I've realized this process isn't as simple as I imagined. There is a lot to think about to ensure you are putting your best face forward.

Getting a quality head shot is important as it immediately tells prospective patients a lot about you. Here are some tips I've compiled for looking your best and conveying the correct message in your marketing:

1. If you don't want baggy eyes, get a good night's sleep before your shoot.
2. Complementary or contrast colors are great clothing choices. For example, someone with lighter hair should have darker tops or suits, someone with darker hair should choose lighter colors. (Bring several outfits and try to avoid "busy" patterns)
3. Good lighting makes a HUGE difference. I like natural light myself but your photographer will be able to understand what lighting conditions are best for you.
4. Makeup look completely different on camera. Hiring a professional stylist is well worth the investment to make sure everything looks right. (It's fun to be pampered - even for a moment!)

The best tip I can give is to be comfortable and authentic . Create a setting that you can feel at ease in and your emotions will resonate with your prospects.

If you have photographer resources you'd like to share with our members, email sarah@focus-evolve-succeed.com and I'll be sure to post them and include them in our monthly coaching materials.

Take time to connect with your patient

There are many times in patient care when it is important to connect emotionally with your patients. Typically, these times are at the start, the middle, and the end of the appointment. Yes, it seems so obvious but many times practioners are so busy that the emotional connection is ignored in part in all appointments. Talk about missed opportunity! It's one of those things like, "I know I need to do this, I just forgot..." The cool thing is, if you remember to do it, and take your time, it costs you nothing and often leads to a very profitable result!

Just yesterday, I was observing a cosmetic derm practice and the doctor was seeing a new patient. In the initial interview, the new patient stated what she wanted, (brown spots removed from her cheeks and less tired looking eyes), and said, "I would have gone to my dermatologist for this, but he's always so busy." (Alarm bells sounding off in head because patient has told us exactly how to make her happy) The doctor then spent an extra 25 minutes discussing the patients goals and treatment options. The patient described the way her skin made her feel and why she was uncomfortable. She told the doctor about her daughter's upcoming wedding and he wish to look younger in the wedding pictures. When the consultation was done, the patient ended up scheduling for $5500 more treatment that what the initial treatment plan outlined.

Do you think that would have happened if the doctor rushed the consult and didn't connect with patient?

If you want to increase your case size, the likelihood or a referral, and your satisfaction, do the following:

Spend time creating a relationship with the patient. Ask her about her family, her work, or her life in general. If appropriate, disclose a bit about yourself. This establishes trust and trust leads to case acceptance.

Make eye contact and practice active listening. Tell her what you will be doing and answer any questions and ask permission to start treatment.

Speak to the benefits of treatment and the advantages of how you provide the care. Don't be too technical or serious. Just connect emotionally with your patient.

If you start taking more time, your patient satisfaction will go up. Happy patients = referring patients. Get started today!

Photos, Photos, Everywhere.

Have you ever looked through a magazine, seen a picture, and suddenly, you find that you've gotta have it? Maybe you've been walking by a billboard with models and thought, "I wish I looked like that".

That is exactly the experience and response that we want to create with your patients! Pictures are excellent triggers to remind people of what they want out of life, and using them in your practice is a great way to get patients excited about their treatment.

I've been in a physical therapy program for several months recovering from an ACL reconstruction. (I tore it during a bad slip in a dodge ball game, but thankfully, am now back to normalcy and running everyday.) In my physical therapy center, each wall is lined with giant, glossy photos of former patients doing their favorite activities. There are cyclists, ballerinas, lacrosse players, you name it. Each of them is signed by the patient with a nice thank you note to the physical therapists at the center.

When I was first diagnosed, looking at these pictures made me feel pretty grumpy. I was still very injured and had just learned it would be 6 months before I could think about participating in my normal activities. I didn't want to think about the active life I was putting on hold.

A week after my surgery, I was back to looking at the photos and a thought popped into my head - "soon that will be me." I looked at the photos nearly everyday for 6 months, and each time, I felt that I was getting stronger and mirroring the healthy people in the pictures. When I felt bummed about my crutches, I'd think about the picture of the recovered skier ripping it up on the slopes. When my friends went to play basketball and I stayed at home, I'd think of the image of the soccer player racing past an opponent. What I've come to realize is that those pictures gave me the inspiration to work hard everyday at my own recovery. Those strangers on the wall motivated me to follow through with my treatment.

How can you harness the power of photos for your own practice to get your patients excited about working with you?

Pictures of your happy patients should line your walls, your reception area, and clinical operatories. Depending on your practice, before and after photos can be a great way to showcase your best work. In venous disease treatment for example, when people see the difference between a leg covered in varicose veins, and a leg that is smooth and beautiful, they will be much more receptive to treatment options. A nice comparison album makes a great addition to any reception area and makes it much easier to sell your services.

I like to include captions with the photos. In dentistry, you could show a porcelain veneer case with the caption, "Porcelain veneers - done in 2 visits." That would impress almost anyone.

My team can help you create an excellent before and after book that works very well. Call 206-419-5407 and we can get started today!