Butts In Chairs

While it’s wonderful to have a big (or small) practice location, if it is not busy enough, that’s a problem.

Some of the reasons for the missing butts in your chairs may be:

1. The public may not be aware of your practice.
2. You aren’t standing out in front of your competition.
3. You are not marketing adequately or AT ALL.
4. Lack of availability of appointments in ideal times of day for patients/clients.
5. You and your team may not be asking for referrals correctly or at all.
6. Your marketing is TOO aggressive for us “conservative” Canadians.
7. You and your team are not fully trained on turning “shoppers” into NP’s.
8. You have a website and a Facebook page but they are not being found.
9. Your recall/recare/reminder system is not effective
10. You WANT your practice to shrink because you have had enough!

Well then! Let’s leave the last reason alone for now (see us for the remedy if you are interested in fixing it).

Let’s take up #2 on the list. Basically, this means you haven’t worked out the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your practice and then promoted the heck out of it. Have you ever sat down with your team and figured out what is the main thing that you do better than anyone else that potential patients WANT? This is extremely important, the word “WANT”. While you can probably think up loads of reasons patients or clients SHOULD want your service, it may not be what THEY would want.

If no USP comes clearly to your minds in this team meeting, try doing a survey on your patients or clients over the next week. Ask them, “What made you choose our practice?” “What is unique about our practice that you would tell others about us?”

Bad examples of USPs are: 18 years experience, lowest fees, we love our patients, excellent patient service, etc. These are so overdone no one will be interested in them.

Focus on what really SEPARATES your practice from the competition. What would attract someone to your office. Once you have one or more possible USPs, try them out on a few patients or clients and watch their reactions and get feedback.

For instance, with our own company (The Art Of Management Inc.), our USP is that “we are training healthcare professionals to be the CEO of their own practices.”

This is unique because healthcare professionals often make the mistake of hiring consultants who come INTO the practice and “fix” things with the staff (who will eventually leave or drop out the things they were taught) and leave an untrained “executive” (the owner) in place to try and hold everything together. That is a very short term “fix” and the bandaid eventually falls off. Plus, it is often a cookie-cutter approach as they are not management trained experts doing the consulting.

As well, the owner of the practice is still not a trained CEO in control of their own practice. Our approach is unique in that we not only consult and coach our clients in a very customized way, but also train them as executives so they know how to keep their own practice running at maximum efficiency until they choose to retire. Being in control and knowing what to do can really reduce your stress!

Have fun figuring out your own USP. Write back to us and tell us what you came up with (we’ll keep it secret) or you can run some ideas by us for our feedback.

Find your UNIQUENESS!

For more marketing ideas,
Call 416-466-6217 or click here

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