Many healthcare practices suffer from the Feasts and Famines Syndrome, meaning they experience ups and downs in their monthly billings (other than those caused by vacation periods). For some professions, they even expect that and sometimes even welcome it. “February is always slow so we will take our vacation then.”
However, is there a cure for these ups and downs? The answer is “yes.” There are two key solutions depending on the cause of the monthly swings:
1. If the practice traditionally experiences seasonal fluctuations, the answer is to do extra intense marketing 6 weeks before the known slow period that has been experienced in past years. Dig out all your successful marketing actions that have produced new patients in the past and dust them off and get going well in advance of the predicted slow period. For our clients, this has always helped cure the “peaks and valleys” effect.
2. The other situation is when you get really busy for a month and then you drop out doing marketing. Often this sets you up for a slow period right after (usually 5-6 weeks later). So it is very key to keep a steady marketing plan in place that is consistently done no matter how busy everyone gets.
Consistency is really the key watchword in marketing. Never stop. You can use it as a tap however to regulate the number of new patients coming to your practice, i.e. when you see a slump coming, turn it on full blast, and when you are fully booked into the future, turn it down a bit but not completely.
No more peaks and valleys!
Call us at 416-466-6217 for a FREE Practice Assessment!
