Marketing 101

When it comes to running a practice, don't make the mistake of thinking that medicine is above money. Call it a career, call it a vocation, but call it a business, because your accountant does. The simple fact is; patients mean profits, and practices are like any other small company battling for market share. They need to attract consumers. So why do so many physicians recoil at the prospect of marketing their services?

It's an emotive issue, explains Stewart Gandolf, co-founder of Healthcare Success Strategies and a leading practice marketer. "There's a stigma attached. Doctors mistakenly believe there is a correlation between how good a doctor you are, and how busy you are," he says. "So doctors who need to market are bad doctors, and look needy and sleazy.

"It's a mistake, because there are good doctors who market and there are bad doctors who market. It helps both get business."

It's a concept that has divided the market neatly into doctors who are paralysed by their principles, and those that understand the need for practice promotion. As Gandolf says: "It's a window of opportunity for the smart, but most physicians sit around and wonder what happened."

If the perception that marketing is a dirty word is holding you back, a short aphorism could help. Put simply, says Rachael Sizeland, founder of RAS Marketing, if you aren't out marketing your services, somebody else will be.

"Even if you're an excellent physician, patients won't be queuing up in your waiting room if they don't know you exist," she explains frankly.

But if the thought of promoting your services brings you out in a cold sweat, don't panic. Marketing is not all about slick, big-budget advertising campaigns. "It is not the same thing as selling," says Gandolf. "It's about building the product to match what the customer needs, not trying to get the consumer to fit the product."

What this translates to is effective, low-cost methods that can build your profile without snapping your purse strings. And, as with all successful businesses, it all comes down to pleasing the customer.

Marketing to the converted

When it comes to promotion, your current patients are your best assets. As Aileen Culligan, account director at Dubai-based public relations firm Asdaa, outlines; "In healthcare, it is a market of habit. Doctors and patients build an emotional bond and doctors need to focus on patient loyalty. They can get patients by word of mouth."

Even better, says Gandolf, it costs nothing to cultivate them. "Patients already have a level of trust in you. Asking them for referrals, following up appropriately and giving them a good experience is your highest return on investment.

"Patients may have had great healthcare, but give them a little extra, and it will open the door to recommendations."

While acknowledging that many doctors feel uncomfortable about asking patients to refer on friends or family, Gandolf argues that physicians that don't ask, don't get. "A lot of practices are perceived as busy, so if you're not asking for referrals, patient won't think to do it."

So how can you encourage word-of-mouth recommendations? In this instance, a cutting-edge logo or a 10ft billboard isn't going to cut it. Instead, it's about learning to think of patients as more than a medical record. "The real issue is the product," Gandolf stresses. "It's the sum total of the experience the patient has. Do you find ways of making billing easy for them? Do you smile at them? Do you treat them as individuals?"

Dubbed ‘internal marketing', your success in this approach can make or break your practice. According to a survey by Healthcare Branding Group, a poll of 3,000 senior level executives from the healthcare sector showed that more than 40% of respondents marked patient experience as the driving force behind consumer perceptions of medical facilities. "Whether you know it or not, you're marketing to your patients every time they contact your practice," Sizeland says.

Typically, patients look for clear and simple reasons to choose one healthcare provider over another, explains Matthew Pearman, an account director for PR firm Memac Ogilvy. So, while high quality care is certainly important when it comes to customer appeal, it can be difficult for patients to assess.

"I think, if you ask someone in the street to distinguish between, say Welcare Hospital and The American Hospital; in my opinion, I don't think they could identify the difference," Pearman says.

Instead, explains Gandolf, patients use proxy measures to determine value. For example, in a restaurant, if the tables are dirty, customers subconsciously believe that the kitchen is dirty. In the minds of diners, grubby tablecloths equate to sloppy food hygiene. If your waiting room or your bedside manner is shoddy, patients have less faith in your skills. "Patients judge what they can't see by what they can see," he says. "So a way of differentiating yourself is simply by getting to them on time, and treating them well when you see them.

"Stand out from the crowd in terms of your service, and you'll do better than the guy down the street."

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