SIMPLE IDEAS TO INCREASE DOCTOR REFERRALS 3
Want more doctor referrals? While you don’t want to be reliant on physicians, you don’t want to ignore them, either! Similar to patient marketing, it is important to take the time to plan before initiating a program for doctors. Here are some easy steps to get started: COMPILE AN EXISTING CONTACT LIST First, list all the practitioners that referred to your clinic in the past month. Then, expand that list to the past quarter or the past year. This will provide you an understanding of your top referrers. Especially if you have been in business for several years, you might not have kept up with new offices or practitioners that have come into town. Or, with recent healthcare changes, doctors may have changed practices or regrouped into new organizations. • Do research. Search online for new providers who you would like to see referring to your clinic. Target those in geographic areas or with specialties that would compliment your patient demographics. For example, if you treat a lot of athletes, look for orthopedics or sports medicine doctors nearby. DEVELOP A NEW CONTACT LIST • Now that you have a comprehensive list of doctors in your area, it’s time to develop your marketing plan. Your marketing needs to stand out in the crowd! MONTHLY MAILERS Sending a trifold brochure each month is very consistent and keeps your contact info fresh in the doctors’ minds. This is also a great way to share your expertise and patient testimonials. 1 • Good for: consistency; easy to plan; works well for communities with a high number of providers; also helpful for rural communities where offices might be far apart • Not good for: your only source of marketing. You will need to integrate additional efforts to successfully target the medical community.
2 HANDOUTS Develop a series of high-quality handouts relating to common diagnoses treated by your providers. Handouts are the perfect leave-behind for a marketing office visit or luncheon. It’s also important to make sure to leave several copies, especially ones for the front desk and referral coordinators. • Good for: distributing contact info to new providers; adding value to office visits; sharing the great results that can be achieved through your services. • Not good for: marketing to existing referrers. If a doctor already refers to you, they know that you’re an expert from their patients’ feedback. Handouts are better for marketing to new providers. OFFICE VISITS Building referral relationships takes time. It’s almost like you are courting the doctor and their office—and it has to be genuine. 3 • For existing offices: change up your game! You have probably done the morning coffee, lunchtime sandwiches, or afternoon snacks. Try something new. Bring in a great testimonial from a patient referred to you by the office and thank them for sending the patient your way. • For new offices: make the first move! Find something in common with the doctor and staff—do you both sponsor little league teams or are you members of the same professional organization? Start the conversation and offer to visit and meet in person. You could even give a workshop to their staff about fixing shoulder problems, etc. Follow up the visit with a thank you note to the doctor. Also, don’t be afraid to include a specific web page with results and referral information on your website. The bottom line: don’t be reliant on doctors. But don’t be afraid to market to them, either! And if you do, it’s best to have a plan. At Practice Promotions, we provide powerful marketing services that increase your word-of-mouth referrals, get past patients back, and fill your schedules.
GET A FREE SAMPLE KIT!
Looking to 2x Your New Patients? With This Kit, You Can Do It! Visit PracticePromotions.Net/Kit to Claim Your FREE Sample Kit!
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5