A Word about "Word of Mouth"

A Word about "Word of Mouth"

Not long ago, marketing was considered taboo in medical circles, even unethical! My how times have changed! In todays world of declining reimbursements and fierce competition, many practices are seeking every competitive advantage possible, whether its a brand new facility with great access, friendly staff or waiting areas with internet access.

My definition of marketing is everything that shapes a consumer or patients perception. Your office environment, the personnel, the demeanor and ability of the physicians, the advertising and public relations effort, even the sign in front of the building, communicate something about your practice. Hopefully, something positive!

Frequently, I hear medical practices say they depend on "word of mouth" advertising, typically followed by a knowing, "Its the best kind of advertising!" To which I reply, "Yes it is!" But to be completely reliant on word of mouth is foolhardy.

You may have heard the tale of Henrys muffler. Henry wasnt a big believer in the power of marketing, allowing his work to speak for itself. He owned a muffler shop that did 99 successful installations in a row; everything was going swimmingly for the shop. But on that 100th installation, the customer exited the shop and the muffler gave way minutes later, clanking into the road. As you might imagine, this customer was quite perplexed at the shoddy workmanship provided by Henrys shop and proceeded to tell all his friends and family about this unnerving experience.

This illustrates the inherent problem with complete dependence on word of mouth, bad news travels like a wildfire out of control. There is a certain level of "expectation of experience" that each patient subconsciously visualizes prior to entering your practice and sometimes the mental bar is set pretty high. If that expectation is met or slightly exceeded the patient will most likely keep that good experience to themselves. Anything less than their expectation will ignite the word of mouth wildfire.

Physicians may ask patients to tell others, offer a unique service, add state of the art equipment or systems to improve the patient experience. These tactics will help garner positive word of mouth marketing. What really works is a consistent patient experience, from one visit to the next, encompassing the cleanliness of the facility to the friendliness of the staff, to the overall length of visit. If a patient returns, they have the first visit in their mental inventory to access as their subconscious expectation of the visit.

There is attrition however. People move, they become disenchanted and most importantly, they get well. With this expected turnover, word of mouth advertising also recedes. With todays busy lifestyles it is hard to imagine that even current patients are out championing your practice.

Marketing is critical in medical practices because it helps to communicate what is unique about a certain practice. In a patients view, a podiatrist is a podiatrist. One podiatrist may, however, more clearly communicate their services in newspaper advertising, editorial articles, websites and so forth. These tools reinforce the positive image that the podiatrists friendly staff, capable physicians and attractive building portrays.

In confectionery terms, positive word of mouth marketing should be viewed as the icing and the strategic marketing effort as the cake. With a shrinking market, its important to get your slice!

For more, visit http://www.medicalmarketing.ws.

Woody Stoudemire is a 17 year veteran of the marketing industry. He is President of Medical Marketing, a Marketing, Public Relations and Advertising firm that specializes in assisting medical practices promote their brand and increase their patient volume. The website is http://www.medicalmarketing.wsDish Employee Garden Olive
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