The customer experience is one of the most valuable aspects of most companies. From the moment a prospective patient calls your practice to them leaving a 5-star review, every touchpoint is an opportunity to show how impressively your business is run. Customers are looking for great experiences and quality results and this starts with the right patients finding your practice and your team setting the right expectations.
The three aspects of a successful practice discussed below are integrally tied together to create a holistic marketing strategy that is built to continuously pick up momentum as time goes on.
1. Customer Service
Did you know most consumers use customer service as a deciding factor in whether or not to do business with your practice? Creating a positive and stress-free experience for your prospective patients starts with customer service. Your team needs to be competent in providing personalized information in a convenient matter, while also being proactive. Even if you are one of the best plastic surgeons in the country, if your customer support team cannot properly answer the basic questions your future patients need to schedule a consult or appointment then you have a serious problem on your hands. From your receptionist to your patient coordinator, it is important that they are trained to your standards. Training is the main reason why most practices underdeliver in this arena, as most practices rely on their reps to train their team for them instead of investing in direct communication and customer service training.
At MD Internet Marketing we help our client’s customer-facing team excel in customer service by teaching them best practices and using the best training tools available. Our team can help secret shop your practice or record a few calls with potential patients to listen and make adjustments where necessary. Also, having a Live Chat product on your website gives your prospective patients a convenient way to ask questions at any time.
2. Reputation Marketing
Are you monitoring your online reviews? Whether or not your practice can provide great customer service will show up in your online reviews. Your online reputation plays a significant role in influencing a patient’s choice of a plastic surgeon.
Check out this recent publication of MD Internet Marketing’s President Logan Pence who was recently published in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Click here to read “Patient Reviews: Yelp, Google, Healthgrades, Vitals, and Realself” https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Abstract/2020/12000/Patient_Reviews__Yelp,_Google,_Healthgrades,.38.aspx
Having a couple of negative reviews across Google, RealSelf, Yelp, etc is normal, as we cannot please everyone but with a proactive strategy, your practice can have a system in place to generate new 5-star reviews every month so that when you eventually receive a negative review, it can be dealt with or worst case scenario buried with the ongoing review strategy. The more positive reviews your practice can consistently generate, the more your practice will grow.
At MD Internet Marketing, we know reviews alone can show you the soul of a small business and how they really treat their clients. We actively acquire reviews for every one of our clients, and have helped them gain over 2000, 5-star Google reviews.
3. Before and After Photos
Your work is the reason you are in business. Showing off your incredible transformations and having your before and after photos up-to-date and optimized can help you in the long run. Update, optimize, and improve your photo gallery by:
a. Adding 4 sets of before and after photos to each procedure page to help breakup the content
b. Having at least 10 sets of before and after photos for each gallery
c. Show your best results on the 1st page and remove dated photos
By adding your best results to each procedure page, it will show off your work where your prospective patient is doing their research. Also, share the before and after photos on social media. #TransformationTuesday is a popular hashtag. Another great way for prospective patients to see before and after photos is to get your patients to share their after results by tagging you on Instagram. Seeing real people with real results will truly set you apart from your competition, and it shows future clients the whole patient experience.
For most of our practices, 2020 was a growth year and a year of learning to be adaptive. At MDIM, we are always ready for the unexpected, we never call in sick or close for any reason, so when the pandemic hit and our clients needed help adjusting their marketing strategies, we had access to multiple agencies in multiple markets, already making adjustments before everything had to close.
It’s no secret how to make your practice successful. The answers, the tools, and the teams are out there, you just have to want to look for them. There is an abundance of free, industry-specific resources available from multiple vendors that when used properly can help set up any practice for a successful year. Here is a list of some of those resources.
For 2021, we are keeping the positive momentum going. With over 15 years of industry experience we understand what your business needs to grow and stay ahead of the competition. With real expert insight, we provide you with the tools you need to stay on trend and prepare your practice for success! Contact MDIM to learn more.