You know I’m always looking for marketing inspiration and, to be honest, it’s not really that hard to find. You just have to keep your eyes open and your marketing hat on.
Case in point, I just came back from doing a marketing boot camp for one of my customers in Florida and after a morning of non-stop marketing brainstorming we headed out to lunch. There was a new place close to her office that had just opened up and she was dying to try it. As soon as we walked through the front door we were greeted by a manager who welcomed us, asked us if we had been there before, gave us a menu, explained the order process and directed us to the line. Nothing earth shattering, but the place was crazy busy and if he hadn’t been there we might have just walked right back out. His greeting and explanation made all the difference. We felt welcome and after the explanation, in the loop. Warm fuzzies.
Bring it on
At the end of the day, I headed up to Fort Lauderdale to visit some friends who recently moved there from Connecticut. We bopped around to a few places before ending up at the Casablanca Café. The place is super fun and it has a piano bar but it was the coasters that caught my eye. The coasters say “we’re glad you’re here!” Love it. More warm fuzzies.
Are you bringing the warm fuzzies? You might be thinking ‘how can I bring the warm fuzzies to O&P?’
Elizabeth Mansfield
I know a practitioner who handwrites a thank you note to the referrer every time they send him a new patient. He’s bringing them.
I’m not in patient care anymore but if I were and I got a call from a sales rep thanking me for my business or a card and it wasn’t the standard end of year holiday greeting card but something “special” like the anniversary of our first order with them or even better, the anniversary of our opening date, that would bring them.
Welcome new patients
We can’t all have greeters meeting people at the front door but how warm and fuzzy would a new patient feel if someone met them at the front door the first time on their very first visit? We all have calendars and appointment schedulers and we have a pretty good idea of when someone is coming in for their first visit. Why not meet them at the door, hand them their “menu” aka paperwork and explain how the whole thing works. Wow. I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about what that would mean to a brand new patient. If anyone tries it, let me know.
