Monday, January 30, 2012

Customer Service IS Marketing


It doesn't matter if they are a patient, a caregiver or referral source. It doesn't matter if they are a potential customer or have been doing business with you for years. It doesn't matter if it's with your clinicians, customer service rep, driver, sales rep or you. One of the fundamentals of marketing that I repeat over and over again is this: every interaction your company has with a customer is an opportunity to strengthen or weaken your brand. 

Wordle: customer service

In fact, paying attention to customer interactions is one of the best (and cheapest!) marketing tools available to you. Last week I found the perfect example to share with you. The Today show ran a segment about "How To Fire Your Pediatrician" with the intention of empowering parents to find a new doctor if they don't feel their needs are being met. It's clear that patients need more than just a correct diagnosis and a prescription – patients need customer service. Red flags such as missing serious medical problems are common sense, but many times it is the patient interaction problems that turn patients off for good. Here are two comments that viewers shared about interactions with their doctors:


"My daughter had dark rings forming around her neck, so I took her into the doc. The doc told her that she was too fat. Knowing that my daughter was just getting past an eating disorder. I asked the doctor if that was appropriate language to express weight concerns to a child? She told me that she calls it like she sees it."

"Twice...two different states. Both times it was because the doctor was already out the door before I could ask questions...and the second one was always distracted!"


While this example focuses on pediatricians, this is valuable feedback for any health care provider. Let's review: Neither of these comments have anything to do with the actual medical care they received. Yet these parents felt strongly enough to not only leave their health care providers but also put energy into sharing that negative experience on the social media site of a national news organization. What do you think they shared with the other parents in their communities about those particular doctors?

 Now, imagine these are your patients. You might be discounting these feedback comments: Perhaps the woman with the overweight daughter is just oversensitive and was offended by a physician's honesty. Maybe the woman with questions asked crazy and irrelevant ones. There are a million and one ways for you to guess how the negative reviews came to be but the reality is that the damage is already done. 

The best weapon you have here is to pay attention to those interaction in the first place. Be proactive!! Try making a list of all the points where a customer interacts with your company. What kind of experience are you delivering? Is your staff friendly? When patients call with questions does your staff sound bothered? Or are they helpful? Does a patient get greeted when they walk into your facility? Do your clinicians make time for questions during home visits? Are your drivers courteous on the road? Do calls get returned promptly? How easy is it to get questions answered? Are your sales reps behaving professionally in referral offices? Are they respecting Medicare marketing guidelines? Do you have informational/educational materials you can distribute?

Once you can put yourself into the customers' experience, it's easy to note all of the little things that make or break a long-term customer relationship. Remember, these are details that are just as easy to polish as they are to let slip through the cracks. So be positive, be proactive and protect your great brand with quality customer service!


P.S. As always, if you like what you've read here and want more information or some help getting started, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Content Marketing: Your Secret Weapon




"What really decides consumers 'to buy' or 'not to buy'
is the content of your advertising, not its form."
David Ogilvy



Ok... maybe it's not that secret, but content marketing has been growing in popularity for one very important reason: it works.

If content marketing is a new term for you, have no fear, it's a simple concept. Rather than purchasing flashy tools or distracting giveaways, content marketing is a strategy of focusing your marketing efforts around quality, informative, relevant messages to your consumer. It doesn't mean that some giveaways aren't also important; they just shouldn't be the workhorse of your marketing plan. The idea is to create deeper connections with your current and potential consumers to facilitate long-term relationships. For example, a monthly newsletter filled with relevant content is much more valuable to the middle-aged sleep apnea patient than a pillow shaped stress ball with your company logo on it.

This article from Entrepreneur (written by Ann Handley) does a nice job of outlining some basic tips for developing your own content marketing. Here are a few of the suggestions from the article:

Compare: Why are you better than the next provider? That's what your potential customers are asking when they visit your website for the first time. Does your website give them an answer? Try including a downloadable PDF with your features, benefits and why you are better than the HME down the street.

Use Resources Wisely: This happens to be an old Girl Scout motto (at least when I was a Brownie!) but it works in business, too. The success stories of your current patients - and referral sources - are great stories to tell about your company. Use them.

FAQs: This an opportunity for you to create some transparency and share how you do business. Especially in health care, sometimes there are more questions than answers and giving some of those answers up front can help potential customers feel more comfortable from the get go.