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. 



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!

Internal Marketing Works

Internal marketing refers to the way you "sell" your company to its employees. Communication is the foundation of successful internal marketing. Your brand is created by all the people who make your company work from day to day: customer service reps, drivers, sales reps, receptionists, clinicians, purchasing, warehouse... Every interaction they have with a patient/referral/vendor is an opportunity to enhance your brand. It is important that each person understands the brand positioning of the company they work for and what it means to them - and that can only happen when it is clearly communicated.

Take the time to think about how marketing translates to each department. Obviously your sales reps will be armed with marketing materials to explain who you are and what you do. What about the receptionist? When patients or referrals call, are they greeted in a way that is consistent with impression the sales rep created? Try making small changes in the way you communicate branding throughout your company by simply paying attention to the details of everyday business. It can help to put yourself in the place of the patient, referral, vendor or co-worker and ask: "How would I want to be treated/spoken to/managed in this situation?"

The best bet is to make the internal marketing train-of-thought part of your everyday routine. If you make a marketing decision that affects your customer service department, don't forget to keep them updated. If your drivers will be handing out marketing materials on their route, help them understand the role they play. I like the way Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson explains internal communication in a recent article about time management:

"You can build good communications into your company's DNA by ensuring that discussions are built on openness, clear language, and a willingness to listen to everyone who has something to say, from the person at reception to your top manager. Make sure that people's curiosity is encouraged. If they have made a good suggestion and have seen results in the past, your employees will ask questions and be persistent, which will help them to solve problems they encounter."

This type of communication is a long term investment into the culture of your company. If you're hesitant about applying the idea of internal marketing, just start small and you will get the hang of it. And if you would like some help getting started or would like ideas for how to incorporate your marketing efforts company-wide, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me! 

(P.S. I recommend reading the rest of the Branson article. He doesn't have his own Caribbean island because he's bad at business!)

Element #4 - Don't Get Bullied By Your Budget

It's the six-letter word that can feel like a four-letter word: BUDGET! Planning a marketing budget can be difficult, especially if you're just getting your feet wet. But don't let your budget bully you into making poor strategy decisions for your marketing plan. Below are a few tips to help you be boss of your budget:

1. Set a budget early in the process. Once you start spending money on marketing, it's easy for expenses to snowball. Make sure you (and your team) are on the same page about your budget. Is it annual? Quarterly? Is it solely for marketing costs? Who approves expenses?

2. Shop around. Once you have an overall budget in mind, it's important to research the cost of materials. (You may want to do with while creating your initial budget figure...) Remember that design, printing and advertising costs will vary greatly. Keep in mind that many of the vendors you work with for your marketing materials could have extra fees for revisions, design work or proofreading. Try to contact at least 3 vendors for each new project to compare pricing and services.

3. Your budget is not too small. Don't get me wrong... there will be times when your budget will limit what you can do, however, doing zero marketing because of a small budget is no excuse! From social media to online printing, technology has been great for marketing; it means you have many tools available with cost-effective solutions. Don't let your budget keep you from greatness.

4. Ask a lot of questions. Marketing is a very diverse and creative field which means there are a lot of ways to do the "right" thing for your business. If you have questions, ask. There are no dumb questions! VGM is a great resource and, as always, you can contact Anna at Laboratory Marketing.

Element #3 - Always Adapt

It's officially trade show season. The VGM Heartland conference wrapped up last week and Medtrade will be here before we know it. It's no surprise that much of the buzz is about competitive bidding, audits and technology. The home care industry, especially DME, is in a time of transition that can be enough to make your head spin... 

Change can be scary, however, it is also inevitable. Instead of finding yourself frustrated, try to see each new challenge facing your company as an opportunity to adapt - and succeed! 

For example, when Medicare dictates you communicate more with patients about refills/supplies, get your team together and start brainstorming. You will come up with an idea, that idea will become a plan, that plan will become action. If your course of action doesn't accomplish your goal or meet your expectations, it just means the formula isn't quite right yet. Use your team to help identify strengths and weaknesses of the plan, readjust your actions and move forward.

Sure, that may seem too simple but remember that "simple" and "easy" are not the same thing. Simple planning strategies are what enable you to cut through the clutter of worry and stress in order to focus on overall goals, to adapt. Besides, if it were easy everyone would do it and you aren't just anybody, right??

Element #2: Contacting Your Medicare Patients: Dot the I’s and Cross the T’s

Contacting patients is essential to both the success of your patients’ care and the success of your business. Strong communication with patients will help strengthen the patient/provider bond by keeping them updated with clinical and promotional information. While masterminding your strategy for patient communication, remember that part of developing effective lines of communication means understanding the limitations. Though Medicare is now encouraging providers to maintain regular contact with patients regarding supplies/refills, it is easy to be confused by the “do’s and dont’s.”

For example, a section of the Social Security Act prohibits unsolicited telephone contact by suppliers. One of three conditions must be met in order to contact a Medicare patient by phone. Section 1834 (a)(17)(a) of the Social Security Act states:

(A) In general—A supplier of a covered item under this subsection may not contact an individual enrolled under this part by telephone regarding the furnishing of a covered item to the individual unless one of the following applies:

1. The individual has given written permission to the supplier to make contact by telephone regarding the furnishing of a covered item.

2. The supplier has furnished a covered item to the individual and the supplier is contacting the individual only regarding the furnishing of such covered item.

3. If the contact is regarding the furnishing of a covered item other than a covered item already furnished to the individual, the supplier has furnished at least one covered item to the individual during the 15-month period preceding the date on which the supplier makes such contact.

Common sense may tell us that being a patient implies consent to be contacted by you, however, the law is not so black and white. As far as I am concerned, requirement number one, listed above, is the simplest way to avoid potential pitfalls when calling patients: get their consent.

The single best way to get patient consent is to just ask. When new patients come to you, have them fill out a consent form. Let them know how they will benefit from communication with their health care provider and assure them their contact information is secure. Existing patients can be asked to complete the form upon their next visit, the same way insurance information is updated. By openly collecting contact information and consent, you not only meet the Medicare requirements, you also take the first step to building patient trust and communication.

If you have any questions about how to contact patients or need help putting a consent form together, please send an email and I will be happy to talk with you!

P.S. There are also federal guidelines about contacting people through email. These guidelines apply to everyone, not just Medicare patients, but the solution is the same: Get consent.

Element #1 - Read, Read, Read

I was fortunate to have some great teachers along the way who exposed me to articles and books written by philosophers, psychologists, politicians, scientists and artists. I didn’t always agree with the opinions I read but, among other things, it taught me there are always multiple sides to every issue.


The same is true with marketing. Marketing is a buzz word right now which means there is a lot of information from a lot of sources. Read everything you can - even if it doesn’t seem to relate to you, even if you disagree with what you read. If you are new to marketing, reading will help to familiarize you with some of the basics. If you’re already a pro, reading will keep you current and spark some new ideas. Simply ‘Googling’ topics and searching through the results is a great place to start. Here are a few of my favorite resources to get you started:

HME Business (April 2011) Editor's Note

HME Business
More likely than not, you are familiar with HME Business. There is plenty of information on their website and you can also subscribe to the magazine for free. It isn’t dedicated to marketing but mentions it frequently. In fact, the April 2011 issue Editor’s Note (written by editor David Kopf) is all about ramping up HME marketing efforts.


Marketing Profs
This website has a wealth of information broken down into brief, easy to understand articles. Sign up for a free membership, you will learn a lot!


Entrepreneur - Sales & Marketing Section
Dedicated to small business, this website has a lot of information for business owners about marketing and beyond. The Sales & Marketing section contains resources from how (and why!) to create a marketing plan to tips for improving your social media.


You’re doing all this reading... but now what? Start applying your new marketing savvy to what you’re already an expert in: your company. If you get excited by a sales idea you read about, ask yourself how that works for your patients. Did learning about company blogs interest you? Start writing about topics relevant to your patients or referral sources. Just remember to trust yourself. If you get stuck, send me an email!