New Patients Will Come To Your Practice Through Marketing Effectively!
Doctors are constantly trying to find ways to bring in new clients. Ideally to accomplish this you must 1st put together a marketing plan and a financial plan and combine them both along with additional working capital to implement your plan.
Marketing your practice does not have to be an elaborate, expensive process.
Marketing your practice may be something as simple as a new sign that draws attention or new business cards to pass out to everyone you meet.
The goal of every physician is to increase the number of new patients to their practice.
The simplest and the most inexpensive way to perform this is through word of mouth advertising starting with your current clients. This type of advertising does not need any additional cash flow or money to be successful.
By asking your current clients to tell their friends about your practice, you have a untapped mine of clients that will come to you based on the recommendation of your client who may be a friend or relative.
Just let your current client know that if they tell their friends and relatives about your practice and they continue to come in for at least 4 visits in a 60 day period, you will give them a $50 VISA gift card for their efforts at the end of the 60 days.
This is a simple way to market your business without spending large amounts of money.
Many new doctors spend money borrowed from relatives or friends with no specific plan on how to market their practice.
Unfortunately, many do not set a budget and place a sole ad in a local newspaper with the belief this will bring in a large amount of new clients.
Possibly 1 or 2 new clients may come in from a local newspaper ad with the possibility that the doctor may not receive 1 new client in their first initial ad run.
It should be realized that newspaper advertising should only be a part of your marketing plan based on the amount of funds you have available in your budget. It is ideal for know for a fact how much your cash flow is and what your operating expenses are.
You will want to mix various forms of advertising in your medical practice marketing budget
The marketing mix for your medical practice should include business cards, billboard, radio, local newspaper, local magazine along with internet marketing.
You will need to contact each of the various advertisers to set up an appointment with a rep to get an idea of pricing. Ask for proof in regards to what the response rate is and this will let you know if the particular type of marketing will give you a good return on your investment.
You may want to start out on a small scale if you are borrowing from relatives and friends.
Business cards and flyers are ideal if you are on a limited budget. With limited cash flow you can put together 500-1000 business cards for a very low price.
Be sure to include a discount for new clients to grab their attention.
Flyers are another way to marketing without a major amount of cash flow. The best place to distribute flyers would be in a shopping center parking lot close to the location of your practice.
Never place any type of flyer marketing inside of a mailbox. A mailbox is Federal US government property and you are placing your practice in danger of receiving a lawsuit if you ever do this.
Once you have performed basic advertising for at least 6 months, hopefully you will have enough new clients to increase the amount and type of advertising you are doing.
Alternative funding sources such as Small Business Loans Depot offer bank statement loans and medical practice loan programs that are ideal for physicians that have been in business at least for 6 months.
The qualification process for these types of program are not very strict and it is possible to receive from $5000 up to $150,000 in funding that may be used for any purpose including marketing your practice.
It is best to set a reasonable marketing budget so you do not borrow more than you need to.
Once funding is procured and the marketing plan is implemented including the entire marketing mix of advertising many new clients should begin to walk into your medical practice.
Be sure to remind your clients about referring their friends and relatives to your practice.
This will ensure a healthy client base along with a steady stream of income to your business for years to come. Ed Rogers.
