A Difficult Choice
When my son Tyler was moving around for work he went 3 years without a primary care doctor. Despite having excellent health insurance through his employer, he told me a big reason why he didn’t seek out a physician was because in each city there was no clear choice.
Choosing a new physician is one of the most important personal health decisions we make. A good provider is someone who you’ll build a relationship with over time. Your physician looks after your health and helps you navigate the complexities of the healthcare system.
Getting it wrong is a real fear that keeps prospective new patients from scheduling their first appointment.
Helping your patients overcome this fear is key to the growth of your business. Let’s look at 3 steps you can take this year to connect with new patients and earn their trust to schedule that first appointment.
1. Update Your Website
Your website is the front door to your practice. Prospective new patients are going there to get a first impression and learn more about you.
Refreshed Design
If your website still looks like it did in the early 2000’s, then you’re losing credibility. 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website. It pays to update your website every 2-3 years to keep the design consistent with current trends.
Check your website for mobile responsiveness. This means that your website looks just as good, and is just as easy to navigate, on your phone as it is on your laptop. Mobile devices are now responsible for 63% of web traffic. That means if someone is trying to find you, odds are good that they’re on their phone.
Relevant Content
Make their decision to choose you easier by making key information easy to find. Don’t bury it three links deep where it’s difficult to find.
In addition to updating the design of your website, you might as well update the content while you’re at it. Think about what new patients are looking for when they visit your site.
Anticipate the questions new patients might have and make that information front and center. Some topics that might be useful are the specialities and services you offer, your office hours, the insurance you accept, hospital affiliations, and board certifications.
2. Throw A Party
Have you ever considered an open house? When I first started in this business of helping doctors start their business, we often would have a “meet the doctor” open house. An open house can be a great way to open your doors to the community and give people a chance to try before they buy. Open houses can be a platform you can use to introduce yourself and your services to interested new patients.
Of course, you’ll want a good reason to have the open house in the first place. Introducing a new facility, a new service, or a new staff member are all excellent motives for throwing a party.
A physician’s office isn’t the type of place people visit without a good reason. That’s why open houses are attractive to new patients. It’s a great way for them to get a better look and feel for what a practice is all about before they commit to their first appointment.
3. Help the Community
Everybody appreciates a business that gets involved. Community services is really the ultimate win-win for small business owners. They do good for their community and they get a free platform to market their services.
Community involvement keeps your practice top of mind by increasing your brand awareness. If new patients are referred to your practice, they’ll need less convincing to schedule their first appointment if they recognize your name from an event you sponsored or saw you and your team working.
A final benefit of community involvement is the content it can generate for your website and social media platform. Post photos and stories from the day’s events to your blog or Facebook page. Fresh content is the best way to maintain your credibility online.
Practice on Purpose
Attracting new patients to your practice is all about building trust. Today we’ve learned how we can do that through building a better website, opening our doors with an open house, and community involvement.
Of course, none of these strategies matter if we’re not first focused on providing the best care to the patient.
That’s why we’re here. Our mission is to help you manage the business so you’re free to practice on purpose.
Doing the best you can to help those you seek to serve is the best marketing strategy you’ll ever have.
How are you building trust and awareness in your community? What other strategies are you focused on to bring in new prospective patients?
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