In three words, how would you hope your patients would describe your practice to friends and relatives when you’re not about to hear what they say?
This is an important question, as often, people will say one thing when they’re in your practice and another when they’re in the comfort of their own environment and circle of friends. Why is it so important? Because what people say when you’re not there is what your true brand is.
Most practices have a fairly clear idea of what their brand is, however, the problem is your brand is not always what you think it is; it’s what your customers think it is. To break it down, your brand is manifested in your reputation.
We all know that word of mouth is the strongest and most effective form of marketing…but only if the words that are coming from people’s mouths are the right ones for your business.
Customer power and influence has never been greater than it is today. Word of mouth goes much further and much quicker in today’s consumer society, with online feedback sites and social media carrying people’s opinions to a much wider audience.
So, let’s think about those three words…
Friendly, caring and professional?
Dynamic, cool and funky?
Innovative, modern and cutting-edge?
Whatever your words are, you need to ensure that every member of your team understands the image that you’re trying to convey and that they all buy into it. Then it’s up to the whole team to make it real and bring it to life in everything they do.
It’s a simple case of cause and effect. If you want people to consistently talk about you as the most friendly, caring and professional practice in your town (effect), then you have to deliver the most friendly, caring and professional experience to every patient (cause).
You can use your three words as a measure against everything you do along the patient journey. Challenge yourself as to whether you’re bringing the words to life at every point of your patient experience. If you’re failing to do so, use your team meetings to generate new ideas for enhancing the patient experience in line with the feelings you want them to take away.
It’s a very simple premise, if you want more of your patients to talk to more people about your practice, then give them an experience that’s worth talking about! The stronger and more unique the story, the more people will talk about it.
