WebPT Blog - Physical Therapy Marketing
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0 CommentsFeb 6, 2012| Lindsay Bayuk
When it comes to marketing your physical therapy clinic, most of the commentary out there has to do with referrals from physicians. This is no doubt a key to creating a successful practice, but there is another base of referrals that is equally as crucial to nurture. I am talking about referrals that come directly from your existing patient base. Word of mouth referrals are the most powerful.Having your services recommended is the best way to establish trust in your community. Becoming an important part of the overall health of the community is a sure fire way to create a sustainable business.- Ask one patient a week for a testimonial
- Email your discharged patients quarterly with new exercises
- Write a weekly blog & share topics with current patients
- Ask for referrals on your clinic Facebook page
- Volunteer for a 5K Race
- Contribute an article to your local newspaper
- Host an educational stretching class at your clinic for all patients
- Include your professional business card with patient discharge documents
- Schedule one hour per week to make follow up calls to recently discharged patients
- Create a referral contest for current patients (the top prize could be an iPad)
The bottom line in all marketing, regardless of marketing to physicians or to patients, is to develop relationships. Meaningful relationships with the customer base you already have will lead to peer referrals that can be hugely valuable to your business.
What tactics have you employed to nurture referral patients in your practice? We’d love if you could share one idea that has worked for your practice. -
Jan 5, 2012| Mike Mannheimer
One of our New Years Resolutions this year is to tap into the brilliant minds that are a part of the WebPT member base. We have over 8,000 members, many of them in private practice, and I think we could all benefit from tapping their collective knowledge. Between guest blogs and interviews, you will be seeing a lot more WebPT customers around here ready and willing to share their wisdom.
I recently had the opportunity to pick the brain of Adam Banks, CEO of NY SportsMed in Manhattan. This month we are talking all things marketing, so I wanted to see what a business minded clinic owner had to say about nurturing and growing a sustainable referral base.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, your practice, # of clinics, staff, location, years in business.
I run NY SportsMed in Manhattan. We opened our doors 5 years ago and each year we have made major investments back into the business. We opened 3 locations in the first 4 years. Our total staff consists of about 55 employees, inclusive of 14 physical therapists and a host of support staff. Each of our 3 locations located in very high-density areas of NYC and are very close to major transportation hubs. New Yorkers tend to be very neighborhood- centric. It was important for us to have multiple locations so patients don’t have to travel too far out of their normal commute to see a physical therapist.
I am not a PT. This has given me a unique perspective on the practice and has actually been a big help in building our business. I don’t look at the business the same way practitioners do. I am currently pursuing an MBA so that I am better able to manage a large and rapidly growing company.
Tell us something we wouldn’t know about NY SportsMed.
NY SportsMed has had the opportunity to work with some pretty famous clients. One of our PTs traveled with Bruce Springsteen’s band. Krista Simon was Clarence Clemmon’s personal PT. Krista actually went on tour with them, traveling the globe. She developed quite a bond with Clarence, so much so that he even mentioned her in his book. We were very saddened by his passing last summer.
What is one thing you think PT’s need to know when marketing to physicians?
Maybe its cliché, but I would challenge PTs to think outside the box and make it memorable. This past Christmas we must have gotten 14 baskets of candy in the week before Christmas. We received so many that we couldn’t keep track of who sent them. We decided to send Apple Nano’s as a “thank you” to our best referral sources last year. They are $50, about the same cost as a decent basket, and I know that we will be remembered for them. If you’re going to send a basket, be the first one to send it or send a Thanksgiving basket instead.
