Referral Generators: Unlocking Each Patient’s Potential
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What incentivizes you to make a referral? How can you use that to help your patients become strong, active referral generators? Help your patients see the value in their efforts by embracing social media, building stronger relationships, and providing eye-catching incentives.
By Robert Moberg, CEO ChiroTouch
Think about the last time you provided a referral to a friend. What motivated you to make that recommendation? Was it a superior quality of service? An above-and-beyond customer experience? The best price? Ease of contact and appointment setting? State-of-the-art facilities? Or perhaps it was just that
^One of the most effective and least invasive methods by which to remind your patients of your presence is through social media. 5 5
little bit of extra care you received while you were in the office.
Most of us need an incentive to encourage us to take an action. We eat when we’re hungry, we sleep when we’re tired, and we refer when we’re happy. Since “word of mouth” is one of the most valuable means by which to generate referrals, it makes your clients the most effective new patient-generating machines available.
Socialize Your Practice
The more omnipresent you can become within your core group of patients, the more likely your name will naturally come up in conversation. This means finding ways to remain “top of mind” throughout the individual lives of your patients while they are outside of your ofiice. One of the most effective and least invasive methods by which to remind your patients of your presence is through social media. Social media spreads your reputation as easily as clicking the “Share” button on one of your posts. If you’re not already online, set up a Facebook account in short order and set aside time throughout your week to foster the growth of this important social presence. With Facebook, for example, it only takes a few minutes to remind your patients that your ofiice will be closed. Social media outreach is a task that can easily be delegated to someone in your ofiice, which keeps your time free to see new patients!
Treat Each Client Like Gold
Treat your clients like gold, and you will reap more green. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to fall into a daily grind on autopilot. But therein lies the difference between a good doctor-patient relationship and a great one. Try to give patients something uniquely positive during each visit—no matter how short that visit may be. Maybe it’s mentioning their improvement, asking about their family or career, or wishing them a happy birthday. It takes very little time to write a sentence documenting something unique about each patient in his or her chart, and it can make an enormous difference in your relationship.
Gamification is essentially the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts, and it plays to the psychology of people’s natural disposition to want to win. You can easily use this type of approach to your advantage within your own practice.
Encourage Patients to Bring a Buddy and Reward Participants
What do your patients have aside from themselves that could be of benefit to your practice? Friends, of course! Set
up a bring-a-buddy program and place information around your office in plain sight. Or remind them upon departure to bring a buddy next time to receive a discount on services. Chances aie that they have a friend who would be happy to come along to try out your services at a discount.
Remind Them That It’s Worth Their While
Asking for referrals without providing anything in return is a great way to get— you guessed it—nowhere. But when you add a monetary incentive along with that request, your patients will be intrigued. Place information around your office or send out postcards with a reminder that every referral that patients generate leads to savings for them.
^Asking for referrals without providing anything in return is a great way to get—you guessed it—nowhere. ) )
Make it a No-Brainer
Once your patients have left your office, the challenge of building referrals through your patients’ daily conversations remains. Lower this barrier to entry by making each referral easier. Provide your patients with business cards that have a discount listed, and add a place for the referrer to write his or her name. This makes it easy for patients to offer discounted services to friends and family without worrying that they won’t be recognized for their efforts. In addition, the information about your business, office hours, and location is all easily transferred from one individual to another.
Send Them Off with Swag
The easiest way to help your patients refer you to others is by passive means. Swag is a great way to generate passive interest and start conversations outside of your office. A small investment in swag (coffee mugs, back massagers, key ring flashlights, and other useful items) can make a big difference in your patients’ opportunities to refer you. The
more times your name is encountered throughout your community, whether it is in passing conversation or spurred by your logo on a friend’s belongings, the more opportunities you have to foster a new patient relationship.
Show Your Appreciation
Money may be king, but cultivating with kindness can create a lasting impact that extends beyond the monetary incentive you attach to each referral. Remember to invest in current patients and their efforts through thank-you notes for each new patient they refer, and offer something special to those who go above and beyond to send new patients your way. This could be an extra discount on services, a flower basket, or a gift card with a handwritten note. Invest your energy in your best referrers, and they will invest their efforts in recommending your practice.
Some chiropractors feel uncomfortable taking such proactive measures clearly designed to increase patient visits, but remember that while practice profits improve from such measures, so does your ability to reach out to more people and help those who desperately need your care.
Robert Moberg is a seasoned and tenured business professional with a solid combination of corporate and entrepreneur business experience. As CEO, he has helped establish ChiroTouch not only as a trailblazer in the software industry within the chiropractic community, but also as a stalwart leader in the profession. His commitment to chiropractic is not only evident in the innovations ChiroTouch brings to practicing doctors, but in the countless ways he has led the charge in giving back to the profession. By supporting the state and national associations, chiropractic colleges, and the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, Robert works tirelessly to help raise awareness of chiropractic and the benefits only the profession can provide.
