Hey everyone, Rem Jackson from Top Practices.
Patients can only come to you from one of four places:
- The Internet and all of the platforms and things that we use today to utilize that incredible resource.
- Medical and nonmedical referral sources that are around your practice. I've always called that shoe leather marketing, because someone typically not you doctor, unless you're brand new in practice is going out and seeing people face-to-face, making visits.
- The third one is that list of people who know you, like you, trust you, your patients, active patients, really inactive patients, anyone that's ever requested anything from you.
- And the fourth one is anything you might do out - inside the larger community - that involves sponsorships or advertising. Something like that.
I want to talk today about that second area - shoe-leather marketing. Now under normal circumstances, someone's out there making visits, dropping off little gifts and presents, and things like that. Just the things that we do on a regular basis to build and nurture that relationship. You can't do that right now, but you should be connecting with them. You should be making phone calls, sending faxes, emails, communicating to all of your referral sources that you're there, that you're open, that you're taking emergencies, you're taking anything that they need to send to you involving people's lower extremities. You're still that trusted resource that you've always been the extension of their care that you've always been and you're there.
It's also a time to reach out beyond that list of people that you generally work with and expand it and start to reach out to folks that haven't referred to you in the past and let them know you're there. Their referral patterns are interrupted. Everything's interrupted. It's an opportunity for you to step up and be there for them. Also emergency rooms, emergency departments. They can send people your way. Urgent care. Let's do all of that.
So more than ever, we want to be reaching out to those medical and nonmedical referral sources that are there for you. And especially at this time, the medical referral sources, but stay connected to everyone. Just make those phone calls and you'll be amazed at how much business will actually come from there. How much you will help them as they manage their loads. And later I believe you'll have a stronger pillar number two, I call it shoe-leather marketing, than you've ever had. Let me know how it goes.
Stay safe and healthy. We are dedicated to your success at Top Practices. I'll talk to you soon.
Feel free to visit our website at www.toppractices.com, email us at [email protected], or call us at (717) 725-2679.
