FRANK H. LEONE, MBA, MPH It began with two cavemen, or even before: Bartering. Fair trade. A transaction where both parties (theoretically) walk away satisfied that they got a positive return on their exchange. This concept persists to this very day. At a minimum, your urgent care clinic should understand return-on-investment (ROI) for two occupational health staples: work injury management and pre-placement physical examinations. Work Injury Management Employers need to get workers back to work …
Read MoreAnatomy of an Occupational Health Sales Call
FRANK H. LEONE, MBA, MPH “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, tell ’em, and tell ’em what you told ’em.” —Mark Twain Urgent care clinic operators would be well advised to keep in mind Mark Twain’s advice on how to approach a speech or a paper; the same sequence applies to an occupational medicine sales call. In Phase I, it is best to articulate a clear objective for your sales call and provide …
Read MoreLeveraging Existing Relationships to Generate More Business
FRANK H. LEONE, MBA, MPH Urgent care clinic operators tend to think of increasing employer-generated volume primarily in terms of new prospects; that is, they tend to believe that growth is attained primarily by expanding their client base. But in many cases, there is as much—if not more—opportunity inherent in selling additional services to existing clients. And “cross selling” to existing clients is just one of many potential advantages that your clinic can accrue by …
Read MoreKeeping Your Ear to the Customer
FRANK H. LEONE, MBA, MPH “Keep your ear to the customer” is a central tenet of effective marketing. Awareness of how your services are used and valued can be especially important in a field like occupational medicine, where the people you treat are often not the ones who contract for those services. There are many ways to keep your ear to the customer, and there are many customer subgroups. “Customers” might include patients, employers, carriers/payors, …
Read MoreOcc Med Programs Need Business Plans, Too
FRANK H. LEONE, MBA, MPH In all likelihood, you wouldn’t dream of opening a new urgent care clinic without first putting together a business plan. Doesn’t it make sense that key aspects of your overall business would benefit from the same careful planning? Data from the Urgent Care Association of America indicate that over 60% of urgent care companies offer at least some occupational medicine services; nearly 5% of locations offer occ med exclusively. Putting …
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