A thinly veiled secret in most urgent care clinics is the marginal role that sales and marketing plays in the mores of these organizations. Indeed, healthcare sales professionals tend to be like your Uncle Fred: it’s always nice to see him, but he’s not really woven into the inner fabric of your family.
Why?
To a large extent, urgent care owners have a hard time merging the healthcare side of their clinic(s) with the business side. And nothing seems to embody the “business side” of healthcare more than sales and marketing, which even in traditional businesses is often viewed as the non-serious, expense account, triple martini side of the business.
Your first step in addressing this problem is to redefine what sales and marketing really is—and what it is not. Forget the “let’s make a deal” image often associated with sales; define sales as the vehicle that educates prospective consumers on the virtues of your clinic.
Rule #1: Keep things in perspective. Your clinic staff need not be actively involved in day-to-day sales and marketing in order to contribute. Dedicated sales and marketing staff should be respon- sible for 95% to 98% of all such activity. It is within this other 2% to 5% that involves team members that a clinic can catapult itself from just another clinic to one that is firing on all cylinders.
Rule #2: Define real responsibilities. A bit of cheerleading in a staff meeting (“Let’s all get involved in sales and marketing this year! Rah, rah!”) won’t get the job done. Rather, each team member should have specific responsibilities defined within the context of his or her skills, personality, and the particular needs of the team as a whole.
Rule #3: Be realistic about team members’ strengths. Another way to put it might be, don’t ask somebody to do something they either don’t want to do or simply are unlikely to do well.
I often hear the phrase “I need to get one of our physicians out to the workplace more often.” Realize, however, that some docs wow and woo employers, others are just okay, and others exhibit interpersonal skills that may prove to be counter productive to the sales and marketing effort.
Using a Physician for Sales and Marketing
Invariably, employers love to meet, talk on the phone with, and have physicians visit with them at their workplace. What can an urgent care clinic do to ensure that the physician makes the most of their time?
- Be prepared to ask certain questions and show genuine in- terest in an employer’s
- Know what employers really want to hear and be certain to get these points across during every
Carefully crafted questions indicate that the physician has a genuine interest in the nuances of the employer’s workplace. On a sales call, the physician should ask questions such as:
- “What seems to be your biggest health and safety challenge at this company?”
- “How have you addressed these challenges in the recent past?”
- “In a perfect world, what kind of relationship would your company like to have with a clinic such as ours?”
Physicians should position themselves as company-oriented caregivers (assuming full clinical integrity, of course) by learning to look prospects and clients in the eye and say something along the lines of the following:
“I practice occupational medicine because I enjoy working with others to address the big picture: getting workers back to work quickly and safely, addressing environmental concerns as they may exist, and working closely with companies to develop a plan for optimal workplace health and safety. Toward this end, I try to ensure that we are always on the same page regarding what is best for your company and your employees, both individually and collectively.”
Get Everyone in the Game
A clinic’s marketing staff and physician(s) are only a part of the larger team. Everyone on the team, from senior management through the receptionist(s), should understand that they have a vital contribution to make. The best way to communicate these roles is by listing them as part of a clinic’s marketing plan.
Teamwork in Action: Sales/Marketing Responsibilities
As noted previously, it is important that each team member understand his or her role in the clinic’s sales and marketing efforts. Expectations should vary based on each individual’s respective strengths and weaknesses, but the following may be a good starting point:
Owner
- Articulate the true value and purpose of the clinic’s oc- cupational health
- Make at least one phone call per quarter on behalf of the
Physician
- Participate in one sales call per
- Articulate your personal philosophy as an occupational health
- Succinctly articulate the value of your program’s inter- ventions.
- Participate in clinic tours by asking the “right questions” when meeting visiting
Clinic Coordinator
- Participate in periodic sales
- Succinctly articulate the value of your clinic’s interven- tions.
- Develop and execute a carefully plan clinic
Receptionist
- Ask the right questions, take clinic tour visitors through a prototype registration process, and routinely point out patient flow attributes as
Help is closer than you might think and many, if not all, of your coworkers and employees have something to offer if only you would ask.
Be certain to make occupational sales and marketing a true team sport. It’s the best way to assure a winning record