Choate Consulting

Online Consultation Productivity Analysis

Wendy Brown — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:58:43 +0000

Choate offers cost effective alternatives for Full Practice Assessments for Plastic Surgery and Dermatology Practices-

Choate’s unique, cost-effective On-Line Consultation Productivity Analysis (CPA) service could only be offered by an organization like CHOATE with its 12 year track record in marketing and Internet technologies. CHOATE works exclusively with plastic surgery and dermatology practices.

The On-Line service is based on a unique Consultation technology used by CHOATE for more than a decade that provides an efficient and cost effective consultation experience.

Your practice will receive a personalized, in-depth examination of your market, competition, staff, financial resources, practice technologies and business tools to create a plan of action you will have confidence in. The methods employed parallel the methods that are employed in the more comprehensive on-site consultations that CHOATE has performed for more than 12 years. These consultations have helped to give the physician owner a true look at his or her practice from the experts that know what to look for.

Step 1 – Critical practice background information will be gathered through the use of a special data collection instrument covering all critical marketing issue of your practice. Your consultant will conduct a conference on line or via phone to create your milestones to reaching goal. Some of the items we will examine for but not limited our examination to will include:

Complete Financial Review. Confidential benchmarks available to compare your practice to others similar to yours.
Office business technologies
Service offerings and packages
Staffing configuration and compensation
Facility & floor plan review (by video/photos if needed)
Current marketing and internet programs, website assessment report
Current issues that need immediate solutions

Step 2 – Your consultant will prepare a documented summary of your marketing and practice management recommendations to improve your marketing results and productivity.

Step 3 – Two additional monthly, one-hour follow-ups virtual consultations will be conducted by appointment for the completion of the 90 days with you to answer any questions and confirm that you are implementing our new ideas in order to create an increase in revenue.

Step 4 – Using the compiled recommendations you can expect to see significant benefits. If more time is needed past the 90 day point you can elect to engage your consultant to provide you with additional time at a fee-for-service basis determined by the project’s needs.

Benefits

Consultant objective diagnosis with directions based on your goal and specific needs.

Efficient implementation from your consultant’s coaching for the first 90 days of your customized Plan

Fast realization of your practice goal with guidance

Lean Mistake prevention

As a result of Choate Consulting years’ experience in conducting audits and setting up marketing plans of hundreds of plastic surgery and dermatology practices we are able to expertly diagnose problems that impede your practice’s economic success. With this service we are quickly put into a position to provide you with recommendations to improve the economic vitality of your practice.

Fees range depending on how may providers and locations practices have. Fee depends on the quality and method of data provided to CHOATE. An on-site visit and on-site staff training can be provided for an additional fee if required.

For more information as well as to learn more about all of the services Choate provides including provider recruitment and web/SEO solutions please email or call 617-532-0659.

Phone Interview

Wendy Brown — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:28:19 +0000

Getting your email newsletters opened by your patients

Wendy Brown — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:52:42 +0000

The reason I am focusing on getting your marketing emails opened, is that no matter how great your marketing message or offer is, unless that potential new patient or existing patient actually opens and read it; it’s not going to generate the results you want.

How to get your emails opened

So, how do you quickly determine the best way to get your marketing emails opened? Simple: You keep copies of the marketing emails, which you have opened and you ask your contacts to do the same.

Then, you look at them and see what lessons you can apply to your own practice!

Email marketing clues

Once you have looked at the marketing emails that either you or your staff has opened, you need to start looking for clues. By the way, it would be particularly useful if you could get existing patients to let you know the kind of marketing emails they have opened, as they are the profile of people that you want to target.

Here are just a few of the clues, which you may find when you examine those successful emails:

The email was sent to you; from someone you know and trust.
The email came from a person or company, which you remember subscribing to.
The subject line contained the correct spelling of your name.
The subject line contained the name of a person or business that you know personally or professionally.
The subject line contained a few words that got you curious.
The subject line contained a bold statement, which grabbed your attention.

Many great marketing opportunities are missed by practices, simply because their emails never get opened or read. The practice often thinks the message or the offer was read and there was no interest, when the reality is that too few patients actually saw it. Don’t let this happen to you!

Email marketing is one of the most effective and cost effective marketing tools on the planet – So long as you use it correctly.

It is all in the sign? Or is it?

Wendy Brown — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:49:56 +0000

Not many years ago, doctors had the luxury of putting a sign outside their office and the patients would follow. That sign was their marketing. Unfortunately, time has moved on and gone are the days that a sign outside your door alone will grow a successful practice. Patients today are consumers. We’re taught to seek information, shop around to find the best deal. That used to be just for cars, but it’s now carrying over to the medical care we seek, especially when it comes to elective procedures.

Your potential patients are consumers, they are savvy. They want more information about you and they need to know you exist! No longer can you stand on your reputation and a sign on your door. It’s time to get out and reach the patients you need to grow your practice to new heights. I know this can be scary and, hey, it’s not your specialty! We get that!

If you need help with the first steps in starting your marketing campaign, give me a call and I’ll be happy to put your mind at ease and walk you through getting started.

Simply Marketing

Wendy Brown — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:51:18 +0000

Think about yourself as the medical professional; to receive your training and the abilities to serve your patients, you went to school, seminars, trainings, and the list goes on and on. You most likely attend these trainings on a regular basis to keep up with your skills. Your patients need to be educated as well!
Marketing is simply nothing more than educating your potential patients on WHY they should chose YOU over your competition. They need to be educated on your skills, your services, your reputation, the experience you will provide to them, and how you care about them. They need to know why you are the expert and the physician they should choose and trust for their healthcare needs. We live in a world where information to educate your potential patients can be found everywhere. You want to make sure that not only is that information accurate, but that it’s about you!
Don’t let your competitor educate your patients; educate them yourself, about you! Educate your patients to recognize your name through your branding, visit your website for the information they desire, come experience your practice and your skill, then teach them to educate, educate, educate their sphere of influence as well!
When you think of your marketing in terms of “educating” your potential patients and your current patients, the process really very is simple; the physicians with the “smartest” patients win!
And, when you need to “educate” yourself on how to market your practice, we’re here for you. We know the challenges you face when deciding on what marketing strategy to use and we know that it can be overwhelming. We get it! It is our passion at Choate Consulting to create “Marketing Superstars” on your team and be the marketing partner you’ve been looking for. Give us a call!

Tracking the advertising dollar

Wendy Brown — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:32:05 +0000

I was encouraged that there are practices out there who are implementing strategies for tracking their advertising dollars. This is one of the most important elements to a marketing plan, how can you know if it’s working if you aren’t measuring the results? Secondly, I realized that this is a hard concept to really get a grasp on. This is a road block for many practices and it can require trial and error before getting the right fit for your practice. However, it will be well worth the extra work in the end.
If you are looking to implement new methods of tracking your advertising dollars or you are reading this and realize you neglect to measure what’s going out and coming into your practice, here are a few helpful hints. Think about how you are asking your patients, “How did you hear about us”. Are you leaving it an open-ended question or giving them options to choose how they heard of you? Use descriptive language when formulating that question and ask them several times throughout the phone call and appointment, but make sure you track those answers. Get creative, and make sure to get entire office involved and on the same page in implementing these tracking strategies.
If you feel like you’ve missed the boat on tracking your advertising, or you just don’t have the knowledge you need to make it work in your practice, I am here to help.

Elevator Speech

Wendy Brown — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:28:27 +0000

Those of us in the sales and marketing world know the “Elevator Speech” all too well. It is the 10-15 second introduction of you and your offerings, whether it be your services or products you sell. We know that in a carefully crafted elevator speech, we can inform and entice our listener and a poor one can turn someone off, all in the matter of quick elevator ride to the top.

You may be thinking, so how does an elevator speech apply to the physician’s practice? Simple! It’s repeated numerous times every day! When an existing patient or potential patient calls in and says to your receptionist, “tell me about the doctor” or “tell me about your practice/procedures”, do you know what is being said? It’s important to work with the person in your office who is the first point of contact for every patient calling into your office. Coach them to be informative, but enticing. They should be able to smoothly deliver the 15 second overview of your practice and the services you have available to your patients. From that quick response, your potential patients will either be intrigued to dig deeper, be more specific about their needs, and ultimately schedule an appointment. Or, they will be turned off, end the conversation, and move on to your competitor. Your choice!

If you need help with making your best first impression, give me a call to discuss my coaching services available for your staff.