How to Use Statistics, Case Studies
and Testimonials to Gain Referrals

"Marketing" is often considered a dirty word in many professions like medicine, physical therapy and accounting. It shouldn't be. Just about any successful business gets a substantial portion of its business from referrals. That requires getting the word out about your practice -- in other words, marketing.

This week we'll discuss how you can use SpectraSoft Appointments™ to market your business by encouraging referrals in a professional, dignified manner. The examples below focus on physical therapy, but you will find you can easily apply these concepts and techniques to virtually any type of business.

Step 1 -- Identify Your Audience

Create a list of physicians, attorneys and other sources from whom you want to receive referrals. Have you ever created a comprehensive list of all the professionals in your community who should be sending referrals your way? If you haven't, you have no way of systematically contacting potential referrers and measuring your marketing progress. By creating a complete list, you will be taking the first step toward establishing marketing goals and and measuring your progress.

Enter your referral list in your Appointments™ software. Most users only add a referral source to the system after they actually get a referral from that source. By entering all possible referral sources in advance, you can create monthly referral reports in Appointments™ that track your overall marketing progress and let you see the big picture of what you have accomplished with your marketing program and the potential growth that awaits you.

To add a referrer to the system:
(1) Click on Data > Contacts > Data
(2) Enter the requested information for the referrer.
Note: When specifying the Contact Type, it will help your patient care to separate "Primary Physicians" from other "Referral Sources." To add greater detail to your monthly referral reports, you may want to create unique categories for any other types of referrers you are targeting (i.e. attorneys, coaches, medical specialists, etc.). You can add categories in the same window you use to add a referrer.

To generate your referal reports:
Click on Reports > Referral Patterns > Primary Physician
and Reports > Referral Patterns > Referral Source

To track referrers by zip code:
Click on Reports > Referral Patterns > Zip Code

Step 2 -- Crafting Your Marketing Message

Create a reason for people to send you referrals. Why should a doctor send a patient to you instead of someone else? Maybe you specialize in a certain type of therapy...or you have an excellent track record with a category of cases...or you consistently get positive comments and testimonials from patients. Once you descide what your key selling point is...

Use Appointments™ to compile statistics, case studies and testimonials that prove your key selling point. Instead of simply making unsubstantiated claims about your practice, provide solid evidence that allows potential referrers to send you their valued clients with confidence. You can start by putting together basic statistics about your practice. For example, telling a potential referrer, "Yeah, we do a lot of hip replacement cases," is not nearly as impressive as stating, "Yes, 27% of the cases we handle involve hip replacement, and we’ve discharged 80% of these patients in five visits or less."

To create statistical reports outlining your caseload and outcomes:
Click on Reports > Statistical Reports > Diagnosis Summary

To get a breakdown of diagnoses by practitioner:
Click on Reports > Statistical Reports > Diagnosis Usage

To track how many visits were required to discharge patients with a given diagnosis
Click on Reports > Statistical Reports > Outcome Summary.

To locate all patients with a certain diagnosis or treatment code:
(1) Click on Tools > Export/Import > Export Data.
(2) Select a variable from the Clients section that lets you identify each patient
(3) Select a variable(s) from the Appointment Type, Assignment Code and/or Occurance Code to identify the case types you want to review.
(4) Click Export.
(5) Open the exported file in a spreadsheet program like Excel, then sort the data by the "Appointment Type," Assignment Code" and/or "Occurance Code" to find the cases you are looking for.
(6) Look up the cases in Appointments™ to see if they would make good case studies.

Finally, get in the habit of collecting patient testimonials. Most patients who have had a positive experience will be happy to give you a testimonial if you simply ask. Use your Appointments™ system to record these testimonials in the case notes of the patient.

Step 3 -- Contacting Potential Referrers

There are many ways to contact your potential referrers and spread your marketing message. Your goal should be to contact every referrer and potential referer on a regular basis, using a combination of these methods...

Networking Events -- Make a habit of attending local association meetings of physicians, attorneys or other professions so that you can meet your referrers face-to-face. Before you go, practice sharing a few basic statistics about your practice that you gleaned from Appointments.™ When you strike up a conversation with a potential referrer, keep your information brief and offer to email practice statistics, case studies and testimonials when you get back to the office.

Letters -- Create a short letter to send to your list of potential referrers. Briefly state your chief selling point and a few supporting facts about your practice. Then offer to send detailed practice statistics, case studies and testimonials on request. You can also point your potential referrers to a place on your website where you keep this information. Don't just send this letter once -- keep sending it every 2-3 months to everyone on your list.

Postcards -- companies like AmazingMail make it easy and affordable to send creative postcards to your referral list. Again, include some piece of impressive information about your practice on each card, and offer to provide additional information on the web or through the mail.

"Work" Your Existing Referrers -- If you have a referring physician who is happy with your work, ask that physician about other names on your list. When they know someone, ask if you can use that physician's name when contacting other potential referrers. When you are able to say, "Dr. Smith suggested I give you a call," you will gain instant credibility that will allow you to explain more about your practice and send some relevant case studies and testimonials to the physician.

Step 4 -- Blocking Time For Your Referral Program

One key to any successful marketing program is consistency -- continue to attend events, send out letters and make phone calls on a regular basis. Block out time in your column of Appointments™ that you will spend solely on your referral program. That way your staff will respect this time and not interrupt you.

As you contact your potential referrers on a regular basis and provide them with quality of information that few if any of your competitors can match, your referral business should grow exponentially over time. Let us know how you’re doing and if this article was helpful by emailing PMN at newsletter@ssoft.com.

PLEASE NOTE -- WE NEED REFERRALS TOO!
If you are a satisfied Appointments™ customer, we hope you will tell a friend in the industry. When you do, you can qualify for the cash and product credit incentives available through our Referral Program.)