Marketing Strategies for the Wound Clinic: Everything Starts With Trust

Developing an effective marketing plan for today’s outpatient wound clinics is a comprehensive undertaking. This article provides practical advice and first-person experience for program managers to consider.

Wound care clinics are no different than any business when it comes to the importance of understanding the types of qualities that breed success. And that goes beyond just taking care of patients. Additionally, developing a sound business strategy is extremely important. Program managers in the outpatient wound clinic setting must be business savvy to avoid experiencing a wrong shift in the seesaw that is expense versus revenue with today’s constant healthcare changes. Program managers must navigate their “ship” by mapping out a course that carefully establishes order and maintains a path in the right direction. While juggling multiple areas of business that make up the components of one’s wound clinic, the business focus must begin with keeping the customers happy and keeping them willing to come back for future treatments as needed.  This article will discuss the patient as the “customer” and how wound clinics must market to them, as well as to the other customers (ie, physicians, allied healthcare departments, referring facilities). These are the types of people who make choices on where to receive/refer services, and their experiences will determine whether they and/or their patients return. We will also cover basic marketing strategies for program managers to consider for their clinics. Whether relying on “reputation marketing” or word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM), program managers must address a plethora of barriers in order to yield results. Note that prior to executing any marketing plan, it’s recommended to learn about local, state, and national regulations that may apply to healthcare facilities. Healthcare marketing consultants and internal marketing departments are a great place to start.

THE MARKETING PLAN 

As healthcare providers, we often don’t look at our practice settings as places of “business.” While that may seem like the right perspective, we also have to be cognizant of the fact that every encounter with our patients will affect our program’s financial bottom line. According to one report,¹ the five qualities that most successful businesses have in common are: 1) being customer oriented, 2) focusing on marketing, 3) having a process for hiring the best talent, 4) implementing a positive corporate culture, and 5) having a singular vision. While we all know it’s important to have a business plan, a marketing plan is as equally important. A marketing plan can help program managers focus on how to tell others about the services and/or products they provide and what the expected plan of action will be for patients. The marketing plan should acknowledge business strengths, opportunities for expanded services, and what sets the clinic apart from the competition. Marketing communication related to the clinic’s services should occur online through a company website and through printed materials (eg, brochures, flyers) that could also be distributed at the clinic. The communication must be targeted to a specific audience — demographics and geographic areas must be considered. Where will referrals come from (for instance)? The marketing plan should also include a list of goals and how those goals are assessed. Internally, this helps program managers understand whether marketing efforts are paying off. Some metrics to track include the rate of new referrals, referral sources, leads, customer feedback, revenue gained or lost, and/or returning customers. Next, determine which methods of marketing will be utilized. Examples include billboards, print advertising, digital media, television, and radio. Analyzing the rate of return on money spent is also a cornerstone to any marketing budget. Internally, being a marketer can also mean being a patient advocate and assisting others via community outreach programs. It’s not all about numbers.

GAINING TRUST THROUGH ACTION 

Building trust takes time and a lot of work. It requires demonstrating credibility, consistency, and transparency. As one who works in a rural setting, this author began building trust locally by attaining a certified wound specialist (CWS) credential, which demonstrates competence and provides proof of proper training to improve wounds. The credential also opened doors to better communication with physicians and other parties. But a credential can only take someone so far before the attention becomes rightly focused on outcomes. According to one survey, when customers trust a brand (service), 83% will recommend the company to others and 82% will continue to use that service frequently.² So, let’s talk about how customers can begin trusting one’s wound clinic. It all starts by providing great service to achieve the best possible outcome, meaning evidence-based care. The only real way to know how to determine if a service met people’s expectations is to ask them and gather feedback. At our healthcare system, this author’s involvement includes gathering that feedback after the patient’s first encounter and when any “problem” arises. This not only helps to identify trends and to make attempts at correcting any issues, it also may help decrease cancellation rates. To illustrate this, a study determined that 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91% of these people will simply leave and never come back.³ A patient’s feedback should be viewed as a tool that gives a healthcare provider the chance to evaluate his or her care. Trust begins when customers feel that the provider cares. Additionally, any comment from a customer that is less than favorable can be a great way to begin improvement. In most cases, customers don’t speak about good experiences, but they will let us know when they are disgruntled or if we failed to deliver.   

WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING 

Concentrating on customer service, a positive experience, and creating trust will be the most valuable and cost-effective marketing efforts to utilize. Customer recommendations will go further than any marketing or advertising. Consider these statistics:

• A dissatisfied customer will tell 9-15 people about their experience.⁴
• Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people.⁴
• Negative interactions with a business are spread to twice as many people as positive interactions.⁴
• People are twice as likely to talk about bad customer service than they are to talk about positive experiences.⁴
• 67% of people spend money after getting recommendations from their friends through online communities such as Facebook and Twitter.⁴
• Happy customers who get their issues resolved tell 4-6 people about their experiences.⁴

WOMM has been determined to be the most valuable form of marketing, as it’s truly based on customer service and experience. In a recent study, 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe WOMM is the most effective form of marketing; however, only 6% said they have mastered it.⁵ To illustrate how powerful WOMM is, many years ago in one rural town (“where everyone knows someone”), it was a common thread that the only time someone went to the local hospital was to get a band-aid on the way out of town. The new chief executive officer of the hospital changed that culture rather quickly, and the hospital began earning awards, getting recognized in several care categories, and developing programs to help the community. One of the programs developed was starting a comprehensive wound care center. It was important to partner up with a management company to continue changing the culture and provide optimal care. Two years later, this author is still proud to be associated with this wound clinic and the dedicated co-workers who are better than anyone could ask for.  This team is led by a very compassionate, hard-working, business-oriented director — Jamie Fontana. Without her at the helm, “our ship would sink.” Our main marketing strategy has been to deliver the best possible care one patient at a time while educating others. Two years later, our referrals continue to escalate, we’ve received multiple awards, and our saving of limbs continues as a team effort. By concentrating on outcomes, consistency, and customer experience, our WOMM has continued to be the best marketing strategy in a rural town where outward migration to bigger cities was once hurting referrals.

REPUTATION MATTERS

Reputation marketing is only meaningful and successful if you concentrate on your clinic’s reputation. Have you surveyed your customers, physicians, outside entities, and others to see what they think of your service line? Soon after we opened our clinic, one of our interns assisted in developing Part 1 of a survey series to our community throughout the continuum of referral sources. We were able to address and correct all of the issues that were reported as barriers to our referral sources. Much later, we developed Part 2 of the survey, which sought feedback from patients, and now we have completed Part 3, which will be sent to physicians in order to seek feedback about our clinic. In today’s social media-driven environment, it’s no longer good enough to just “Build it and they will come,” because it’s more important to have satisfied customers to sell your services to others. Interestingly, 72% of buyers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations,⁶ 70% trust consumer reviews posted online,⁷ and 70% of consumers trust a business with a minimum of 6-10 reviews.⁸ 

READ MORE LET'S BE FRANK

Frank Aviles Jr. is wound care service line director at Natchitoches (LA) Regional Medical Center; wound care and lymphedema instructor at the Academy of Lymphatic Studies, Sebastian, FL; physical therapist/wound care consultant at Louisiana Extended Care Hospital, Lafayette, LA; and physical therapist/wound care consultant at Cane River Therapy Services LLC, Natchitoches.

References

1. 5 Qualities Successful Businesses Have in Common. SurePayroll. 2017. Accessed online: www.surepayroll.com/resources/blog/qualities-successful-businesses-have-in-common

2. The Six Drivers of Trust. Concerto Marketing Group and Research Now. 2009. Accessed online: www.slideshare.net/nickblack/brand-trust-the-six-drivers-of-trust-2193957

3. Are You Underevaluating Customer Service? 1st Financial Training Services. Accessed online: www.1stfinancialtraining.com/Newsletters/trainerstoolkit1Q2009.pdf

4. Bughin J, Doogan J, Jørgen Vetvik O. A New Way to Measure Word-of-Mouth Marketing. McKinsey & Company. 2010.Accessed online: www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-new-way-to-measure-word-of-mouth-marketing

5. Whitler K. Why Word Of Mouth Marketing is the Most Important Social Media. Forbes. 2014. Accessed online: www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/07/17/why-word-of-mouth-marketing-is-the-most-important-social-media

6. Local Consumer Review Survey. BrightLocal. Accessed online: www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey

7. Consumer Trust in Online, Social and Mobile Advertising Grows. Nielsen. 2012. Accessed online: https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2012/consumer-trust-in-online-social-and-mobile-advertising-grows.html

8. Reputation Marketing Solutions. WebUnlimited. www.webunlimited.com/ reputation-marketing