Here are some basics about physical therapy patient referrals that you should be familiar with.
A patient who comes in through a referral, usually spends more money, buys more often, and is more loyal than other categories of patients. Referrals lead to referrals, which means that patients who have been referred are more likely to refer their own family or friends.
You may have heard of a common myth that physical therapy patient referrals only come from satisfied clients. Clients who are happy with your physical therapy business services, form one of the categories of patients. You can actually categorize the sources for referrals into various categories. To begin with, anyone who knows you or knows of you has the potential to refer you. All you need to do is to leverage your list of clients, friends and associates and show them how to refer you.
So the first tip to getting more physical therapy patient referrals is to educate the people on your contacts list on how to actually refer you. The second tip is automating the process of getting referrals so that you don’t go through periods when you are up till your knees in referrals and then go through ‘dry’ spells. Your referrals should ideally flow to you on a regular basis.
Your physical therapy business should be constituted of 70-80% referrals. With your existing patients, deliver results and go the extra mile to get them to refer you. Show your patients that you care and that you make a difference in their lives. Remind them of how your services and products form such an integral part of their routine. Instinctively, your patients will feel obliged to do something in return by referring you to their network of associates. Do not ignore the fact that prospective referrers may not know much about referrals so you may need to make them aware of how they can refer you to others.
You need to create a system for rewarding referrers as soon as you get a patient whom they have referred. You could send them a thank you note or make a phone call to show your gratitude for the referral. Alternately, you could offer monetary rewards, small gifts or add-on services for existing clients who have referred you.
Using these tips and putting them into a structure will help you start off on your goals for increasing the number of physical therapy patient referrals.