It’s the end of the week, you are relishing a big chunk of chocolate after just finishing a hearty meal at this real fancy place, then all of a sudden some approaches and tries to solicit more business. Bam! The spell is broken.
I tend to get giddy like a little girl, when the week is winding down and its time to go out, have dinner at a nice place and probably catch a movie or Broadway show. I don’t know about you, but all I want to do is RELAX on Saturdays and put my feet up.
Well, that was the goal, when my wife and I went to this cool place called “Max Brenner” in NYC last week.
This young server came up to me, while my mouth was full of 80% cocoa chocolate and asked “Sorry to bother you, but would you be interested in joining a special ‘chocolate membership’ where you can enjoy future meals at a 30% discount”
“Thanks, I’m good. Perhaps next time?”
Just like that, she had been brushed off, never to be seen or heard off again.
Maybe, if she said; “May I have a moment?”, I’d say, out of common courtesy, “Sure!”
“Hi! My name is Anaida. I have a special one-time offer today. You can get a whopping 30% discount each time you come back, so you can enjoy more and more chocolate! To take advantage of this, all you do is fill out your information and drop it in the little red box before you leave. Thanks and enjoy that chocolate – boy, that looks good”
I would have filled it up and made a beeline for the red box, sure.
When you are marketing physical therapy services and soliciting for new patients, how do you make sure to avoid the chocolate-loving-Anaidaism?
How do you know what to say and how to say it?
There are only four key pieces of information you need to provide your patients during each communication point.
1. who you are (an introduction or a reminder)
2. what you can do to help them
3. why they should listen to you
4. how they can be helped by you (contact information)
For example, ‘Hello this is Mark from ABC physical therapy. I have exciting news for you today. For a limited time, we are reopening our low-back pain prevention workshop to a handful of people. This will teach you some insider strategies to take care of your lower back. To register before spots fill out, please call 555-423-1234 or email support@abctherapy.com.’
During the stage of developing your Physical Therapy Marketing plan, sticking to the basics is the key. All we need to do is keep it simple, and the results are bound to be as sweet as the chocolate I was enjoying that day.
