Is it possible to convince your patients about your expertise and ‘‘preframe” them even before they step into your practice?
Is it possible to convince doctors that you are THE authority even before you pick up the phone and call them?
Here’s an example of ‘preframing’ versus ‘cold calling’ a doctor’s office.
Cold Calling
Hello, this is Jane Smith calling from ABC physical therapy, may I speak with Dr. Roberts please?
“Dr. Robertson is not available, may I help you?”
The conversation continues.. until you hear.. 
“Please leave your name and number, and the doctor will call you back”
We all know how that plays out.
Preframing
Hello, this is Jane Smith calling from ABC physical therapy, and recently featured in the ______ times, may I speak with Dr. Roberts please?
“Oh, I know you. Hold on while I try and find the doctor”
Something significant just happened. You just made a BIG breakthrough.
Anyone can do this. It just takes planning.
Of course, this is a simplistic example of physical therapy marketing, but imagine if you could apply the law of ‘preframing’ and ‘position’ yourself before anyone even met you, how much would that help your practice?
A successful physical therapy marketing campaign, where you use different media to ‘preframe’ your practice will hinge on 3 factors:
1. The cost effectiveness of the medium (internet, phone, mail, radio, tv)
2. The ability of the media to get your prospects in the right frame of mind even before they have called your clinic (preframing)
3. The ability of the media to identify potential referral sources, on which you your business can spend more time and resources (prequalification)
Here’s How ‘Preframing’ Works
Let’s assume you write an article on injury prevention for a local magazine. You present valuable how-to information on pain relief, exercise 101 and injury prevention and position yourself as a likeable and insightful practitioner. The interview starts stirring discussions about you among patient and physician circuits. People get curious about your clinical skills and want to know more. This buzz turns out to be conducive to patient inflow, and positions you as an expert.
You can leverage this media success to reach more media outlets and progressively build bigger media appearances. This free publicity ‘preframes’ you in the eyes of patients (and referral sources) as an expert even before you have had a chance to interact with them, making physical therapy marketing easier than ever.
Preframing is at work every single day and explains our predisposition for products ranging from personal care to supermarket food choices. When you walk down the aisle, the choices you make are largely dependent on your perception of the product as opposed to its quality and cost effectiveness. The reason you might choose Kraft cheese and Coke over store-made cheese and Pepsi is a classic example of preframing.
How does this relate to your practice?
A call from a patient seeking an appointment because you came recommended by their physician is a classical example of preframing.
The right kind of advertising not only informs the patient about the existence of your practice, but goes the extra mile to preframe them. The phrase “your reputation precedes you” takes on new meaning.
