Referrals

Referrals should be the lifeblood of any practice. In fact i can probably tell exactly what is going on in your practice by the number of referrals you are getting. Less than 10 a month, you got big problems. 10-20, doing ok, over 20, your doing it right! Pretty easy. that is the number per month by the way! So, if your not getting over 20 a month, lets do things to improve! Most of getting referrals is taking good care of the patient in the office. Now, that doesn’t mean making them feel better or giving them great care, in fact, that has little to do with getting referrals. People expect you to be good clinically, it is not surprising, you should be helping people, that is your job! That is the biggest thing i can tell docs about referrals, you will not get them for being good clinically, i can promise that! You must exceed expectations to get referrals! How do you do that?

All the little stuff in the office. Too much to go over here. But, friendly staff, well dressed, nice office, smells nice, looks neat and clean, updated furniture, painted in last 5 years, etc. All that adds up!

Best tip to increase referrals? Paint the office! if its been more than five years, paint the office, referrals will go up. Keep the office neat and clean. Get the carpets steamed at least once a year. Trust me, this little stuff adds up! If you paint the walls and steam the carpets, your referrals will go up! Another easy in office idea is to mix up the decor. Patients get bored looking at the same thing over and over again. Move the furniture around, change the pictures around, mix things up!

Ok, you must wow the patients to get referrals. How? Here are some ideas, New patient welcome box! all new patients get a welcome box mailed to their house. Monthly newsletters, birthday cards! Send your patients birthday cards, there are companies that will do that. We use storybook publishing for both newsletter and bday cards! Tell them i sent you for a discount! Go to http://www.stoneybrookpublishing.com/, ask for Sheri, she waves the setup fee for all my clients. Tell her Dr Fedich sent you for a special deal and free setup!

Here is the big one that will bring them in! Send them a shock and awe package. When a new patient comes into our clinic, we immediately mail them out a priority mail box with some goodies in it! Its a small box that we stuff with goodies and a welcome letter. What do you put in there? Make it relevant to you. We include a customized ice pack, one of the bags to bring to grocery store with our logo on it, few samples, and some small things. Get some customized stuff with your logo on it. We have also gone to oriental trading and bought some inexpensive stuff there to put in. This one will really impress the patients. WE have a stack already made up, and when the patient comes in, you personalize it and send it off!

Oldie but goodies! Patient treatment calls. Call all the patients after the first treatment. Old but effective. How are you feeling, better same or worse. Record how they are feeling and talk to them about their care. This goes a long way. Think how impressive, the patient gets a call from the doctor after the treatment, then the next day gets a box in the mail from you? This will inspire referrals. Most referrals come in the beginning of the patient coming in, so, impress in the beginning!

Referral thank you! Sent something for the referral. Now, many states have laws about how much you can gift patients, as well as federal laws with medicare and medicaid. Look up your laws. But if you cant send a small gift, send a handwritten card, probably even better.

What else? Internal events. We do events in our office all the time, wine tasting, pet adoption, appreciation days, etc. Give your patients something to talk about

Ask them for referrals!

Give them tools for referrals, free consult cards, emails, etc!

BUMP UP YOUR REFERRALS TODAY!!!!!