Strategic Marketing

During a recent discussion with a Doctor of Optometry, the doctor indicated that he would like to increase the number of patients without dramatically increasing his marketing budget. It seems the economic downturn has caused an approximate 40% attrition rate to his practice.

I asked the doctor if he accepted insurance from patients and he stated that he did, but the paperwork and coding for each one was a nightmare. {My impression was that he couldn’t live without the insurance companies and was having trouble living with them.} I then asked if his office tracked the number of people who called asking if the practice accepted their insurance. He indicated that it did not. I suggested that he have his office staff track the number of requests for insurance coverage for a period of time and then concentrate on learning those systems while decreasing the amount of patients from the smaller insurance companies that were so time consuming.

I told the doctor that this study would not cost his office anything in terms of the market study and he would be able to maximum his learning of the coding system and group similar paperwork together while serving potential customers that he is currently turning away. Surprisingly, the office staff for the practice had not thought about tracking the prospective calls that come in to the office.

Lessons Learned: Sometimes, increasing your customer base does not have to cost that much more money. Think about what you are not offering, in relation to what you are offering. Track and measure everything.