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Is Your Practice in a Whole Different League?

Ritz-Carlton and Motel-6 are both essentially hotels.

But they are in completely different leagues.

If you need the cheapest place to stay for a night, Motel-6 is your choice.

If you want a second-to-none luxury experience, of course Ritz-Carlton is your pick.

But in both of these scenarios, you aren’t debating “between two hotels.”

They are the same thing-ish… but they are in different leagues. There’s really no comparison.

And you want the same positioning for your practice.

Your practice and the discount chain down the street may offer the same service… basically.

But you want to establish that your practice is in a totally different league.

If you look at your local competition and the hotel scenario, you have one distinct advantage and one clear disadvantage.

Bad news first – you probably don’t have the established brand of Ritz-Carlton (and if you do, raise your prices by 50% and go get wealthy now. What are you waiting for?).

Any goofball on the street could give you the basic differences between Motel 6 and Ritz-Carlton. And that’s actually an advantage to both companies, and a testament to the brands they’ve built.

It’s different in your line of work. Most people think LASIK is LASIK. So that’s a problem.

But now your advantage: Unlike the need to find a cheap, no-frills hotel – and many people have that need from time to time – no one wants to cheap out on medical procedures.

Even most price shoppers – when actually pressed – don’t want the cheapest surgery.

This is your advantage as a premium healthcare brand that doesn’t cut corners.

The challenge is communicating this throughout the patient journey.

By the time someone has gone halfway through your process, it should be crystal clear to them that you are the Ritz-Carlton of eyes. And all those other places… they’re Motel-6 contrasted against you.

When you can position yourself like this, price concerns fade away because there’s literally no comparison. You’re in a league of your own.

And if someone wants the utmost care and treatment for their most precious sense (sight), they only have one choice – you.

But before your patients can believe that… your team has to believe it.

Fix your team’s mindset first. That’s the first domino.

And yes, that’s a challenge. So shoot me a message if you want the roadmap of shortcuts to the premium practice mindset.

Get Creative and Monetize Your Assets (Major League Baseball did)

Pro baseball is back-ish.

If you’ve caught any of the MLB games on TV, you’ve noticed one feature conspicuously missing: The fans.

Like the NBA and other pro sports leagues, Major League Baseball is playing all their games fan-less.

But that minor detail hasn’t kept them from monetizing the seats in their stadiums.

Many MLB teams have sold cardboard cutouts to place in the seats. For $50 – $250 (depending on the team), you can have your photo printed on a life-size piece of cardboard and placed in the stands.

The result? Teams have made hundreds of thousands of $$ selling… cardboard.

Now compared to selling out a stadium for a game, that’s small potatoes. But it’s an extra half milly they wouldn’t have had otherwise. And it serves a dual purpose of deepening the relationship between the team and its fans.

Consider how teams normally monetize seats? They sell tickets to people who sit in them and watch a game.

But they can’t do that right now. So teams got creative, and figured out alternative ways to monetize one of their most valuable assets.

This is a principle you can apply to your practice now and even once all this pandemic insanity is over.

Practices like yours have many assets they can leverage, but they often just don’t. This is a huge mistake that results in thousands of $$ left on the table.

For example, how do you normally monetize your inbound leads? Turn them into patients. But what about those who haven’t booked a consult? Can you offer them something else? Follow-up with them? Re-engage? Book a discovery call with them?

Your non-converted leads are an asset waiting to be activated.

So are your past patients, your community relationships, your social media channels, the business next door to you, your website, your knowledge, your team, your 5-star patient reviews. All assets.

It just takes a little creativity to think, “What assets do I have, and what are some ways I can use them that I haven’t considered before?”

Creative Asset Activation is one of the leverage points we cover in our Top Docs Method Workshop. Message me if you’re ready to scoop up “Found Money” that’s hidden in your practice right now.

[VIDEO] Making patients comfortable to come into the office during COVID-19

I’m keeping a close eye on what’s happening with Round 2 of COVID restrictions.

Separating fact from fiction is hard. Are cases really spiking? Are re-tested people being double-counted as new cases? Are “probable” cases being counted? Is this armageddon? Is this a farce?

We could spend all day looking into this stuff. But then we wouldn’t get any work done, would we?

Bottom line is, I can’t control it. So I choose to focus on the things I can control.

One of those being:

How can we do our best to make sure patients are comfortable coming into your office?

We’ve worked with our clients to create content around explaining the safety protocols that are in place in their offices:

Wearing masks/gloves
Stringent cleaning methods
Temperature checks for team members and patients
Remote check-in from the parking lot
Etc

This is important information to convey, but these types of content have a natural “sterile” feel to them. And that’s good, they need to.

But sterility on its own feels cold and robotic. For example, think about the masks and how they keep people from seeing your smiling face.

Are masks necessary? Sure. But they do limit the personal connection you are able to make with your patients and prospects. There’s just no way around that.

So that sterile feeling needs complimentary content to balance it out.

And no, I’m not saying you have to make a silly, dancing Tik Tok video. (Not that those are bad, and if you want to do that, feel free).

The balance needs to be personality, passion and optimism.

I had a conversation with a client about this earlier this week. We were talking about the best ways to make patients comfortable and welcome in the office.

My recommendation was to make a short, energetic, welcoming video from the doctor. This should be sent to patients before their appointments, and also posted publicly on social and your website.

In fact, I made a sample video, which you can find linked below.

(When you click the link, it will take you to a post. Scroll down the post to watch the video).

Now, this video isn’t perfect, and it shouldn’t be. That’s part of its appeal.

I encourage you to take 2 minutes to watch it, and note a few things:

1. I start with a mask and take it off for a reason – this gives a “behind the scenes” feel, and you can see my smiling face.

2. I reiterate the cautions we’re taking in the office – just another reminder to help patients understand and help them be compliant.

3. I try to be warm, welcoming and positive. Just because we’re taking these precautions doesn’t mean we need to be solemn and cold. We can have fun and be happy at the same time we’re being safe.

4. I include a comment about different people having different feelings about the Pandemic. Some of your patients think this could be the end of civilization. Some of them think it’s the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind. Regardless of where someone falls, you want to create a sense of unity and work-together-ness as best you can.

This doesn’t have to be a fancy video. In fact, I argue that it shouldn’t be. It should feel a little bit raw.

Bonus: The less “polished” it is, the easier it is to shoot.

Sharing this kind of content reminds people of your humanity and your excitement to serve them.

And in our current world soaked in sterility, suspicion and despair, this type of content is a welcome contrast.

Take a look, and then make your own.

– Troy “Forever Optimistic” Cole

PS – I reiterate that this video is not – and should not be – perfect. If you’re aiming for perfect, it won’t get done. Aim for real. Just be your awesome self.

Be the person who loves your patients and wants to give them a sense of peace and hope. Because that’s why you’re in this line of work in the first place, right?

What Can You Control During Coronavirus?

The Coronavirus situation is changing day by day, sometimes hour by hour, and no doubt it’s causing a lot of unrest in uncertainty in your practice.

While there are many things out of your control right now, you do have a few things you can control:

Your response to what’s happening
The way you address and encourage your team
Your activities during this downturn to set yourself up for success once it’s over (or at least calmed down)

Specifically now is a great time to tackle any long-term projects or back burner tasks that you’ve been waiting to accomplish.

I wanted to share a few of the areas where we’re helping clients during the current situation.

Maybe this can give you some ideas for how to best use your time and prepare for the pending upswing once everything starts to return to normal.

Updated Social Ad Campaigns for Coronavirus

If you’ve read my previous emails, you’ve seen me talk about advertising opportunities right now.

I understand the desire to conserve budget, and I think you should.

But I wanted to tell you what I’m seeing on the social media ad side, from my clients who are still advertising there:

Ad costs are down 20-50% (depending on demographic we’re targeting)
Leads are still being generated (Most clients who are still advertising on social have seen little, if any, reduction in the number of leads coming through. Some have even slightly increased the number of leads generated)

We’re crafting new creatives around the fact that people have extra time on their hands, so “take our self-test” or “schedule a virtual consultation” and find out your options, now that you have some extra time.

If you can spare a few hundred bucks a week, social advertising (primarily on FB and Insta) is a good marketing buy right now. For less than the price of one TV commercial, you can get a week’s worth of solid coverage on social.

Conversion Rate Optimization on Your Website

I’m not a fan of website redesign projects.

Yes, they’re necessary from time to time. But they’re typically expensive, long-winded and generally a mammoth undertaking.

But there is a way you can quickly improve your website without redesigning the whole thing.

Look at your highest trafficked pages (the ones that get the most visitors), and make sure they are as user-friendly and as conversion-friendly as possible. This practice is commonly known as Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO).

Maybe it’s time to update the copy. Or add some buttons for your self-test. Or update the videos you feature. Or all of the above?

Online Reviews

It’s a great time to catch up on inviting patients to leave you reviews.

It helps with SEO, it helps with referrals, and surveys show 8 out of 10 people trust an online review as much as a personal recommendation from a friend or family member.

Coronavirus disaster or not, 5-star reviews are high leverage marketing assets.

Your patients are sitting at home without much to do. Keep sending your review requests and build your army 5-star reviews.

Web/Blog Content

If your blog is a wasteland, it’s a good time to get some posts out there.

They don’t necessarily have to be about Coronavirus – I recommend creating evergreen content like “5 Outdoor Activities Our Patients Love After LASIK” or “Answering The 4 Most Common Questions about Facelifts.”

Google likes seeing “new content” going up on your site, so this can help with SEO. It also gives you something to share on social media.

And if you go the evergreen route like I suggest, you can still use the blog posts in your marketing long after the Coronavirus situation is handled.

Virtual Staff Training

Staff development is one of those things that we know is important, but it gets put on the back burner because you’re so busy.

If you have extra time right now (and most practices do), it’s a good time to consider this.

Earlier this year, we started rolling out our virtual sales training program, based on the DISC profile of human behavior.

Obviously this type of online, virtual format is ideal in our current “social distancing” situation, and a great way to get teams trained up and ready for the resurgence of business (even if they are working from home).

Online courses are another good way to facilitate staff development, even remotely.

You’ll have to figure out how to budget for something like this. (What we’re doing in our program is a “Train Now, Pay Later” approach – deferring the actual payments until practices are up and running and creating revenue again. )

Prepping Future Campaigns

Might as well take some time to think through your marketing strategies and campaigns for the reminder of 2020.

I’m taking the approach that the worst will be behind us by the end of April, and things will start to upswing.

Maybe that sounds crazy to you. And maybe it is.

To be clear, I’m not *predicting* this. But I’d rather be ready and delay if necessary, than be unprepared and try to catch up.

That means we’re getting summertime graduation campaigns, teacher appreciation campaigns, military appreciation campaigns, new reading vision campaigns and summer cataract campaigns ready to roll.

In Conclusion

While you and your team have extra time on your hands, think about what you can do – what you can control – to set yourself up for success once everything is back in full swing.

That should give you plenty to chew on for the weekend. If you have questions, hit reply and let me know how I can help.

And if you find this useful, please pass it along to a colleague. We all need to work together to get through this.

[VIDEO] The “PSA Method” for Creating Simple Social Videos

As I write this essay, we’re 3 weeks into the Coronavirus quarantine in the United States.

It stinks, but we gotta get through it.

It’s time to get a little creative.

Which is why I’m talking about video today.

You probably already know video plays an important role in modern marketing.

In case you don’t (or if you do but don’t know why), here are a few key stats:

Mobile video consumption doubles every year.
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text.
7 out of 10 customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video.

And of course there are all kinds of stats to support video specifically on social media, including:

Over 1.9 billion people use YouTube (about 1/3 of the internet)
Social video gets shared 1200% more than text and images combined.
Facebook has over 8 billion video views per day.

Despite all that, practices don’t create enough video. I hear a few common reasons for this, maybe some of these sound like you:

I don’t have time.
I don’t have a good set-up to create great-looking video.
I don’t like being on camera.

I want to address each of these:

Time – You have it now.

If you aren’t doing surgery for the next few weeks, you have extra time. And doing video the way I recommend only takes a few minutes anyway. (more on that later)

Good set-up – You don’t need one.

Yes, there’s a time and place for polished, high production video. If you have those, awesome.

But those aren’t the kinds of videos I’m talking about today. People want to see your raw, real, in-the-moment comments.

(Especially in times like this, when it feels like the world is spinning off its axis. People want a leader, and they want a human connection.)

This looks better filmed on your iPhone or your laptop camera vs. a fancy studio set-up with perfect backdrop and incredible lighting.

Don’t like being on camera? – Neither do I. Neither do most people.

Which reinforces why video is so powerful.

I get it, you’re a doctor, not a TV host.

But if you can get on camera and just be mildly engaging, it lends you instant authority and credibility. Partly because you’re doing something most people are uncomfortable doing.

What I’m saying is, the bar is pretty low. And as an expert in your field, you’re more than equipped to get on video and do an adequate job.

Alright, now that we’ve addressed the reasons why most practices don’t do video…

It’s time for some new video content.

“What kind of videos should we do, Troy?”

So glad you asked.

You want to create what I call Simple Social Videos – bite-size pieces about one piece of one individual topic.

Here’s an example:

I work with a lot of LASIK surgeons, who might think, “Well, I could do a video about LASIK.”

But that’s big topic. So break it down.

How Much Millennials Save When They Have LASIK in their 20s
Can People with Astigmatism have LASIK? Here’s the Truth…
LASIK vs. Contacts – Which is *Actually* Safer?
Virtual Consultations – Get a LASIK Evaluation from Your Couch? (super-relevant at the moment if you aren’t seeing patients in your office)

You could even break each of those down into 2-3 more specific themes.

Whether you do vision correction, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry or plastic surgery, the concept is the same.

You probably have 3-5 big categories of service you offer, right? But when you break that down into sub-topics, FAQs and patient stories, you can quickly create a list of 100 Simple Social video topics.

How long is bite-size?

As a rule of thumb, anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. But they can (and should) be longer if necessary.

There’s a general assumption that people don’t have long attention spans, so they won’t watch longer videos. That’s absolutely not true.

People will binge-watch 10 hours of a Netflix series in one sitting.

If your message is focused and engaging, people will watch, regardless of length.

But if your message is all over the place, it doesn’t matter how short it is. People will tune out.

Once you have your topics, how do you formulate a simple video script?

This is where I normally get overwhelmed. Which leads to… not doing video.

I wanted a way to simplify the scripting process. I knew if I could overcome that hurdle, I’d be much more likely to take action.

After some experimenting, I ended up putting together a simple scripting flow that fits on an index card and takes 2 minutes to create. It’s working well for me, and I hope it’s useful for you too…

Rather than type it all out, I explain it in a VIDEO (surprise, surprise) on my Facebook page.

Click the link below to check out my “PSA Notecard Method” that lets you plan an entire video in just a couple of minutes…. so you can share your message in a clear, concise way without rambling.

Click here to check it out:

Hey look, I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t create enough video content, for largely the same reasons you don’t – time, setup and fear.

But those are garbage excuses. I know it and now you know it, too. This is the time for us to step up and do the thing.

Why is video so important right now?

Because your patients need to know you’re still around. Your practice is still alive and kicking. You’re just doing things a little different for the time being.

And yes, you can post your polished, lawyer-approved COVID-19 updates about wearing masks and sanitizing everything.

But once you’ve shared that a few times, people need more humanity. Personality. Hope. Even a little fun.

How do you do that? Get on video. And again, your setup doesn’t have to be anything crazy.

I explain the simple way to do it in this short video…