Quick story: Let’s talk about my new Weed Eater.
(I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat to see where this is gonna go…)
Actually, let’s talk about the process of buying my new Weed Eater.
We talk a lot about the patient journey, the buying process and patient psychology. And as I retraced the steps of me choosing my new Weed Eater last week, I realized there’s useful insights that can apply to your interactions with prospective patients.
=============
We live on 2 acres in the country-suburb town of Aledo, Texas. As such, I have a large yard to maintain, and I enjoy doing it.
My weekly routine involves a number of pieces of equipment: a riding mower, a push mower, Weed Eater (some people call it an edger) and of course a leaf blower to clean everything up at the end.
Well the last several months, my gas-powered weed eater has been acting up. Sometimes it will die, then it will run OK, another time it might only run on full choke. And it’s become undependable.
I’ve considered taking it to a small engine repair shop, but by the time they charge me for the repair and any parts, I might as well have bought a new one.
What to do, what to do…
=============
Every Labor Day my brothers and Dad (and how my oldest son, Cannon) take the weekend to Dove Hunt in Abilene.
I had mowed my lawn the day before my dad came from East Texas to ride with us to the hunt. And the ol Weed Eater quit on me, I couldn’t even get it started. So my yard didn’t look great. (Frustration at the equipment, at my yard looking bad, at having a job that I couldn’t get done – all pain points)
And one more pain point – embarrassment. I want my dad to think I do a good job with my yard. I was embarrassed that my mow job looked that bad. and I felt like I had to say something about it.
So I told him I’d been having trouble with my Weed Eater, and how I thought it was finally time to get a new one.
“You should just get an electric one, dude,” he replied.
Up until this point, I thought electric yard tools were for grandmas who need to keep their garden area trimmed up. Didn’t think they had enough power for what I needed to do.
Gas was the way to go. Electric… that’s amateur stuff.
BUT here was someone I respected on the subject of yard maintenance – my dad – telling me that the newer electric models are actually really good. And then you don’t have to worry about engine issues that come with the gas-powered ones.
So my old man got me to consider a new category of yard tool – electric instead of gas.
Similarly, LASIK is a different category vs. glasses/contacts. Part of what you’re trying to do is to get people to switch categories (or at least consider a new category).
In the case of the Weed Eater, the “category switch” had begun. So what’s next? Drilling down into actual brands and products….
=============
Next morning, we’re sitting in the hunting lodge after a decent sunrise hunt. Eating breakfast and watching College GameDay on ESPN, I notice a commercial for an electric leaf blower by EGO, a brand they sell at Lowe’s.
The commercial shows how much more powerful this leaf blower is than a gas-powered leaf blower. “Cool, I wonder if they have a Weed Eater?”
So I Google them on my iPhone. Sure enough, they do. I leave that window open in my browser for later use.
(The funny thing about this is that I’m not a Lowe’s guy. I’m a Home Depot guy. And I’m a Home Depot guy because Home Depot has sponsored ESPN’s College GameDay and I’ve grown an affinity for the brand over the years. The fact that Lowe’s ran a commercial during Home Depot’s show and got my business is funny to me, and there’s probably a lesson in there…)
=============
We return home from the hunt Monday morning. Of course my yard still isn’t up to par (I’m reminded of the pain-point yet again).
So I check my phone, to see if they have any of the EGO Weed Eaters in stock at my local Lowe’s. They do, so I head on over…
=============
Once I arrive at Lowe’s, I head back to the lawn section and start looking at these EGO Weed Eaters. They have them on display and I can physically hold them. Seem solid.
At this point, I’ve decided to get one. It’s just a matter of which one. So I’m reading the features on the boxes, and checking the reviews online on my phone at the same time.
They had 3 models, and I quickly decided I wanted the biggest one. I just needed to justify the purchase to myself.
Literally my justification was: 1. If I’m going to upgrade my Weed Eater, I might as well get the one I really want (aspirational, desire justification) 2. If I paid someone else to do my yard, I would spend this much in less than a month. So whatever I buy will more than pay for itself simply because I’m the one using it. (Financial justification)
Boom, new Weed Eater for me.
=============
And so I brought it home, got it out, charged it up and gave it a spin. I dig it.
Easy to use, plenty of power, auto-winds the twine onto the spool (what used to be a 5-minute task is now a 15-second task), lightweight, easy to maneuver.
And in just the last week, I’ve told half a dozen people about it. “Dude, I got one of those electric Weed Eaters. I didn’t know if they could get the job done, but let me tell you about this thing…”
(People like to share new discoveries because it raises our status)
=============
IN CONCLUSION – a few takeaways:
NUMBER 1 – My decision was influenced by MULTIPLE touchpoints across different media – personal referral from my Dad, TV commercial, Google search, reading reviews on the Lowe’s website, in-person “consult” at Lowe’s. Which one was responsible for my purchase? All of them.
This is almost a parallel copy of what happens in your practice. Someone refers a friend, that friend thinks about it, does some Googling, reads the reviews, sees other ads/media from your practice, decides to reach out, has a consult, books.
Marketing is an ecosystem. If you try to pigeonhole conversions and referral sources into one specific area, you’ll end up cutting out parts of the ecosystem that play a vital role in your brand’s growing dominance.
NUMBER 2 – You see many psychological factors at play in the buyer’s journey. Just in this short story, I shared with you about my pain, frustration, embarrassment, aspiration, raising status, fiscal responsibility.
All of this is running in the background of your prospects’ minds and informing their words and decisions. You need to be aware of these thoughts/feelings so you can address them. It’s easy to overlook and forget. It’s easy to live on the surface. But what’s DRIVING someone to reach out in the first place?
NUMBER 3 – When it’s time, it’s TIME. I’ve thought about a different Weed Eater for a while now. Just like a lot of your prospects have thought about having a procedure, maybe they’ve reached out or even had a consult. And then… nothing.
But NOW it was time for me to buy. The pain was big enough. I was ready to get my problem handled.
And when it’s TIME, you need to be top-of-mind. That Lowe’s commercial I saw during College GameDay – Right Place, Right Time.
Keep your practice name out there. Stay in your prospects’ inboxes. Have your counselors follow-up. Continue to market to them over and over and over. Because when it’s time, it’s TIME.
Maybe I’m a nerd, but all this is fascinating to me. And if you can reverse engineer some of what I’ve shared to your benefit, excellent.
Hit me back and let me know if this was helpful. Also if you have any other insights on how/why I was influenced, or if you just absolutely hated this whole thing. All feedback is welcome.
To full surgery schedules and well-manicured lawns,
T-Cole