Is TikTok right for your practice?
Do you have any idea how many people are on TikTok worldwide each month? If you guessed over a billion, you'd be in the ballpark. TikTok is not only the most downloaded app in 2021 but one of the fastest-growing apps in history. In comparison, Facebook and Instagram took twice as long to reach the same billion-user milestone. Some might say it is a fad, but what if it isn't? If you aren't promoting your practice on TikTok, should you be? And how?
Do you have any idea how many people are on TikTok worldwide each month? If you guessed over a billion, you'd be in the ballpark. TikTok is not only the most downloaded app in 2021 but one of the fastest-growing apps in history. In comparison, Facebook and Instagram took twice as long to reach the same billion-user milestone. Some might say it is a fad, but what if it isn't? If you aren't promoting your practice on TikTok, should you be? And how?
Many classify TikTok as a social media platform, but that definition can be misleading. A social media platform often requires people to "like" or "follow" you to see your content. TikTok's mission statement isn't about connecting people. It defines its mission this way: "To capture and present the world's creativity, knowledge, and precious life moments.... TikTok enables everyone to be a creator and encourages users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos." At its core, TikTok is an entertainment platform full of content creators. It isn't necessarily based on who you know but what you like.
@jera.bean 3 Reasons Why TikTok is a MARKETING MACHINE ⚡️ #tiktokforbusiness #tiktokforbrands #tiktoktips #learnontiktok #tiktokpartner
♬ original sound - Jera Foster-Fell
If you're new to TikTok, start here. If not, skip ahead!
If you're new to TikTok, here is how it works. When you initially open an account, TikTok will ask about your interests. The TikTok algorithm will then curate content and show videos it believes you'll enjoy. As you like and share videos or start following other users, the algorithm adapts and improves its curation abilities. The advantage of TikTok from a marketing perspective is that it is not your responsibility to earn followers. Considering only 74% of users are following specific brands today, the likelihood of you earning followers based upon your brand name alone is relatively low. If you produce engaging content (based upon likes, shares, and comments), TikTok will do the work for you and start showing your video to more users, organically generating followers. This can rapidly increase your base. For that reason, many successful creators have millions of followers.
But isn't it just for kids?
While many people still think of TikTok as a young person's platform, two-thirds of TikTok's current users are over the age of 19, meaning most of them make their own medical and purchasing decisions. TikTok users also tend to be in a higher income bracket, with 53% living in households that make over 75k a year.
OK, so my patients may be on TikTok, but should I participate as a practice? Will it hurt my brand?
From a marketing perspective, the consensus among experts is that you should do it, and do it now because being first to market can give you quite an advantage later on.
"It's almost imperative for brands to be on it because now is the time to capture that organic growth," says Aliza Licht, founder and president of consultancy firm Leave Your Mark. "TikTok is ripe for the taking."
Neil Patel, co-founder of NP Digital, says, "The low business competition presents a massive opportunity because you can reach many people at a relatively low cost."
TikTok can also maximize your reach, especially for smaller practices with limited budgets. Bradford Manning, who promotes his clothing, Two Blind Brothers (@twoblindbrothers), on the platform, comments, "I don't think the largest brands will see the same type of outperformance that a smaller brand can find." Unlike Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where you are actively competing with the Walmarts, Amazons, and Apples of the world, TikTok favors smaller "breakout" creators, and your practice could easily be the next one to go viral as you are on the same playing field as the largest brands in the world.
Who is using it now?
If you search for any elective procedure, treatment, or service on TikTok, you will quickly find others who have jumped on the TikTok bandwagon. One such doctor is Dr. Daniel Barrett, whom the practice has dubbed "The Natural Plastic Surgeon" for his scar management protocols and closure techniques. However, his medical expertise is only part of the equation of the practice's success. Barrett Plastic Surgery purposefully uses social media to inform, educate, and promote procedures and treatments to potential patients.
"When it really started to ramp up was March or April last year during the lockdowns. I like to keep busy! I started making a few TikToks, and it took off from there," says Dr. Daniel Barrett of Barrett Plastic Surgery.
Today, Dr. Barrett has 1.7 million followers on TikTok, 18 times their number of Instagram followers, and an incredible 458 times their number of Twitter and Facebook followers combined!
Dr. Barrett's TikToks regularly surpass multiple millions of views and are fun and educational. Videos of Dr. Barrett performing surgery also receive high view counts:
@barrettplasticsurgery Reply to @bumbandy Wtf just happened behind me? 😂💀 #plasticsurgery #implants #notaperfectperson #wintermagic #plantparent #fyp
♬ original sound - Dr Daniel Barrett
His videos are often evocative to people not used to seeing what surgery looks like. While this experience can make viewers squeamish, it can also destigmatize surgery and reduce fear as patients are more educated about the procedures or treatments they are considering. This video shows a liposuction procedure. Warning: If you're squeamish, you may want to skip
@barrettplasticsurgery I N S A N E Results at the end! 🤯 #transformation #sosatisfying #plasticsurgery #tummytuck #fyp #foryou
♬ original sound - Dr Daniel Barrett
Dr. Barrett's team posts multiple times nearly every day. Many videos are quick tidbits, including his ongoing series "Plastic Surgery Secrets," with over 100 episodes.
@barrettplasticsurgery What do you guys think about #gwenstefani 🧐 #greenscreenvideo #botox #rhinoplasty #nodoubt #plasticsurgery #plasticsurgerysecrets
♬ original sound - Dr Daniel Barrett
Many TikTok accounts swear by this method, as the platform rewards users who generate a lot of quickly produced content. The algorithm will pick up some videos, but many won't gain traction; it can be difficult to predict or tell why afterward.
@barrettplasticsurgery Hmm, Plastic surgery or weight gain? 🤔😱 #earthday #zacefron #filler #weightgain #neontwin #springoutfit #oscars #promszn #vaccinatedfor #songfacts
♬ ghost town voice memo (full version out now) - chloe george
"TikTok is this enigma," asserts Dr. Barret. "There are definitely some things we know to do that help the algorithm pick us up. We know there are some things that are our niche or the wider audience will find interesting, but I would love to meet the person who has TikTok figured out!"
Dr. Barrett's efforts on TikTok have paid off for him and his team. Not only are users on the platform more aware of him (and thinking more about plastic surgery generally), but media outlets often start citing him as an expert in the field. His efforts on social media have increased his popularity both in the media and with potential patients.
Crossposting
Creating video for a single platform can feel daunting. But if your practice has previously invested in building your Facebook and Instagram audiences, there's no reason why you shouldn't take advantage of those.
Crossposting (creating content and posting it on multiple platforms) is a perfectly acceptable way of making sure your potential patients hear what you have to say. You can easily create the videos on a smartphone, then save and post them to multiple social media networks.
Dr. Barrett told us that they still see new patients who found their practice through TikTok: "It features in a patient's research process, in the same way, a patient may look at Facebook or Instagram, for example. It's more light-hearted….Even now, I’ll meet with patients who found us on their 'For You' Page."
Is it safe?
There have been valid concerns regarding TikTok's data mining and sharing tactics. However, security experts point out that, aside from being a Chinese company, their methods are no more intrusive than any other social media platform.
"Of all the serious cyber risks facing the average consumer, TikTok isn't on the top of the list. Most Americans ought to be way more concerned about credit card fraud and password protection than TikTok," Monica Eaton-Cardone, co-founder and chief operating officer of Chargebacks911, said.
Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at Sophos, agreed: "TikTok doesn't pose any more risk to a user than any other social media sharing application. That isn't to say that there isn't risk, but it's not really different from Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram."
What should I post about?
In a recent article in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, "Is TikTok the New Instagram? Analysis of Plastic Surgeons on Social Media," the researchers sorted common posts on Instagram and TikTok into the following categories:
Patient or surgery related
Personal post
Self-promotional
Product advertisement
Educational
Other
The "other" category consisted of viral content such as discussions of celebrities, funny and engaging posts, and inspirational content.
If you are just starting, you may want to create a video in each category and see what hits. Trial and error is highly recommended as you find your niche on TikTok. Even after you figure out what works, you may become frustrated as videos that you were sure would be well-liked don't take off, and those that were the easiest to make become viral sensations.
In the other category, Dr. Ben Winters, an orthodontist in Plano, Texas who is known as “The Bentist”, gained 8 million followers on the platform by showing off his dance moves.
@thebentist Sometimes I wonder why I went to school for 15 years and paid 500,000 in student loans 😂🙌🏻 almost to 9 MIL! 🎉
♬ Into The Thick Of It! - The Backyardigans
@doctorgao Are you using the right amount of toothpaste? #dentist #dental #dentistry #tiktokguru #youngcreators #learnontiktok #edutok #teeth #foryou
♬ Mad at Disney - salem ilese
TikTok has also been the source of many misconceptions and myths about oral health, which is why it's important for authoritative voices to set the record straight. For example, Magic Erasers became an at-home method of teeth whitening thanks to users on the site.
It took dentists on the platform to remind everyone that while it might technically work, it's certainly ill-advised, and there are much better ways to whiten teeth. Once again, the Bentist was there to correct the misinformation:
@thebentist Did she really just say she uses a magic eraser to clean her teeth… 😳 please don’t make this a trend 😂 #learnontiktok #tiktokpartner #teeth
♬ original sound - The Bentist
Don't forget to get others to post for you too, if possible.
Considering that 81% of consumers trust a message that comes from a friend more than a message that comes from a business and that more than half of all active TikTokers post content, you should consider encouraging your patients to post too.
They can post about their procedures and treatments, before, during, and afterward, if they are willing and it is appropriate. With TikTok, if the content is engaging, it may spread beyond the patient's immediate social circle. In addition, when patients post about their procedures and treatments, you may be raising awareness beyond your geographic reach and helping your peers in other markets.
@sarah.calvillo Documenting my experience before I become ungrateful #comedy #lasik #lasikeyesurgery #millennial #wfhlife
♬ Blue Blood - Heinz Kiessling & Various Artists
@thebeccamurray Reply to @lockstockandspoonies suffice to say, i’m obsessed #lasik #lasikeyesurgery #scienceismagic
♬ SUNNY DAY - Matteo Rossanese
Once they post, be sure to Duet or Stitch their video to generate unique content for your own followers. (Duet allows you to have your video playing side by side with someone else's, and Stitch lets you incorporate up to five seconds of someone else's video into your own.)
I might try it. What else do I need to know?
Tik Tok Best Practices
- Be Yourself. It may sound cliché, but TikTok creators have found the best performing videos are those in which they are authentic. TikTok allows your patients to get to know you and your practice better. This is an opportunity to showcase the personalities within your practice.
- Share What You Know. Do you have "insider" information for the average person? Share it. If you see something is trending on TikTok that you know is untrue or needs additional clarification, Duet or Stitch it.
- Be Prepared to Reply. You can become "TikTok Famous" literally overnight, and if you do, you may have thousands of comments. By replying to comments, you can earn more followers. It can also be a great source of inspiration for your next TikTok, as you can reply to a comment or question with a brand new video. Often questions about cost will come up, so be prepared to reply with a link to Alphaeon Credit's pre-qual page for those interested in finding out if they are likely to be approved without impacting their credit.
@tiktokforbusiness Reply to @teejayhughes Looking for ways to increase engagement? Try replying to comments with video 🎥#learnontiktok #tiktoktips #marketingtips
♬ FEEL THE GROOVE - Queens Road, Fabian Graetz - Don't Worry about Production. Leave the filters for Instagram, unless you are having fun showing how crazy the filters are on TikTok. Once you get started on TikTok, you'll find overproduced videos tend to get fewer likes than those with minimal production. TikTok users, who spend an average of almost an hour on the app daily, have trained themselves to ascertain in seconds if they want to watch more. A slick video can scream "sales pitch" and cause users to swipe up instantly. A smartphone with a decent camera is all you need to get started.
If you want to get fancy, you can try to create some videos with high-quality transitions as users will watch your video repeatedly to try to figure out: "How did they do that?" Also, consider using the auto caption feature. It makes your video more accessible, and videos with captions tend to have longer view times, which can help increase the likelihood that your video will be shown on the platform. - Participate in Trends. Over half of all content on TikTok is trend videos. A trend is simply when multiple TikTok users take a video and recreate it putting their spin on it. It might be a dance, song, or just a statement, like this one where you tell a cringe-worthy story:
@nikkithechameleon Leonard was a bit confused #wakingupinthemorning #fyp #trending
♬ original sound - Amir Yass
Participating in trends and challenges is a great way to reach the "For You" page and develop new content when you aren't feeling creative. If you are active on TikTok, you'll quickly spot trends as you'll see several similar videos. If you aren't as active, head over to the TikTok discover page to find trending videos.
Is TikTok right for you?
It may be as long as patients' privacy is maintained and you aren't running afoul of any regulations with third parties, like a hospital system, which may soon have rules regarding TikTok videos.
We strongly urge that practices get written permission from patients before sharing anything on social media. Barrett Plastic Surgery explains how they manage: "We're very clear with our patients on what level they would like us to tell their story, and our team is very sensitive to that...Some patients are very happy to tell their whole journey, including interviews; we work closely with them, based on their comfort levels."
Many state and national associations offer useful guidelines for social media use to their associated practices. Jessica Lauria, Communications and Media Coordinator for the Florida Dental Association, notes, "You don't have to join every social media network to reach your audience. It's important to pick the social media platforms that best fit your organization and post consistent, compelling content that makes sense for your audiences and for that platform.
"Industry professional associations, like the Florida Dental Association, are great resources for social media guidelines, best practices, and engaging content that you can share on your social media channels."
If you go viral, you will likely be invited by TikTok to become an official creator and will be paid—albeit a very small amount—for future videos. If this happens, you will have access to analytics showing your reach.
Until that time, you may want to upgrade to a free business account.
“With a business account, you have access to real-time metrics on your content performance so you can understand what’s working well and make the most of it. You’ll get insights into your follower base so you can better understand who’s watching the content you create. And you’ll also be able to add basic information about your business.”
3 Ways to Convert Prospects to Patients
Imagine standing in front of an audience of hundreds of potential patients. What would you say to them? How would you explain that you’re uniquely positioned to help them?
As every successful public speaker knows, first speak in terms of your audience’s needs. Start with what they want.
Yet this simple principle is often ignored when the situation is taken out of the auditorium and happens online.
You may have hundreds of people a week visiting your website, more than will ever walk through your office door or call your phone. What are they looking for? What happens if they can’t find the answers to their questions?
Luckily, some of them will call anyway to get answers and schedule a consult or appointment.
But most of them? They’re gone. Potential patients that you could have helped. Not because they got to your site and changed their minds, but because they made it to your site and couldn’t easily find what they wanted.
Imagine standing in front of an audience of hundreds of potential patients. What would you say to them? How would you explain that you’re uniquely positioned to help them?
As every successful public speaker knows, first speak in terms of your audience’s needs. Start with what they want.
Yet this simple principle is often ignored when the situation is taken out of the auditorium and happens online.
You may have hundreds of people a week visiting your website, more than will ever walk through your office door or call your phone. What are they looking for? What happens if they can’t find the answers to their questions?
Luckily, some of them will call anyway to get answers and schedule a consult or appointment.
But most of them? They’re gone. Potential patients that you could have helped. Not because they got to your site and changed their minds, but because they made it to your site and couldn’t easily find what they wanted.
When it comes to elective healthcare, one of the top three questions asked by patients is “How much is it going to cost, and how can I pay for it?” While safety and outcomes are important, like it or not, cost is also a deciding factor for patients considering elective healthcare.
So how can you help? It’s easy. Make it easy for patients to find the answers to their “cost” questions.
1 - Make Your Financing/ Affordability Page Prominent
When categorizing navigation tabs, many practices choose to place their financing page under “Patient Tools” or “Practice Resources”. This makes sense from an organizational perspective. However, according to research shared with ALPHAEON CREDIT from numerous offices across all medical specialties, the most visited web pages on a practice’s website are (in order):
Homepage
About the Doctor(s)
Financing / Affordability
If your financing / affordability page is hidden in a drop-down, making your patients play hide-and-seek for one of your most popular pages can be a frustrating experience. The best solution is to prominently display your financing / affordability page as its own navigation tab on your home page. In addition, by addressing that cost is a concern upfront, you may find patients choose your practice over another.
““Practices that understand the value of promoting financing to their prospects often see the financing page hit more frequently. It’s interesting because even if the patient may not finance the procedure, the fact that it was in the messaging is often what helps them feel confident that they can take the first step....Fear and price are usually the two reasons people do not move forward so financing is a great way to help eliminate the cost/price issue.””
Manrique Custom Vision’s website is a perfect example of promoting financing well. They have financing as one of their top navigation tabs on their homepage. By placing this tab on their homepage, they are proactively addressing any cost concerns of potential patients.
You may be saying to yourself that your patients don’t need financing, as they typically can pay out-of-pocket. That may be true, but in saying that, you are making two distinct logical fallacies:
Survivorship Bias - Also called “Dead men tell no tales” or “You have not, because you ask not.” In short, you do not see the missed opportunities from people who chose another provider because you have not offered financing. Perhaps many otherwise perfect patients who didn’t schedule just needed a little help paying for their procedures.
False Dilemma - Also called “All-or-nothing fallacy” or “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” By not highlighting financing, people who might otherwise be inclined don’t take advantage of it. Just because you have the means to pay out of pocket, doesn’t mean that’s always the best choice. People finance for reasons, including creative budgeting, spreading out the cost over months to improve their credit history, or just getting the procedure slightly sooner than they might otherwise.
Money Under 30 listed three times when it makes sense to pay using credit rather than cash including when deferred interest and low APR options are presented. As you know these examples are similar to patient financing promotional plans.
Plus, you never know when someone who isn’t interested in financing will tell a prospective patient that would be interested in financing. The more patients you tell, the faster the word will spread that the procedure or treatment they are considering is not out of anyone’s reach.
2 - Guide Patients Toward the Option You Want
There’s a term in psychology called “paralysis by analysis.” The term refers to the fact that when presented with choices, especially choices that aren’t especially clear, a portion of people will freeze.
The phrase may be relatively new, but the idea is ancient. In one of Aesop’s fables, a Fox boasts to a Cat that he is nimbler than the Cat. He’ll never be caught, the Fox says, because he has a hundred different ways to escape. The Cat admits that she has only one: she can climb a tree. When the Hunter comes, the Cat scurries up a tree, her only defense, while the Fox stops to deliberate about the many ways he could escape, and consequently is caught by the Hunter. Especially when you’re presenting information online, where a patient has hundreds of potential distractions, asking them to make an uninformed choice can be deadly for holding their interest.
This doesn’t mean you don’t mention other options at all, but clearly guide patients toward your preferred patient financing provider (which we hope is the one with the stronger approval rates and superior credit limits). Your engagement rate will increase as potential patients are no longer saddled with the emotional frustration of trying to make a decision based on nothing more than which colored logo they prefer.
Maybe you feel like you’re being too meddlesome in pushing a decision on a future patient? That’s understandable. No one likes to feel like they’re being forced into something. But consider this: one of the strategies Behavioral Science in the 21st Century uses for avoiding analysis paralysis, is to choose a trusted recommendation.
And who knows the best choice better than you? A patient may go through the process of medical financing once or twice in their lives. Your office might process dozens of patient payments a week. You are the trusted expert here, and patients appreciate hearing your recommendation.
3 - Call Patients to a (Simple) Action
Now it’s time to ask them to take the next step: do you want them to set up an appointment with you, or do you want them to walk in with financing in hand?
Obviously, it’s easier if everyone already has financing. It saves you time and means you’re already speaking with potential patients who can afford the procedure. In fact, that’s the path taken by many plastic surgery and dental offices.
On the other hand, it might make more sense for your practice to talk through the financing question at their first consultation. This is the route taken by many of our ophthalmology and dermatology offices. They recognize that there is value in guiding the patient through their financing in person, and applying for them in the office.
““It’s all about creating the relationship and providing a great experience for our patients.” “We walk them through the process of applying to show them how affordable the procedures we offer can be without any intimidating guesswork on their part.””
Neither is right or wrong; it’s all a matter of what you want for your patients and team.
Regardless, it’s time to ask for something. It’s time to turn interest into action. Either “Apply Now” if you want them to apply before coming in or “Call Us for Your Free Consult” if you want to guide them through your preferred patient financing vendor.
By asking them to take action, you’re testing them to see if they are interested in moving forward, but also laying out a specific next step.
On a website, a call-to-action button maybe your best attention-grabber. Wordstream recommends using buttons that are “large and legible”, feature “action packed“ text like “Apply” or “Call”, and are colorful enough that they stand-out from the rest of the website.
In Summary
Moving people from invisible website visitors to patients is a challenge, but one that can be made easier by laying out a specific path. Navigating from the homepage, to the doctor’s bio, to your financing options, to a call to action, makes the most sense.
Take a moment to look at your website and pretend to view it for the first time. Can you easily find those steps? Can you move through the process? Is there a clear “Call to Action” at the end?
If not, it might be time to reevaluate. Luckily, it might not even require a full site redesign. Simplifying your top menu and adding a contact form at the bottom of key pages might be enough to see a bump in website engagement.
The next time you redesign your site, keep these principles in mind, and you’ll be doing a better job of taking the “potential” off of “potential patients.”
4 Reasons Your Team May Be the Secret to Social Media Success
Social media experts recommend you keep your audience engaged by posting on Facebook every day, on Instagram three times per day, and on Twitter fifteen times per day. That is a tremendous amount of content to generate on a regular basis to attract potential patients and to stay top of mind with your current patient base.
Posts featuring your doctor(s), educating patients about procedures or treatments you offer, and before-and-after patient photos are commonplace. However, one area that is often overlooked, are posts highlighting your team.
Social media experts recommend you keep your audience engaged by posting on Facebook every day, on Instagram three times per day, and on Twitter fifteen times per day. That is a tremendous amount of content to generate on a regular basis to attract potential patients and to stay top of mind with your current patient base.
Posts featuring your doctor(s), educating patients about procedures or treatments you offer, and before-and-after patient photos are commonplace. However, one area that is often overlooked, are posts highlighting your team.
Creating posts that showcase specific members of your team is an excellent way to keep content fresh and to extend your social media presence.
Here are just a few reasons why you should consider featuring your team on social media and some examples from practices we think are doing it well.
1 - Recognizing Your Team Can Increase Employee Satisfaction AND Patient Satisfaction
According to Entrepreneur magazine, employee recognition lowers turnover, increases employee happiness, increases employee engagement, and increases trust.
With social media, recognizing your team and sharing accolades is easy.
You can highlight a specific team member, maybe on his or her work anniversary, birthday, on a day that celebrates their contributions like National Doctors Day (March 30) or National Nurses Day (May 12).
Austin Weston, The Center for Cosmetic Surgery in Reston, Virginia commemorated National Nurses Day, with Instagram posts profiling all of their nurses.
Not only will your team appreciate being recognized, but when you highlight the talented people working with you, you might find your patient satisfaction scores rising as well.
According to Mark Somol, founder of Zeal and an expert in employee metrics, “Employees who are passionate about their workplace are typically much more highly engaged. Passionate and engaged employees are your best customer advocates. Research shows that companies with very high levels of employee engagement can have 3x higher customer satisfaction ratings.”
You might worry about remembering every team member’s birthday. Luckily, social media platforms have scheduling either built-in or available as a third-party app like Hootsuite. Edgard Izaguirre, brand manager for Austin-Weston, The Center for Cosmetic Surgery, plans their social media campaigns for the entire quarter. “Things can be tweaked, but it’s better to be planned in advance,” he says. With these tools, employee appreciation posts can easily be scheduled for the entire year all at once.
2 - Posts Featuring Your Staff Almost Always Garner Higher Engagement
Posts highlighting team members consistently have a higher level of engagement on social media platforms.
Compare these two Facebook posts by Brinton Vision, in St. Louis, Missouri.
The first is a classic social media post that advertises their services in a creative way:
The second shares a childhood photo of one of their team members on her birthday.
The post highlighting a team member not only received more comments, it also received a much higher level of engagement with more “social reactions” (emoticons) as compared to simple “likes”, which translates into a higher ranking within Facebook’s news feed algorithm.
Other posts that garner a high number of “social reactions” include promotions, achievement, or life events. Take a look at this post from Belcara Health in Baltimore, Maryland:
Beyond “social reactions” and “likes”, posts like these are more likely to be shared beyond your social media feed and on your employee’s own personal feeds. According to the MSL Group, your employees are already networked to more than 10x the number of people on social media than your organization can ever hope to on its own. By spreading the message, you increase overall brand awareness and can reach more current and potential patients.
3 - Showcasing Your Team Alongside Doctors Can Make Potential Patients Feel More at Ease
As the saying goes, people buy from people they trust.
Patients need to feel comfortable with their doctor, of course, but some patients have difficulty connecting with their doctors. They might see an education difference, a class difference, a racial difference, or a gender difference, and these differences can be invisible barriers to building a trusting relationship.
However, there are likely many similarities between your team members and your patient base.
Highlighting members of your team in your social media is one way you can help build trust since patients may relate to your team more easily.
Plus, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, employees are judged to be more credible than their bosses. There’s an average of a 16 point gap between how much a consumer trusts an employee of a company and how much they trust the head of that company.”
All practices are very proud of their doctors, but highlighting other team members can make patients who look and feel different than the doctors themselves, more open to your team. Brand manager for Austin-Weston, Edgard Izaguirre says, “It’s always important to know the surrounding market and develop a campaign that they are receptive to.”
Izaguirre also notes that managing a brand is about connecting with the “human element.”
Photos and videos of your team put an approachable human face on your entire practice. Allie Watson-Fowler, Relationship Management Specialist at Belcara Health add “While doctors are the recognizable names and faces of a practice, our patients are primarily in contact with the other members of our staff, like nurses, patient advisors, and administrators. By featuring these team members on social media in addition to the doctors, patients can quickly and easily see exactly who it is they will spend their time with while in our office. Our existing patients love seeing the ‘behind the scenes’ staff like anesthesiologists and post-operative nurses who helped them after their procedure; we always get a good deal of comments on these types of posts, which also helps prospective patients to feel comfortable with the care they will receive at our center.”
4 - Build a Social Media Army by Turning Your Employees Loose
Satisfied patients are fantastic evangelists, but even the most satisfied patients will be thinking about your practice only occasionally. On the other hand, your staff members are thinking about the practice’s success (hopefully) every day.
FastCompany advises “Simply encouraging employees to share their company’s social media updates–when done properly–can dramatically expand a company’s total following, extending the reach and impact of its messages.”
Every “social reaction”, “like” and “share” on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn promotes the social media post in the respective system’s algorithm, resulting in higher rankings and more current and potential patients seeing your messaging.
High-profile brands like Starbucks, Zappos, and Southwest Airlines even train their employees to constantly share their work on social media, with rewards for who can get the most likes, views, and engagement.
This is not mandatory, of course. FastCompany continues: “To be clear, any employee social media program has to be voluntary. I’d even go a step further than that, however. For this process to work, employees have to actually want to share company news.”
However, it is an easy program to incentivize. You’re not asking for additional time, any more than the five minutes it takes to craft a status update. The occasional $5 Starbucks gift card for the team member with the most liked post this week goes a long way towards incentivizing the kind of behavior that will have immediate tangible effects in generating new prospective patients.
Word-of-mouth messages from friends and colleagues are widely seen as more relevant and trustworthy than social media blasts from corporate accounts; according to the MSL Group, “Brand messages are shared 24x more frequently when distributed by employees vs brand.”
Think about it yourself: Which car dealership are you more likely to trust? The one running slick Facebook ads in your feed? Or the one where your cousin Debbie works, that she’s always talking about (positively) online? Naturally, you’d lean to the second choice.
Final Thoughts
You’ve always known that your team is the most indispensable asset By showcasing them in your social media posts, you are inviting potential patients to preview an integral part of their experience with your practice. You’re overcoming mental barriers to treatment by presenting relatable people. And you’re allowing your team to speak directly with more credibility than your official pages ever could have.
How Offering A Cash Discount Could Boost Your Bottom Line
If you're like most practices, there is a good chance that you have encountered at least one patient who asked for a discount. You also likely have met the patient that wants a longer term no interest plan that you don't offer. What if there was a way to make both of these patients happy and improve conversion ratios overall without costing you a penny more?
If you're like most practices, there is a good chance that you have encountered at least one patient who asked for a discount. You also likely have met the patient who wants a longer term no interest plan that you don't offer. What if could make both of these patients happy and improve conversion ratios overall, without costing you a penny more?
To start, you'll need to transition your practice to a Cash Incentive Model. The goal of a Cash Incentive Model is to provide an incentive for those who can pay in cash to do so and for those who can't pay in cash to be offered the most attractive patient financing options.
So, how does it work?
STEP 1: CALCULATE YOUR COST
Let's presume you're comfortable paying 5.8% for ALPHAEON CREDIT”s 6 month No Interest if Paid in Full, but your patients want the 12 month No Interest if Paid in Full (or your competitors are offering it and you're worried it is swaying some patients).
The cost for the 12 month No Interest if Paid in Full plan is 8.9% to you. So your additional cost to offer this plan is: 8.9% - 5.8% = 3.1%
STEP 2: ADJUST PRICING
Once you know how much offering the longer term plan will cost, you will add that cost to your overall prices. Most practices choose to round up to make the next step - offering a cash discount - easier to explain.
So in this scenario, it costs you 3% more to offer the 12 month no interest plan, so you raise your prices across the board 5%. This raise will help cover the cost of patients who choose to finance, but should also save you money as you will see in the next step.
STEP 3: OFFER A CASH DISCOUNT
Now comes the best part - not only can you offer 12 month no interest to all patients, but you can also offer all patients who choose to pay cash a 5% discount.
This 5% discount may also save you money by converting those who would have elected to finance, but had the cash, to pay in full. Plus, it standardizes your discount policy and ensures patients who routinely ask for discounts, still feel like they are getting a deal without impacting your bottom line while those that prefer to finance can do so without impacting your profitability.
When is the right time to share YOUR price?
Do you advertise your prices online? Should you? This was the question posted recently on the ShoutMD community by an ophthalmologist. And the survey says...
23% of physicians share pricing before speaking to a patient or having a consult today. Yet, many believe this is a trend that is becoming more popular especially among younger physicians and corporate owned providers.
So what are the pros and cons?
PROS
1. Reduces Sticker Shock and Keeps the Schedule Open for Qualified Patients
By posting your prices, patients come into consults educated and are less likely to experience sticker shock. This is especially true if others are advertising unrealistic prices in your market, such as $299 for LASIK. By sharing your prices, patients won't be surprised and are more likely to have begun to consider how to pay for the procedure such as with financing. For those unable or unwilling to pay, they are less likely to schedule a consult, come in, and say, "How much?...Hmm...I'll pass.". By letting them know your price in advance, you can keep your schedule filled with those that are prepared to pay.
2. Differentiates Your Practice
If your prices are above or below the the norm for your market, advertising pricing can be a differentiator.
Right or wrong, when patients have limited information to compare like products and no existing relationships at any practices, they often turn to price first as a comparison tool.
Price can tell patients what type of practice you are. Are you a Neiman Marcus, Macy's, or Wal-Mart? There is a consumer for each of these retailers, and there is a patient for the high, middle, and low cost practice as well.
Some patients will always be searching for the lowest priced provider. If this is you, advertise, but proceed with caution as lower prices can impact patient satisfaction. In a 2008 Stanford study, researchers applied electrical shocks to the wrists of participants before and after they received a placebo painkiller. Some participants received an "expensive" painkiller and others received a "low-priced" painkiller. 85% of those in the "expensive" pill sample group reported a reduction in pain from the shocks compared to 61% of those in the "low-priced" sample group^. If you are the lowest priced provider, be cognizant of this unconscious bias among patients to be less satisfied when they know they have paid less.
On the flip side, if you are the highest priced provider in your market, patients may be apt to believe your practice is superior to other options for the same reason. In many markets, the physician charging the most isn't always the more experienced or educated, but often patients believe that he or she is due to their price points. Yet, being the highest priced provider also comes with a warning. Setting your price too far apart from the norm can backfire, as other studies have shown consumers have a “middle bias” or “edge aversion.” From multiple choice tests, to menus, to a selection of jams on a shelf, consumers tend to gravitate towards the middle choice as it feels the most safe*. In the end, being priced squarely in the middle might serve you best of all.
CONS
1. Reduces Call Volume and Consults
Almost every practice receives the “How much is X?” call on a regular basis. These "price calls" are always opportunities to redirect the conversation and help the patient understand what questions they should be asking (experience, education, outcomes) and to begin to establish a relationship. If you post prices, you run the risk of patients not calling at all as the only question they know to ask has already been answered.
2. Creates Unrealistic Expectations
In many scenarios, it may not be feasible to provide cost without first evaluating a patient. If the patient comes in and you determine they are a better candidate for another procedure or that their procedure will cost more, "anchor pricing" could prevent the patient from moving forward. “Anchor pricing” occurs when one price is provided, giving patients a starting point or “anchor”**. Moving forward, all other prices are compared to that initial number. For example, when scheduling a consult if a patient believes he will be paying $3,000 for a procedure because of advertised prices, but it’s later determined he or she would be served better by a $6,000 procedure, overcoming that $3,000 difference will be difficult. Had the "anchor price" started at $6,000 and ended up being $3,000, the patient would be more likely to move forward.
In the end, regardless of the procedure or service, price plays a starring role. While the majority of practices still do not reveal pricing before speaking or meeting with a patient, there does appear to be a shift towards making it easier for the patient and sharing publicly. If you choose to post your prices online, remember the cost barrier doesn’t automatically disappear; it will still remain a concern to address, which is easily overcome by providing financing options. So if you list a procedure for $3,000, be sure to also mention the patient can finance the procedure for $73 a month or pay for the procedure over time with no interest. Calculate Monthly Payments
^https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/behavioral-impact-higher-price
**https://conversionxl.com/blog/pricing-experiments-you-might-not-know-but-can-learn-from/
You Want Customer Loyalty? Be Brilliant at the Basics
The following guest post is from John R. DiJulius, best-selling author, consultant, keynote speaker and President of The DiJulius Group, the leading Customer experience consulting firm in the nation. You can subscribe to his blog at www.thedijuliusgroup.com
Customer Bill of Rights – Burden of the Brand
World-class service companies have what I like to call a “Customer bill of rights” that every person in that organization clearly knows and follows 100 percent of the time. Would you ever expect to see a Disney cast member, in full uniform on break, chewing tobacco and spitting on the ground near the front entrance where guests are walking by? Doubtful. Or would you ever think a Ritz-Carlton employee, when asked for directions to the ballroom, would give a response like “I don’t know, I work in housekeeping”? Highly unlikely! One of the most effective ways to elevate your company’s Customer service level is by instituting your own Customer bill of rights.
If anyone is going to wear your uniform or name tag or represent your brand, you only need a small set (six to ten actions/standards) for your employees to live by. These nonnegotiable standards are also referred to as the “never and always” list. The critical importance is, if they do occur, you have to be confident enough that your employees recognize and understand your “never” and “always,” and you can be confident that your employees would “never” do this and “always” do that instead. If your company does nothing other than institute the “never and always” list and makes everyone aware of them, if your Customers rarely experience a “never” and consistently experience an “always,” then you are in the top 5 percent of Customer service organizations! As you read through the list, you will see that they are all simple and common sense, but the majority of businesses and frontline employees too often execute the “never” list and don’t consistently execute the “always” list.
In the examples shown, you will see that each one matches the following three criteria:
1. The items are typically one to three words in length.
2. They are black and white; there is no room for personal interpretation.
3. They are crystal clear and do not need any additional explanation.
Some things you wouldn’t see on a “never and always” list are things such as “Always be professional” or “Always return calls promptly.” Why? Because they are vague. What is professional to one is completely different to someone else. What is “promptly”? To one person it may be two hours; to another it may be two days. Let’s show some examples of a few good Never & Always:
Point versus Show
This is typically thought of in the hospitality business (e.g., showing someone to the restroom instead of pointing them there). However, in the business-to-business and call-center world, pointing happens all the time. For instance, it happens when we say things like “You can get that off our website” or “You need to call this person in this department.” Why are we making the Customer do the work? We can send them the link, and we can transfer them to the correct department.
Saying no versus focusing on what you can do
Eliminate the word no from your company’s vocabulary; no one should ever be allowed to use that word. You may not always be able to say yes, but offer alternatives and options and never allow anyone from your company to utter the word no. You will be amazed at how creative your team will get at satisfying Customers. I never want a Customer of mine to tell me that someone from my organization said no to him or her. To me that is the worst swear word you can use in front of a Customer.
While we cannot do everything our Customers request, we can always respond with what we can do. If someone asks if we can sell them something we don’t even sell, we can answer with “While we do not carry product X, what we do carry is product Z, and the reason we do carry product Z is because it is proven to be the best, longest lasting, healthiest, whatever.” By the time you are done explaining the benefits of product Z, that Customer should never want product X. If for some reason they still want product X, then you explain how and where
they can get product X.
“No problem” is a big problem
The biggest street-slang terms used in every business today are the responses “no problem” or “not a problem.” In fact, as a result of reading this right now, you will be shocked at how many times you will hear “no problem” over the next two days. Joe Schumacker wrote an excellent blog titled “No Problem, Big Problem” that articulates this point really well. “No problem” is a problem for two reasons. The first issue with saying “no problem” is that it consists of two negative words. We shouldn’t be using any negative words, let alone two back-to-back.
The second problem is that the “no problem” auto-response sends the message that what the Customer is asking of you is not a problem for you. However, when we are serving others, it is not about our convenience; it is about what the Customer wants. The phrase “no problem” places the staff member’s comfort ahead of service to the Customer. Customers want to feel that their interests are first and foremost in the mind of the staff member, not that they may have inconvenienced a staff member by being a Customer.
Excellent responses instead of “no problem” are “certainly,” “my pleasure,” “I would be happy to,” “consider it done,” and “absolutely.” Using “certainly” or “my pleasure” is so much more professional than the often heard “not a problem.” It elevates the professionalism of your employees’ terminology. It starts establishing a culture of hospitality where the Customer is first.
The following are great examples of “never” and “always” items that are a Never & Always from great companies that The DiJulius Group helped to create. Ideally, you only want a maximum of ten “nevers” and ten “always.”
Action Plan – Create a small set (6-12 actions/standards) that match the following criteria:
* The standards are 1 – 3 words
* Do not need any additional explanation
* Not stage specific (i.e. do not apply towards phone, check in, check out, etc.)
Getting Dialed In
Have you ever launched a pay-per-click campaign and received emails and calls, but for some reason the conversion rate was lower than expected? If you answered yes, then there may be room for improvement in your team’s phone skills. I’ve noticed that even the most skilled front office associate sometimes tends to miss an email or forgets to ask for the patient’s name and phone number on a call. I know these actions seem rather simple, but you’d be surprised at how many times they’re overlooked.
At least quarterly, practices should "mystery shop" their own practice, by calling and pretending to be a patient, to learn first-hand what their patients experience and to identify areas for improvement. You can use the following "Perfect Phone Call" checklist when evaluating your practice.
The Perfect Phone Call
- Superior Communication Skills - Enunciation, tone of voice and demeanor reflects positively on the practice.
- Takes the Lead - Who’s the expert here? The trained office associate, or the patient? Letting the patient lead the conversation may not be the best tactic.
- Key Questions Asked - Asks the right questions: Name, phone number, how they heard about you, main concern, special event coming up, etc.
- Credentialing - Every team member should have each provider’s CV down, backwards and forward. Why would the patient want to choose a certain practice if they don’t understand the value behind it?
- Procedure and Product Knowledge Shared - When a patient is calling in with specific questions, sometimes they can only be answered in a consultation with the provider. However, each team member should have a good amount of knowledge about the products and services sold in the practice and know how to explain them in a way as to not provide medical advice and pricing.
- Books the Appointment - After the above steps are completed, booking the appointment should be a breeze, right? But how do we know they’ll show?
- Completes Follow Up - Personally emailing the patient to confirm before the end of the day is very important, as well as a confirmation phone call the day before the scheduled appointment. I’m sure this is happening most of the time, but what exactly is being emailed to these leads? Text message confirmations and automated emails are super convenient, but then the personalization is left adrift.
The checklist above is definitely something to consider when spending your marketing dollars into paid advertisements. Is your team ready? Do they know what campaign you just launched? How will you keep track of who may need training or a refresher course for phone etiquette?
About the Author: Lacy J. Banks is the owner and CEO of Aesthetic Practice Concepts providing phone and consultation trainings for board-certified plastic surgeons and their staff. If you’d like a complimentary assessment of your team’s phone skills please feel free to contact her at (760) 747-1111 or at lacy@apc.management. She’d love to hear from you.
TO REACH A MEMBER OF THE ALPHAEON TEAM - ANYTIME
CALL 920-306-1794 OR EMAIL TEAMCREDIT@ALPHAEON.COM