Nitin 360

Anaidaism – The Chocolate Interruption

Posted on 13. Jun, 2009 by Nitin in Grow Your Private Practice, Marketing 101

Trust me, you don’t want to be solicited for business when you are out for dinner in a nice place and eating a big chunk of chocolate.

I worked hard all week, and tend to get giddy like a little girl, when its time to go out to a fancy-pants place and catch a movie (or a Broadway show, we live 20 minutes from midtown Manhattan).

I don’t know about you, but all I want to do is RELAX on Saturdays and put my feet up.

Well, that was the goal, when my wife and I went to this super-cool place called “Max Brenner” in NYC last week.

This young server came up to me, while my mouth was full of 80% cocoa chocolate and asked “Sorry to bother you, but would you be interested in joining a special ‘chocolate membership’ where you can enjoy future meals at a 30% discount”

“Thanks, I’m good. Perhaps next time?”

Just like that, she had been brushed off, never to be seen or heard off again.

Maybe, if she said; “May I have a moment?”, I’d say, out of common courtesy, “Sure!”

“Hi! My name is Anaida. I have a special one-time offer today. You can get a whopping 30% discount each time you come back, so you can enjoy more and more chocolate! To take advantage of this, all you do is fill out your information and drop it in the little red box before you leave. Thanks and enjoy that chocolate – boy, that looks good”

I would have filled it up and made a beeline for the red box, sure.

When you are soliciting for new patients, how do you make sure to avoid the chocolate-loving-Anaidaism?

How do you know what to say and how to say it?

There are only four key pieces of information you need to provide your patients during each communication point.

1.    who you are (an introduction or a reminder)
2.    what you can do to help them
3.    why they should listen to you
4.    how they can be helped by you (contact information)

For example, ‘Hello this is Mark from ABC physical therapy.  I have exciting news for you today.  For a limited time, we are reopening our low-back pain prevention workshop to a handful of people.  This will teach you some insider strategies to take care of your lower back.  To register before spots fill out, please call 555-423-1234 or email support@abctherapy.com.’

All we need to do is keep it simple, and the results are bound to be as sweet as the chocolate I was enjoying that day.

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Tags: Grow Your Private Practice, physical therapy marketing