Step 1: Messaging
The goal of an occupational medicine sales campaign is to reach decision-makers at local employers and convince them to switch from their current medical provider to your practice. Every provider knows that their practice is the best in the area. This should be easy!
However, there are a couple of major hurdles. For the employer, change can be scary. Will they end up in a bad situation with a new medical provider? Change almost always creates more work. For the HR representative, is this worth their time?
Most occupational medicine websites have similar information — a list of services that the practice offers. Most marketing materials (brochures, mailers, etc.) offer the same information. The industry is hoping the employer will read the list and think, “I need these services.” Since most practices offer the same or similar services, why should an employer go through the effort to switch providers? As marketers, we need to help create the need for the employer to switch.
Establish dissatisfaction: As an occupational medicine provider, you should realize your unique strength or value in the marketplace. Or to rephrase, you need to understand what value you offer that your competitor does not. For example, we find many employers complain that they do not have open communication with the physician treating their employee’s injury. The successful occupational medicine practice needs physicians that understand the needs of the employer as well as the care of the patient. As we develop the calling script, we will ask questions to determine if poor physician communication is a source of frustration.
Meeting Needs: As a marketer, you need to have a consistent message both internally and externally as to how your unique value meets the needs of the employers. In the example above, we will create a consistent marketing message regarding open communication between employer and physician. This will include details of how the practice provides communication (i.e., “Our physicians will contact your company representative within 24 hours of initial consultation.”). It’s imperative that this is communicated to all employees internally as well.
Ideally, you will want at least 3 potential sources of dissatisfaction of your competitors. If you have not formally discussed this with key staff members, this will prove to be a valuable exercise. You can also get great information from clients that have recently switched from another local provider. With the messaging established, we can develop a script for telemarketing, which we will address in our next Occ Med blog post.
WebForDoctors also provides outsourced services for occupational medicine sales.
