Doc says while we're increasing staff we're decreasing our revenue.
I've been working on getting E-Mails from patients when they come in for appointments and what not since Demandforce is integrated into Revolution, but it's a slow process as the office has only been electronic for about 6 months.
I suggested a Neighborhood Network deal to help bring in new patients in addition to Groupon to help bring in new patients (I even suggested it could help with existing ones who frequent Groupon regularly and make avid use of it), but doc's already tried stuff like that and he says that people use the coupon once and then generally don't return and that very few become long-term, established patients so those avenues of advertising aren't really worth it to him.
I know word of mouth is always a good thing when it comes to new patients and we definitely seem to have that, especially when it comes to CDW employees. Many of the new patients we've been getting since I've started 3 months ago have specifically mentioned being referred to us by established patients who, in many cases are their co-worker(s).
In terms of existing patients, I've suggested sending out postcards, but that could be a rather costly endeavor to undertake. Not to mention, how many would come back undelivered? Since many of our patients are going 2 or more years between seeing the doc, I'm sure many mailing addresses are no longer the right addresses. Calling's going to be the same way because I've already called a few numbers that were obsolete. And calling would be a time consuming thing as well. I'd probably have to resort to that outside of normal working hours like on days off (Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays).
They've tried raffles, like for a free pair of sunglasses, but feel they're just tossing away money for nothing. We're currently running a couple of in-office specials:
1. Buy a year's worth of contacts and get 20% of non-prescription sunglasses
and
2. 50% off a 2nd pair of frames or complete lenses for an existing frame
Patients acknowledge them in the office and have liked them on our Facebook page, but very few patients take advantage of special #2 due to the cost associated with one pair and no one has taken advantage of special #2 since I've been there.
That said, I'm open to ideas to bounce off doc or ways to improve what we're already doing or have done.
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