To Google or Not to Google

How often do you "Google" your name or business? How about your competition? If not, you should. The internet continues to evolve and change the way consumers view business and often times serves as the first contact they have with your business. In my consulting business, we often suggest to business owners to do an internet search of their business to see if the results match their expectations.

My last blog focused on what to do if you see negative reviews of your business; that blog was probably a premature publication. In reality, I should have started this series with the suggestion to do the internet search. Most doctors and business owners or managers rarely do a search, but most will find that the search results are not what they expect. In most cases, the search results include a listing of consumer reviews of the business from sites like Google Reviews, ratemds.com, healthgrades.com, etc. Granted, the reviews are from patients, not medical professionals, but patients can tap into the internet media and write their review of your business.

• The first step in managing your internet presence is to do the search, and, do this search regularly.

• Second, don't take any negative reviews personal. I tend to look at negative critique as a gift - information letting me know what to improve upon.

• Thirdly, get your practice involved in social medial channels. All doctors tell me that word of mouth advertising is the best advertising, and, I agree. As such, give your patients a site they can use to spread their story about your practice.

So take this opportunity to learn about what is being said, or not said, about your practice. You might find that social media represents the most budget friendly marketing and advertising you could ever do!

Managing Poor Internet Reviews

The internet and, in particular, social networking sites and other Web 2.0 technologies, provide ample opportunity for your customers and client to post reviews, good or bad, about your business. I once had a client tell me he let his web site expire because of fear that customer might say something bad about his practice. Other clients object to employing social network sites as legitimate marketing and advertising channels for similar fears. In both cases, these clients fail to understand that customers can post poor reviews whether or not the client is involved with these internet technologies.

There is not question that the internet in some ways is still the wild, wild west and nearly anything goes. So, how do you as a responsible business owner manage poor reviews?

• First, we must recognize that internet review sites are here to stay and customers are using them as never before. If you are not using social network sites as part of your marketing/advertising/communication efforts, you should be.
• Make internet searches for poor reviews part of you routine business management. In other words, you cannot manage what you do not know.
• Don't over react. There is no better offense than a good defense. If you encounter one bad review compared to 10 good ones, your customers can and will recognize the context.
• Just as you ask satisfied clients to refer friends and family to your practice, invite these same clients to post a review about your practice.
• If a review is clearly an exaggeration, or simply not true, contact the review sites administrator. Most review sites are very interested in providing honest and accurate reviews.
• I'll mention once again - get involved!

For more information on how to get started with social networking as part of your marketing and advertising campaign, click here.

Social Media = Budget Friendly Marketing/Advertising

I just been contracted to build another CONNECT system, an internet based marketing and advertising tool that utilizes social media outlets. Primoro, Inc. has now built 25 or 30 of these systems much to the delight of business owner. For a very low set up fee, with no on-going annual fees, I cannot think of another marketing/advertising tool more budget friendly.

Most practices use some type of marketing and advertising tool, whether it be their own website, yellow pages, in-house brochures, even a business card. For most practices, the total marketing and advertising spend should be 3-5% of net collected revenue. And as for the aforementioned tools, there are ongoing expenses due to the less-than-user-friendly nature of the tool. One example is your website. How often do you have it updated? My guess is not very often. It takes a lot of time, and perhaps money, to make the change. Yellow pages is another example. You contract for a specific ad for one year. Suppose you move, or add a new service; well you are simply stuck with what you have until the contact is renegotiated.

What if you had a marketing and advertising tool that was truly user friendly? Well, CONNECToffers this solution. Using CONNECT as your social media tool is as easy to use as writing an email. And with recent programming updates, these internet site (I like to call them "microsites" because they look and feel like mini websites), you can add as many a 10 separate pages to be used however you choose.

Take some time and consider the value social media and other Web 2.0 technologies can have on your practice. Primoro, Inc. offers one hour complimentary consultations, and, we would be happy to assist you.

Being Unconsciously Competent

This s favorite topic of mind. And, it has such an impact on practices customer service performance. Please take a minute to determine if you are unconsciously competent!

http://www.thecitizen.com/articles/04-27-2010/being-unconsciously-competent

Financials

This week, a friend posed a simple question, "What do you mean when you offer clients financial assistance?" Well, the answer is both simple and complex. First, let me tell you what it isn't. It is not related to personal finance, nor, is it an alternative to your accountant. Instead, financial services are related to the everyday "operations" of the practice. In short, financial services entail evaluating any number of expense ratios to aid the practice in better financial management.

For example, every business, including medical practices, has marketing and advertising expenses. Yet most practices have not real idea as to what constitutes the proper marketing and advertising expense budget. The answer lies within established benchmark values. In general, medical practices should budget 1-5% of net income for their marketing and advertising budget.

There are multiple metrics a practice can use to evaluate their current financial performance; yet looking at one metric is not advisable. My experience demonstrates that these benchmark should be viewed in the context of the practice, and, how one metric relates to another. In our marketing and advertising example, a practice could spend more or less depending on a marketing initiatives, how well known the practice is (or isn't) or the general desire of the owner. I know a doctor who insists on having the most aesthetically pleasing office in town. While he may be a little "over the top" in decor, he simply made the choice not based on financial sense, but instead, personal desire. A good consultant would not criticize this doctor's choice, but instead, simply point out the financial consequences of the decision.

Knowing and understanding these metrics is the first step in financial management. If you have not done so, please consider benchmarking your financials as compared to prior years. By doing so, you can easily see trends you may choose to ameliorate.

Internal Customers; They're Your Customer

For your business owners out there, your employees are your customer. Think about it, you could not run your business without them, and, it is to your benefit to treat them with the same care as you treat your paying customers.

Internal customer service starts with business owners and managers. It is their responsibility to set the tone and culture of the business. If the tone and culture is one of treating employees well and with respect, you can bet that your employee will treat your external customers (paying customers) with similar tone. In contrast, if you treat your employees as simply workers, they in-turn will treat your external customers as just customers.

Evaluating your internal customer service "quotient" can be a simple as conducting your own SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis. Though typically reserved for marketing strategy analysis, a SWOT analysis that examines customer service, internal and external customer service can be revealing. Below, is an example of an internal customer service SWOT analysis.

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
· Practice includes customer service as part of their Mission Statement · Management has set the expectation · The practice utilizes staff uniforms, including a name badge · Office is clean and provides an open, inviting reception area	· Practice experience relatively high turnover, necessitating only basic CS training · Little daily management of CS activities · Retail area appears unkempt
OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
· Annual employee evaluations do not include customer service as a measured metric · Practice does not use EMR or other CRM technology · Need for ongoing CS training	· Other area practices utilizing EMR/CRM technology · Improve staff retention

For your analysis, consider conducting an input session with your practice's management team. Remain open with all critique and refrain from defending any position you may have taken in the past. By doing so, you demonstrate one of the key elements of leadership, listening. You might be surprised at what you learn and the new direction this activity brings.

Where Have I Been?

It has been a week or two since I last issued a blog. Frankly, I've been tied up with a project for a pharmaceutical company. They asked me to create a few training manuals for their sales teams. One of the training modules concerns providing excellence in customer service. In my research, I was surprised to see so much material regarding the little discussed of internal customer service.

When we hear the term customer service, most of us think about the service we provide to our customers or clients. Internal customer service is the recognition that our employees are customers of the owner and management, and the employees are customers of each other. This recognition is important because the better customer service we provide our team members, we improve our external customer service, business efficiency which leads to greater profitability.

Simple steps to improve your internal customer service include:

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate - be proactive in communicating with co-workers about your expectations of them and them of you.

• Management must build a sense of teamwork - Likewise, staff members must understand how their actions, or inactions, affect their co-workers ability to complete their tasks.

• Eliminate work silos - the medical practice is a business and should operate as a cohesive team.

• Managers, treat your employees like customers. Providing your employees excellence in customer service fosters excellence in external customer service.

• Create a rewards system in your office. Rewards can be as simple as a monthly award all the the way to cask bonuses. Make sure you set the expectation and reward the observed activity.

Robert

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