| |
| |
|
KwikMarketing.com - Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Marketing Strategy 101: 10 Marketing Strategies I Learnt From My Oral Surgeon
This is how the conversation went on my follow-up visit to the oral surgeon, 10 days after he removed 2 lower wisdom teeth. "Go down the hallway, enter the second door on the right and take a seat in the dentist's chair," said the receptionist after calling my name out to the 5 people in the waiting room. "How is it all going?" asked my oral surgeon slapping on a pair of examination gloves. "Great" I replied truthfully. "I've been totally pain free since the operation." "You won't be when you get my bill!" he said in half jest. "I've already paid it and by my calculations, I reckon you're grossing more than one and a half million dollars a year in revenue?" I quickly asked combining my MBA training with years spent questioning people as a broadcaster. "You might be right, but I wouldn't know, I just concentrate on the patients," was the last thing he said before I opened my mouth and he examined the 2 sockets where my wisdom teeth once resided. "They're looking good, rinse with salt water regularly and call me if there's a problem," were his last words as I was ushered out. That was it, all over in a matter of minutes. What is the point of sharing this with you? Well, I learnt a lot about marketing from the service I received from my oral surgeon. Here are my insights and how you can apply these strategies to your own business, career or life. 1. PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS Two months earlier I hadn't been able to sleep because of an intense, searing pain coming somewhere from the back of my lower jaw. Despite taking painkillers, it got worse until the whole side of my face started to swell up like a football. In desperation at 3.30 am, I rang the only dentist I could find listed in the Yellow Pages with an after hours number. I woke him up. Then briefed him and he told me how much it would cost to get him and his dental nurse out of bed and into his surgery. I decided to endure the pain in my head instead of in my wallet. I was on his surgery door as soon as it opened and the diagnosis of a compacted wisdom tooth that had become infected was confirmed. I was able to get to see my family dentist later in the day and he prescribed antibiotics and recommended I see an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. He would solve my problems. In fact, he was so busy solving problems he was completely booked out for the next 2 months. What problems do you solve for people? 2. BUILD YOUR BUSINESS OR CAREER ON REFERRALS My family dentist had a stack of business cards from the oral surgeon. He handed me one and said "this guy is the best in town, try and see him within the next 2 months." The oral surgeon's business is built completely on referral business. How can you get referrals for your business or dream job? I've learnt, if you don't ask for or have a system for referrals, no matter how busy you are now, future work has the potential to dry up. 3. LOOK AT A BUSINESS MODEL WITH A CONSISTENT DEMAND One of the great things about the hairdressing industry is that people's hair never stops growing and so they always need it cut. It's the same for lawn mowing services and extracting wisdom teeth. There's a constant demand. I've learnt this in my own business and understood that for certain clients, like those who have a regular turnover of leadership positions due to set election periods, there is always going to be a constant change of people, and in many cases a regular demand to provide media training for new people as they rise up the ranks and take over leadership positions. Look for opportunities where there will be a constant demand for your skills and services. 4. QUALIFICATIONS BUILD CREDIBILITY I noticed my oral surgeon had his University degrees and professional qualifications printed on his business card as well as hanging on his office wall in his surgery. This provides third party endorsement, which builds credibility and trust with patients and customers alike. How do you use your professional qualifications to build your credibility? Interestingly, a fellow speaker who works in the health sector shared this gem in a recent newsletter. "Part of what I've been talking about involves building trust between health professionals and their clients. Consequently, my eye was caught by the following research report in New Scientist, (4th Jan 2003). Robert Hash and his colleagues at Mercer University in Georgia have found that patients judge medical advice by the weight of their doctor. They studied 200 patients of 5 doctors and found that the medical information and advice given by doctors who were judged to be overweight was not trusted as much as that given by those perceived to be leaner. The article said, "If you don't look too healthy yourself, your patients may be more inclined to take your advice with a pinch of salt." (Source: Rachel's Reflections By Rachel Green 31-Jan-2003, Number 106) Live your message and be a walking, talking example of the solutions you offer. Fail with this and your credibility within the marketplace will diminish. 5. COME UP WITH A UNIQUE BRAND I noticed my oral surgeon shared consulting rooms with another oral surgeon with exactly the same qualifications. Both of their business cards sat at the reception desk. One was plain, white and simple. The other had an interesting, colourful and creative logo incorporating two faces. Which do you think got my attention? 6. PROVIDE THE CLIENT WITH THREE OPTIONS Fresh from my new knowledge after hearing New York-based speaker, author and consultant Alan Weiss Ph.D CSP present, I found my oral surgeon also used this technique. He presented me with 3 options - do nothing, have my wisdom teeth out with just a local pain killer or have them removed under a general anaesthetic. All had varying costs and consequences. I had previously consulted my older brother, an orthopaedic surgeon who had a similar operation 2 years ago. He chose the latter and so did I. What options can you provide clients? By the way, the third option I chose was the most expensive! 7. BACK YOUR OPTIONS UP WITH EXAMPLES Tangible examples help people make a decision and take action. Often this is based on emotion. My oral surgeon pulled out his 'horror photos' (his words not mine) and said "this is what can happen if you don't have your wisdom teeth removed". One look and I was convinced. What examples, evidence or proof can you provide to help convince your prospects, customers or clients they need your services. 8. MAKE IT EASY FOR CLIENTS, PROVIDE A PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE & ADD VALUE My oral surgeon is located right next door to a day hospital. This is a new service he has only been offering since the beginning of the year. Convenience for clients can be a big factor. I was in hospital by 10am and out by 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Sure it was more expensive and an added value service. But I'm busy, am motivated by rational self-interest (especially when it comes to pain) and am willing to pay extra for the convenience. How can you add value to your services? 9. PROVIDE WRITTEN DETAILS My oral surgeon provided written details of what to do prior and post the operation. This was clear, precise and invaluable. How can you apply this to your business? 10. REVIEW, EVALUATE AND FOLLOW-UP Again, my specialist had a proven follow-up system to evaluate how the operation went. How can you do the same for your business. Most of us forget the follow-up, but it is the most important Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Let Your Customers Search For YOU! - Part 2 First I want to welcome you to part two of the article 'How To Let Customers Search for YOU!', where you can learn how to attract new clients at any time you want. The techniques I describe here have proofed to work for me and a lot of other people. The Marketing Recipe: Money, Marketing and Me - 3 Keys For Success You have a great product or service? Now, how should you market it?You have to make others know about what you have to offer. There is no good in having a great idea if you don't know how to sell it, right?Your motivation is financial independence (MONEY); you establish a quality product (your service), and you go out into the harsh competitive world and sell it (MARKETING) while you also sell yourself (ME)!Here are a few tips and a real example which you should keep in mind in order to prospect. How To Choose a Qualitative Research Market Qualitative research, whether individual interviews, in-homes, focus groups, ethnographies and the like are conducted all over the world, as everyone knows. But how are the markets to be studied selected in the first place?New York, London, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Boston and Dallas are all great places to see first rate entertainment, dine out and by their size, must be great places in which to conduct qualitative research or so the common thinking goes. Are We There Yet? Small business marketing is not like taking a family vacation.Did anybody take a family vacation this summer? Do you have children of your own, or do you remember what it was like when you were a kid taking a trip somewhere?I can still remember the family vacations as a youngster growing up. Marketing Smarter To Earn More An accountant once told me that he never met anyone who didn't want to make 30% more money. Whether you want a better lifestyle or to take more vacations, buy a fancy car, spend more time with your family, send your children to college or to give it all away, you could always use more money. Promotions That Build Profit Promotions are everything you do to let your customers know you exist. Good marketing techniques can help eliminate the "I didn't knows" from your clients and would-be clients. Marketing Operations Elevates Public Relations and Communications Professionals Is your marketing department taking advantage of MOM and MRM? Do you have BAM and DAM systems in place? Do you know how to measure NPV? Do you even know what I'm talking about?If so, you may not be a "Quant" (a marketing scientist or specialist in marketing analytics) but you're certainly ready to seize a leadership role and spur your company into the new world of Marketing Operations.Marketing Operations (AKA MOM or Marketing Operations Management) seeks to improve performance and measure ROI through sustainable processes, best practices and clearly-defined metrics. Develop Your Curiosity And Increase Profits If anyone was to ask me what my greatest strength was I'd say curiosity. The reason I would say that is because curious people learn a lot. Stop Your Marketing Leaks Thirty percent of all the drinkable water that runs between the plant and your faucet is lost to leaky pipes. In marketing, thirty percent of our business is lost to leaky follow up. Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (Part #2) Part #26) Food safety is becoming paramount.What this means to you: No longer are the words tampering and bio terrorism buzz phrases. Are Keywords Destroying the Flow of Your SEO Copy? With all the shuffling that's been seen in the search engine world within the last year, the issue of obvious optimizing has become a hot button. The current line of thinking is that most engines (especially Google) are on the lookout for sites that purposely make an effort to optimize their pages in order to get high rankings. Making the Intangible Real How do you make the intangible real? How do you take an idea or concept, something that can't be seen or touched, and convey its essence to others, quickly and easily?That challenge faces many of us in this age of information and knowledge marketing. In advertising and other marketing communications, we have to convince prospects to respond to words and ideas. Using a Contact List Profitably- Part Two Besides a survey, your contact list can be used to generate sales directly. Some of the following ideas must be done one-on-one and others can be done to large quantities of prospects at a time. The Advantage to Buying Promotional Products Online Buying your promotional products and corporate apparel online provides five major advantages: a greater selection, better pricing, convenience, customer service, and faster ordering time.Manufacturers often display their entire line of products on the internet, providing you with a greater selection of products. Slogans: Creating and Using Them In Life, Career and Business Information is coming at us from all directions nowadays. This pace requires us to demand that we receive it fast and predigested in order to inch ahead of the game. Write Articles WITHOUT Writing! Face it, writing any article can be a tedious and time consuming task for a beginner or even an expert writer. Here are four ways to make writing articles a lot easier: 1) Use My Articles - You could add your own name, resource box and web site link to 199 of my prewritten articles. The X Factor So you've invested more time than you ever believed possible on your website and in optimizing the pages for the search engines. Having sacrificed weekends and holidays, you've ensured that your site ranks in the Top 10. Go Guerrilla Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I define as low-cost, creative and typically self-implemented public relations techniques.Here are a few thoughts that might spawn some ideas for your own business. Increase Your Response with Multi-Step Marketing "There is only one way to judge the effectiveness of a marketing piece, and that is by the number of responses you get." - Heidi Richards -Multi-step marketing is a simple yet extremely powerful strategy when you use it to its full potential. Making More With Existing Clients Have you ever put on a jacket you haven't worn in a while and found a twenty-dollar bill in one of the pockets? You'd forgotten all about it, so discovering it is like getting a gift. If you've been in business for a year or longer, you may have gifts in forgotten pockets - sources of additional revenue waiting to be discovered and tapped.
|
| home | site map |
| © KwikMarketing.com 2007 |
