How to Explode the Number of Referrals From Your Patients

Posted November 18th, 2007

Health care professionals dream of practices in which every new patient comes as a referral from an existing satisfied patient. Here’s how to take the idea beyond the dream state and make it happen.

By Chuck McKay

I know why you don’t ask for referrals.

Asking patients for referrals has proven to be the least expensive, most effective way to build a successful all-referral practice. If you ask, you get. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Everyone knows asking patients for referrals works. And yet, very few are willing to do it.

Shall we admit the reason why?

You worry that:

1.You might sound desperate for the business.
2.People will resent being “pressured.”
3.Asking for business makes you appear less professional.

Am I right? On all three points?

Many family practitioners, physical therapists, dentists, ophthalmologists, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, massage therapists, and other health care providers feel exactly as you do.

They don’t need to. Getting solid, qualified referrals, can be easy and natural.

But first, let me ask about your patient interaction.

How important do you make your patients feel?

Of course you take a thorough history, don’t you? Or do you delegate that task to someone else on your staff? Do you really listen to the answers? Do you make eye contact?

There are two reasons these things are important to your growth of your practice: strong word-of-mouth, and excellent referrals. Here’s why.

Regardless of their other differences, people want to feel important. (This is common among nearly all social animals. If people were the only beings who had a need for recognition, affection, and belonging, none of us would bother with pets).

The urge to “matter” is universal. According to William James, the father of modern psychology, that the greatest human emotional need is to be recognized and appreciated.

Your patients want to be significant to you. What do you want for them?

There’s one easily observable point about successful people: they manage to satisfy the other person’s need to feel important. Successful health care providers become successful not because of the school from which they graduated; not because of the advanced study in their area of specialty; but because they make their patients feel that the patient is the only thing which matters (at least at that point in time).

In fact, a recent survey concluded that only 9 percent of the people who changed providers did so because of price. A total of 4 percent died or moved away. And only 14 percent because they were dissatisfied with service. But a whopping 68 percent will find another health care provider because they felt ignored. Taken for granted. Unappreciated. Not cared for, or about.

Should that surprise us? Being under appreciated is the most common reason employees leave jobs. Why wives leave husbands. Why athletes wish to be traded to another team.

You’ll automatically be in demand when your patients know you care.

You’ll show that you care by giving them the two things they’ll remember most: time and attention.

What happens to the treatment regimen you recommend when you’ve made your patient feel important? Yes, it gets followed. Your patient gets better, quickly.

Now he has two reasons to brag about you. You care, and you’re brilliant when it comes to health care treatment.

What about your staff?

They have to be equally interested in your patients.

The first time a new patient visits your office, your staff must make a big deal of her coming. Give her a tour of the facilities. Introduce her to other staff members, who must be happy to see her, too. Everyone must make eye contact and smile.

Your staff must position you as an expert. A patient being treated as if she’s important by the staff is greatly appreciated. Being treated as important by the expert she came to see is amazing, and noteworthy. (The requirements of word-of-mouth).

Once they’ve shown the new patient around, have a staff person give her a copy of your waiting room resume.

If your staff drags their feet…

Expect some push back from your staff. Explain the program and its importance to them again. To work, you have to insist on the appropriate welcome being offered to each new patient, without fail. Training takes a lot of repetition. You must be committed to repeating your expectations, and following up to be sure your expectations are being met.

When your staff people start to tell you why this won’t work, and why they can’t do it, start looking for their replacements. You’ve no doubt tried to implement other changes, and these same staffers fought you on those changes, too, didn’t they? Admit that it’s easier to replace people who will not share the vision than it is to get them to change their natural pessimism and to try it your way. The sheer number of potential referrals at stake make it imperative that you insist on staff follow through.

You become noteworthy when you exceed patient expectations.

Referrals and word-of-mouth both key off of exceeding patients’ expectations. That makes sense, doesn’t it? If you treated them as they expected to be treated, what would there be to talk about?

Become exceptional in the minds of your patients.

Can you give your new patient a “welcome to the practice” gift? A diagnostic x-ray? A cholesterol screening? It should come up logically during the exam, and appear to be something you did just to be nice. Tell her about the gift, and what you normally charge for it. She’ll be delighted. This is the “exceed expectations” stuff word-of-mouth is made of.

Choose your gifts so that the perceived value is high, but your out-of-pocket costs are low.

Imagine the effect on your patient.

Imagine what your patient will be feeling when you, the health care expert she already likes and trusts, says to her:

“Roberta, if you like what my staff and I have done for you here, I’d like you to send me someone we can help in the same way we’ve helped you. I’m sure they’ll be appreciative, and I’ll be pleased, too. Will you do that for me?”

Wow. How easy.

Again you get to show just how much you care, and your patient gets a chance to be even more important to you.

No one thinks that you’re asking because you need the business. Well, no one but you, perhaps.

No one feels pressured. Your patients now have a way to please the authority figure who cares so much for them.

And you haven’t sunk to the level of a used car salesman. You’re merely trying to help more people to feel better and enjoy good health.

Should you offer a reward for referrals?

Never.

Would you sell out your friends for a few bucks? Your patients won’t either, and they’ll resent being asked. Your patients must feel that they’re doing a kindness - both to their friends, and to you.

Oh, you should give rewards, but they must always be in the form of a “thank you for your thoughtfulness” gift. Never as a bribe.

Never offer rewards, but always use them.
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How to Explode the Number of Referrals From Your Patients copyright © 2007 Chuck McKay and AdvanceMyPractice.com. All rights reserved.

Chuck McKay is a marketing consultant who works with professional practices and owner operated businesses. Questions about effective referral programs in your health care practice may be directed to ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com.