How Changing the Way You Speak to Physicians will Increase Referrals

When it comes to marketing your practice, there are a million tips and tricks out there as well as consultants telling you they have all the answers. However, the answer is so simple, you’ll wish you figured it out on your own sooner.

Unfortunately, you didn’t go to school to be a marketing specialist, so it doesn’t seem so easy. Any great marketer can tell you that offering something of value to your audience is the best way to grab their attention and keep it. We’ll discuss what this means for you in a moment.

How many times have you or your physician liaison (if you have one) walked into a physician office pleading to speak to the doctor? Maybe this sounds familiar, “Hi my name is X from Y Physical Therapy. Can I please have two minutes to speak to the doctor about sending referrals to our clinic?”

Often, you don’t get to speak to the doctor, or if you do, it doesn’t produce the results you hoped for.

Put yourself in their shoes

The saying goes, “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” Marketers try to put themselves in someone else’s shoes all the time to understand what it is that person wants. What will make him/her want to send their patients to you?

Remember, you’re not the only private PT practice in the area, so it’s very likely these physicians are bombarded with referral requests from other PTs. You’ll have to do more than just ask for referrals to stand out and prove worthy of caring for their patients.

Offer something of value to these busy doctors

In order to increase your referrals from the physicians you seek, you need to offer something of value to them. What is it they want? What can you give them that other PT practices can’t?

This doesn’t mean buying them a fancy lunch or gifts. This means finding out what they care about and building a genuine relationship with them. Perhaps one doctor really cares about next day appointments for his patients. Or another doctor is looking for the best place to send dizzy patients. If you can provide these things, tell them!

Finding out what is valuable to referring physicians will tell you exactly what you need to focus on marketing to them. Have a conversation with their front desk, or have a conversation with the doctor and ask these important questions:

• What is important to you?
• What specialties are you looking for in a PT clinic?
• How can I make your day easier?
• How can I bring patients to YOU?

Once you know what they care about, it becomes easy at your next visit. Rather than, “Please send me your referrals,” try this instead: “Hi, Dr. Smith! Last time we spoke, you were looking for the best place to send your dizzy patients for physical therapy. I brought some information today on our balance and vestibular program at Y Physical Therapy. I specialize in this area and I can guarantee your dizzy patients the best treatment possible at my facility.”

Here, you’ve just offered a solution to Dr. Smith’s problem and offered something valuable, because she’s looking for a great clinic to send her dizzy patients to. If you also bring a great-looking brochure with testimonials from real patients, raving about how you helped them heal from their dizziness – you’re in!

Marketing to physicians shouldn’t be about begging them for referrals, it should be about building mutually beneficial relationships. If you can give them what they need, they’ll be happy to refer their patients your way.

At FYZICAL, we call this “physician purpose marketing,” and this is just a fraction of the physician marketing tools and knowledge available through FYZICAL College. To learn more about how you can access FYZICAL College and learn best practices in marketing, click here to attend a Discovery Day event nearest you.