Rick's Business of Audiology Blog

Pretty Ad Often Isn’t a Good Ad

The best looking advertisements often aren't the best advertisements.

Unless of course your purpose is to create a work of art.

I have seen so many printed marketing pieces that are described to me as nice looking, or good looking, or pretty. Today a client told me they liked the piece because it looked good, and then wondered why it didn't bring in many people. I asked them what message it conveyed. This was followed by a long uncomfortable pause. They didn't know.

Message Consistency Improves Effectiveness

When your message is consistent it is easier to communicate. And easier messages cost less to deliver.

Newest Technology and Lowest Cost don't go together; they are mutually inconsistent and inherently confusing to the consumer.

We go to Wal-Mart for low priced clothes, not for high fashion. Jaguar or Mercedes won't promote their cars as cheaper than Chevy's. If you see a Rolex for sale for $200 you would assume something isn't quite right.

The same for hearing aids. It is easier for patients to understand and have confidence in your pricing if it matches the image of the product you are selling.

Who Owns What?

I don't pretend to know for sure, but this is my most recent compilation of who owns whom:

Aplifion (Italian) owns Sonus and the Sonus Network which they are branding as Audiology. They also own Miracle Ear which they are branding for HIS. I think they are really a marketing and promotion company that doesn't actually build hearing aids on their own but purchases them from other suppliers. http://www.amplifonusa.com/about_Amplifon_USA.asp

Oticon has an ownership interest in AHAA. http://www.ahaanet.com/ http://www.oticonusa.com/

Audibel is owned by Starkey. http://www.audibel.com/ http://www.starkey.com/

General Hearing Instruments (Walmart and Wal-Mart Online) http://www.generalhearing.com/about.cfm http://www.walmart.com/ip/Simply-Soft-Smart-Touch-Digital-Hearing-Aid-Pair.-Free-6-Month-Battery-Supply./11981998

Unitron is owned by Phonak

Lyric is owned by Phonak http://www.phonak.com/

Beltone is owned by Resound http://www.resound.com/

I think Siemens is a manufacturer only.

Fun is Good

There is no logistic reason for fish to fly at the Seattle Fish Market. But there is a business reason.

It is fun! It is interesting!

If you have never visited the fish market in Seattle, WA, I encourage you to do so. When the fish, often full size salmon, move from one place to another they fly! Literally they are thrown from one person to other often covering surprising distances. The workers accompany the flying fish with loud entertaining comments. This is fascinating to the customers. It makes it worthwhile visiting even if you aren't planning to make a purchase.

Have you ever paused for a moment to watch pizza dough spin?

Have you ever watched the kids fascinated by the little circles of dough migrating through the Krispy Kreme donut creation machine?

People are inherently curious. They want to see, experience, what you are doing. If you allow them to they will have more fun, like your business more, and recommend you more often.

Make your office fun and interesting and you will have more happy customers.

Tinnitus Therapy; a useful product.

As you think about your key points of differentiation as an Independent Private Practice Audiologist I encourage you to consider Tinnitus Therapy. Tinnitus Therapy is something that sets you apart as an Audiologist and enables you to help people that often are left unserved.

It helps answer the question; "Why should I call your office?"

Kudos to Sharon.

This article is written better than I could do it so I encourage you to take a moment and give it a read.

http://audiology.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/Including-Tinnitus-Therapy-in-Your-Practice.aspx

Rick

Free Lunch?

If you cannot figure out why something is offered to you then get a good grip on your wallet. If someone is selling something, and offering something else for "free", then you know the "free" is attached to whatever else they are selling. And whatever else they are selling is probably being sold at a premium.

Some things are inherently linked, and some are not inherently linked. Non linked items are the ones to watch very carefully.

Examples of something else: Inherently non-linked things.

A free hearing test is for the purpose of selling a hearing aid.

Free business advice is for the purpose of selling you whatever the vendor is buying; or perhaps even as a way to get you to brand your business with their name giving them significant control.

Free salty snacks at the bar are to get you to buy more drinks than you would otherwise.

Examples of inherently linked things:

A free demonstration of a hearing aid that a hearing test indicates is appropriate.

Free demonstrations of how to use the product being sold to you; or free samples for you to test in your office.

A clean glass and napkin for your drink.

A question to ask is? When the person offers the "free" item to you, how do you think they justify it to their boss?

Rick

GN Resound Blog

At first blush it looks like lots of GN PR, but worth a bookmark.

www.gnresoundblog.com

Competitive Advantage: Marketing for Success

Your Audiology practice always has competitors. Often you have lots of competitors. Typically more than you can keep track of or pay attention to. This causes information overload, and / or lack of ability to focus. How do you market effectively if you don't know?

How do you overcome this?

1. Rank your competitors. Which ones are the ones you need to win customers from?
2. Pick your "enemy". Typically you will find one or two competitors that if you had their customers you and your patients would be better off. Focus on them.
3. Ensure if someone is shopping you and your "enemy" that they will choose you. This often requires a reassessment of your products, presentation, and key points / value message.
4. Execute your strategy and win the customers.

This can be easier than it sounds, or harder, it depends upon the situation.

It also is worthwhile considering acquiring a competitor. Businesses are often available to those who ask.

Review mSecure: Password Saver

I have over 300 individual passwords to keep track of, and it seems every week a new one appears. This doesn't include the various computer program activation codes and URS's to replace them. I have used several different methods to keep track of these little tidbits of data, from brute memorization to a word document, none of which have worked well.

Then mSecure was recommended to me by a person in a technical support department. You can find it on their website at: http://msevensoftware.com/msecure_ios

When I read that it uses supposedly impenetrable 256-bit blowfish encryption I was not impressed, because I have no idea what that really means. However a couple of people that know far more about computer security than I do said that's about as good as it gets.

Why I like it:

It is inexpensive, downloadable and immediately usable for the mSecure or Apple stores, and immediately intuitive to use. I was using it and synchronizing with my iPad within minutes of deciding to buy. (I needed to buy a copy for both the iPad and desktop and use the same mSecure password for both.)

I can use it on my Windows desktop, and then synchronize it with my iPad using my wireless network so effectively my data is backed up on my iPad which means I will have my password data with me when I am traveling.

Who knows how hard it would be for someone to break into it, but it certainly is a whole lot better than what I was doing.

It is easy to search, and reorganize, the information.

I need to really remember one password, to get into mSecure.

It has options so I can save any info that is of interest to me; family birthdates and SS#'s, insurance policy numbers, which software is installed on which computer.

It means I can give my wife one password, mSecure, to remember and in case anything happens to me she would be able to access my online life easily.

What I don't like:

I must be disciplined to update it.

It tends to log itself off quickly so I find myself logging in often.

I have no idea what would happen if I ever forgot my mSecure password.

It could use some more pre-created templates. Sure I can create my own, but that requires me to think!

It is taking a long time to get all my passwords and codes into it.

If you have password overload, I would encourage you to give this program a try.

Rick

When

Everyone Gets Evaluated this May

Has everyone working in your office had a hearing evaluation? Has their spouse? Children?

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month; so what better time?

Have everyone on your support team, and everyone close to them, come in for a FUN evaluation of their hearing.

What a great way for you to promote the importance of what you do to those around your office.

They get to see what actually happens in your office. You get to explain to them why what you do is important.

So Mr. or Mrs. Audiologist, when was the last time you had your hearing Evaluated by an Audiologist?

Time Dependent vs. Time Independent Tasks

Time dependent tasks are those that must be performed at a specific time. If the phone rings I must answer it now. It is time dependent. If a patient is present I must be present. It is a time and location dependent task.

Time independent tasks are those that don't need to be performed at a specific time. Addressing cards, checking to see if the restroom is clean, revising a form, sending out statements, paying invoices, reconciling the check register, are all time independent tasks. Sure they need to be done, but they don't need to be done at a specific time.

Mixing time dependent and time independent tasks in an office creates the greatest productivity with the less stress.

For example: having someone making outbound calls to patients, and answering inbound calls combines two time dependent tasks. What if they are waiting for someone to answer and the phone rings?

Having the person answering the phone be updating the form or addressing the cards combines a time dependent task with a time independent task.

The same is true for you. Always have some time independent tasks, like me updating my blog right now while I wait for a client. The client call is time dependent, updating the blog is not.

Rick

Front Desk Passion

Typically your front desk person answers your office phone and greets people when they arrive in your office.

If they don't do a good job you don't get a chance to do yours. They must make the first sale. Get the person to come in!

If they don't do grand job then you have more work on your end.

If they don't have passion for helping the hearing impaired they won't do a grand job.

If they don't really understand why you do what you do, they will only some of the time do a good job.

When people call your office for the first time they are going to be somewhat uncertain. Whomever answers the phone must be confident, encouraging, supportive, focused, and Passionate!

If they are not, then your first sale is to sell them!

Rick

 

 

Guerilla Marketing

There is the world of big advertisements, fancy brochures, and huge bulk mail bills. Be as public as you can be. This is big company marketing and there is always a salesperson doing their best to sell this to you. You spend big dollars so there is money for big sales commissions. Big companies have an advantage in this type of advertizing.

There is also guerilla marketing. This is targeted marketing. As a sniper picks off one opponent at a time guerilla marketing picks up one customer at a time. Guerilla marketing often occurs out of sight of competitors. Your challenge, few guerilla marketing sales reps exist. You must take the initiative as it won't be sold to you.

Small local businesses have an advantage when it comes to guerilla marketing.

This is where you need to be focused.

Play to your strengths. Become a guerilla marketer, become a sniper!

This cannot help but help all of you.

Rick

Cost Per New Patient

This is a number you really need to know. It is even more critical if your market has a downturn.

It seems you all have some idea of your cost of goods sold. But do you know your cost to acquire a new patient? In good times and in bad advertizing and promotion are a critical part of your professional activities. If you don't brand yourself, someone else will. In good times and in bad some will be more successful than others. If you are spending three times what your competitor is to get a new patient your real cost of doing business is significantly higher than theirs.

You are at a very real competitive disadvantage.

The Power of Presentation

The value is in the presentation:

I can give my daughter a new dress by just hanging it in her closet.  She will eventually find it, more than likely, and she may or may not be very interested in it.  She may not say thank you, or even realize it was me who bought it for her and left it there.

Or, we can create an event; a holiday, Christmas for example.  Decorate for the occasion, including a tree.   Create a tradition of having gifts under the tree that are only opened on Christmas morning.

Now I can take that same dress she asked for and put it in a box, wrap it in pretty paper with a bow, and apply a nice tag with her name on it. I can take that box and put it under the tree a few days before Christmas. My daughter will see her name on the tag. That is her box. She knows it, but what is inside?  

She can imagine what is in the box.  Imagining what she might find.  I call this seasoning; the packages are seasoning as they ripen in the recipients mind prior to unwrapping them to expose the contents.

After some days Christmas morning happens.  We are all there.  She opens her box.   Yes, it is the dress she wanted. She holds it up and says thank you in front of everyone.  She then rushes off to try it on displaying it for everyone.

It is the same dress, for the same girl, but the presentation makes all the difference.

The presentation can pay big dividends for your patients.

When someone makes an appointment they are putting their name on a box under the tree.  This gift is only to be opened at a given day and time.

To the extent you help them enjoy the anticipation you are doing them a big favor.  Then when you help them reveal the value of their appointment you are giving them a priceless gift.

Thanks for reading.

I know this will help some of you, and your patients.

Rick