As physical therapists we can either take the time to do warm fuzzy "paperwork" that will make our patients love, remember, and reimburse us directly or we can do the onerous paperwork required by third "party" payers. We can invest time congratulating our patients on birthdays and wishing them well on holidays or spend our holidays checking how much of our hard-earned money is in the "60-90" day "bucket". I have done both and know which I prefer.
Cash practice physical therapist Linda, of Spokane Valley, WA, says, "I could not stand to do the kind of paperwork that involves working with insurance companies. I'm not sure that I'm smart enough [She is very smart!] to read all those manuals and do all that kind of work. I would much rather write birthday cards and Christmas cards than deal with the insurance companies. I don't know how therapists stand to do that... I am booked out in my office for three months." She accepts no third party payments. She has no accounts receivable. Besides a tiny yellow pages ad that's all the "marketing" she does.
The first time I gave a graduation "Certificate of Appreciation" to a patient I couldn't believe the results. The family of the patient framed it and hung it on her wall! To do this I found a Microsoft Word(TM) template, typed in her name, printed it in color on card stock on our inkjet printer. I then signed it and presented it to her on the last day of therapy. Of course my contact information was on the front.
Here are the steps to help you get started:
Create a birthday and address list from your patients of the last couple of years. If you are just starting out use prospective patients, their families, or those who MAY refer to you. Start with those who know you best and work out from there.
If you are just starting out:
Get simple business cards printed stating your contact information and at least one benefit of your services. Next go to the "49 cent factory card outlet" and buy enough cool looking blank cards to get you through your first month. You can use these for both birthdays and holidays. I highly suggest sending cards at Thanksgiving time. Tell your patients how thankful you are for them. You can also send email Yahoo(TM) and other free greetings if you get your customers' permission. These have the advantage of going out on schedule. Just enter their electronic birthday card as you input their information after you evaluate them. Don't settle for just electronic cards though as they don't have quite the "warm fuzzy" appeal. Send both.
If you have a substantial list of customers:
Order pre-printed birthday and holiday cards. Make a list and send them out on schedule. To save postage costs and processing time you can get postcard style cards. If you want to know exactly what to say on the cards Linda's birthday cards read, "Wishing you the happiest of birthdays...and a year of good health". She gets them from Health-Prose at 800-541-3382. Customer appreciation is just like a home exercise program. It only works if you do it. If you do it IT WILL WORK.
The best advertising is word of mouth. Writing birthday cards can leverage your word of mouth marketing. When one of your birthday card recipients gets called by a good friend it is quite possible that he or she will tell that friend that he or she got a card from you. They likely will leave the card from you up on their counter for a few days thereby deepening their warm and fuzzy feelings toward you and or your practice. There are ways to get the warm fuzzies going where you want them whether it be to you directly or to your practice that you are growing.
You became a therapist because you wanted to help others. Following these simple steps will extend your ability to continue helping others - with a SMILE!
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