The Power of a Patient Base

After years of refractive surgeons' complaining about the high cost of marketing to attract patients, I am amazed at the lack of attention paid to those patients who have already had refractive surgery. I think of them as the “alumni” of your refractive surgery program, primarily because they have gone through the emotional trials and tribulations leading up to their decision to undergo refractive surgery. After completing a decision process that can last months or even years, these refractive alumni emerge from the procedure much like new graduates: a smile from ear to ear and intense joy at their accomplishment (sans the cap and gown).

REWARDS AND CHALLENGES
Your refractive alumni present a special marketing challenge. On the one hand, they are full of exuberance about their new and improved vision. Friends and family members get to vicariously experience the thrills, both small and large, that come with being a refractive surgery patient. The benefit to you is a strong word-of-mouth endorsement of the procedure and the provider. Those of you who track the source of your inquiries see this effect reflected in the data, and referrals from other patients are often the number-one source of new refractive patients.

On the other hand, that initial burst of excitement from those who have had LASIK eventually wanes as life goes on. They get used to their new vision. It's no longer exciting for them, and they don't talk about it as much. And what happened to all those people they told about the experience? Typically, only a handful of a patient's friends and family will call the practice and begin their own active consideration of refractive surgery.

When it comes to marketing LASIK, the problem is stated best by my colleague, advertising expert Kim Tietz: “We're in the funeral business.” With refractive surgery, there is no repeat business. It's a one-time purchase, and that fact makes it difficult to invest in and develop a long-term relationship with your customers.

USE ALUMNI TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
In spite of this reality, there are things that LASIK providers can and should do for customer relationship management. It helps to organize these activities by the order in which they are experienced by the patient. Prior to surgery: If your practice doesn't have a large advertising budget and is largely dependent on patient referrals, you should communicate this fact to your patients so they are aware of their role in helping you build your practice. When done sincerely and with an emphasis on creating a remarkable customer experience, your patients will go out of their way to help you. Try to set this expectation even before your patients undergo refractive surgery.

Within the first week/month: By now, you should have thanked the patient for his patronage at least as many times as he has thanked you for his improved vision. There are numerous ways to express gratitude to your customers. Small gifts are appropriate, as are handwritten notes, phone calls, and other personal touches. (Speaking of personal touches, my airport's parking lot attendants leave a bottle of water labeled with the company's logo waiting on the seat of my car upon my return. That's a great example!) Your patients need to know that you are truly grateful for their business and don't take it for granted.

Within the first 3 months: You should survey (by phone or by mail) each and every customer to find out how refractive surgery has changed their daily lives. Ask if they recall whether any part of the experience you delivered stands out as particularly excellent or poor. Ask these alumni if they'd be willing to accept phone calls or e-mails from potential patients considering refractive surgery.

Ongoing: You should strive to make every patient a part of an ever expanding list of satisfied customers from your practice. Once your alumni have completed their postoperative visits, you need to continue to stay in touch to show that you care. A periodic newsletter (I suggest twice per year) that highlights some of the latest surgical news is a great way to reach out to alumni. I also like the idea of mailing anniversary cards and holding special events (ie, parties or a block of seats at the ballgame) just for your customers. These touches are another way to say thank you without being outwardly promotional (nothing to sell, everything to celebrate). The key point here is that you can create a long-term relationship with one-time-purchase customers.

CAVEAT
I am not a fan of formal referral programs with incentives. They can be successful and are a nice way to reward those patients who refer above and beyond the norm, but anecdotally, every surgeon has a few patients who ask for something in return for referring all their friends. The provider makes a deal, and the referrals fail to meet expectations or often don't materialize at all. There is something personal and magical about the refractive experience that can't be sold in bulk to others, even friends of patients. It all comes back to how each of us holds eyesight sacred and why low-priced LASIK has failed to expand the refractive surgery market. That tactic backfired, and I suspect that formal referral programs create a similar allergic reaction. These types of programs just don't feel right to most of us and somehow cheapen the overall experience by putting it in the same category as all the other consumer product referral opportunities out there (“Earn 12,500 miles,” “Get one month free,” etc.). The extreme version of incentive-based referral programs is multilevel marketing, a concept that always sounds much better than it really is. Legal issues aside, I just wouldn't go there.

THE SUBTLE TOUCH
How do you tactfully broach the subject of referrals with patients? Properly timed, the presentation of business cards or the question, “Whom do you know who could benefit from refractive surgery?” can work well as direct tactics to attract future patients. Ideally, of course, the best referral is the one that you didn't have to ask for or coerce but that came as the result of the outstanding experience you provided. The experience was so great that the patient's WOW factor applied equally to how he was treated by everyone he encountered at the practice. Indeed, the outstanding experience is what can forever cement you in the mind of your customer, and that is what you will need if you want alumni to talk about where they had their procedure with the same fervor that they describe their freedom from glasses and contacts.

AN UNTAPPED ASSET
Successful companies that gain repeat business from their customers have long known that it is far less expensive to increase business with a current customer than to obtain a new one. Applied to refractive surgery, this business principle drives home the importance of your alumni. They are your network and can be far more effective at selling you than anyone on your payroll. They follow the four major steps in the consumer decision process (Figure 1)—awareness, interest, consideration, purchase—and proceed to the important fifth step, called recommendation. This fifth step in the decision-making process is critical, because it has the power to help future patients move quickly through the continuum right into active consideration. In helping other prospective patients form a bypass route directly to your telephone, your alumni are far more influential than any paid advertising or promotional campaign.

Because alumni represent the single largest untapped asset in the marketing of refractive surgery, their relationships should be managed carefully. Do this well, and your alumni will become your allies in building future business.

Shareef Mahdavi draws on 20 years of medical device marketing experience to help companies and providers become more effective and creative in their marketing and sales efforts. Mr. Mahdavi welcomes comments at (925) 425-9963 or shareef@sm2consulting.com.