35TENNESSEE MEDICINE / AUGUST 2008

SPECIAL FEATURE

The need for marketing your medicalpractice has never been more impor-tant than it is today. There is morecompetition than ever before, and if you wantto compete in todays medical arena, youmust let people know about yourself andyour services.

Many physicians still seem baffled by mar-keting. There are so many choices. How do Iknow what I need? Where do I go for help?But the question most frequently asked byphysicians today is How do I get started? Theanswer: it all starts with a plan. Every medicalpractice, large or small, start-up or established,should have a written marketing plan. Whatmakes this part even easier is that you can fol-low a formula to get started.

Amarketing plan contains information aboutyour practice, its services and products, objec-tives, strategies, budget, timeline and how youwilltrack and evaluate its progress and success.

Step 1: Objectives of Your PlanThis step seems basic, but is one with whichmany physicians struggle. The purpose of thisstep is to set your goals. Do you want a spe-cific type of patient? Are you marketing a newservice? Do you want to change your payermix? These goals should be measurable andcertainly should be shared with everyone inthe practice. A team cannot win if it does noteven know how to score!

Step 2: Define Your Target MarketWho is your practice trying to reach? This willhave a great bearing on how you implement yourplan. Are you going after a certain demographicor geographic location? Once you have definedwhom you are trying to reach, the ways to reachthem will begin to become clearer to you.

Step 3: Define Your CompetitiveAdvantagesThis step can also be difficult for some physi-

cians. Marketing is basically telling peoplewho you are, where you are, what you do,how to get there and most importantly whythey should choose you.

This is the part of marketing most physi-cians will overlook and yet it is the mostimportant. Why should your patients pass upyour competitors and come to you? Try toavoid esoteric reasons like We care or Weput our patients first. For most consumers,this is a given. Do you have services or skillsno one else has? Are your hours of servicemore flexible? Do you have a more conven-ient location? Do you accept more types ofinsurance? Do you take walk-ins? Be specificabout what you have to offer.

Step 4: List Your StrategiesNow that you know what your objective is,whom you want to reach and what you have tooffer, you have to begin to decide what meth-ods you are going to use. Will you advertise,concentrate on professional referrals, devel-op a Web site, etc.? This is when you may needto enlist the help of a marketing consultingfirm. Remember to concentrate on your targetmarket and match your strategy of how toreach them based on where they are.

Step 5: Develop a BudgetIf you are a start-up practice, you will needabout $10,000 to begin your marketingefforts. You may be able to get some servicesfor free if you are affiliated with a specifichospital. An established practice shouldspend one-to-three percent of annual rev-enues on marketing. A practice offering retailservices, such as cosmetic, plastic surgery orproducts, may need to spend more.

Step 6: Set a TimelineOnce you have your goals, strategy and budg-et, you need to set timelines for how you wantto implement these strategies. If you are a

start-up practice, you may have to get all ofthem going all at once.

Step 7: ImplementationIf I had to pick the biggest weakness in mostmarketing plans, it is this: after you get the planlaid out, you have to just do it. Dont put it upon a shelf or take it home and leave it in yourstudy. Youmust review each and every step withyour staff. Then assign to a person responsiblefor each part. Even if you use an outside firm todevelop materials, Web sites, etc., you still needto have someone on your staff responsible formaking sure these things all get done.

Step 8: Tracking and EvaluationAt least every six months you should evaluateyour plan. Are your objectives the same? Havethere been any legal changes in your practicearea? Are you tracking where your newpatients are coming from? How much is itcosting you per new patient based on yourmarketing expenditures?

Marketing can be either an investment oran expense. What makes the difference ishaving and following a plan. After all, just likeon any other journey, you have to knowwhere you are going, and you need to have aroad map to get there!

Ms. Garrett is director of BusinessDevelopment for DoctorsManagement inKnoxville, and author of Success ThroughService. For more information, contacther at 800-635-4040 or dchildress@drsmgmt.com.

DoctorsManagement, LLC, is aTMA Corporate Partner. This informa-tion was supplied by DoctorsManagementexclusively and for the benefit of ourmembers. TMA does not accept responsi-bility for the information provided

Roadmap to Success: Writinga Marketing Plan for YourPracticeB y D e b b e C h i l d r e s s G a r r e t t , M B A