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Thinking Outside the Marketing Box Have you ever given up a night during the hectic holiday season to have your spouse dress up as Santa while you babysat a bunch of your patients’ kids and played the saxophone? For Dr. Lynne Sullivan, this is just the tip of iceberg when it comes to the different types of marketing programs she has tried. Sullivan, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based chiropractor, has used her creative marketing finesse and sound business strategies to build a thriving practice in a highly competitive area. Sullivan brought in more than $500,000 in gross collections for 2001, and she’s on track to see $1 million annually within five years. She credits a persistent staff for her collection rate of 95%-98%. She established Sullivan Chiropractic Health Center in 1989 after first working as an associate doctor. One year after buying the practice, rapid growth forced Sullivan to move to a larger location downtown. Sullivan continues to experience steady growth as a solo doctor with two chiropractic assistants and a full-time massage therapist on staff. All office equipment is paid for and there are no outstanding business loans. In a typical month, Sullivan sees 1,500 patients, 45 to 50 of them new patients. Five years ago, Sullivan was only seeing 15 to 20 new patients a month. How has she managed to attract and keep all of these patients? In a word, marketing. “You need to develop some sort of marketing plan,” she says. “... I do a year-end report to set up my schedule for the whole year, analyze all marketing programs and have a web page. We’re very organized, upbeat and a lot of fun.” Sullivan, who spends 23 hours a week seeing patients, competes with about 50 other chiropractors in her bustling suburb. But she keeps her eye on the ball, promotes her practice internally and externally, and doesn’t worry too much about what the “competition” is doing. Instead, Sullivan focuses on what she’s doing, especially when it comes to planning her marketing – more than a year in advance. It costs Sullivan $1,000 a month for a Yellow Pages display ad. That’s her biggest marketing “splurge.” She believes many of the six to eight new patients she gets from the ad each month are due in part to her picture that runs with the ad. “Putting the photo in helps because a lot of females want to go to a female,” she says. Sullivan pays roughly $1,000 every three months to have the local, daily newspaper print her quarterly newsletter and insert it in 40,000 copies of the paper that are delivered to area residents. The paper also prints an overrun for Sullivan’s office; the extra copies are displayed in the reception area and distributed to patients. (Incidentally, Sullivan has been voted Best Chiropractor in the area for the past eight years in the newspaper, the Tri-Valley Herald). Other marketing expenses include patient education literature, printing costs (business cards, brochures, etc), flyers to promote outside health talks, display ads in the local paper to promote outside talks, patient parties and open houses, special events, and more. All told, Sullivan spends about $30,000 per year on marketing and advertising. However, many of Sullivan’s most successful marketing programs have been ones that cost her little more than time and energy. “Most of our new patients are from referrals,” she says. “They bring the best patients, these patients know what to expect, and are more willing to pre-pay and follow through with their care.” The health club that Sullivan belongs to puts out newsletters that mention her practice. In return, Sullivan provides new patients with a one-week free trial membership to the club. Some of Sullivan’s marketing efforts are untraditional but attention-getting. “We also like to put out banners in the window and change them every two weeks or so,” she says. “People are always looking at the office. One example of the banners is, ‘ARE YOU TIRED OF BEING SICK?’ ” Another banner asks patients – and prospective patients – if they are tired of their HMOs treating them like a number. Every December, Sullivan gives a couple hundred poinsettias away to patients – mainly those who belong to her Wellness Club program consisting of those who have been through six months of frequent care. She buys the poinsettias in bulk from stores like Home Depot. “They cost as much as Christmas cards,” she says, “but people would rather have the poinsettias.” Sullivan also hosts a “Parents’ Night Out,” in which she convinces her husband to dress up like Santa Claus for patients’ children. They provide babysitting services for the children, and Sullivan plays holiday music on the saxophone. She does ask for a small donation, and usually receives a couple hundred dollars for the effort, along with many happy parents. The donated money is given to charity, usually a local women’s shelter. “We have a ‘Parents’ Night Out’ flyer we give to all patients,” Sullivan says. “People love it. The more you can do to get people to talk about you, the better. How often does your doctor babysit your kids so you can have a night out?” In February comes Sweetheart Day. “We decorate with hearts all over the office, Valentine’s week,” Sullivan says. “The patients bring in their ‘sweethearts’ for a free consultation, exam and X-ray.” (“Sweethearts” may include spouses, significant others, family members, friends, children – just about anyone.) Another marketing technique Sullivan recommends is collecting e-mail addresses from patients. “After a second visit,” she says, “the CA has a sign-up sheet. We have between 700 and 800 names. It doesn’t cost anything to collect e-mail addresses. We like to gather health topics and do group e-mails. That way, you’re in constant contact with patients, and a lot of times they’ll forward it to their friends.” Sullivan tracks her return on investment (ROI) by generating a detailed Year-End Report. For instance, for every dollar spent on maintaining the practice’s website, $3 is returned. Outside talks provide an even better ROI. In the case of an outside health talk Sullivan gave on balancing hormones in 2000, $105 was returned for every dollar invested, according to her Year-End Report. “The balancing hormones talk is very good, and it attracts the type of patient who is interested in taking care of herself and can afford our care,” she says. Sullivan attributes much of her marketing success to her mentor, Dr. Charles Ward of Ward Success Systems. “I’ve had good coaching,” Sullivan says. “And if you show me what works, I’ll do it.” Ward says he knew Sullivan, who was Life Chiropractic College-West’s 1986 valedictorian, was going to thrive within the chiropractic profession from the beginning. “She’s the type of client who makes a coach look good,” Ward says. “Lynne is outstanding at everything she does. Lynne Sullivan listens, holds herself accountable and she does it. She’s successful because she has goals, strategies, plans and target dates, and she just does it.” In fact, the “student” has become quite the teacher in her own right. Sullivan now heads Ward Success Systems’ Head Start Program, which is specially tailored to chiropractic students and doctors in their first year of practice. She also teaches an internal marketing class once a week at Life Chiropractic College-West. Ward says he believes that much of Sullivan’s success is due to her emphasis on internal marketing. “I believe in in-house marketing,” Ward says. “You should be able to build from within and get a good referral base.” Sullivan’s advice to other chiropractors is the same she gives to her students: Don’t reinvent the wheel. “Find a model that you like and follow it until you develop your own style,” she says. “Definitely get a mentor or coach. We have so many doctors who are not living up to their potential, and I would like to see that changed.” Sullivan also believes strongly in patient education. Most of her patients are families under wellness care. “Communicating a true understanding of chiropractic to patients builds rapport and stimulates referrals,” Sullivan says. “Simply letting the patients see how you feel about what you do is the lowest cost of promotion, yet the most important,” she says. The new patient “close” is also crucial to effective marketing. “Step the patient through and ask for referrals,” Sullivan says. “Ask for kids, spouse, relatives, co-workers, friends, neighbors, etc. You must handle every consideration they have for not referring.” Sullivan says there’s no magic bullet when it comes to successful marketing. Her success has hinged mostly on her willingness to think outside the box, her initiative to try new things, and her effectiveness as a business person. She plans ahead, tracks her successes and failures, and builds on each and every experience. Sullivan explains: “Everyone is looking for the big home run, and it’s really just a bunch of base hits over and over again.” Vital Statistics: Sullivan Chiropractic Health Center Staff: Office Hours: Revenue By Payment Type: Gross Billings: Gross Collections: Patient Visits per Month: New Patients per Month: Marketing: Creativity Over Dollars When it comes to marketing, Sullivan emphasizes the importance of planning ahead. Here’s Sullivan Chiropractic Health Center’s 2002 Marketing Calendar: January: February: March: April: May: June: July: August: September: October: November: December: Ongoing Programs: |
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