Issue 5 - April 2004

Success File
Brand your practice
By Bob Levoy

Your brand represents the feelings that you and your practice evoke in the minds of patients, colleagues, physicians and other potential referral sources. It’s what you stand for: the expertise, quality of care, service, integrity and professionalism that others associate with you. Moreover, it offers you one of the most powerful ways to differentiate your practice and stand out from the crowd.

People buy branded consumer products, from computers to cars, expecting a level of quality, service, reliability and satisfaction. If those expectations are met, people buy again. That’s “brand loyalty.” If the brand doesn’t live up to expectations, buyers simply go elsewhere.

A practice brand works the same way. Every minute of every day, it broadcasts information about who you are, what you and your staff do and how you do it. If your brand is sending out the right messages about what people can expect when they’re in your office, they will travel further, wait longer, pay more, make more referrals and remain more loyal.

A strong practice brand also creates high levels of employee pride and is a magnet for recruiting the best employees and retaining them over time.

Action steps: “Start by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your colleagues,” says author/speaker Tom Peters in an article in the Aug/Sept. 1997 issues of Fast Company. “What have you done lately, this week, to make yourself stand out? What would your colleagues or your patients say is your greatest and clearest strength? Your most noteworthy personal trait?

“Ask yourself: What do I do that I am most proud of? What have I accomplished that I can unabashedly brag about? If you’re going to be a brand, you’ve got to become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, that you’re proud of, and most important, that you can shamelessly take credit for.”

Building a brand

The power behind a brand name is undeniable. And it all begins with a promise — a promise to deliver a level of quality and service. If all goes well, it becomes a set of expectations. As those expectations are fulfilled again and again, a reputation develops.

Brands take time to develop. You can’t rush the process with rampant self-promotion.

Brands demand consistency. “If your receptionist is rude,” say consultants Olivia and Kerry Straine, “if your office manager is unhelpful when a patient needs financing, if your policies are always changing, the negative impact on your brand can destroy the clinical standards of excellence you have worked so hard to achieve.”

If your brand includes “excellence,” make sure that’s reflected in the quality of everything about your office. Otherwise, you’re sending mixed messages.

The “right way” to go about building a strong, personal brand is to make sure your brand resonates and is relevant in the most distinctive way possible for those patients with whom you want to build strong relationships.

Branding always works. It either attracts patients or it drives them away — there’s no middle ground.

Your brand, like the brand of a consumer product, is based on perception. It’s what other people think of you and your practice. To get a handle on what those perceptions are, use market research. Patient satisfaction surveys, focus groups, “no-holds barred” staff meetings and post-appointment telephone interviews will provide valuable feedback about how others see you.

Action step: Schedule a staff meeting to discuss what it is exactly that you want your patients to think and feel as the result of every interaction they have with your practice. It will put everyone on the same page and set the tone for the brand you are establishing.

Bob Levoy is a seminar speaker and writer. He can be reached at 516-626-1353.