If you are like me you need a quick golf lesson from time to time. After so many years of playing golf, I have a handicap of – playing golf. Because of my frame and my many years of contact sports, I want to kill the little white ball causing me to significantly slice. In fact, if there is water or high rough my ball sails there like a magnet!
From time to time I take a lesson with the coach informing me to slow down and ensure I not only hit the ball square but on the sweet spot. Coincidentally this lesson reminds me of the parallel of golf and business. Think for a moment. How many times are you out there each day swinging away at patient volume and revenue only to miss incessantly? There is a reason for this.
You see the sweet spot for your practice is a target market! Your niche, your hunting ground. The area you need to focus on to capture attention.
As I work with many doctors and business professionals that suffer from a lack of cash and clients, I notice a trend in failing to direct a target market. If you do not formulate a niche, no one hears you. The average consumer/patient hears and sees over 9000 marketing messages per day. No one pays attention to them all. To illustrate my point, imagine attending a rock concert and screaming at the top of your lungs to your favorite artist, “I love you!” You believe they are looking at you and hear every word…Not! That is because there is too much noise among the crowd. Marketing works the exact same way. If you are marketing to the masses, they will not hear you.
There is a need to target deeply before you go wide. The reason is simple, the deeper in the niche the more awareness you raise. When others hear about you they understand your value and they tell others helping you build community.
So you might ask how do you develop a niche? Simple, if you have been working for a while and have a patient base you might look at demographic data, determining the statistical trends that link your “perfect” patient to your practice. If you are just starting out or you are stumbling, you might answer the following questions:
- Who are the people you could work with?
- What are you passionate about in working with them?
- What are the issues that these particular people have?
- What is the largest desire that these individuals have?
- How does the issue affect them?
- What is the solution or service you can offer to them that resolves the issue and affects them emotionally?
When you learn your sweet spot, you articulate your message with greater accuracy. You will have less labor, stress, and ultimately bring more revenue to your practice.
© 2012. Drew Stevens PhD, all rights reserved.
