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A Physician Business Success Story

Article

Once in a while, I receive an email from a colleague that is such a gem that I am compelled to share it with you, with the permission of the email's author. In this case, it's a physician business owner who found success in his business by way of the most critical element to consistent growth: Embrace marketing.

Wanna get insights straight from the horse's mouth -- a physician business owner who writes about successful marketing of a physician business (or perhaps in your case, a medical practice)?

Once in a while, I receive an email from a colleague that is such a gem that I am compelled to share it with you, with the permission of the email's author.

In this case, my physician colleague and past “Conversations with Trailblazers” guest is Bruce Bender, MD, of Home Instead Senior Care in Philadelphia, and his recent email gem is this:

"Marketing is one of the most important parts of a business and one that most owners hate. It is important to teach it.

"Although I had courses in marketing during my Masters, it really did not sink in. We wrote marketing plans and never achieved what we wanted. Finally, about five years ago we started from scratch. "Marketing for Dummies" was the best book because it had software to walk you through all aspects, some of which the typical owner would never think about.

"We got a new, real, honest-to-God marketer two years ago and let her revise the whole thing in concert with us. Now we have goals and time lines, and someone who takes real ownership. The change has been phenomenal. We built a website to approach the growing market of people who are looking for senior care directly online. Our marketer has cultivated new leads that had never referred to us in 14 years.

"The Massachusetts owners got together and hired a PR firm jointly. We are in our third year and getting good placements often.

"The change has been phenomenal. In the past we had about 40 inquiries per month, while aspiring to 50. Last month we had 65, which was a little less than the preceding month. These are good, solid inquiries that turn into clients. Our revenues grew 15% last year, and we raised our prices 7% last month, without a whimper. The question we are hearing from staff now is: "How big are we going to get?"

"My wife and I are product people. But we have learned to subtly market and network everywhere. We actually enjoy talking about something we are passionate about doing." (Emphasis mine, as this is what is possible!)

I couldn't have stressed the importance of understanding physician business marketing (or medical practice marketing) better.

Thank you for taking the time to share this wonderful wisdom, Bruce!

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