TODAY’S PRACTICE PRACTICE BUILDINGSECTION EDITOR: SHERAZ M. DAYA, MD, FACP, FACS, FRCS(Ed)

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 I CATARACT & REFRACTIVE SURGERY TODAY EUROPE I 1

Most prospective patients are unsure orlack the confidence to move ahead whenconsidering refractive surgery. This is a nor-mal reaction for any surgery, especially withregard to one’s eyes. As their potential sur-

geon, you must effectively help patients overcome thishurdle and take the next step. Although this may bechallenging, it can—and must—be done.

A SHORT LO OK AT HISTORYLet’s take a brief look at history in order to understand

this concept. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, most com-panies were competing on a local or regional basis.Competition was quite fierce. Not only did the companyclaim that it was better than the competition, it also toldyou the reasons why it was better. In other words, theinformation that each company provided, via advertise-ments, gave the potential buyer the tools needed to facili-tate the decision-making process. This is exactly whatmarketing is supposed to do. During this time, ads per-formed much of the sales function.

With the advent of TV, the era of brand buildingbegan, which allowed any company to reach a broadspectrum of individuals with a very short message. Theallotted time slot is only enough to build the brand, notto educate the consumer as to why the product/serviceis better than the competitors’. A lot of companies use ajingle or catchy phrase to make patients remember itsproduct, but this is really only effective with consumerproducts on the shelf. In these instances, when they see abrand on the shelf, they will remember the jingle. This,however, does not work well with refractive surgery,because it is not purchased like commodity products. Inreturn, brand building becomes far too expensive for thereturn it will bring.

Today’s economic scene has introduced a lot morecompetition. Whereas with brand building in vogue,there were only a few companies from which to choose,now, there are too many options to count. The list is con-stantly growing.

WHO HA S THE POWER AND WHAT IS THE CONFIDENCE GAP?

With brand-building marketing and advertising, the sellerhad the power. There were relatively few choices for thebuyer to choose from. If you wanted a Mercedes, you wentto the one and only Mercedes dealership. Now, the buyer hasthe power. There are abundant selections to choose from,and the more sophisticated buyer now has a new tool (ie, theInternet), to help them research any product quite easily.

In the past, a salesperson would simply contact the buyer,let them know about the product, and sell it to them. Now,with the buyer having the power, the salesman has to over-come the confidence gap, which is created by the numberof selections a buyer has plus the inability to distinguish anyproduct/service from another.

Each refractive practice must get across the confidencegap to have any hope of obtaining the prospective patient’sbusiness. First, the patient must come into the practice,then you can focus on selling them the procedure. Add tothat the laws in certain countries limiting the marketing andadvertising of any medical procedures, and one has a prettyformidable gap to overcome.

YOUR INSIDE RE ALITYEach practice has what is called an inside reality. This is

what you have created for the patient to experience onceinside your practice. It includes (1) how the patient is treat-ed from the moment they arrive to the end of the proce-dure, (2) how you deal with the fear the new patient mayhave, (3) the LASIK equipment the practice uses and why itwas chosen, (4) your credentials and recognitions as a doc-tor, (5) success stories from other patients, and (6) your staff.

THEIR PERCEPTION , YOUR BARRIERThe patient’s view of your practice is one of your major

barriers. Before they come to see you, they have only twoways to learn about you: referrals from past patients or mar-keting and advertising. Referrals are ideal, because they carrya lot of weight with the new prospective patient, but youradvertising message should also enable them to differentiate

Give Them Confidence,Gain A New Patient

By teaching a patient how to evaluate any practice/surgeon, you are really steering them to have confidence in you.

BY DOUG SIMS

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you from any other practice. If it does not, then the onlyway to choose the practice is to base the decision on price.We are not going to address pricing in this article. Instead,you need to look at how you are actually communicatingwho you are and what you are as well as find out if you looklike every other practice through your marketing message.

HOW D O YOU GAIN THEIR CONFIDENCE?Confidence is achieved through education. You have

heard this before from me. Now, you have the basis fromwhich to start, and herein are some steps you can take.

Write down what makes your practice different from anyof your competitors. Use what has been mentioned earlier inthis article and any other ideas you can think of. Keep inmind that a recent survey of LASIK surgeons showed thatmore than 80% named the same three points as their mainattributes: experience, treatment by the staff, and technology.

Assume the patient’s point of view. What are they look-ing for, and what are their concerns and barriers?

Ask several of your new patients the following questions.The more patients asked the better: (1) What were yourmain concerns before coming in for X procedure? (2) Whatwould stop you from moving forward? (3) What types ofinformation would help you in making the decision? Youare looking for what types or kinds of information helpthem in making a decision about this procedure.

4) Put the lists from steps two and three together. Listthem in priority answered. For example, if an answer cameup multiple times compared with another answer, the mostanswered response has the higher priority.

5) Compare this collated list to your list in step one.6) Write out the different ways to communicate what

you have in your practice to address their fears, concerns,needs and wants.

7) Write a list of how you could communicate this informa-tion to the patient (brochure, free report, audio-visual aid).Make sure these marketing pieces use what is being commu-nicated as criteria for evaluation of other practices, and tellwhomever is reading it to use what you say as the criteria.

These educational pieces should be able to be used in anycountry if written in a manner that conforms to any locallaws or requirements. As I have said, part of your task is toinstill confidence in each patient, of not only the procedurebut also you as a surgeon. Show the potential patient howto evaluate any practice or surgeon that they are consider-ing, and steer them to have confidence in you—and onlyyou. This approach will help you expand your practiceexponentially. n

Doug Sims is the President of Fast Track Marketing, a mar-keting company specializing in LASIK and refractive surgerymarketing and advertising. Mr. Sims may be reached atdoug@fast-trackmarketing.com; www.fast-trackmarketing.com.

TODAY’S PRACTICE PRACTICE BUILDING

2 I CATARACT & REFRACTIVE SURGERY TODAY EUROPE I NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007

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