Marketplace Research is Essential for Growth

If you want your elective surgery practice to grow, you can’t exist in a vacuum. No, we’re not talking the Dyson or Hoover varieties that pick up dirt…we’re talking about conducting your practice without connection to the community around you.

Gone are the days when there might be just one doctor or specialist in town. These were the days when you could just hang up your sign and wait for patients to come to your door in droves.

Today, the elective surgery arena is saturated in most markets. You have to work harder to get the right marketing message to the right people in the right location at the right time in order to grow your business

In order to effectively market your practice, you must continually research and understand your marketplace. Understanding your “customers” (aka patients) should be the main thread or focus in your ongoing research, as it will result in your meeting or exceeding the specific needs of the community members you are serving. Sometimes you have to step out of your “doctor shoes” and think like a patient to fully understand what type of patient experience you are providing. That patient experience needs to be better than what your competitors are providing.

Remember: the patient experience begins long before the person steps into your office. The patient experience extends to the Internet, phone lines, advertisements and more.

Once you have solid data on your customers, you can communicate more effectively with them. Rather than telling them what you think they should know, you will betelling them what they want to know. You’ll achieve faster, better results from your marketing efforts.

Forbes.com published this quote from an unknown author: “The aim of marketing is to get customers to know, like and trust you.” That’s really what marketing is all about.

To learn five marketplace analysis tips, register now for our upcoming medical marketing webinar: “5 Ways to Analyze Your Marketplace & Why it is Vital to Your Bottom Line” on Nov. 14 at 12:00pm EST or Nov. 19 at 4:30pm EST. In just 30 minutes you will have a solid outline of how to begin your market research so you can grow your business.