A Costly Mistake Healthcare Offices Make - Not Identifying Their Brand Essence

Usually when I mention the word "branding," healthcare business owners immediately associate it with a logo or a slogan or their favorite Saturday College Football team colors. Spoiler alert - I'm not a graphic designer and your "brand" has so much more to do with your business than you think. In fact, it is possibly the most influential aspect of building a business that most neglect when they start a business. 

If I were to mention brands like Starbucks, Ritz Carlton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Motel 6, McDonalds, or Target - you undoubtedly had an immediate FEELING about these establishments. Some of them you might have inspired thoughts like, "Oh yea, I love that place." Or you may have just gotten hungry. Or you may have had a thought about the quality of their products. Possibly the convenience they offer. While others, "Ewe gross, no way." Either way, you had a FEELING about them. 

Branding = how the MAJORITY of people feel about the product, service, environment, customer service, etc that you provide. In better terms - branding is what others say about you, not what you say about you. For example - you may say you offer the best customer service around, BUT yet your google reviews are 2.5 stars and the biggest complaint is your lack of the former. Whoops. So, is your brand what you say it is or what people experience in your office?

In this article, I am going to discuss why having a brand is important as the corner stone of your business and how your brand should be the filter you use in making the majority of your business decisions. 

• If your marketing doesn't seem to be working - you may not have identified the right message for the right person you're trying to treat. Instead you keep using the "30 leads in 30 days" people. This gets flushed out in your branding.
• Can't keep a good team - maybe you haven't identified Vision and Mission statements that would attract the right people to come work with you. Also part of your branding. 
• Google reviews aren't matching what you want - also a branding issue.

Lets talk about how to build your brand; inspire the feeling you want people to have when they do business with you; and how to construct a brand promise that is congruent across your marketing, your customer service, and the look and feel of your office.

3 Common Healthcare Branding Misconceptions

1. Having a nicely designed logo and putting your credentials after your name defines you as a brand. At this point you are just a name. We often think that because people NEED healthcare we can just throw up, "Spine MD" around a cool picture of the spine with a caduceus next to it and people will come running.But - what makes you different than any other spine doctor in your area? What makes you stand out and be noticed among the rest?  Who do you actually serve?
2. People care about your expertise. I have to be the one to tell you this: one cares how much you know or how great you say you are or how many big words you use on your website. They only care about how you will solve their problem. What results are you going to get them? The pain they are feeling is only the surface of the conversation. What is the pain stopping them from doing? That is what is really affecting their life - and the enjoyment of it. My good friend (and branding expert) Gerry Foster always says, "Sell me the sizzle, not the steak." What he means is, people want to know that you are going to help them get back to their golf game, or time with their family, or back to work, or have a successful child birth, or have a dominating smile in all their pictures. Selling them that is part of your brand. Stop talking about how you were Magna Cum Laude and graduated atop your med school class, while learning to be a carney in the local traveling circus. I see way too many, "When it comes to physical therapy, we're your best bet," types of messages on peoples websites. It's not about you. It's about how you treat your patients and how you're helping them meet their goals. This makes you stand out as a practice in the sea of sameness. Empathy first, then authority. 
3. You treat anybody and everybody. Too many private healthcare practices exist to help anyone and everyone who has a bad back; crooked teeth, GI issues, or who plan to get pregnant this year. If you're for everyone you're for no one. I get it. You got into healthcare to help people, BUT wouldn't it be nice to duplicate the kind of patient that is your favorite to work with? The one that truly brings you joy? Who will refer to you and buys all of your ancillaries?

Brand Name vs Brand Promise

I often use the comparison of Ritz Carlton and Holiday Inn. For any of you who have ever stayed at a Ritz, you understand the quality of care and service you get there. It is engrained in every employee that works there. All of them are aligned around a common set of core values, which gives them a brand promise. A promise of quality service and care across the board. 

But what about Holiday Inn? You have most likely stayed at several different Holiday Inn hotels in your life. I'll bet you had a different experience at each one - some good and some not so good. This makes Holiday Inn simply a brand name. It's hard to have a brand promise when every experience is different.

So which do you have - a brand promise or brand name? What are people saying about you and your practice?

How to be like the Ritz

Ritz Carlton has undoubtably flushed out who it is their hotels and services are for. Some might say for the "1 percenters," which may be true but more importantly is what would those 1 percenters desire from an experience at a hotel like the Ritz?

They have identified with the psychographics of the people who stay at their hotels. Similarly, you should be thinking about whom it is you want to craft your healthcare services for. Dig into the demo- and psychographics of your ideal patient:

• Where do they live?
• What do they like to do?
• Where do they hang out? Shop?
• How do they feel about their particular problem and how do you solve it?
• What are they frustrated about when they go to an office similar to yours?
• How much money do they make? What would they spend it on?
• Are they insurance minded or willing to pay cash for healthcare?
• Married? Single? Children?
• What is their attitude about their situation? About life?
• What colors would speak to them? How would they design their home? Where would their home be located?

Messaging and Marketing Finally Come to Life

Your brand message should also be in alignment with your ideal patient. For example, if your ideal patient is on Medicare/Medicaid they will have very different needs and desires than someone who is looking for concierge offerings. 

You must craft your message to speak to the needs and wants of your ideal patient. I worked with a physical therapist who was also an IFBB pro and when I asked her, "Tell me who it is you would like to treat. What are they looking for? What are their problems and what do they want to have happen directly from working with you?"

Her answer: "I would like to work with busy women who are looking to stay fit, healthy, and free of injuries. They have a couple kids that keep that them active, but also need to find time for themselves, so they can stay at their bes......"

She stopped mid sentence and said, "I'm not saying any of this in my marketing."

Boom. Here is where the marketing excels. Once you understand the WHO and WHAT they desire, you can then put your marketing message into the right hands. 

Stop thinking that you have to be everywhere. It is a misconception that in order to be successful you must be on all the social channels, do all the networking events, do all the podcast interviews, send all the emails.... this is a ticket to burnout town. 

Where does this mom hang out? Drop your message right there and watch your lead volume soar with the exact person you desire to work with. 

Aligning Your Business with a Value System

What do you imagine yourself and your business doing that leaves a permanent mark on the world? What change do you want to see in the future?

So many healthcare practices lack a vision and mission statement as a part of their brand. These are essentials in guiding what you do and how you do it as a business. 

A vision is a level of achievement you see yourself accomplishing and it’s typically of very precious value. It is something that your clients/patients want to receive from you. It serves a higher purpose. The higher purpose of helping people. The higher purpose of the change you want to see in the world. It gives purpose to you and your team at work everyday because they perform their job duties in light of making this higher purpose happen.

Think about that change in the world you would like to see. What’s the impact you want to leave with your clients/patients based on the exceptional service and outcome you offer?

Examples:

• Our Vision is that people will no longer resort to medicines and surgeries for their orthopedic pain. (Regenerative Medicine)
• Our Vision is that people will no longer feel shy or self-conscious about smiling in pictures. (Dentist)

 Your mission is the “how” to your vision statement. It’s all the little things you do that drive you and your practice towards the larger vision. Your “hows” are what separate you from everyone else in your respective classification. What are the day to day interactions and paths you will take that directly feed the Vision? How can your team work within the details of your vision every single day?

Examples:

• Our mission is to give you a better way of healing. Return you to work, play, and life with confidence and joy. Get you off addictive pain medicines. Eliminate recurring doctor visits. And even better, you will rediscover the joy of life and feel younger again. (Regenerative Medicine)
• Our mission is to give you a great experience through exceptional customer service, 1 on 1 care, and pain free outcomes. You will rediscover what it is like to move without pain and feel like you can take on that sport you’ve been missing out on, the work you have been forced to miss, and/or the family fun weekends that you couldn’t partake in. (physical therapy)

Using Your Vision and Mission to Build Your Team

When hiring we often resort to hiring those who have experience in healthcare. They’ve answered phones or verified insurance. The problem with solely hiring this way is that we aren’t taking into account their unique personalities and real world skill sets.

Look for the person who is familiar with your brand. They will say things like – I really like the Vision and Mission of the business; I love what your business stands for; Your business really connects to my values. 

They will know about your business because they have done their homework. 

People who are just looking for a job will say generic things like – I saw your website and I liked it; It just felt like a good fit; This was closer to home for me. 

You want staff that is bought in on the brand and what it stands for. That is a staff you can lead. That is a staff that has purpose. That is a staff that can deliver on behalf of your patient. 

And that is a team that will get you the reviews you desire.

In Summary ('Cuz this obviously wasn't long enough)

Successful Brands have these key elements: 

• They’re clear on who their products or services are made for 
• They design their brand to speak directly to 1 person with 1 problem
• They have a crystal clear brand message (cuz if you confuse, you lose)
• They use powerful Vision and Mission Statements to guide their actions
• They understand their ‘Why’ and their Values as a business, which makes hiring the right people so much easier
• They evolve their brand consistently as their target audience evolves
• They don’t have to chase revenue – it chases them

 Want to be a successful, HAPPY healthcare entrepreneur, with a thriving business? Discover who you’re for and structure your business to cater to them and to feel familiar to them. Then you will get to work with your favorite patients more consistently. In fact, they will even seek you out just like the patrons who favor staying at the Ritz-Carlton.