Frustrated With Health Care

While this is not a post about frustration in practice, showing appreciation is a solution to the frustration of patient drop out and low referrals.  Showing appreciation in practice, as with ANY business, is a sound business philosophy that serves to bolster relations, thus promoting patient/customer loyalty and stimulating referrals.

So, how do you show appreciation?  With a smile and a handshake?  With a sincere “thank you”?  Do you provide free information and go the extra mile when talking about lifestyle stress?  No doubt, these are all great ways to show appreciation for the trust and confidence your patients have in you. 

In addition to doing all of the above, from the very beginning in practice I have also utilized the postal service to show appreciation.  We started with the obligatory “Welcome to Our Practice” letter and the “Thank you for Your Referral” letter.  We also send the occasional “We Miss You” letter, but what we have found to be the most important is the letter of appreciation.  We call these “Love Notes”.  Quite literally we pick out 8-12 patients each week and send them a “Thank you for your Trust and Confidence” note; just a couple of lines is all it takes to let patients know that you appreciate them.  We’ve done this for years.

Of course in recent years we have taken it to the 21st Century by using email, but email has become so impersonal; we have found that it doesn’t take the place of a handwritten note delivered in the mail.

In October of last year I was introduced to SendOutCards, an online, efficient, economical, extraordinary way to send appreciation through the mail.  Here’s what you do:

1. Go online and select from over 14,000 greeting cards in over 40 different categories.

2. Personalize your card in your own handwriting; you can even put your own pictures in the card.

3. You then click “SEND”; SendOutCards then prints your card, stuffs it in an envelop, puts a first-class stamp on it, and places it in the mail; all for as little as $1.04, which includes postage!

You can send one card or 1000, all at the same time.  Create a card that you use over and over again for your new patients.  Create a card that you send to every patient in your database for the Holidays.  You can even send a gift with your card; like gourmet food, a book, or a gift card.

SendOutCards has been the best new thing we’ve added to the practice that allows us to economically send “Love Notes” with a very efficient procedure that runs seamless in the office.

Try sending a card or two on me . . . Go to www.RelationsBuilder.com and click on the banner that says, “Click to Send a Free Card”.  Be sure your speakers are turned on and follow along as the CEO, Cody Bateman, walks you through sending a card.  Oh, and be sure you have the name and address of the person you’d like to connect with.

Do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions or problems with the process, (845)820-1265.

www.FrustratedwithHealthcare.com; Where Frustration Leads to Solutions.

Thanks for your time looking at our blog.

Peter