Yesterday we talked about the primacy effect and how important it is to make a great impression in the first moments you come in contact with your new patients. That'll define your relationship with them.
Today I want to give you ideas and suggestions of where to apply the primacy effect to your advantage in your office.
So, what can you do in the world of marketing your practice that relies on the primacy effect?
Well, one thing that's a common complaint and it's easy to solve is patients feeling they don't have the exact directions to your office.
Perhaps your office is a little bit difficult to find. Now, it's not your opinion of whether or not it's difficult to find.
Remember, you're going there for the thousandth of time, pulling into the spot you've always pulled into and parking in a way that you've always parked. And typically you're doing that before the parking lot fills up and people are pulling in and out.
But what's it like for your patient to show up the first time?
Taking a few simple steps like texting them directions or a map link to your location can pay huge dividends when it comes to the primacy effect.
There are other factors that help build trust between your patient and your office.
This could simply be texting a picture of the very first person they'll see in the office.
If you have somebody that always works the front desk, sending out a text message to your patient an hour before the appointment saying, “Hey, I'm looking forward to meeting you. Here's a picture Carly at our front desk. She'll be there to help you.”
Actions like that can go a long way when we look at the primacy effect.
If that patient walks in and sees the very person that was promised to her, sitting at your front desk smiling, the trust factor goes up immensely.
One of our clients, Dr. Reed, does this very well. He sends a picture of himself an hour before the new patient visit telling the patient, “I'm looking forward to seeing you.”
This reduces the barrier and that patient isn't going to be wondering who their doctor is going to be that day.
They already know going into the visit.
These sound trivial, but when you're really trying to establish that early relationship and build a significant trustworthy relationship that will result in
- referrals,
- reactivations,
- bringing their friends and family,
- and amazing reviews online,
…you can't turn your nose up at the primacy effect.
The initial visit has so much more impact on the relationship than any other singular visit. It works with police officers and it'll work in your office.