So how do you keep your patients up-to-date and ensure they rebook?
This may sound like we are telling our granny how to suck eggs, as you know best how to communicate with your patients, but this is not our intention! Whilst you will, of course, get repeat bookings because of your excellent service, there are also other ways that you can make patients feel involved, educate them further and include them as part of a community of people who are interested in homeopathy.
Below are some tips that should provide you with ideas on how you can add that little bit of extra value in your communications with your patients:
- Make consumer-friendly literature available: Ensure that you have reader-friendly consumer leaflets and other materials available to educate your clients about the benefits of homeopathy. They may well be seeing you for one condition and not realise the true potential of homeopathy for dealing with other issues they may have. Create your own leaflets or click to order FREE ‘Heal Through Homeopathy’ consumer leaflets that you can use.
- Start a newsletter to keep clients up-to-date: If clients are regularly reminded of your services and the many ways in which homeopathy can help them, they are more likely to rebook. A newsletter is one way to keep clients up-to-date, let them know what special promotions you are running (see below) or what remedies might be particularly good for a certain time of year or on a certain theme. For example a feature on allergies, as the topic for Homeopathy Awareness Week 2008 may be relevant to many patients who had not thought of trying a homeopathic approach for their allergies. A newsletter needn’t be too long, in fact short and snappy is ideal, and needn’t be complicated. You don’t have to issue one every week: once a quarter would be fine. You can even send it out by email if you have clients email addresses on your database. (See below for more about building your client database.)
- Run regular promotional offers/discounts for existing clients: People like to be rewarded for their loyalty and special promotional offers or discounts to existing clients are one way to do this. You could offer some sort of loyalty card, where the 10th consultation is free or give a discount for people who recommend a friend. There are lots of possibilities. These special offers can be advertised in your newsletter, if you have one.
- Build your database of clients/people interested in homeopathy: Activities like in-store days or stands at local events (see How to communicate with the public section for more details) are all good ways of generating extra contacts for your database. Make sure you have slips of paper available for people to register their details with you for more information (for example, a leaflet), to be kept updated about special offers or to join your newsletter distribution list. The more you build your database and then mail them regularly, the more likely existing clients are likely to rebook and those people interested in homeopathy are likely to become clients.