What happened?
Professional Communications Care (PCC) in Indianapolis, Indiana, has found that communicating with physicians in the local area can result in referrals, as well as customers!
How did they do it?
The practice sent letters to every family practice and internal medicine physician in the Indianapolis area. The letters provided background information on Professional Communications Care to the physicians, and also announced that the Songbird Disposable Hearing Aid was now available at the office. In addition to the letters to physicians, Professional Communications Care ran advertisements in three area newspapers.
Results:
PCC found that their advertisements resulted in calls about Songbird, even as long as two weeks after the advertisements had run in the papers.
From the letters, the practice received inquiries from several area physicians. Physicians called to ask questions and some even came in to try the product. These physicians have agreed to refer their patients with hearing loss to Professional Communications Care, and a couple of physicians with hearing loss purchased Songbird Disposable Hearing Aids for themselves. One physician said he’d be sending “hundreds” of patients to the practice.
Patricia Chunn, owner of PCC, was also interviewed on a recent local news show, which resulted in 125 phone calls (some of which came in before the show had finished airing) and 52 appointments made by patients who wanted to try Songbirds!
Lessons Learned:
When dealing with a hearing loss, patients may first visit a family physician. Or, they may visit a physician for another health problem and mention a concern about their hearing during the course of their visit. Either way, most general practice physicians are always on the lookout for high quality specialists to which they can refer patients, and the announcement of a new product like Songbird Disposable Hearing Aids will certainly pique their attention. “Communicating with physicians was definitely an important step in reminding them about our practice and announcing that we have this terrific new hearing aid,” notes Patricia Chunn.
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