Hospital – A place people visit to relieve themselves of pain, know or gain their fitness or…to visit their patients.
There has been a constant effort in recent years that medical equipments, treatment modalities, services, facilities etc are upgraded on regular basis. Every top hospital in India today wants to provide the maximum facilities to its patients, which is really a constructive area as the ultimate beneficiary being the patient who can get value for their money and the best treatment facilities. However, the services, expertise and the facilities of hospital need to be informed to the masses so that they can utilize the services to the maximum.
Hospital today is very much an industry. Having profit or surplus as some calls it and of course the loss or deficiency as some may call it again. It very much needs to be marketed. This has evolved a new era where hospital marketing has gained a prominent role.
This has given birth to a new breed of professionals – The Hospital Marketeers
I am one of the clan. I entered the industry not by choice but as no other option and today I must say that I can consider myself as a true hospital marketeer. I derive this term marketeer from the word musketeer which means according to the dictionary ‘a soldier armed with a gun’. Yes, we hospital marketeers have to be equipped with guns of knowledge, bullets of trust and reliance and an art to shoot the right words at the right time. This profession requires a great deal of domain knowledge.
Whenever I hand over my visiting card to anyone, the opposite person in some what awe and curiosity bright on his face asks me “Hospital Marketing, what is it you want people to fall sick and come to you?” I usually have my answer ready for such questions. During the course of this write up I will probably answer and satisfy the numerous questions that must be arising in your minds by this point of time.
Hospital is considered one of the most essential public utility services, which in one sense is very true. The general feeling is that a good hospital usually should not require any kind of publicity or promotion and the service and the treatment results should speak for themselves. No doubt it is pertinent for any hospital to survive, however is it not equally true that if a certain treatment modality existing in a particular hospital is not known to the masses and people spend their valuable time and money shopping around at various places to get the same which they could have availed much earlier had it been known to them.
Then the question comes up is it really Marketing or awareness creation amongst the society. Well, here I would say it is a combination of everything Marketing being the umbrella under which comes sales, awareness, public relations, patient facilitation and grievance management, patient satisfaction etc. The boundaries for a hospital marketeer are not defined. He surely has to be a master in his line of profession but also should at least be a Jack in the other activities within the hospital which are directly connected to patient satisfaction and ultimately benefiting the revenue generation of any hospital.
It is not a simple job and rules of service marketing apply here too where a satisfied customer/ patient can get you 10 patients more but a unsatisfied one can make you loose 100 patients. A hospital marketeer hence has to see that every personnel directly connected to patient satisfaction is performing his responsibilities effectively and that too with lot of humility. It is not like any other service marketing as here the involved customer and consumer can be two different people – example a referring doctor is our customer however his patient are actual consumers. Secondly, the consumer is looking for solutions to his pain or distress from us and hence a slightest mistake can damage his trust in us. The buying decisions are taken under stress and if anything goes wrong, the entire marketing can rebound on the marketeer. It is a very thin line to tread on.
How does a Marketing Department work in a hospital, what are the different roles a hospital marketeer plays and what are the tips a young hospital marketeer needs to follow, is as follows:
a) Know Your Hospital: This means that a marketeer needs to understand the hospital that he works for. History of the hospital, the expertise and the knowledge of his doctors, equipments etc. This requires strong self induction process and interactions with consultants, residents, and technicians etc. to gain maximum knowledge.
b) Time Bound Marketing Strategy: The basis of any successful hospital marketing department lies in time bound strategy. When I say time bound I mean that you cannot continuously promote the same specialty all the year round. Hence, depending on the time of the year one needs to promote a specialty for example during the summer season one can promote sunstroke related ailments which are directly connected to neurology department etc. It is all about understanding the requirements of the market hence; it is pertinent that the marketeer understands the need of the time and accordingly plan out his strategies. Secondly, one must not forget the competition, hence keeping that in mind one must also change his strategies accordingly. Do not copy what others do but evolve something better.
c) Internal Marketing: It is always said that get your house in order before you speak to others. Same thing applies here. Role of internal or within the hospital marketing is equally important. A marketeer today needs to set up systems which can create better facilitation and management of the patients such as:
i) Staff Motivation and Training
ii) Staff Involvement
iii) Integrated approach to patient satisfaction
iv) Patient grievances management unit
v) OPD patients management
The above mentioned are some points that a marketeer can adopt based on the situation in ones hospital.
d) Database: Marketing is futile until it has a strong database. This helps in selecting your target clientele and the tools of marketing. Mailing list, top decision makers, opinion leaders, social organizations, and media personnel’s etc knowledge is important. A marketeer has to always remember ‘Information is solution’.
e) Target Segments: Depending upon the area a marketeer has to target his segments to create better inflow for his specialties. It is extremely important that the marketeer keeps in mind the policies and ethics of which he works for and target the clientele accordingly.
As and when he goes out in the open market towards his targeted segment he has to have his speech ready and what he wants to award to the market.
f) Promotional Material: A marketeer needs to design and have promotional material in place such as brochures, presentations, leaflets etc. before he actually hits the market.
g) On field calls & Visits: Action time… the marketeer is on the battlefront. He has to deal with his customers and consumers. A marketeer hence needs to maintain his confidence believe in himself and have positive self belief. Use the tools to discretion and shoot the required information based upon your self gained knowledge in the earlier phase. This is a period of creating awareness, generating goodwill and overall trust. This phase where one will face good responses or negative ones too. Understand and act accordingly. Do not be too aggressive…Remember that medicine or medical treatment is a line where masses have strong opinions. Understand them…as a few words such “Yes I can really understand your situation”, “I assure you that I will act upon it, and I will get back to you”. However trivial the issue might be get back to your concerned person upon the issue. This assists in him or her really trusting you. The result can be really good or nothing at all. Do not get depressed if there is no result as you have solved an issue somewhere it can be beneficial. Believe me it helps. Here it is all about getting solutions and relationship building activity
h) Conversion: Your contacts are made, you have managed certain issues now is the time to generate business. Consistent follow ups assure better recall value. However it is important to remember here that your follow up visits are novel and adds to the person’s curiosity rather than making it a routine sales call. Always remember you have an advantage of knowledge use to your benefit.
i) “Do not be scared to take a NO”: My boss always says ‘Darshan‘ never be scared to take a ‘No’ for an answer as the person saying so is firm on his choice and hence if convinced can be always firm with you. Hope against hope in most adverse conditions are the magic words of this industry. I have always abided by that and so too the young professional now a days should.
j) Your patient is more than your client: Yes very much true. I have always believed that a person who comes to you through your marketing effort depends on you for his well being in your hospital. Hence, it is pertinent that you really take good care of him. Do not go overboard but systematically see to it that you manage his stay in the hospital as a comfortable experience.
k) Advertising: A very novel aspect in today’s hospital industry. It is very much here to stay. Advertising creates mass awareness. A marketeer should understand his unique selling points and then embark upon a strong planned advertising campaign. However he has to remember that what he is promoting has to be unique or rather as the saying goes ‘old wine in new bottle’. Packaging an old product with a new dimension is extremely important.
All the above guide lines are just a brief outline but there are many aspects that a hospital marketeer can create, execute and achieve for the ultimate benefit of the society and for the hospital.
Surge ahead…believe you can achieve and you will.
