Accelerator Method: “Who Do You Want To See In Your Clinic?” (Part 1 of 5)

by · 22nd July 2016

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On this PT Profit Academy tutorial we’re going to talk to you about one of the essential components of GROWTH in your business.

Accelerator Blog (1_5)

Specifically, we’re highlighting the first Module covered in the “Accelerator Method” Masterclass program which has already helped 100’s of small physical therapy clinics raise their profits…

What we’ll cover today is the essential foundation that all small business success is built upon – so it’s worth reading every word carefully.

More: It also highlights the biggest opportunity there is right now to grow a business without having to fight with other physical therapy clinics for referrals from doctors.

Lets get going with the tutorial:

Most PT clinic experience some form of frustration when it comes to marketing…

…you try an ad in the paper or magazine, a letter, a leaflet or flyer – something that looks “nice” and is well designed by a professional and on the face of it, is a GREAT ad for a physical therapy clinic.

And that’s the first problem – the ad is about physical therapy and NOT about the person they can help.

Let me explain:

One of the reasons why so many PT clinic ads fail is simply because the ad lacks the one single thing that all great marketing pieces must have…

And that’s a clearly defined “pocket of people” who you want to pay attention to the ad.

You can’t be successful with new patient attraction if you’re trying to reach everyone…

It’s better to have “10” people VERY interested – than 100 see your ad but skip over the page.

At my clinic – the Paul Gough Physio Rooms – we call this person we want to see our ad our “Perfect Patient”.

Our perfect patient comes from the HUGE pocket of people who are being OVERLOOKED by most clinics in our area.

The huge group of people who are living with some form of pain or restriction that they need some help with, but just don’t know what to do for the best.

In our world – we write every bit of our marketing for our Perfect Patient and we even give her a name…

…She’s called “Mary” – she’s 53 and she has two kids and three grandchildren.

And we know a lot more about her that just that.

We have to…

Because if we don’t, then we can’t say the right things in the ad that’ll get her attention and instantly tell her that we have something that she should consider paying attention to – or reading on.

We have to be able to show her we understand her problems and frustrations…

…and that we may be the place to go to for some help to solve her problem.

We also know that she’s likely being overlooked by other physical therapy clinics.

Why?

Because so many of them are focusing on getting referrals from doctors or insurance companies that they’re neglecting the ones who DON’T get given a referral from a doctor (even though they need us).

I know a lot of physical therapists have previously built their business on referrals from doctors, but we all know those types of patients are less and less valuable, and harder and harder to come by.

After reading this you’ll soon realise why – and it’ll also fill you with some hope that there is a better way…

Recent Study:

A recent study by “Fritz” showed that out of every “100” people who visit a doctor with low back pain – just “7%” are given a recommendation or a referral for physical therapy.

The question I started to ask my self was this:

“What is happening to the other 93%?”

I’m more interested in that HUGE pocket of people, than fighting over the small 7% with every other PT clinic in town.

I don’t know about you, but I want the huge slice of the pie (93%) – and I’m not interested in fighting over the crumbs (7%)!

the 7 and 93%

So my perfect patient is in the “93%”.

She’s someone who doesn’t like to take pills, doesn’t want to bother the doctor – and yet still wants to keep active and mobile, despite her back problem.

Mary wants a solution that resembles that life style choice.

The problem is, since she went to see her doctor and DIDN’T get a referral from a doctor (because most don’t) – she’s a little “confused”…

..she was told to rest, accept it, and take pills.

And because she’s confused about why her back pain is no different, and her doctor didn’t recommend physical therapy when she went to see him, I KNOW she’s NEVER going to respond to an ad or marketing campaign of mine that is all about physical therapy.

Why would she?

So I realized that my chances of success are insanely higher if I talk to the 93% of people who need what I do…

…but don’t know enough about me to want to give me money or their time in exchange for my services until I EDUCATE and PROVE VALUE of what I can do.

So my direct marketing success starts with understanding this concept…

That I have to be 100% CLEAR on who my perfect patient is…

…and what she’s thinking and feeling – then talking about how I understand her, and how I can help her.

Then I’ve got make it easy for her to get in touch with me and start that journey she needs to go on to become one of my patients.

Picking your “Perfect Patient” is like deciding “who do you want to do business with”…

Because you DO have the choice – we all do.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to work with cross fit athletes, people with regular low-back pain in their 50’s, children with TBI, or pelvic floor dysfunction…

…there’s a MASSIVE pocket of people out there who are currently suffering with something that you can help with – and who would do business with you – if only you’d help them make a better decision.

It starts with deciding WHO.

I know this is NOT something that a lot of PT’s ever consider…

…and that’s because we’ve been led to believe that anyone with any type of pain or stiffness is someone we could help.

And sure, you might have the “SKILLS” to do that…

The problem is, marketing doesn’t work like that.

If it’s generic, it fails.

And since all business success and small business growth – in the end – relies on great marketing to bring in new customers, there’s no choice but to turn to this strategy (covered in-depth in the Accelerator Method Masterclass).

Success with growing your clinic is about identifying WHO your Perfect Patients are – knowing WHO you’re talking to in your marketing – and WHO you don’t want to talk to.

It’s about running ads with structured, well crafted messages and conversations so that they know you understand them and it all starts with you deciding on your WHO – and learning more about them than they know about themselves.

There’s so much more I could say on this topic – but I think I’ll end by saying once you get this right, ONLY then can you move onto learning how to EDUCATE and SHOW VALUE up front to the huge amount of perfect patient’s that are out there waiting for you to serve.

This is all covered in Module 2 of the Accelerator Method Master Class which we’ll cover in next weeks blog post.

To get more info, go here…

– Accelerator Method: 6 Simple Steps To More Patients and Higher Profits >

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About Paul Gough

PAUL GOUGH is one of the top Marketing and Business Coaches in the physical therapy industry and his Systems are helping clinic owners all across America run more profitable clinics. He is a published Author, Newspaper Columnist and before his stunning success in business was hired by top professional soccer teams. HIS SUCCESS STORY is one that inspires many pt's around the world - at the age of 26 Paul QUIT a high profile job in professional soccer to begin his own clinic. He had NO money, NO business or marketing skills and NO experience - and yet now owns and runs 4 pt clinics and has a proven track record of growing a physical therapy business from 0 - $2m in record time.
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