If “Walmart” Did PT Clinics – Would You Know How To Survive ?

by · 25th August 2015

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Most businesses are controlled by external circumstances…

It’s why so many of the smaller operations fail, or just decide to pack up and leave when someone bigger like “Walmart” comes to town.

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Happens in PT land, too.

A big hospital system arrives in town or expands by buying up family doctor offices — and the small PT owners are left to watch as a ONCE reliable referral source, dries up.

And not long after, business is at that an all time low where it’s actually more profitable to work for someone else.

Not good.

The real reason for this type of (now common) situation??

Easy… no investment in marketing skills or training on the subject of sales.

It’s preceded by something called “failure orientation”.

A belief that failure is the only option in the face of such bigger competition.

And yet amazingly, what usually happens when the “Walmart” equivalent of a PT clinic announces their arrival – the small town, independent PT owner FINALLY resorts to accepting they “need to do some marketing”.

And that Marketing, it usually goes something like this:

“I’m a PT, I’ve been qualified for 10 years,
I have a premises, here’s my number,
here’s where to find me, you should come and
see me if you’re in pain”…

And guess what?

Their ads are mostly ignored.

Can you guess what happens next?

They blame the “Media” that they placed the advert in for it not working.

“Oh I tried newspapers but it didn’t work for me –
no body reads the newspapers anymore”.

Total nonsense.

How about the advert that was placed had no target audience clearly identified, OR, a compelling “message” that resonates and connects with that “WHO”, making them more likely to want to respond to the offer.

But the fundamental, real, often never pointed out fact that most advertising in the PT industry fails is for one of these two reasons:

1.) The REASON the advert is placed is simply because someone showed up – i.e the Yellow pages man arrives and sells it on you.

Or,

2.) There’s a shortage of patients that month and so the owner resorts to “desperation” marketing hoping that a “one-hit wonder” advert will solve their problem.

And that’s a problem not just because it’s a waste of ad dollars… but because the business owner then resides him or herself to thinking that they’ve tried marketing – and it doesn’t work (for them).

Thus, ruling themselves out of any future Marketing (and training) which, if done right, could very well solve their problems.

Now to do that, you need a marketing plan.

A System for acquiring NP’s for as cheap is is possible.

A “Lead Generation” System, to be precise.

It’s marketing that is measurable.

And is part of a sustained and on-going process of acquiring interested prospects – and then nurturing each one to the point of being ready to say to PT.

It’s a powerful way of advertising.

And its power isn’t diminished by the presence of some clinic with a bigger advertising budget, either.

What’s more…

It’s the same Marketing Strategy for PT clinic success that I’ve used to dominate in my own small town selling against a “free health care system”…

And it’s the same marketing success system that I’m teaching to other PT Owners all across the US.

Want to know more about it?

If so, start here:

Sincerely

Paul Gough.

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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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