Newsletter Marketing and Einstein’s Definition of Insanity
I recently spoke with an endodontist who decided to stop using one of our referral generating newsletter programs to see "what would happen." He felt that the newsletter wasn't really doing anything for his practice and he wanted to see what the impact would be if he stopped the service.
Upon further discussion I found out two interesting facts. First, this endodontist hadn't bothered to send out his newsletters for at least the last 9 months. Further, he had no system in place to track where and how new patients arrived at his practice. His staff was making no effort to ask new patients whether they had simply walked in off the street, found out about the practice through a yellow page listing or if they were referred by another dentist, and if so, by whom. Even if a new patient volunteered that they had been referred by another dentist or arrived with a referral letter this endodontist's staff didn't record this information.
Albert Einstein is often quoted as saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and then expecting a different result.
Here, our endodontist has no idea where his patients were coming from. He has no idea whether his yellow page advertisement was worth anything. He may be a great dental specialist who is precise in his work but it is ironic that he manages his practice without the same sense of discipline.
I am certainly not suggesting that this endodontist is clinically insane. However in order to grow his practice, he needs to approach marketing with the same logic and critical thinking he employs in successfully treating his patients. If you don't measure marketing results, there is no way to determine what is working and what is not. Above all it is foolish to think things will change—that more new patients will mysteriously appear in your office—without actively marketing your practice.
Steve Klinghoffer
December 7, 2011
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