Medical Practices – How to handle the need for instant gratification
Do you remember the days when we humans had to go the store to find what we wanted?
When we had to go to the bank to deposit checks?
When our dog food and groceries didn’t get delivered—and our Starbucks wasn’t ready for pick-up?
If human beings used to have patience, we don’t have it anymore. The world is growing ever more instant. When we have a need, it can be met almost immediately, which is an amazing blessing when we are the consumers wanting things quickly.
But it’s a little trickier when we are the service providers. We are the ones expected to provide the quickness and seamlessness that consumers are used to.
The convenient world we live in hinders our ability to wait patiently. Why should we have to?!
So how do you handle this need for instant gratification as a medical practice?
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- Offer the conveniences that help your patients—and your practice. In the world of medical care, it’s convenient when you can do a video chat with your doctor, chat with someone online, or get a same-day or walk-in appointment. Many of these conveniences aren’t just good for the patients—they can also be good for the doctors and office staff.
- Keep an open mind to the future. As you assess the way forward, consider each tool and think, open-mindedly, about how it could work for your practice. If you’re resistant, it could simply be because this isn’t the way we used to do things. If you can get past that roadblock, you might see the new way is actually a good way.
- Communicate clearly. Even convenience isn’t convenient if nobody knows how it works. Be super clear with your offerings. Keep communication clean, simple and informative.
- Know your boundaries—and own them. You can’t do every single thing. It’s okay to say, this is how we do things. Just make sure it’s actually how you want to do things based on your patients, mission and values.
- Balance quick and easy. If you can’t make it quick, you must make it easy. People are willing to give a little bit on one or the other, but not both.
- Be worth it. If your quality and service level is incredible, you will be worth exerting a little extra time or effort for. We’ll always wait 5 extra minutes for Chick-Fil-A rather than settling for McDonald’s nuggets!
- Make it personal. As convenient as life gets, we’re all still people. Not robots. Show your patients and prospects that you care about them as individuals. Find ways to do this—along with the convenience measures—and you’ll build loyalty.
At Virginia Creative Group, we will help you figure out which tools your practice can benefit from—and we’ll help you share that information clearly and personably.
Instant Gratification: Let’s Talk!
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