Delivering holiday gifts? Don’t forget the most important one! We’re in holiday elf-mode at Virginia Creative Group—busy creating year-end materials to help our clients thank their referring practices. But we wanted to take a minute to remind you of something very important. Your year-end gift delivery should do TWO things:
1. Look super-amazingly-special OR Visually reflect the caliber of your appreciation
2. Be accompanied by an actual person who has a conversation!
That’s right. A member of your practice must deliver this gift. And they must not drop and run.
So before you run in—drop off pounds of chocolate and a gorgeous card—then run out the door…STOP! The gift isn’t the point. The gift is an entrance…it’s a ticket to strengthen the relationship by asking some very important questions.
When you deliver the holiday gifts, say something like this:
We value you so much, and we love helping your patients. We want to make sure 2018 is a good year for our partnership so I just want to ask a few questions—because if we’re not doing something right—we want to know!
- Do you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can do a better job for your patients?
- Is there anything stopping you from referring us?
- How can we make the process easier for you?
- How can we make the experience better for your patients?
Take their feedback seriously. Do something about it. And on your next visit, tell them what’s been done to remedy the issues they mentioned.
The time you spend in the office is what’s most important because it helps to strengthen the relationship you have with your referring practices. They don’t really want cookies or chocolate—they want to know you’ve got their patients’ best interest in mind and actually care about being a good partner!
Chocolate, muffins, and cake get delivered the break room and eaten.
It’s the relationship that lasts!
It’s the relationship that gets you referrals.
Need to step up your referral marketing for 2018? Let’s talk.