You bought the shiny new device or hired a specialist. Maybe both.
Great move, but here is the hard part: making sure it doesn’t sit quietly in an exam room collecting dust. (The device, not the specialist)
In launching a new service, you must have determined demand for it, either through patients asking you about specific treatments or as part of your roadmap to grow and scale your practice. Hopefully you factored in clinical outcomes and operational impact when making the decision, but did you figure out how to make it marketable (and in turn profitable)?
If not, we got you. Here is some advice on how to turn a new service from “nice idea” into a reliable revenue stream:
Introduce the new offering through sequential waves
It is important to identify your most loyal and warm-contact patients, since they will be your proponents as you launch a new service. Create a list of these patients and start talking to them about it during their next visit, even as early as when you are starting to consider introducing a new service. They will provide early feedback to help you tweak the service and the messaging around it, as they will be the most likely early adopters.
The second list of patients should be those who frequent your clinic often and/or have been coming in for complementary treatments to the ones you are launching. This can be a customized email to each patient, clearly indicating why they would be a good candidate for the service, either due to their condition or past treatment history.
Once both previous groups have been communicated to and initial demand and feedback have been generated, you can go after your email listserv. This approach will increase the chances of email conversions, since your messaging will have already been tested. You can also segment your email list based on learnings from the first two groups, where certain conditions or past treatment histories could warrant different copy in the email.
Have assets created and ready to go at launch
- Ensure your website copy (content and imagery) is written and updated at launch, since many times patients will look up your site as a secondary touchpoint after the initial communication.
- Prepare in-office collateral such as handouts, flyers, digital posters on TVs/displays, and banners to encourage patients to ask about and learn more about new offerings. These shouldn’t overwhelm the space, but should be additive and serve as props during check-in, consultation, and check-out.
- Update your Google Business and Yelp pages with the new service offerings. Additionally, if running paid ads, have them ready to go. However, it is wise to first try the aforementioned organic approaches and then use paid ads to scale volume later.
Drive adoption through initial pricing and discounts
- Determine how you want to price the new offering based on your target patient group’s affordability, competitor pricing, costs, resources, time utilization, and your differentiating characteristics.
- It is better to price higher and offer initial launch discounts rather than start low and then raise the price later.
- Bundling multiple treatments is beneficial in order to see outcomes and is encouraged for both clinical and economic reasons. However, offer a single-session or trial price for a new offering to get patients to give it a shot.
The most important takeaway is that when you launch a new service, the first few weeks and months are crucial to ensuring success. This means constant monitoring, improvement, and hypercare as the service moves from infancy to getting its wings and becoming an economic driver for your practice.
