All too often we as business owners have tunnel vision, and just assume we know what our customers or patients "want".
It may come as a big surprise, but your patients aren't really coming to you for good quality medical care.
In fact, most consumers really aren't "buying" the physical product or the defined service at all.
I know what you're thinking...
"Of course my patients come to me for the best care!" Well, Yes.
But, really, No.
One of the most important things to remember about your customer is this: You Are Not Your Customer.
Your patients do want good quality medical care, but that's mostly secondary.
What they really want is a great experience when they visit your practice.
An experience that provides them assurances that they're being taken care of as a priority patient, and most importantly, that they have peace of mind regarding the hands their medical care is in, yours.
This is done by creating a great "Patient Experience".
When your patient walks out the door, they should feel that they were the only patient that was being seen in your practice today.
If you've ever stayed at a Four Seasons Resort Hotel, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
When you check in, everyone addresses you by name, they don't miss a beat getting your bags to the room & making sure all of your needs are anticipated.
They even memorize the guests names and address you by name the entire duration of your stay.
So the lesson (with an example) here is this: As a customer at the Four Seasons Resort, I'm not really just looking for a very nice, clean hotel, though that is part of what I want.
What really keeps me coming back, is their ability to cater to what I really want, which is the customer experience.
I know I'm always going to be treated, and taken care of much better than most other places I would stay.
The same goes for your patients.
They don't just want good quality medical care.
They want to have a fantastic patient experience in addition to the end product of the medical care.
If you engineer your practice to provide this, you can effectively put a virtual corral around your patients and they will never go anywhere else.
They'll also tell tons of people about their experience, bringing you new patients by the droves.
If you can effectively do this in your practice by providing the ultimate patient experience, you can kiss your competition goodbye, no matter what they economy is doing, and no matter how long they've been in practice.