One of the easiest ways to attract professional referrals is to have a "signature" procedure: you treat an illness few others do; you own a piece of equipment - a medical technology - most don't; or you treat a common ailment in a new way.
But even if your practice does not lend itself to identification with one, foot-in-the-door treatment, you can still set it apart by paying attention to the needs of your referral market as if they, too, were a consumer of your services - as, in a sense, they are. If you've been in practice for a number of years, pick five to ten of your best referral sources and ask them why they refer to you, what they like most and what they like least. If you're too new to have long-term referral sources, target a handful of area professionals whom you would like to get referrals from and call them. Ask what they might need that you could provide (quick emergency appointments, for instance, for the patients of a general practitioner, if you're a specialist). The idea, in either case, is to develop three or more 'selling points,' or benefits you offer that make your practice more useful (than the rest) to each professional group. Finding the benefit for your market is an essential ingredient to marketing your practice to potential referral sources (as well as potential patients).
Once you isolate a feature or an offer that can characterize your practice, and you know the group you most want to attract, you can begin marketing your practice to referral sources. This is a three part process, having three distinct methodologies that should synchronize.
The first methodology is to join the appropriate community or professional organizations or clubs those populated by the professionals from whom you wish to receive referrals. The goal is to become known and trusted while conveying to the membership those ways in which what you do can meet their specific needs. To do this you need to be visibly active within the organization and make a name for yourself. If you're just beginning your practice, look for others - in any number of professional fields, from law to elementary school administration - who are also young and haven't yet established a referral network of their own. Your shared situation can be a way to create referrals, in and of itself (Women and racial and ethnic minorities can often achieve the same solidarity within their communities.)
The second methodology is to promote not just yourself, but your expertise. Let's say you'd like attorneys to refer patients who need treatment following car accidents. You've published a handful of papers in this area and can speak to the multiple complications that frequently arise months after the accident. And you've developed a unique form of injury evaluation: You can pinpoint the severity of the repercussions with accuracy and speed and predict the complications that may follow.
All this makes you useful to attorneys. To let them know how you can assist them and their clients, it would be wise to attend conferences sponsored by joint professional organizations of physicians and attorneys; or conferences designed specifically to cover new developments in this area; or even annual conventions of the Bar Association in the city near you. Get to know the planners of these events, and offer to present your particular knowledge at a booth in the lobby, or as one of the scheduled speakers., You will make the greatest inroads if you appear repeatedly over a number of years.
Impact is always cumulative. You'll want to keep your name before your referral sources on a regular basis, providing them with information that underscores how you might meet their needs: Doing this is the third and final methodology. One approach is to develop a mailing list of potential referral professionals from your community and professional organization activities. You could then send a mailing to this list which includes reprints of your articles; a story in a professional organization's newsletter about your activities in the area you are promoting; and your practice brochure.
It would be a good idea to also enclose a 'give-away' piece that provides information pertinent to the professional's client or patient population. For instance, if you're a neurologist, you could print up a checklist of symptoms of neurological trauma that patients can identify in themselves. Your name and address should be printed on the piece, of course.
After sending your mailing, its appropriate to call and introduce yourself and your expertise. When you call, offer something else that will benefit this professional in the building of his or her practice. Sponsor a joint health fair, perhaps, or offer to send reciprocal referrals. Because every profession has grown so intensely competitive, your efforts will most probably be appreciated.
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