Trick or treat?
Thankfully, this article is all treat.
Speaking of treats…
I get asked all the time my opinion about bringing treats to referring doctor’s offices.
Some practices are firm believers in bringing treats everywhere they go and others would never be caught dead delivering treats to a referring doctor’s office.
Here is the disclaimer part of the article where I am obligated to remind you that I am not an attorney. Your referral efforts should always be reviewed by your attorney to ensure compliance with any industry and government guidelines.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…
I actually do think treats are a nice gesture. It’s a token of gratitude for someone’s time.
A nominal treat sends the message that, “Hey, we’re not just here to ask for what we want, we’re here to partner with you on your patient’s journey.”
The caveat is that anything you share must be minimal in value and in no way intended as an inducement to refer patients.
However, bringing treats for the sake of bringing goodies does not make you a valued partner, it just makes you a treat dropper.
Whether or not you choose to bring treats on a referring office call is not even the real issue.
If your message doesn’t offer something of value to their practice, you’re wasting their time.
Time they could have spent taking care of patients.
That’s worth repeating…
More important than any treat is adding value to your customer’s practice.
So what does something of value look like for your referring doctors?
Here are a few examples:
- An article that may be of interest or address a specific challenge they are experiencing
- Updates on the status of mutual patients
- Ways to make referring to your practice simpler or more streamlined
- Staff trainings or in-services
What are their pain points? How can working with your practice alleviate those pain points?
So… Whether you choose to bring treats or not…
Become a trusted business ally to your referral partners and offer something of true value on every call.
No tricks… All treat!
