Post #44: The Impact of Sales Promotion

Two of perhaps the most misunderstood things in all of practice development are LEADERSHIP (often confused with management or authority) and MARKETING (often confused with advertising). We’ve clarified and discussed in the blog posts and podlectures that leadership is not about managing people, but rather influencing people; and colleague dialogue and success stories these past few weeks has me realizing it’s time for some similar clarification and discussion on the marketing front. 

More specifically, let’s talk this month about what in marketing is referred to as sales promotion, which is separate from and additional to advertising as a consideration in the marketing plan of a business. 

For starters on this, sales promotion is exactly as it sounds to be – promotion, or perhaps better said, promotional events, that drive sales of the business. And as we look to start the second half of the year soon (that happened fast!), we’ve been consulting a good bit with colleagues about planning Q-3 and Q-4 sales promotional events to drive not only sales, but also patient retention and new patients… and getting these promotional events on the practice marketing calendar in Q-3 and Q-4 NOW. (as always, plan the work, work the plan … ) 

Like so many things under the broad subject of marketing, sales promotion is best approached in a reverse- engineering mentality. So we start with the question what services and products do we want to drive and grow in the practice, then set some objectives and form (and write-out with assigned deadlines) the strategies and tactics, including sales promotion and specific promotional events, to drive our results toward those objects. (for a more detailed discussion of marketing objectives, strategies and tactics, see BOWEN’S BLOG Posts #’s 27 and 28 Time for a Real, Live Marketing Plan, Parts 1 and 2). 

Perhaps the best way to illustrate the concept of sales promotion is with colleague goings on that have me thinking it’s time for some discussion about this strategy within the marketing plan. Over the past few weeks as we track and compare practice metrics and trends together, a number of colleagues have noticed Capture Rate trending UP after years and years of this metric trending down in private practice. This is certainly a welcome trend, and clearly a sign of the team focus and deliberate effort by partner practice teams to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Here are a few examples partner practices have leveraged of late to cause real impact. 

Working with supporting vendors (largely covering costs), a partner practice put on a series of Style Show/Frame Promotional events, targeting style-conscious consumers (both patients and potential patients) via deliberate invitation and use of targeted social media. Over the span of these events, the result was a huge increase in prescriptions filled that were written elsewhere, which pushed Capture Rate over 75% overall and during some stretches, even over 100% (more Rx’s walking-in than walking out)! The result of well targeted, well-planned sales promotion. 

A partner practice participated in a well-established annual community health fair, leveraging an eye health as critical to overall health message, including doing screenings in their booth (not  you see and do in the exhibit halls of conventions you attend), actually scheduling appointments right there on the spot (nearly all of whom were new patients)! 

A partner practice has branded a program for creating interest in Vision Therapy called “Mommy and Me.” This program branding strategy, being leveraged both inside and outside the practice (sales promotion), has already had great impact, and we’re preparing to feature this program in a number of additional ways and places to increase Vision Therapy interest and new Vision Therapy patients. 

A partner practice hired an individual (with a bonus structure based on outcomes as part of compensation) specifically to call on and visit in-person area business to offer their Vision Benefits Plan, and they’re knocking it out of the park! 

A partner practice has sent out invitations and resultingly set up screenings in assisted living and similar facilities, bringing needed care to needing people and growing in the mission of the practice. How great is growing the practice by the purpose motive?! 

A while back, we helped a colleague desiring to grow a somewhat static lens portion of the practice plan, promote and put on (in partnership with a progressive contact lens rep) their first “Contact Lens Try-On Day,” which was a huge success in helping people experience the freedom of healthy, successful contact lens wear and become contact lens patients! 

We also helped a colleague brainstorm a set of speaking topics and create an inexpensive brochure to help them accomplish their goal of putting on two community speaking events per year (specifically an objective in their marketing plan), and sharing this with select patients and groups, they’ve filled that dance card and have a waiting list of groups wanting to put them in front of folks carrying a well-lit quality eyecare torch. 

Believe it or not, regardless of some colleague opinions of marketing (often meaning advertising), these are all examples of sales promotion, the planned and orchestrated version of which is a full-on missing link in many practice marketing plans and marketing calendars. And as these and other partner practices will affirm, sales promotion properly reverse-engineered for growing certain focuses, metrics and even the whole practice can and often does work much better (and cost effectively) than paid advertising. 

These examples considered, we remember the importance of a pro-active approach, including planned objectives and reverse-engineered strategies and tactics, to continuing to thrive in private practice with the real-live marketing plan discussed in Blog Posts 27 and 28. And of course, back to management for a moment, the importance of having a designated Practice Marketing Coordinator in our organizational structure to drive this proactively. 

Well colleagues, that’s it this merry month of May for SUMMIT TALK (partner podlecture), MetCHECK (partner practice metrics tracking) and BOWEN’S BLOG (partner blog post). Here’s wishing you a strong finish to Q-2, and we encourage you and your team to take a PROACTIVE approach to planning your sales promotion for the back-half of 2024! 3 

Like all THRIVE content, the purpose of BOWEN’S BLOG and SUMMIT TALK Podlecture conversations is to keep us driving together toward IMPACT. If something here has struck a chord, shoot us an email or give us a call and let’s talk it out! Tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com or 402-794-4064.