The Customer Relationship Management Strategy
(It’s not just the software!)

in /by

One of the major concerns practitioners have about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is which software to use.

In the first instance, Customer Relationship Management should be a strategy. The technology is important, but it is secondary.

Whether you’re using Frontdesk, Capable, Cliniko, or one of the myriad of options on offer, your communication strategy and what information you collect is even more important than the tools you use to then implement your system.

Setting Up Your System

The goal of your Customer Relationship Management Strategy is to create a better way to manage both the information you collect and to define standard procedures so that you can be more organised and be more efficient with fewer resources.

In your practice, you will use your CRM system to create and record …

  • Patient Notes
  • Marketing Effectiveness
  • Team KPIs & Other Reporting
  • Client and Partner Communication
  • Document Templates and Policy Documents

Patient Notes – Commit To The Process

How you record information about your patient visit has the potential to greatly improve their experience in subsequent appointments.

Patient notes are very specific to your practice, and consistency is the key to make them work for you.

It may come as a surprise to you, but not everybody on your team has the same patterns of thinking that create a definition of “common sense” when it comes to record keeping. This means you need to define how patient notes are to be recorded down to the smallest detail.

Your CRM software will help here, because most patients will present with a condition that is common to many others. This gives you the opportunity to create “shortcut” or “template” notes to insert into the patient record.

Both practitioners and admin staff need to be trained in your patient notes recording system.

TOP TIP: Use the screen recording software, Camtasia (or Screenflow on mac), to record yourself explaining your patient note recording system for the team.

Measuring Your Marketing Effectiveness

We have a favourite saying that says “What Gets Measured Gets Improved, and What Gets Measured And Reported Improves Exponentially”

The beauty of CRM software is that you should be able to pull down a variety metrics. Ideally, you should get a quick snapshot of how your practice is tracking at the end of every week.

Key Metrics For You To Collect …

General

  • Number of “NEW” patients vs. “RETURNING” patients vs. “INACTIVE” client records
  • Lead Source (how they heard about you or who sent them)
  • Financials (Sales / Sales Source vs. Marketing Spend … NOTE: If your accounting is only done monthly, you should at least report basic sales every week)

Team (practitioners) …

  • Patient Visit Average
  • Spend per patient per team member
  • Number of consultations vs. hours

Communicating With The Existing List

Firstly, take a step back and look at your communication plan to make sure the software can cope, and that you have a system in place to implement the plan.

For instance, you may decide to communicate with your existing list on the following basis …

1) Current Appointments – 24 hours prior

  • email reminder
  • SMS reminder

2) General Client Communication

  • Quarterly newsletter
  • Birthday postcard
  • 2 x special offers

3) Reactivation Clients

  • Annual checkup, or
  • We’ve missed you letter (at x months)

4) Referrers

  • Time based or specific appreciation letter

In this case, your CRM Software needs to be able to:

  • Mail merge physical addresses to letters
  • Send a bulk email manually
  • Send SMS reminders based on appointment times
  • Record D.O.B
  • Flag when a patient has not visited for a certain time period
  • Separate clients from referrers (segment the list)

PLUS, you need to make sure there is a system in place that ensures implementation. Ideally, the software you use will be able to automate as much as possible, particularly with electronic communication and task assignments to you or your team.

Document Templates and Policy Documents

I’m including this as part of a CRM strategy, because once again, consistency is the key to providing an exceptional patient experience.

You’ve probably got some kind of system in your practice for creating standard letters and policy documents. Ideally, your CRM software will have the capability to create and store these.

If you’re using a lower spec appointment booking system, then consider using software like “Standard Practice” to manage documents and team task-lists.

Do You Need To Change?

The decision to change your CRM software is a big call, because there’s a lot of time investment required.

The major CRM software service providers report that most users are only utilizing the basic functionality, so it’s worth investigating whether you are using your existing solution to its full potential.

The main considerations are whether it is helping or complicating your communication with clients, and whether you are actually using it to report back the recordings.

Feel free to contact us via the below comments section should you wish to discuss anything regarding CRMs.

til next time

Jon Heath