It’s summer. The extra hours of sunlight and overall jovial feeling of the season has everyone in your office in a good mood. You might even find that you have some down time between patients this time of year. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. While your patients are vacationing, attending summer camps and family reunions, and catching up on things at home, why not take advantage of the “free time” to start thinking about how you can market your practice for the other three seasons of the year?
As a Florida-based company, the folks at MDA get to enjoy a summer-like vibe almost all year ‘round. Still, there’s just something about summer that puts a smile on our faces and stimulates our creativity. What do we do with this energy? We plan, and you should, too. To that end, here are just a few ways you can take advantage of the good moods and extra hours this summer:
- Keep it casual. You have your share of formal team meetings the rest of the year. Why not use summer to lighten things up? Share a few beers outdoors instead of meeting inside under the fluorescents. The relaxed atmosphere will not only boost the moods of everyone involved, but may encourage more authentic discussion with input from those who are otherwise hesitant to share marketing ideas.
- Have an organization party. If you’ve only got a few patients coming in, let your team members dress “summer casual” for the day. Play some Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett then use the festive atmosphere and time between patients to organize for your marketing campaign. Check your website for information that is no longer relevant, review your email contact list for patients that have moved away, and make sure that all online reviews have been addressed appropriately.
- Hit the refresh button. This is where the real magic happens. Once you’ve gotten input from your team members and have worked side-by-side to organize things, you can finally start to prepare for what you want to achieve next. Are you interested in marketing to a different quality of patient? Is there a particular service you’ve recently trained for, such as same-day crowns, that you’d like to focus your advertising efforts on? Can your team members come up with fun contests to run on your social media sites? Summer is the perfect time to determine where your marketing efforts and dollars should go for the next several months.
Before you know it, your patients will be back, your schedule will be full, and you’ll long for the days of summer. The extra time you have on your hands this time of year is a gift; use it to your advantage and see what benefits you may reap as a result.
