Appointments booked from bell to bell. No shows. Every line lit up on the phone. Emergencies. Cranky patients. Pharmacies. Chasing down reimbursements.
A day in the life of employees in a doctor’s office can be as routine as an annual exam or as crazy as the occasional zebra that walks in the door.
Your staff is the face and personality of your business. They are a critical factor in your patient’s experience at your office. As the leader, they look to you to help them get through good days and bad days. Here’s a little something for your bag of tricks to keep employees motivated: Build a strong brand.
I know what you’re thinking, why would a new logo inspire my team to work harder?
Wouldn’t it be nice if a logo was the solution to employee morale? Sure, a new, modern look can inspire employees, but more important than a logo or refresh to your brand’s look and feel is what your logo represents. What emotion does it bring to mind when your patients interact with your office? Your logo is a symbol of what your practice stands for. But you can’t start with the logo. You start with your brand’s meaning.
So how do you build this meaning? Chances are you already know the elements of your brand, you’ve just never put it all down in one place and educated your employees on your practice’s mission, vision, and values. Then you determine your brand personality. What is your brand’s voice? If it were human, how would it act?
Your brand can represent a nurturing, understanding experience for your patients where everything from the tone of your receptionist’s voice to the color on your walls promotes this sense of calm and caring.
Or it could embody an athletic, high-performance experience with high-energy employees who all wear athletic gear and motivate your patients every step of the way.
Whatever it is that you want to stand for in the hearts and minds of the patients you serve has to be clearly communicated to your staff so that they become living, breathing ambassadors to your brand promise.
A funny thing happens when you start using your brand as an employee motivator. They are more engaged, more efficient, and have more overall job satisfaction. You have less staff turnover and your office becomes much more productive. Your patients will take notice and will choose your office above all others because they value the experience they have when they come to your office.
Happy employees mean happy patients. Happy patients mean more referrals. More referrals mean more patients. More patients mean you have yourself a healthy practice.
Are you interested in growing your practice through healthy brand and marketing strategies?
MarketMD™, a course tailored to private practice physician offices, can give your practice the skills to build a brand and help your practice grow. Branding consistency is known to help businesses increase profits by 23%. Now accepting applications for the course. Apply now!