It's not a news flash that the laser vision correction market has become increasingly competitive, with exploding market growth and the lure of potential profits attracting new surgeons and centers into the industry. Consumer advertising more than doubled in 1999 and is again headed for record levels in 2000.

In this brutally competitive environment, you must have a carefully constructed marketing plan and budget to succeed. One of the most difficult decisions facing practice administrators is how much to spend on marketing -- and where to put that money. If you allocate insufficient funds and resources to marketing, you run the risk of either losing your competitive position, or if your center is new, failing to establish a secure position in your market.

Yet marketing initiatives, particularly external advertising, are typically very expensive. Mistakes can be costly, so you want to be sure that you receive maximum value for every marketing dollar spent.

This article will examine the 10 critical steps involved in developing an effective marketing plan and budget.

1.         Analyze your local market

You must recognize that each market is unique. Effective advertising depends not just on the reach, frequency and message but also on what your competitors are doing to capture the marketplace. If competitors are using radio advertising, it will probably dilute the effectiveness of your radio campaign, and you may have to spend more to get your message heard. That money could possibly be better spent on a medium that isn't being used by others in the same market. Similarly, markets are constantly changing. You may find that what's worked for you in the past may not continue to work in the future.

Be sure to conduct a thorough analysis of your local market, identifying and evaluating your competitors, and their strengths and weaknesses. Compare those with the competitive advantages you can identify within your own practice.

2.         Identify your strengths

Before you spend your first dollar on a marketing campaign, it's imperative that you develop a clear understanding of exactly what it is that you're offering to potential laser vision correction patients.

For that reason, after you've completed your competitive analysis, identify those qualities or factors that differentiate your center from others in your market. Be sure to involve your staff and doctors in this process.

Until fairly recently, the most common question prospective patients asked was, "What is laser vision correction -- and is this a good procedure for me?" Today, prospective patients are far more sophisticated and knowledgeable. They've probably read articles about laser vision correction in the media, visited several Web sites and spoken to friends who've undergone the procedure. Prospective patients have a variety of centers and prices to choose from. The question they're asking is no longer "Should I have this procedure done?" but rather "Where should I go to have it done?"

Every member of your staff should be able to answer that critical question with complete confidence and authority. And remember: The more your doctors and staff contribute to formulating the overall marketing message, the more they're going to internalize and believe in that message.

3.         Review performance to date

Before deciding where you want to go, take time to review where you've been.

Analyze your surgery volume during the past 1 or 2 years. Where are your eyes coming from? What percentage of your patients are generated through external advertising, co-management, open access, corporate programs, or other sources? Can you discern any positive or negative trends in the profile of your customer base?

4.         Assess your target market

Next, perform a demographic analysis of your surgery volume for the past year. Examine such factors as age, gender, location and disposable income. Your contact management software should allow you to quickly obtain this data. (If not, consider purchasing new software.)

Once you've assessed the demographics of your patient database, identify your target markets. Can you find an opportunity to build business in a previously undeveloped segment of your market? Ask yourself why your center hasn't been successful in attracting patients from this segment. Then, determine what can be done to penetrate this market. For instance, you can target a specific community by using carefully chosen billboard locations and local newspapers. You can also obtain a testimonial from someone well-known within that area.

5.         Set quarterly goals

Just as it's critical to involve your team in the formulation of your overall marketing strategy, it's equally important that your staff participate in setting quarterly goals. Review the center's performance for the past year with them and together set specific goals for each category of patients.

Identify opportunities for improvement and decide which resources can be allocated to achieve these goals. Make the goals part of a bonus plan for the staff. This will make staff members be more committed to the goal-setting process and more motivated to achieve the desired results. No marketing plan will succeed without an enthusiastic staff that's 100% committed to the goals and overall direction of your center.

6.         Establish a budget

Successful centers typically spend anywhere from 5 to 15% of their gross revenue on marketing. A start-up center will usually spend a higher percentage to establish its position in the market. Conversely, a well-established center may not have to spend as much on external advertising, and can focus its efforts on internal marketing to ensure a steady stream of word-of-mouth referrals.

7.         Determine your marketing mix

Depending on the quarterly goals that you've set, decide how much you want to spend on each of these three marketing categories:

�         External advertising. This includes print, television, radio, direct mail, billboards and other methods of getting your message to the marketplace.

�         Internal marketing. Thank-you letters, newsletters, patient satisfaction surveys, and giveaways, such as t-shirts, coffee mugs and gift certificates, can generate patients from within your practice.

�         Co-management. Brochures, posters and signs, a co-management binder and videos can help increase your percentage of co-managed patients.

It's helpful to prepare a detailed spreadsheet based on your marketing mix. Then, based on projected revenue for the quarter, you can allocate your marketing funds to every component in your marketing plan on a weekly basis.

If you don't have experience with external advertising or are uncertain about how to spend those advertising dollars, hire a well-regarded marketing consultant. But before meeting with a consultant, make sure you've already done your homework by completing the first six steps of this plan.

Once you've completed your analysis, you should be able to explain to your consultant the message that you want to convey -- and the reasons why you believe that message will be effective.

Tell the consultant the goals that you've set and how you arrived at them. Then review the demographics of your market with the consultant and make sure that she understands your target market. Finally, let your consultant know how much you're prepared to spend on external advertising -- and stick to the amount that you've budgeted.

8.         Have your infrastructure in place

If your marketing efforts get the phones ringing, but you're not able to capitalize on those increased calls, you're throwing money away. As I mentioned before, it's important to anticipate this key question from prospective patients: "Why should I choose your center?" Your staff must be able to handle that make-or-break question with assurance and conviction.

To make sure you're capturing as many callers as possible:

�         Track your conversion rate. Your contact management software should allow you to track how many calls you receive each day, which staff member handled each call, and whether a consultation has been scheduled.

�         Use available talent. Direct the majority of the calls to one or two staff members with outstanding telephone skills.

�         Do some role playing. This will help your telephone staff feel comfortable answering typical questions.

�         "Mystery shop" your competitors. Listen to how their staff members handle calls and specific questions. Note the areas in which they have superior telephone skills, and develop techniques to be even better.

�         Track relevant personal information about callers. Your staff can use this information to make patients feel welcome when they come to the center. If a prospective patient is interested in laser vision correction because he's applying to the police force, your staff should take the initiative when he arrives and ask about his application. What is he doing to prepare for police training? What motivated him to consider a career in law enforcement? This helps to develop a relationship of trust and confidence between the patient and the center.

�         Don't make anyone wait more than a few days for a consultation. Otherwise, you run the risk that the caller will lose interest, or have second thoughts about undergoing laser vision correction. Worse, the caller may visit other centers and decide to have the procedure done elsewhere.

9.         Begin your marketing campaign

Once you're satisfied that all of your systems are in place, that all calls will be measured and tracked, that your staff is well trained to handle the increased number of calls, and that consultations can be scheduled fairly quickly, go ahead and begin your marketing campaign.

10.       Monitor and modify

It's often said that you can only manage what you can measure. Laser vision correction involves a two-stage process:

�         conversion of callers to consultations

�         conversion of consultations to surgeries.

Monitor your performance at each stage. If your consultation rate is low, spend more time with your telephone staff. Ask them why callers aren't scheduling consultations. Listen to what they're saying to callers and decide whether they need more training. Survey the people who called but didn't schedule consultations to find out why they didn't come in, and then, if necessary, change your approach to address these issues.

If consultations aren't resulting in surgeries, offer patients a better experience when they come in for the consultation. Your marketing may be promising a "center of excellence" for laser vision correction, but patients are leaving disappointed because they didn't receive the first-class treatment they expected. Perhaps they weren't greeted in a friendly and courteous manner, or the center looks run down, or patients have to wait too long to see the doctor, or the doctor and/or staff don't spend enough time answering patients' questions. Again, a survey of patients who had a consultation but didn't schedule surgery should produce helpful information.

If your center is achieving a high conversion at both stages, but your marketing campaign hasn't produced the number of additional calls you had anticipated, don't hesitate to terminate or modify the campaign.

With any form of marketing, there's always an element of trial and error. It may take two or three attempts before finding the marketing mix and/or message that works best for your center. The key is to closely monitor the results of your marketing campaign -- and to be flexible enough to change the campaign when change is necessary. 

Will Hinz, M.A., LL.B, is executive director of the Focus Eye Center, which has offices in Ottawa and Kingston, Canada, and NuVista Laser Eye Centre in Cleveland, Ohio.