A few years ago, a study was conducted in the field of medical marketing and the results of a survey were very enlightening. It was found that many patients who elect to have eye surgery take for granted that the doctors should know what they are doing and that they should be using the latest state-of-the-art equipment and procedures. What really made for a strong positive or negative experience for these patients were things like adequate parking at the facility, whether they were greeted with a smile by the receptionist, how long they were made to wait, and even the temperature of the lobby. These survey results really opened the eyes of many eye surgery marketing professionals, who saw dramatic increases in traffic when they repositioned advertising efforts.

The lesson to be learned is that when you are in a profession that depends upon selling a commodity type product or service, it pays to differentiate your company on the merits of the experience one will have when they choose your firm. The benefit should be tailored to the customer. You are not selling air conditioning equipment; you are selling comfort and peace of mind. You do not service broken units; you respond to people who are in need of relief.

Crippen is creative director for Creative Business Diagnostics, Inc. He can be reached at 877-483-4903, or visit his website at www.advertising-U.com.

Publication date: 01/29/2001