I hung up the phone and went straight to
Yelp, the famous consumer-review
website, to look up physicians
in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Most people
think of Yelp as a place to find restaurants
and entertainment in a new city but I’ve used
Yelp for lots of things (like finding honest
car mechanics – people really let their hair
down when they’ve been burned by mechanics).
At first,
I was struck by the number of awful doctors
in my daughter’s neighborhood. It was a little
scary. I was glad I could pre-view them online.
Then, when
I expanded my search to an adjoining neighborhood
I struck gold -- a G.P with a dozen long, detailed,
glowing reviews. He sounded like Marcus Welby,
M.D. -- wise, kindly, old-fashioned, competent
and lovable.
No
More Gnawing Fear
That gnawing fear all mothers
feel when their children are vulnerable subsided. I called him to see
if he could fit my daughter in right away and he said of course – being
there for patients is how he maintains his popularity. He sounded exactly
like his write-ups (yes, he answers his own phone!).
Keep
the Ball Rolling
In your next issue publish a couple of your favorite
answers. Now you’re interacting! When your readers
see their answers shared in public they’ll get
excited.
Quick ‘n Easy Trust
That was probably
the fastest trip from uncertainty to trust I’ve
made in a decade. A process that’s usually excruciating,
requiring that I call 
all
of my friends in the same city, beg for a referral,
wait for callbacks and slog through endless voicemail
labyrinths, was turned into a walk on the beach.
(Hopefully,
this guy will actually help my daughter and not
turn out to be a predator with a highly original
prospecting strategy.)
That Word - Trust
Trust. It’s
the biggest hurdle you have to overcome to convert
a prospect, too. It’s the A Number One Factor
women (and men) take into consideration when deciding
to book cosmetic surgery.
If you can
jump that hurdle and land gently but firmly in
your prospect’s heart (a weird image, I admit)
you’ll have made the sale. (That’s providing your
before-and-after photos aren’t scary or posted
on those “Bad Plastic Surgery” websites.)
Get Listed and Get Reviewed
Based
on this morning’s experience, I’m recommending
you get listed on Yelp and get your most rabidly
enthusiastic patients to post reviews about you.
For your convenience, here’s the link:
www.yelp.com
This is especially
important if you’ve just opened a new practice.
You don’t have years of trust-building behind
you and hundreds of patients spreading the word
about your gifts.
Yelp is word-of-mouth
marketing for everybody. It evens the playing
field. Unlike most social media marketing it takes
very little time and almost no maintenance.
The Daughter Files
Let me know
how your Yelp posting goes. I’ll be here by the
phone, waiting to hear from my daughter. If this
Brooklyn Marcus Welby turns out to be a charlatan,
I’ll give you all the details.
Yours in continued
prosperity,
