You know, if I had called this column what it really is, I would have torpedoed readership this week. Dog Star Media is beginning a research project, but it is a sales research project. It can be broadly described as marketing if it makes you feel better. Normally, most small business owners start to look for the nearest door. Sales behaviors are key behavior for growth and that is why we are starting this new initiative.
Networking is a sales skill. This skill is enabled by tools, processes and behaviors. For cosmetic medical and dental practices, networking through your referral network is the classic Catch-22. Most of these sorts of practices rely on steady referrals. Matter of fact, they probably out-pace anything that comes in from reasonable marketing efforts. However, the Catch-22 comes in the fact that very few can influence their referral network.
Doing what it takes to take control of your referral network is not for everyone. It requires patience, the right tools and a feel for it. If you are in my coaching program, I try to teach this to you. In my referral blog, I am presenting a long and detailed explanation behind why this is critical. In addition, tonight I am introducing how we will be attacking this issue on a global basis.
Dog Star Media will begin developing a detailed profile a cosmetic practice with successful network-extending practices. We will be gathering data with real numbers from cosmetic surgery practices that use our post-liposuction and post-breast surgery health and fitness DVD series. Participation is confidential and voluntary and those practices that make recurring orders, will play a larger part. We will periodically ask survey questions and gather as much information as possible on the other forms of marketing they are doing.
Our goal will be to develop a profile of the efficiently networking cosmetic practice. This should benefit cosmetic dentists as well as cosmetic surgeons. The profile will be something we refine from time to time as we are able to analyze new data that comes in. Results will be posted on a special blog that follows this project.
WANT TO HELP? Please do. We need all the data we can get.
Start by helping yourself. If you are a cosmetic surgery practice that performs liposuction or breast surgery, try our post-surgical DVDs in your practice. Nearly all those that are trying the DVDs with patients are passing the cost along to them as part of the surgery. So, this is a marketing tool that costs you nothing. You have everything to gain. Plus, your continued use of the product (should you choose that) will help yourself and other cosmetic practices by contributing to our profile project.
We are starting with the premise that most new business is one degree of connection away from you. If you know this to be true but want to quantify how to master this huge potential, start by ordering your first set of DVDs. You can learn more about how the DVDs work at thecosmeticchannel.com/dvd.html
