Why You Should Sweat the Small Stuff

When you enter an Apple store you don’t get the hard sell from anyone because they don’t have to. You were probably “sold” on Apple long before you came in. That doesn’t mean they did nothing to help create that feeling. First of all, the quality of their products is outstanding. Also, everything they do – from their TV commercials, branding, in-store experience and packaging – is designed to remind you of that quality.

This is what it should be like in your practice: a 360-degree, “surround the patient with value” approach. Everything you do from the first phone call to the office tour should speak to your value. This way, you don’t leave it up to patients to discover the quality of what you do, and you don’t have to give a hard-sell pitch. What you do is create a context for patients to appreciate your value in the right way. This is what is meant by capturing mindshare.

Take a page from the Apple playbook. Look around your practice with an objective eye and assess everything – the furniture in the reception area, the appearance of your team members’ smiles, even the appointment cards – from the perspective of a consumer looking for value cues.

If Apple has taught us anything, it is that people will buy things that are not in their budget if they are convinced of the value. When people feel they need something they find a way to afford it. Apple has built a hugely successful business on this premise, and they did it by paying scrupulous attention to the details of value creation.