Daniel Gibbs of Posture Podiatrist, an Australian podiatrist ran into a problem many small business owners face. He was responsible for 80% of the revenue for his clinic. Instead of working on his business – he worked in his business. Something had to change to better serve his customers, his employees, and his family. Since he and his wife were expecting their first child, he wanted to reimagine his business so that he could take time off and still have the business flourish. His marketing idea was simple – how could he get his customers to tell his story for him.
Daniel realized that his “WHY” for his business was the pleasure he derived from serving as many clients as possible with excellent service. But how could he do it if he was doing all the work?
So he took a step back and realized that he needed to create better processes so others could do more of the work. Like a dentist who has hygienist clean teeth, he needed a better path forward.
Today, he is responsible for less than 20% of his businesses revenue but revenues are up more than 20% over the prior year.
Daniel wanted his clients to understand that they were getting an exceptional service from his staff, so he made several minor marketing tweaks, that had a significant impact on his business.
- People no longer came into a waiting room – they came into a welcoming room. It sounds like semantics but he didn’t like the idea of clients coming in and being put in a waiting situation.
- His staff greeted everyone who came in within 20 seconds. He knew the power of feeling appreciated and welcome happens in a moment. He trained his team to prioritize a person walking through the door as a top priority.
- He bought very expensive and comfortable furniture so that clients were relaxed. He also wanted to signal premium service even though his rates were at par with another podiatrist.
- In his welcoming room, he had essential oil foot baths and very expensive herbal teas. His goal was to make the experience special, comforting and inviting.
Customers Tell His Story
Daniel understood that his client’s had choices of where they go for foot care. If he could brand the total experience so that they felt comfortable and cared for before they see the professionals, they would share the story and their experience with their friends. By working on the business and improving his customer’s experience, he was able to treat more clients and provided a better quality of service.
The benefit to Daniel was that it allowed him to duplicate his clinic business process so that he could open several more and have more time to spend with his growing family.
He used some basic marketing ideas to reposition the experience from a clinic to a spa.
He took himself out as the gatekeeper or bottleneck in the process. He put his focus on superior customer experience and it helped him gain the most powerful marketing mojo – word of mouth as happy clients shared their wonderful experience.
I’d say that is quite a feat.
Need some marketing help that feels like a foot massage? {Bad pun alert} Suffering from the agony of da feat? Email me so we can chat at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedicure
