Marketing to Doctors: Get Referrals By Thinking Outside of the Box

Welcome to pelibiz podcast. I'm Dr. Kelly Alhui. I've grown my pelvic health practice, orthopelic physical therapy, and now I'm helping pelvic health professionals do the same. Each week I give you the knowledge you need to grow your practice. Let's get into today's episode. Today we're going to go over how to market to doctors. Most of us are very scared to go out and even think about going to a doctor's office, let alone going, going to try to talk to them or give them a presentation. And then it's so overwhelming to think, wow, how am I going to get a constant referral source? Most people want to have doctors on their side because they think that it's just an easy way to have this constant revenue stream. And some people also believe that they have to have doctors on their side to even have a company. And that's actually just not true. But today I'm gonna go over how to get doctors on your side and tell you kind of a background of how I've been able to do it to where we have a fair amount of our referral sources are actually doctors. So number one, when I moved from California to Northern Virginia, no one knew me. I knew no one. I started working at an outpatient orthopedic place and it was a physician owned practice. So what that means is they had physical therapy, but they also had orthopedic surgeons that were on board. They through the same company. Okay. And we were actually in the positive to this. We were actually in the same office. So like the whole floor was this company. Half of the office was split for physical therapy and half of the office was split for when the surgeons weren't operating that they could see their patients in the office. Okay. So I was fortunate enough that when they would send patients, you know, to physical therapy because they in house referred, so all the patients coming in, they would send over to physical therapy. We would see them. And I started really treating a lot of hips because I really let the doctors know when I came on that hips and pelvic floor, floor were my thing. Mind you, there was over 100 physical therapists that work for this company. Not one of them did pelvic health. Not one. So when I came in, I was already kind of different because I came with a pelvic health background. And so we let the doctors know that, that, hey, I'm a do orthopedic, but I also do pelvic health. And a lot of hip issues are pelvic health. So I started to become known in my town for hip and pelvic floor, because that was my jam. So we had a big hip surgeon that just so happened to be in the same office, and he started just referring to me because his patients were getting amazing results. So that's tip number one. You want to. You want to impress these doctors. And if you're an introvert and you're like, I don't ever want to talk to them, okay, fine. Have the best results with your patients, because those patients then will go and ask and tell the doctor, hey, I have gotten amazing results. Start sending your patients to here. So that is the number one tip that you can do. If you're an introvert and you don't want to go into the office and promote yourself, then ask your patients that have amazing results to send and tell the doctor, hey, can you send more people here? Because these are the results that I'm getting. That's a hot tip number one. Okay. Number two, because I was also in that office, I was able to collaborate with them more. So I could just, like, walk over next door and, yeah, this took balls. No other physical therapy, physical therapist did this, but I would just walk next door. And I was just trying to make friends with them. I didn't want anything out of it. I just wanted to try to get to know them, make friends. So I would walk over on my lunch break and be like, hey, guys, who's here today? Is this doctor here? Is this doctor here? Is this doctor here? Oh, hey, the P.A. hey, the nurses. How's everyone doing today? Great. Just coming over to say hey. And I would just casually go over there, like every other day and try to make conversation, because ultimately my goal was to get to know them. And then we would have company parties, like, you know, get togethers at Christmas and holidays. And it would be all of us, physical therapists, doctors, admins, everything together. And I always remember it was like, my number one goal is to go up to every single doctor and have an amazing conversation with them and get their personal email and phone number so that I can, you know, connect with them about a patient. If I needed to, I could just text them and be like, hey, you know, let's talk about this patient. And we just strictly just talk about patients. But that's what I was doing. So I can build and start to build a relationship with these guys. So that. That was pretty amazing. And it was just outside the box thinking then, while I was at this company, every month a physician would do a Presentation for the, for the pts. Every single month, they would present on, like a shoulder issue or whatever else. Well, I was like, hey, why are all these physicians presenting to us and us and uspts? We're not presenting to them. So then I had the grand idea to ask my head head boss, hey, can I present on pelvic floor and how it relates to orthopedics and be the one to do that? And I invited the physicians to come to my presentation on top of all the other, like hundred plus pts that were in the company. So I did a big presentation and that was massive because not only did I get the physicians on board, but I also got the pts on board because, remember, I was the only one in the area, like, doing it. And so they were like, hey, this person has some burning or this person has hip pain. Can you also go see Kelly? Because this could be this. And so people just started to refer to me just because of that. Then that gave me confidence to be like, okay, where else can I do presentations? And then I thought, well, I can present to other doctors. So then I was like, okay, fine, I'm going to Google. So here's step number two in your area. Google all the different practices. The urology groups, the urogynecologist, the endodoctors, the hip doctors, the ob GYN doctors. Like, Google all those people. Okay, create a list. I call this the big 45 list. If you guys have listened to me before, get your big 45 list out. Then go to all their offices and be ready to hear no. And if you hear a yes, then it's a great day. But be ready to hear no. And that's okay. If you hear no. I probably heard no, honestly, over a hundred times. Over 100 times at least. So I walk into their office, try to be friends with the front desk. That's all I'm trying to do. Okay, be friends with them and, and then ask the manager, hey, is it okay if I come in and give you guys a little workshop presentation about pelvic health and what we do? Sometimes I'll say yes, sometimes they'll say, hell no, get out of here. And they won't even give me the time of day. But when they say yes, then I come in and I give them a presentation. So for instance, there was this one. They're called perfectly female. In my area. It took me two and a half years, two and a half years to get in with these people. I would go weekly and talk to the front desk lady. That lady knew me by I Mean, she. She knew my name in and out, but I would go and just wait in the line because they were a crazy busy practice. This elderly woman ran the practice. She was there for, like, 28 years. And she still is. She's the manager of it. And, you know, I'd be like, hey, so? And so I'm back. Like, I would still love to give presentation. She's like, we're busy. And she was like, yell like that. We're busy from the back. And I'm like, I can see you. She was like, no, I don't have time today. Come back next week. So I'd come back next week. I would get the same thing. Same thing. Finally, I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the same person. And we had our email. We call into the phone numbers and all the things. And finally I hired a new manager and a marketing manager, and she just sent her this email that I guess resonated with her so much, and she was like, okay, you can only come in if you bring us lunch. Now, I've been a PT now for 13 years. The last time I brought lunch was when I first started the physical therapy journey. I've never brought lunch since then to any physician to get referrals, because I just don't think we should be doing that. It's not about the lunch. It's about, let's cross collaborate, right? And so I was like, screw this. We've been trying for two and a half years. I'm going to bring lunch. So I brought lunch, went in there, and like. So tell me, can you tell me where you guys refer? These are great questions, by the way. Okay, can you tell me where you guys refer for pelvic health therapy? Well, we kind of, like, don't. Oh, okay, well. Or, oh, we kind of do because we're part of the hospital system, so we just refer to this other hospital. Okay, great. Can you tell me why you refer to them and what you love about them? It will be crickets. You will not hear anything come out of their mouth because they don't even know what pelvic floor therapy is, and they don't even know what these people are doing. Okay, so instead you want to then. That was my chance. Then be like, well, look, this is what we can actually do in pelvic floor therapy and explain to them that this is what their patients need to help have better outcomes. And together we can collaborate to have an amazing result. And we finally got in with these people after two and a half years. And then they finally started to refer to us because I gave them an experience when I talked to them. Not a PowerPoint presentation. I made them touch the wands. I made them do the. I had them hold the pelvis, pull the pelvis apart, use cups, like, used it on themselves. You have to give them an experience when you present, they're going to remember you. Okay, so that was just one example of trying to get in to a doctor's office that was so resistant over two and a half years. And they finally, you know, let us in. So. So that was pretty cool. You know, another incident where I got into a doctor's office. They finally let us come in during their lunch. We didn't have to bring lunch. And, you know, this physician walks up and completely is like, hi, who are you? And I'm like, hi, I'm Kelly from Orthopelvic. Just here to talk about pelvic health. She's like, do you take insurance? And I'm like, no, we're out of network providers. And she literally. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Laughs my face turns around and walks off. Probably went back to treating her. 30,000 patients she had that day. And I was just like, great. And I stayed there and I talked to the office manager and I talked to the rest of the staff. But, like, you can't let those scenarios get you down. That is going to happen. Expect them to say no. They should say no. If they say yes, then you did something right, and say no, you did something right. Okay. But just try to keep. I call it wearing them down. Ish. Like, you just keep going back there every single week. Make it a point. You know what? I'm going to do something I absolutely hate. I'm going to keep going in here and hearing no. The more times you hear no, that means the more yeses eventually you're going to be getting. Okay, it's very important to do that now. How to increase the referrals. Okay, Number one, you have to have good outcomes with these patients. If you're not getting good outcomes, you're not going to get referrals. Number two, keep talking to the PAs, the nurse practitioners. Those people more than likely are the ones that are doing the referring because they're going to be in the room longer with you compared to, like, the actual doctor. So get in with them. Number three, try to meet them at any, like, outside events. Like, maybe they go to a workout class that you also want to go to. Like, go to that class. Maybe they're at these fairs that you go to. Too. Maybe they're at a church. You go to wherever they're at, like go hang out there. Also, I like to stalk them on Facebook and see where they're hanging out, what they're doing. It may sound crazy, I know, but I really want to know what they're doing, where they're going and like talk to them, go like their post on Facebook, go say a comment on Facebook or Instagram, like wherever you can find them. So it's not just the doctor, it's really getting in touch with the PAs and nurses or sometimes even they have athletic trainers as well, sometimes as their assistants. So I'm just like kind of really always trying to get in their world and do presentations. Another time that I had to do a presentation for an endodoc, I just went in and I presented to her. I brought my pelvis, I brought all my goodies just in a book bag. So I'm like not walking in with all this stuff like in my hands and I'm like, hey, I would love to explain more about pelvic health and how we could collaborate and hear more about your practice so that we can put you on the top of our referral list. That's actually very important to see, say. And so I'd get in with them, did a presentation, and the rest is history. Once you're actually able to present and then while you're there, you can offer up a free treatment session. So when you offer up a free treatment session again, you're providing an experience for the doctor or the nurses or whoever is there. And because of that experience, they now can speak about you better than then if you're like, hey, I use dilators and we use our finger and this is the ischio cavernosis, they're not going to remember you. They won't, because every other person is trying to come in their office, do the same thing. So instead, give them something, give them your time, give them your skills, teach them. But even if you teach them, that doesn't mean they're going to take it in. You got to actually like physically show them, have an experience of what it's like to come be a patient with you. So offer them a free session during their lunch, go to their office and treat them. If they don't have time to come see you, go there. And you have to constantly be reconnecting with these physicians. It's not just like a one time thing, dropping off flyers and saying bye. You will never, ever get into a doctor's office if that's what you're doing? Just throwing the pamphlets at the front desk and saying bye. Bye. Can you help refer to me? No way. You have to constantly be talking. Email them about a patient. Go in person and bring a progress note and ask them about a patient. Ask them to speak to the clinical manager. Email the clinical manager every single week. Go in there every single week and ask the front desk to, like, hang out and do an activity. Ask the doctors and front desk and even manager. Hey, guys, what is the thing that you guys need the most help with? They're gonna be like, what? Why are you asking me this? Well, what's like, the thing that you get the most amount of questions that you have to answer constantly? Oh, okay. They ask you, like, the best birthing positions. Oh, okay, great. Is that cool if I go ahead and make you a handout of three different birthing positions and that way you can give it to them. It's gonna save you guys time so that you don't have to actually answer that question and you can go to your next patient. Is that cool? Okay, cool. I put orthopelvic, the name at the top. Okay. Presented by orthopelvic. Three things, descriptions out to the side. Here you guys go here. Would love it if you could pass these out to the patients. It saves you time. That's it. Okay. I'm helping them out. So this is thinking outside the box that's going to actually make you have a relationship with them. And I've been able to do it. And it will pay off long, long term when they just constantly refer to you and you don't have to keep going back in there every single week, which you have to do at first. Okay. Until they start saying yes to you. And eventually they're gonna be like, oh, my God, just please come in. I. You can't come. Keep coming back to this office till they tell you to stop. Keep going. So that's how I do marketing to doctors. It's. It's kind of a game I like to play. Like, can I get them to say yes? Can I get at least one of them of the day to say yes out of, like, the five to eight? I may. I may go visit. So try to play the game and see if you can win. I consider myself a business and life coach. Are you ready to live the life of your dreams as an entrepreneur? If so, let's chat. See the episode notes below and go ahead and book a call. See you all next week.