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Perception is Reality



Perception is Reality. . .that is the granddaddy of all marketing truths, a canonized statement in the marketing world. What this means is it doesn’t matter what you think about yourself or your business. You know what they say about opinions. The perceptions that others have of your business is the reality that dictates what your business is and what it will become in the future.

A woman I spoke to this past week told me this story. She had worked in a chiropractic office as their marketing CA, but left the job to have a baby. Although she is still a current patient there, she was surprised at how different she sees the office as a patient as opposed how she perceived things as an employee. “When I worked there I knew everything that was going on and thought that our patients knew what was going on. As a patient I have no idea what is going on in the office.”

That office is making the fatal mistake of assuming that they are doing a good job at communicating to their existing patients. It is certain that if they can’t communicate to their own existing patients, they aren’t communicating at all to any new patient prospects. Dealing with the needs, and perceptions of your potential market is called having a Market Centered Approach to your marketing. . . and that is the savior in your marketing efforts to overcome the biases and perceptions that you hold regarding your own practice.

It’s OK, we all have biases, but it is a death blow to your office if you let your own biases dictate your course of action. Your current patients and the potential market has to dictate your marketing plan and in order to have a plan you have to know what their perception of you really is. Start asking questions to your current patients.


  1. Do you know which treatment options that we offer?

  2. Do you know what events, health talks, etc. that we have scheduled this month?


A yes or no answer to either of these questions will not give you enough information. You need to see if you can get them to tell you specifics. . .or give you a list of what they know. These two questions, whether you ask verbally or put it into a questionnaire, will give you a starting place to determine if you are invisible.

 In our Marketing Ideas section look for marketing tips and ideas to get you started. Going after new patients is the life blood of any practice. . .that is where marketing comes in. There are thousands of people out there who need your help, however, they can’t find that help if you are invisible to them.

Article Copyright 2007 Educate for Health, LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.

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