DEBRA MILLER
DIRECTOR OF COACHING
Referrals account for practically all productivity in an endodontic practice. Referral analysis and keeping track of referring doctor relationships is core business requirement. Here are some tips on what your referral analysis should include, and key factors you should focus on during your monthly referral meeting with your marketing coordinator.
Referral activity and history
For each referrer, list their referral activity. This includes the total number of referrals for the last 2 completed calendar years, the total number of referrals year-to-date for the current calendar year, and the number of referrals each month in the current calendar year.
Sort your list by the number of referrals year-to-date for the current calendar year in descending order. That will give you overview of your top referrers at the top of the list and your least frequent referrers at the bottom of the list.
Referrer category
Assign categories to each referrer based on their year-to-date referral activity:
Referral pattern analysis
Assign categories to each referrer based on their year-to-date referral activity:
Target doctors
The referral pattern analysis finds GPs who require marketing attention with a targeted strategy. Both negative and positive patterns need to be addressed.
Certainly, any doctor who is dropping down in category, falling short in their referrals in the last two months, or behind the trend of their own referrals from last year should be visited by your marketing coordinator. Something is happening and the sooner you know, the sooner you can take steps to correct it. For example:
Likewise, positive patterns need to be reinforced. Doctors who have shifted up in categories, are referring more than they usually do, and new referrers should all be discussed individually, and a strategy chosen. For example:
In addition to the target doctors found each month through positive and negative trending, your marketing coordinator should also select 5 referrers in the B or C category for a 3-month focus campaign. Visit these doctors monthly as if they were A referrers, offering pop-by gifts and other surprises, and then watch if their referral patterns shift.