How The Deployment Of A Practice Affects Your Audiology Marketing Strategy

The deployment of your Practice is vitally important to how your Patients and prospective Patients feel about you as a professional and your Practice. In essence, your audiology marketing strategy is intrinsically about shaping perceptions of your prospective Patients.  I have spoke in detail on this before, how can you expect your Patient or prospective Patient to take you seriously if your Practice looks tired, ugly or dirty?

More and more hearing health companies are taking note of branding as it applies to their overall presentation. Branding needs to be considered as a whole of Practice thing, everything in or about your Practice affects how you are perceived, how you are perceived is in fact your brand.

Bonavox Hearing Services In Dundrum, Dublin

With this in mind, I would like to devote a couple of posts to a few Practices I deal with and show you their deployment and why I think it adds immense value to their brand. How in fact that brand is an intrinsic part of their audiology marketing strategy. First off I would like to discuss a new branch, recently opened by the Bonavox Brand in Dundrum in Dublin. The new branch is set at the edge of the Dundrum Shopping Centre in an open plan retail unit.

The designer had a large open plan blank canvas to work with, something that I know we are not all blessed with. But he had and I think he used it very effectively to deploy a modern branch that speaks well to the Bonavox brand.

As you walk in the door the reception desk is to your left. The desk is at the right height to deal with someone in a wheelchair or on a mobility scooter. The desk is purpose built, in white with a light wood insert, giving a slightly clinical but elegant feel. As you can see on the left of the picture, Welcome is spelled out in polished metal raised letters.

That feel is offset by the hanging lights, hardwood floors and the assorted wall decor. Directly behind the desk is what looks like a dry stone wall with a large TV. The use of stone actually works really well. Adding just the right touch to make the branch interesting and welcoming. The TV is used to show slideshows and videos on constant loop, delivering marketing opportunities and again adding an interesting feature.

To the right of the door as you come in is the waiting area. It is hard to show with the pictures that I have but the area is circular with the testing rooms off it. The designer has used curved walls consistently in the deployment and the entrance and reception desk seem to flow into the waiting area.

The circular theme is reinforced with specially made curved couches around the centre of the waiting area with a circular coffee table as the focus. Again in this area the stone wall feature is deployed as is another TV.

The stone wall feature surprisingly seems to add warmth to the area instead of sucking it out as you would expect. I have to admit that I was fascinated by the waiting area. I believe that we should strive to make our Patients a community because a community reinforces loyalty. I shall talk about that again, but for now, this waiting area is almost purpose designed to turn your Patients into a community.

I watched with great interest how people who were sitting there engaged with complete strangers because of the convivial atmosphere engendered by the space.

In the testing and consultation room similar furniture to the reception desk is deployed to good effect. The furniture and decor of these rooms enforces the clinical nature of the room without hardness.

The room is obviously a clinical room but still manages to be welcoming. Again the decor and furniture contribute to this. The desk, which is you catch a glimpse of at the bottom right of the shot is purpose built for audiology testing. with a view block for testing purposes.

The feel of the test room is sympathetic to and enforces the overall branding of the Practice. The overall feeling enforced by the deployment of the Practice is modern professionalism. It enforces trust, the feeling you get is welcoming and comfortable. You feel that you are in a place that you will be looked after. The attitude and manner of the staff, the welcome that they give enforces this. In essence the Practice drives the brand feel home in the Patient’s mind.

You need to be intimate with this concept, your Practice is as much a part of your audiology marketing strategy as any other element that you use. Marketing does not just cover the usual things that we think such as adverts, mailings etc. A marketing strategy should be intertwined with every element of your Practice. Because your brand, whether you believe it or not is intertwined with every element of your Practice.

So the next time you are training your staff to answer the phone, consider your marketing goals. The next time you plan to design a mailer, consider your marketing goals. The next time you paint your Practice, consider your marketing goals. Because all of those elements can and should be thought of as part of your overall branding and audiology marketing strategy.

What do you think?

Regards

Geoff