009 The Invisible Touch – The Fallacies of Best Practices

Fallacies of Marketing

We fall into traps – traps of looking around, seeing what everyone else is doing, assuming they are doing a good job, and then we copy what they are doing.

Dan Kennedy, one of my marketing gurus whom I follow closely, always says that we should look around at what others are doing and either find someone else to follow OR do the opposite.

The Majority Is Always Wrong!

One of the things I teach is that we should look across industry lines to find what works best and then use as much of that strategy and tactic as we can.

But it IS difficult to see so many heading North and then YOU decide to head South.

We keep thinking that birds of a feather flock together and while that's true, we need to Lead, not Follow.

Doctors and Hospitals Need New Thinking

In his book, The Invisible Touch, Harry Beckwith uses doctors and hospitals as a great example.

You have an early morning doctor's appointment and you arrive on time KNOWING that you will sit there for 30 minutes or more before a doctor will see you.

Personally, I always take work with me… even into the examining room. When the doctor finally comes in to see me, I put away my materials and focus on what ails me. And I ALWAYS have a written list with me – so that I remember what I want to tell the doctor (rather than get home and remember that in addition to my sore chest, my left wrist is hurting too!).

And I love to study "systems" and see how we can improve them, which is what I do for consulting clients.

Two Nurses Improved The Systems In Salt Lake

Looking at the problems of doctors and hospitals, nurses Diane Kelly and Joan Lelis saw better ways and enlisted the help of those who could help them at Latter Day Saints Hospital in Salt Lake City.

They added valet parking, offered warm blankets, improved schedules for patients and doctors, required that blood was drawn when first putting in an IV (to keep the patient from being "stuck" again for blood work), and allowed patients who could walk to walk (so they wouldn't have to wait for an orderly to be available to push them in a wheelchair when they were perfectly capable of walking.

These Changes Helped Patients – What Did They Do For The Hospital's Bottom Line?

Hiring valets and heating the blankets cost money, of course, so how did the hospital do financially?

At LDS Hospital, patients woke up feeling better after procedures, spent less time in the hospital, and freed up much-needed beds more quickly (increasing the hospital's peak capacity by more than 50%). Now MORE patients can be seen in the same amount of time and space.

What Marketing Lessons Can We Learn From This?

• Every service industry can find ways to improve. Communicate with your clients and patients to find out what THEY want and find a way to give it to them.
• Industry Best Practices (or standards) seldom are the best way to go. They are the least-common denominator way to proceed. Too many people are looking to see what others do and then copy them. You don't want to follow, you want to lead.
• Look to OTHER industries, see what is going on there, and use the best of what they offer to help YOUR clients and patients.

Same is true for your marketing – break the molds, work on new ways to do things, and be sure to ask those you serve what THEY want.

They'll buy more from you when you give them what the want!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

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009 The Invisible Touch – The Fallacies of Best Practices