Survival Kit for Tough Economic Times

Ken Rabinoff-Goldman advised us on “the importance of internal marketing” in the July/August 2008 issue of Immediate Care Business.¹⁴ He was right; internal marketing is highly valuable, and employees are a vital part of it. Employees not only are skilled workers, they are also your walking, talking advertising billboards. Engaged employees are generally happier at work, and will project this satisfaction to customers. Set some easily attainable marketing goals for your employees such as achieving high rates on customer satisfaction surveys or nominating an employee of the month based on patient feedback. Then reward your employees for achieving those goals and don’t be too cheap. What you spend in the near term on employee engagement will come back to the organization 10-fold in repeat or new business.

Internal marketing is important, but external marketing should not be ignored during negative economic cycles. Marketing expenses are sometimes viewed as a luxury and some organizations will cut their marketing budgets first in a poor economy. During these times, however, consumers are looking for the best quality for the most cost-effective price. It’s a good time to get your word out and let consumers know exactly why your services are better than your competitors.' Research performed by McGraw Hill during the 1981-1982 recessions showed that companies which increased marketing and advertising increased their profit margins by more than 250 percent over those which had cut back advertising.¹⁵ Re-examine your marketing plan and focus on a few targeted areas which can increase your market share despite the slowdown.

Economic projections for 2008-2011 are bleak as the next administration faces top policy issues that include the future of healthcare in America. What are you and your business going to do over these next few years and how are you going to survive? Acting irrationally through fear, as Warren Buffet puts it, will likely not protect you organization from the ravages of a recession. Examining where expenses are allocated and changing them, maintaining solid leadership throughout; and investing in areas which can maintain stability are a few tools available for healthcare businesses to survive these tough economic times ahead.

Natasha Deonarain, MD, MBA, CPE, is president and CEO of UCR Health Centers, an integrated urgent care concept located in Chandler and Prescott, Ariz. She is responsible for combining the concept of disease and injury care with aspects of alternative medical practice including chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy and medical aesthetics. Deonarain has worked in the urgent care industry for more than 11 years.

References

1. Varchaver, N. “What Warren thinks...” Fortune Magazine. April 14, 2008.

2. The Economics Web Institute (2003). http://www.economicswebinstitute.org.

3. Same as above.

4. Fraser, Jill A. The Unkindest Cut of All: How one company's founders have gone about cutting their own pay to help their business stay afloat. Jan. 2002.

5. Same as above.

6. Perry, R. (2003). Shaping the Economy. 2003.

7. Council of Economic Advisors Publications. Economic Report of the President. Feb. 11, 2008.

8. David, M. Leadership during an economic slowdown. The Journal for Quality and Participation. 2001.

9. BNET Business Network. 2008.

10. Same as above.

11. Chadderton, L. Leading in Hard Times. 2001.

12. Same as above.

13. PresidentBushDeliversState of the Union Address. January 28, 2008.

14. Rabinoff–Goldman, K. Immediate Care Business: Business Solutions for the Urgent Care Market. p. 15. July/August 2008.

15. The McGraw-Hill Companies’ Laboratory of Performance Report 5262.1 – Business-to-Business Companies that Maintained or Increased Their Advertising Expenditures during the 1981-9182 Recessions Generated Higher Sales Growth than Firms which Eliminated or Decreased Advertising. June, 1987.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines

Read Comments [1]