To get maximum benefit out of a referral program, you need to understand how to use each marketing piece.
Sample Piece 1: Business Card Sized Referral Cards
- Two or three referral cards are filled out by appointed office personnel with the patient’s name and the audiologist’s name, who performed the fitting of the hearing instrument(s).
- The audiologist presents the program to all patients at the end of the fitting process or trial period once it’s determined that the patient is satisfied with their new hearing instrument(s). The program is presented in a very soft-sell approach.
Suggested Script:
Thank you, Mrs. Jones, for selecting ABC Hearing Center as your hearing care provider. A large percentage of our business comes from satisfied patients who refer their friends and family members. This is how we grow our business.
If you were satisfied with the service you received from us, we would appreciate it if you would refer your friends and family members who may benefit from the services we provide.
Here are 3 referral cards with your name and my office/clinic information written on them. The cards are small enough to be placed in your purse or billfold, so if the opportunity arises to refer someone you will have them with you.
If you decide to refer someone to our practice, please give him or her one of these cards and encourage them to present the card to us when they make an appointment. By doing so, we will be able to acknowledge this referral has come from you.
I have also enclosed the referral program card with your new hearing aid information. Please review the program card for a more detailed explanation of our referral program.
Sample Piece 2: Thank You Card
Once a new sale results from a successful referral, the audiologist, whose name appears on the referral card, should hand write/sign a thank you card. Then they should insert two or three more business card size referral cards (Sample Piece 1) with the audiologist’s and patient’s name and return to the referring patient.
(When sending the thank you card, it’s not recommended to acknowledge that the patient they referred purchased hearing aids from you. By doing so you would be in validation of HIPPA regulations. Instead, you could write, thank you for helping us grow our business).
Suggested Tracking Process
All referral cards are placed in a tracking notebook. Referred patients who purchase hearing devices via a referral card will be marked with the date their fitting occurred and cards will be placed in a monthly pool for gift drawings.
Some gift suggestions would be an American Express gift card or a gift certificate to a local restaurant.