Enhancing Your Hospital Image

Why should you care about your hospital image as long as you provide quality medical care to pets? The reason is that hospital image can be an invaluable marketing tool. Even if you offer outstanding patient care, clients may not visit your hospital or leave their pet if they don’t like the facility or they aren’t comfortable with the image you project. To enhance your hospital image and attract new clients, focus efforts on branding and specific external marketing initiatives.

What is Branding?

Branding refers to the trusted image or reputation of a business. Brands are associated with various degrees of quality and service. Ritz Carlton is synonymous with 5-star hotel accommodations and customer service while Wal-Mart immediately brings to mind lower prices. Brands are often associated with easily recognizable logos such as the Nike swoosh. The logo alone tells us the item is a high-quality Nike product.
Veterinary practices don’t have the same branding budgets as major corporations and may not have the same business longevity. However, successful branding of a veterinary hospital can still be achieved. Branding is accomplished by differentiating the practice in terms of the medical care and services offered. Branding is created over a period of time as a result of the consistent message and service that is provided to clients. The practice name and logo help to achieve branding by representing the value and service associated with the hospital.

Effective External Marketing

External marketing refers to written or verbal communication aimed at attracting new clients and efforts to promote and increase awareness of the practice. There are a number of external marketing tools that can be utilized to attract new clients.

Hospital image and appearance
One critical component of your hospital image is the physical appearance of the facility. The first impression clients have of your hospital starts with the external appearance of the building. Make sure the outside of your hospital is appealing to clients. Ensure your sign is inviting and easy to see from the road. Hire appropriate workers to make repairs when needed and assign employees to exterior maintenance of the building such as keeping the parking lot and sidewalks clean, cleanup of dog messes, weeding and trimming shrubs and window cleaning. Plant flowers in front of the building or add an attractive statue, bench or wind chime. Remove outdated or unnecessary stickers from the front glass.
The second major impression clients have occurs once they walk through the front door. Make sure the reception area is attractive and comfortable for clients. Pay attention to details such as cleaning of baseboards, walls, cabinets, light fixtures and plants. Get rid of the clutter!! In addition to coffee, consider offering lemonade in the afternoon as well as snacks or cookies. More and more hospitals are investing in added client value items such as cappuccino machines. Add a child’s play area if needed.
Remove any marketing materials, brochures or other items from counters if they are outdated, infrequently used or unattractive. Limit flyers and postings (i.e. for free puppies) to a small bulletin board. Develop and institute a dress code that projects a professional image. Make sure all employees have attractive name tags that are easy to read. [...]