Starting a Medical Billing Business > Starting Your Own Medical Billing Business
Marketing New Medical Billing Company
PMRNC:
--- Quote ---I can answer that in 4 words: "Pick Up The Phone" It's not very fun sometimes, but if you have unlimited long distance phone service, get on yellowpages.com and start cold calling. It works for stockbrokers, as well as insurance and real estate agents, and it's a lot less expensive than direct mail or other forms of advertising. Don't be afraid to leave messages on their VM's. Sales is a numbers game, and if you happen to be the medical biller offering your services to a clinic when they are looking for one, there is a good chance you'll get their business. :)
--- End quote ---
A lot of people HATE getting on the phone and I was one of them, however I knew I had to get over that fast. What I did was go through the phone book and started by calling the largest offices I could find ..by the time I got to the smaller ones, I was feeling pretty confident!
OH .. and the biggest mistake people make when calling is trying to get around the office manager and insisting or leaving the message for the physician. Not going to happen.. that's why they are called the "gate keepers". If you can get them to talk, complain, or find some common ground of conversation you will get an in. Remember to always include them and NOT try to bypass them or they will see you as a threat.
tallmanusa:
I think Anthony MBA has given an excellent synopsis. The methods used to market in the yesteryear are like old newspapers, and like newspapers they will be replaced. I don't think I could have said any better than Anthony. Those who don't embrace the new technology will go into oblivion.
Marketing billing business has little to do with billing, it has everything to do with knowing the new media.
There is one exception, if you have been in business a long time, you should have a client base, which can grow, you should not need any marketing.
Whether you have one client or a thousand clients the methods don't change.
And all this about marketing "you " is absolute waste. The doctors don't care if you are a cockroach or a robot. (actually many would prefer to deal with robots). They only care about two things; price and quality of what they can get for their money. If a cockroach can deliver what they want they would be just as happy.
This having said, references are the life and blood of this business. In our first year, we signed up about 50 clients. Not one of those signed up without references, and we never met with any of them; booked on the phone and online. You have no references, you have no business; you have no business, you have no references. Unless you can break that, you will be waiting for a client.
When we started, we partnered with an established company and used their references, until we developed our own.
PMRNC:
--- Quote ---I think Anthony MBA has given an excellent synopsis. The methods used to market in the yesteryear are like old newspapers, and like newspapers they will be replaced. I don't think I could have said any better than Anthony. Those who don't embrace the new technology will go into oblivion.
--- End quote ---
I completely 100% disagree. I still sit down EVERY Sunday morning with a real newspaper and many others do as well. ( I think I like the black ink on my fingers)
I also think, like the newspaper, there are still so many wonderful physicians out there that appreciate the tried and true, the small business without the big business which in most cases diminishes quality customer/client relations. There's no disputing that. I've talked to so many physicians who have gone with big businesses only to state the same thing over and over, they got lost in the shuffle. There is a HUGE medical billing company in the northeast ( I won't mention names or the state, but those in the north east know who I'm talking about) they spend such big money on advertising and there's no doubt they are racking in the clients..but guess what.. their clients will not STAY. Every one of their clients had the same experiences and can tell you why they went with them to begin with...starting with their CHEAP pricing method. On the average I watch time and time again the smaller billing companies scoop up the clients this huge company discards like nothing. I work with medical billers every day and the larger ones are getting the clients while the smaller ones are keeping them. To me that says a lot and it's not really disputable. MARKETING is about GETTING... REAL marketing is tried and true and is all about KEEPING the client. Anyone can get clients and spend a fortune to do so, but they don't keep them.
--- Quote ---Marketing billing business has little to do with billing, it has everything to do with knowing the new media.
--- End quote ---
Your wrong again.. very wrong. The ones who market themselves and their education, experience and knowledge KEEP the clients they obtain. How can you market any business w/out producing your talents??? YOU can't.. your only going to GET The clients on the hook, reel em in, gut them and lose them. How you can say it has little to do with medical billing blows my mind. Again, I'm not saying your big digital marketing boom doesn't work, I'm saying that GETTING a client is the easy part.. KEEPING them is harder and you will ONLY Gain them by your marketing edge, you won't keep them w/out knowing what you are doing. And you can't service the client in the manner a small business can, that's a fact you can't dispute. I have seen so many with $$ in their eyes, their big plan to hire and let everyone else do the work while they just rake in the dough.. it's almost always short lived. The small business, they are the heart of the industry because they care. They don't NEED big media blasts when they have something so much more valuable..their own education and experience.
--- Quote ---Whether you have one client or a thousand clients the methods don't change.
--- End quote ---
That's not possible .. There IS a big difference in the company with one client and the company with 1000. I know billing companies with just a handful of clients (HAPPY clients) they have had for years that do very well.
--- Quote ---And all this about marketing "you " is absolute waste. The doctors don't care if you are a cockroach or a robot. (actually many would prefer to deal with robots). They only care about two things; price and quality of what they can get for their money. If a cockroach can deliver what they want they would be just as happy.
--- End quote ---
Where do you think quality comes from? I think that statement is an absolute insult to physicians. YES pricing is always on the front line.. offshore especially, until the doctor gets burned.. OH and they do get burned.. but I guess that 's good because we end up picking up the mess later.
--- Quote ---When we started, we partnered with an established company and used their references, until we developed our own.
--- End quote ---
That seems a bit sneaky to me..but I don't know the details.. How can you "use another company's references"?
tallmanusa:
The debate over "new " methods of selling and " old " method is moot if you have no or weak references. You will not get a client, and don't hold your breath for them, you will turn blue.
Conversely if you have strong references, they do the selling for you.
The absurdity of you selling " you " is so obvious; you don't sell you, the people you have worked for sell you.
Dale Carnegie is his famous book wrote " Any idiot can toot his own hon, and most idiots do, a wise man find others to toot his horn ".
Whether you have one client or a thousand clients, each client does his due diligence, one at a time.
I am flabbergasted at the insinuation that you dazzle the doctor with " you " and he will not do his due diligence.
In our case, we provide five references in his specialty as the first step.
SnyderKristine:
--- Quote from: Michele on February 18, 2014, 03:11:28 PM ---Not sure what data you mean?
--- End quote ---
I mean the data I should start contacting or calling. May be the list of physicians, providers, other billing companies. I am actually looking for resources that can get me that data...
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