Jacob Siner
Smart business owners, especially small business owners, know that they cannot succeed solely on their own or without the help of others. A small business needs a network of local businesses and organizations that share and reciprocate patrons.
For example, the town government provides recreational sports leagues through the local community center. The community center orders custom t-shirts printed at the nearby print shop. The print shop forms a partnership with the small sporting goods store and agrees to have the shirts delivered there for pick up. This increases business for the sporting goods store when parents buy sports equipment there during t-shirt pick up. The sporting goods store may give the printing shop 5% of the revenue generated from sales to rec league members. And, the printing shop might provide 100 free flyers to the community in support for their business from the t-shirt order. This partnership does not increase work or efforts for any of the businesses, but results in increased business and revenue for both the sporting goods store and printing shop.
How to Build Partnerships for Your PT Clinic
Think about logical relationships between physical therapy and local businesses. Some good opportunities might be with:
Networking Ideas For Physical Therapists:
- Sports leagues or school sports teams
- Senior centers or retirement communities
- Chiropractic or massage therapy providers
- YMCAs, CrossFit gyms, or local dance studios
- Businesses you know offer good insurance plans & who care about providing their employees with healthy opportunities.
Develop a plan to network with the business or organization. Think first about what benefits they could receive from a partnership with your practice. Can you offer discounted care for their patrons, free PT support during games, or on-site services at the retirement community?
Now think about what you want in return for their partnership.
You could have your clinic’s logo printed on the uniforms or a banner at the field. For on-site services, you could have your business listed on their website and maybe included in their marketing campaigns (postcards, social media etc.).
For gyms, how about the mutual value of providing posters showing how to exercise without getting injured that display you as an expert for living pain-free?
For YMCAs or other membership/fitness studios, would your patients be able to receive a discount on membership (say 10% a YMCA membership for patients). This could be marketed on your website, social media, and in your new patient packet.
If a local business’s employees are your target audience, see about getting emails, print materials, or even a 30-minute lunch presentation in front of their employees that promotes healthy workplace or work-from-home habits while showing how your services help with common problems. (Any business offering health insurance to its employees wants them to be healthy to keep the cost of health benefits low!)
Once you have a partnership plan in mind, prepare for when and how you would want to introduce the idea to the business owner. There can be a couple of approaches to consider:
- Do you have an existing relationship with the business? If so, it might be easier to set up a meeting to discuss your potential partnership. If not, take a couple weeks or months to build that relationship before introducing a joint venture.
- Prepare & print educational materials. These can be simple rack cards, “business” cards with a referral type tone, or even brochures about the benefits of PT. Often these materials can serve multiple purposes just by building your credibility.
- Find out who is the right person to talk with. If there is a clear owner, you might want to go straight to them. For larger organizations, such as the YMCA, they might have a community outreach or business department to speak with.
- Present your plan clearly, but be flexible. You are presenting a plan that works well for your business and benefits you. The other partner will probably need time to review and refine the plan to suit their business. Expect that they will need time to review, consider, and might present different terms or ideas.
- Get the finalized partnership solidified in writing. Have an attorney draft a contract and get both parties to sign to ensure that you receive the benefits of the partnership. Keep copies for both yourself and the other party.
Want more ideas on business partnerships for physical therapy clinics? Or already have a partnership and want to start marketing it? Talk with our expert business and account management team. We have years of experience in creating successful relationships and can help take your practice to the next level.
