James Pumarada, PT
Is print mail dead? Not according to James Pumarada!
Our CEO Neil Trickett interviewed James Pumarada, PT and Owner of Complete Physical Rehabilitation in New Jersey, to find out the secret to James’ direct mail success.
When We Stopped Sending Print Mail, Our Patient Numbers Crashed
James: I’m the first one to humble myself. At the beginning of the year, revenue wasn’t that great. We looked at cutting back on some of our print media, and we did cut back on direct mailing for a period of time for our Elizabeth facility!
But we saw that our numbers crashed when we stopped direct mailing. That was a humbling experience for us. We realized that direct mail was something that we needed to keep back in, because direct mail was a touchpoint that people still want.
As we added direct mail back in, there was a date correlation to when numbers started to increase again. As you said, physical therapy marketing is a layered experience:
- Patients see a postcard
- They open up a piece of mail from a thank-you card or a “how are you doing” card
- They look at a newsletter with pictures and read health tips on the newsletters
Everyone has a different way of consuming information. They need a different experience. Until you experiment with different types of physical therapy marketing, you truly don’t know what’s going to work.
Neil: That’s great advice. Thank you for sharing that humbling experience. Times were lean. You thought you’d cut back on marketing. You learned that lesson–you’re actually supposed to accelerate when times are lean–
James: Absolutely.
Neil: You cut back on the print side of things and you saw a correlation. It hurt your ability get patients back in the clinic. But when you started direct-mailing again, things picked back up.
4 Direct Mail Ideas Get Patients Back in the Clinic
Neil: So, in addition to your patient newsletter, what are some of the things you do from a direct mail standpoint throughout the year?
#1: Free Screenings Postcards
James: We send out postcards that offer free screenings. We usually do a free screening offer in the second quarter, around March or April, and then another offer in October. These postcards are a great way to draw in individuals who may not know about physical therapy or the help it can provide. Then we can look at their condition objectively and see whether or not it’s something we can help them with.
If nothing else, this postcard provides an offer.
#2: End-of-Year Deductible Postcards
James: We also use postcards at the end of the year for holidays. We also use them to remind individuals…”Hey look, please use up your benefits by the end of the year.”
#3: New Year, New You Postcards
James: Now, we’re starting to experiment with sending postcards at the beginning of the year that say “Hey, it’s the beginning of the year. You may want to start on pre-rehabilitation prior to a surgery that you may be scheduling in the first quarter.” These are definite reminders that we send throughout the year.
#4: Cash-Based Service Postcards
James: The postcards also allow us to continue to make offers for our cash-pay services. The piece de resistance is the lightforce laser that we have here. We try to sell packages for those.
Neil: I like how you’re looking at the many different ways to advertise your services. I know we’ve helped you with End-of-Year Deductible postcards; that’s a big favorite of a lot of our clients because you’re reminding patients “Hey, you still have some benefits left. You should use them before they expire!”
And let’s face it, everyone has their new health goals for 2022. So you could send out a “New Year, New You” postcard saying “It’s time to get healthy. Come on in, we’ll take care of you. Send your friends and family.”
I also know you’ve sent out postcards for your yoga programs and your Lightforce Laser programs, so there are lots of opportunities to market all your services–not putting everything on one marketing piece, but sending out separate pieces to communicate the specific service you’re offering.
Advice to a New Physical Therapist With Patient Lists Under 100 People
James: A new physical therapist might say: well, I only have a past patient list of 50-100 names. When I hear that, I say okay: but there are other ways to harness the list.
- Ask for referrals. You could send cards to your list of 50-100 people and ask if there was anyone they’d like to refer to your practice.
- Collect email leads from your PT website. You could create eBooks on your website so you can connect new patient leads from people who download the eBook and then we collect an email.
- Train your front desk to ask for patient information immediately. Make sure that for every phone call that comes in, you immediately ask for the patient’s name, telephone, a clean email in case the call gets cut off. That’s worth everything. Because that is a person who was willing to make a conversion; they just weren’t willing to do it at that time or for that pricepoint.
If you do those three things, you’re creating a list over time.
The Key to Our Success is Our Past Patient List
James: We’re thankful to say that these are the steps that have helped us to thrive. It’s by using our patient list and harnessing it over a period of time.
Listen to Neil and James’s full conversation on the PT Marketing Power Hour! Found wherever podcasts are found.
