Mastering the Professional Referral, Part Four - The Law of Reciprocity

Last month in part three of this marketing series, I introduced the fact that every physician has a referral network. This is a “fact” that exists across all businesses which have mutual interests, mutual clients/patients, and which are linked together with common business purposes.

Accountants, attorneys, insurance agents, financial planners, and others are all referring to each other – or could be! And - all varieties of health professionals are likewise referring to each other – or should be! Given the specialization that currently exists in all industries, and believing that everyone’s primary interest is the well-being and success of their client or patient, cross-referrals are an essential part of business and medicine success.

Referral networks thus become an essential tool to master, both for marketing purposes as well as for taking care of the customer or patient. They are also an incredibly smart way to remain efficient. Having to stop and research each and every referral from scratch is incredibly time consuming and wasteful of important practice and business resources. Having a network pre-assembled to be called upon at a moment’s notice is both efficient and smart.

Just as every dentist has an existing referral network, so also do medical doctors. Internists, neurologists, cardiologists, family physicians, sleep physicians, and others – all are cross-referring to each other all day long. Because there are multiple referral choices possible for each of these physicians, each whittles the list down to a manageable number of trusted and knowledgeable medical colleagues. To a large extent, these colleagues “on the list” are where the lion’s share of their business is referred to. Within these networks there is a mutual respect for each other’s knowledgeable expertise which makes the referral process automatic, easy, and certain.

However, despite the fact that referral networks are often rather rigidly maintained they are not a static entity. They are or can be very dynamic, being driven by the changing marketplace, new technology and science, new talent and expertise, and patient/client needs or demands. This is what makes it possible for “new blood” to enter a given marketplace. It’s what makes it possible for someone new to get invited into an existing referral network.

For dentists, the interesting thought here is to ponder about how many physicians have a dentist – any dentist - included in their referral network. But maybe more to the point, how many medical doctors have you specifically in their referral network? This can be easily answered with a quick evaluation of how many referrals you receive from physicians presently. If the answer is near zero, then there is some work that lies ahead to break down those barriers to become a preferred and trusted member of a referral network.

As we’ve mentioned previously, the “game” afoot is to figure out how to get invited into these already established networks. There is a certain referral network psychology at play here.

Let’s examine this more closely for a moment. What would happen if all of a sudden you started receiving referrals from a physician? Wouldn’t you quickly become somewhat endeared to this new referral source? Would you send a thank you note, a restaurant gift certificate, or a basket of fruit (or brownies)?

And wouldn’t you be far more likely to refer one of your patients to them when the need or opportunity arose? Obviously the answer is yes! For dentists this is where the principle of reciprocity can become a powerful tool in opening new doors to acquiring new patients.

Since periodontal disease is linked to systemic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many other conditions, why not refer a perio patient to a physician for a medical evaluation of these risk factors? If a physician began receiving these referrals from you they couldn’t help but be impressed. Nobody else is doing it!

Also, if you were to start screening each dental patient for obstructive sleep apnea, and began referring at-risk patients to a sleep physician or lab for a diagnosis and workup, this would certainly grab the attention of the sleep medicine physician. Given that so many of their patients are CPAP intolerant, where do you suppose the sleep physician is going to refer these patients for oral appliances (assuming that you are qualified in dental sleep medicine)?

This speaks to the essence of reciprocity in professional referrals, and is one of the ways that you not only get the attention of a physician, but you also build a professional referral relationship – (i.e. a referral network)!

To repeat an important point about today’s dentist-physician referral marketplace – few dentists and physicians are referring to each other in the first place. Any dentist, who makes the effort to rise above the “sea of sameness” and makes themselves more visible to a physician, will be the one that finds themselves in that coveted position of being invited into a physician’s referral network. It’s that simple!

Using reciprocity as a practice building and marketing tool is ultimately in the best interest of our mutual patients. Playing on the psychology of reciprocity and the issue of social “debt” is also a savvy way to increase professional referrals and build a practice.

The next installment in Mastering the Professional Referral will discuss how to Pre-Stage Professional Referrals