Randi Drinkwater is the president of Alternative Growth Streams (AGS), a company whose mission is to help alternative health care professionals grow their patient base. She’s also a colleague of ours from IntegrativePractitioner.com, where we both contribute to the growing community of practitioners.

We asked Randi for a case study from AGS’s work with CAM practitioners, and she was kind enough to share this story. Enjoy! -Dan & Tara

Maggie’s story

Six years ago Maggie started her alternative medicine practice in therapeutic massage in an affluent suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Things were slow at first, but that didn’t dent Maggie’s spirit. She sent out postcards. She ran an ad in the phone book. She passed out flyers. Everyone she talked to she asked for their name, address and email. She recorded those names in her practice “database.”

Yes, her efforts yielded a handful of customers. However, Maggie estimated she was spending about $2000.00/month in marketing. At this rate it was costing Maggie about $1000.00 to acquire each new client.

Eighteen months later, there weren’t enough clients to cover the rent and the light bill. Maggie dusted off the list of names and addresses she had collected and decided to send out a postcard.

What Maggie never knew was that she had committed multiple marketing taboos. It wasn’t really her fault – her forté is healing not marketing.

Let’s take a look at a few of those marketing faux pas:

1. Never mail only one piece when doing direct mail (i.e., sending a postcard or a flyer to someone via US mail). Studies show it takes a minimum of two, more realistically, three times, before the person you mail to even remotely begins to remember who you are and what you have to offer.
2. Lists should be updated regularly (at minimum every 5-6 months) to ensure contact information is accurate and up-to-date (people move quite a bit in today’s economic climate). Sixty percent of the success of your mail program is tied to how up-to-date your list is and if they fit the profile of what your best client/patient looks like.

Maggie’s marketing efforts were not well-rewarded. She spent quite a bit of money and attracted few new clients. She called AGS in a panic. She needed new clients – and quickly – but didn’t have much money to make that happen.

What AGS & Maggie Did

The first thing we did was assure Maggie that she is not alone. Many of her peer practitioners have tried marketing only to be disappointed with high costs and low returns.

We asked some very specific questions about her practice to ensure that her marketing outreach had all the right components for success.

It boiled down to this …start with the basics:

1. Strategy first (what exactly are you trying to accomplish?)
2. Know thy customer (what does your best patient/client look like?)
3. Know what keeps them awake at night (What is their pressing issue or need?)
4. Show them you have what they need (your message of benefits offered)
5. Give them a reason to call you NOW (your offer)
6. Make it easy for them to learn more about you (without obligation)
7. Choose appropriate marketing tools (a way to package your story, so that you can deliver it to your prospects).

• We suggested Maggie establish a website where potential clients could come to learn about her services. She used an AGS professionally-designed website template which came with instructions for custom tailoring it to her business.

• With her website in place, serving as an online brochure, Maggie could now focus on getting new clients with AGS professionally-designed and written three-piece direct mail program.

• Critical to Maggie’s success, she took full advantage of AGS list service to ensure that she had up-to-date and accurate names and addresses. From there Maggie went to work with her newly found marketing tools.

The Results

Did Maggie’s marketing effort deliver results? You bet. Maggie has a new website and 10 new clients as a direct result of her marketing efforts with AGS. It only cost her $1.30 for each person that she marketed to.

Maggie used the AGS 3-piece direct mail campaign and mailed to 1000 people that fit the profile of her best customer. She also used the telemarketing guidelines and script from AGS to call those people as well. Her website got 300 hits (people who went to her website) – 100 of which actually spent time reviewing her practice information in detail.

She picked up 10 new clients within two months of doing her mail campaign. Maggie figures each client is worth about $1200 (in a one year period). Maggie will make $11,000 (after she deducts that $1200.00 she spent on marketing). Her return: Maggie will make $10 for every one dollar she invested in marketing. Not bad!

Next Steps for Maggie

Maggie is already preparing to mail again to 1000 new people on her list. She is also working with AGS public relations tools to help get “free exposure” for her practice with local magazines and newspapers. She is constantly adding new content (AGS research articles) to her website to keep it fresh so her clients will keep coming back to visit

Some final words from Randi:

• Being a gifted healer is table stakes when it comes to building your patient/client base. People need to know you are out there. How you optimize your outreach so that you can be found could very well mean the difference between thriving or simply surviving.
• Right Now, somebody out there is waiting to use your services… the question you must ask yourself, do YOU know who they are? And more importantly, do THEY know who you are?
• If you are not identifying your key and most profitable customers, AND getting your message out to them, you are missing the opportunity to find new and ultimately long-term clients. An opportunity lost that will go straight to your competitor’s practice.

Never lose site of your overall responsibility. The onus lies with each and every practitioner to take an active role in educating consumers on their wellness options. Then and only then can they make informed decisions.

Note: AGS is no longer around, but the case is still a valid one. If you need help finding similar resource, just let us know.