Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi,

In my opinion, choosing an de-addiction center is usually done based on a peers or doctors recommendation. Since the choice is based on trust, a prospect would be more open to choosing your center if a doctor recommends it.

One good way is to offer incentive to health care centers for recommending prospects. You could infact build a reward programme for these health care centers and offer attractive incentives to them.

Alternatively you could explore mass mediums. However I personally feel that effectiveness will be minimal as compared to using the doctor's credibility to increase prospects calling in/walking in.

Imran

Dear Charles

What an interesting posting. Sales and marketing and marketing in particular has a higher than average problem with addicted or alcoholic practitioners and employees due to the glamorous nature of some of the jobs, the liquid lunches every day and a prevalence of cocaine as a means of coping with the pressure.

I’ve had personal experience of raising funds for rehab or detox and last year I provided pro-bono services to an old friend who was celebrating 20 years of sobriety by raising £7000 for rehab work for people who couldn’t wait for the state to do it and couldn’t afford it. We raised £10,500. He then went on to write a book for sufferers and for friends and families of sufferers which I also helped to market. It hit the best sellers list and the profits go to rehab services.

I sent out emails to everyone on my own CRM system and used client email addresses with their blessing. Out of the thousands I sent I got 3 complaints all of whom went on to buy the book once I’d explained why I was emailing them.

You are right – rehab is expensive, almost anywhere apart from Portugal where the state provides it at short notice as a quid-pro of decriminalising the taking of illegal drugs. Public education has seen this scheme work very well, despite there still being a massive amount of ignorance about how it works amongst the Portuguese public. The police do the referrals as an alternative to taking action (Which is still not to criminalise the sufferer)

I would go for a blend of direct approaches to people in high-risk industries and advertising locally and nationally. In the UK, advertising for The Priory is a weekly occurrence in the quality press and it pays for itself – The Priory is not cheap but it has a very good record as well as being used by every A, B and C list celebrity who seem to use it as a fashion statement every year or so!

Don’t forget AA. Their services are free and they do not accept donations from anyone apart from recovering alcoholics. They are a great source of referrals for attendees (They don’t operate a membership) for those who can afford it. They also assist sufferers with referrals to funding to provide for private rehab. Our waiting list in the UK for state provision is about nine months which is a scandal. Many alcoholics die before they can get treatment.

Offering some free places in return for getting massive coverage in local and national newspapers is also very productive. Another aid to getting the marketing notice, you could enlist some well known people such as rock stars, actors and models who have gone public to lend an interest to your marketing. You won’t get many of those from AA though as the second A stands for anonymous – something which attendees guard jealously.

AA also lectures in schools, colleges and the workplace – you could either do that or join in with their own outreach work and the credibility lent by AA will make people who are trying to pluck up the courage to act, to take the plunge and get treatment.

Good luck with this project – It is a subject close to the heart of as about 20 of my friends and probably as many as 200 in my network of friends and acquaintances have a problem.

Best wishes



Steve Alker