Marketing

[shaelyn]

HI all. I am a marketing intern for an ambulance company in Indiana. I am trying to think outside the box when it comes to marketing to our main three hospitals we are trying to encourage business from. The generic pens, lanyards and candy just don't seem to be cutting it when it comes to increasing call volume. Do any of you have any suggestions as to different ways to encourage those calls? Anything and everything would be very appreciated. 

[Off Label]

What's your budget like? Physicians are pretty well accustomed to a higher standard of living than your average bear, and while it may seem a little crass to say, it takes more than pens and lanyard to remember who you are. Take a page from the master playbook folks... drug companies.

Host a lunchtime "educational" presentation and bring pizza for the staff.... it's amazing how folks with a couple of houses, boats and Mercedes will eat right out of your hand for a slice of a good sausage and mushroom pie.

 

[scubanurse]

In my ER, the nurses make the decision of which company to go with.  We have contracts with two local companies, both contracts state they have <30min to respond to transfer a patient to either their home or another facility.  If they quote us >30 we go with the other contract.  The other night both companies were quoting me >60 minutes so I called my buddy at a 3rd company and they were there in about 5 minutes.  Most ER nurses will go with whoever has the shortest response time, and who they have had positive experiences with.  While I LOVE free pens, they don't drive my decision to go with one company over another.  Good working relationships with the local nurses, positive attitude when you do respond, and providing excellent care to the patients will help you get called more often.  We are very unfortunately driven by customer satisfaction scores and we do hear frequently about the quality of the ambulance company we choose to send them home with and if that feedback is negative you can bet your bottom that we won't be eager to use them again.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Here are some things taht will get you more calls than pens and lanyards

1.  Provide top notch customer service - 

2.  Be there when you say you will be.  

3.  Professional crews - keep your uinforms neat and clean

4.  Crews that take care of the patients instead of treating them like they are just a number. 

5.  Know when to drop in and when not to.  Don't over do it.  (we had one company that when they weren't running calls they were in our ER.  Bad form)

6.  Host a get to know event - feed those who show up.  

7.  If you run 911 as well, maybe do a reciprocal agreement, allow the nurses to ride a shift if they want.  Allows the nurses to get to know your crews and to see what EMS is like.

8.  During EMS week, work with the hospital ER to provide assistance with their festivities - ie - provide a meal one day for the ER and any EMS service that comes in.  (BBQ is always good)

That's just what pops into my head right now.  

 

[ERDoc]

It all depends on who your target audience is, ie who makes the call to get the ambulance.  If it is anyone in the ER, a steady stream of pizza would give you a huge ROI.