Delivering on the promise of your brand

Abstract

Why would patients, physicians or new employees choose an organisation as a place to work or to be cared for? And, after experiencing the facility once – either as a patient or as a new employee – why would they return and give their loyalty? Much of patient and employee loyalty is up for grabs. So, the question becomes: how can one build a bridge between promise-makers (marketing, sales, physician liaisons) and promise-keepers (nurses, doctors, support services, back office team, etc.)? How can one build a clear line of consistency whereby the entire care team is delivering on the brand promise? Patients do not experience healthcare vertically; they experience care horizontally, across multiple departments. They expect clinical excellence, and they want it to be mirrored by service excellence every step of the way. In order to safeguard an organisation’s brand, build loyalty and deliver exceptional patient experiences, marketing and brand messages must be translatable from the board room to the exam room to the break room. This paper explores tools to help organisations deliver on their brand promise. The main takeaways include: assess the patient experience and identify opportunities using the 4Ps (people, process, physical setting, product); learn to use a ‘Playbook’ to capture and share the clinical and human sides of healthcare so that every care team member is aligned and working towards the same common goal; explore the Human-Business-Human® tool and learn how it is used in patient, customer and employee interactions to create world-class patient and employee experiences.