Ideal Patient Persona Worksheet

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2 Ideal Patient Persona Worksheet What is an Ideal Patient Persona and why do I need one? The key to effective marketing is to get the right message to the right customers. Having a deep understanding of who your ideal patient is and insight into their needs is critical to creating the right marketing messages. The Persona is a tool to help you picture and relate to your ideal patients as real people. After you ve created your Practice s Brand Positioning, Persona creation is step 2 in creating a powerful marketing plan (if you do not know your brand positioning, stop here and download Bullseye Media s brand positioning worksheet first). Trying to be all things to all people is a prescription for a waste of your marketing money. Depending on your practice and budget, you may have more than one Persona. My practice has many types of patients, aren t I limiting myself by focusing on one Ideal Patient group? It is important to remember that your Ideal Patient Persona does not represent every patient you see - or mean you will not take other patients. The Ideal Patient is meant to be a way for you to laser focus your marketing message and budget on the group that you really want and are most likely to win with. Focusing on really understanding your patient s perspective and needs will also help you fine-tune your positioning. I can almost guarantee you that what they care about most is not what you think is most important. Remember, it s not about you The most successful dentists know that what really counts is what the patient thinks and wants. They are the hero of their story, not you. If you want them to be raving fans, loyal patients, and (better yet) tell all their friends about you, you need to put their wants and needs at the center of all you do. If you don t know who they are and what they want, how can you and your staff possibly give them a great experience? The good news is that Persona s are easy to create. So let s get started.

3 Step 1 To start, you need to gather some information and identify your ideal patient group. Start with your positioning. What are the attributes that most differentiate you from your competition? And what type of patient do you think would care most about those benefits? (Need help with your Positioning? Download our Brand Positioning Worksheet.) Ask your staff. Your staff will have some of the best insights into your patient base. Who are your best and most satisfied patients. Why? Who are the least satisfied? Why? Look at your data. What patterns do you see among your most loyal and profitable patient groups? Do any trends emerge among patients who are not profitable? Connect the dots. Now step back and pick one cohesive group that is the best patient for your practice. Be sure to consider group size. A good rule of thumb is that your ideal patient group be big enough to make up 25% of your practice if you really appealed to them. Step 2 Observe and Listen. The strongest Personas are based on insights you gather from your actual patient base. You can use surveys, personal discussions, and observation. Reach out to both good and bad patients in your target group. You ll learn from both. 1. What is their biggest problem / pain point? 2. Why do they choose a dentist? 3. What do I need to do to be the best solution for Step 3 Now, gather your notes, fine tune your thoughts, and fill in the first 4 blocks in the worksheet. Once you have the first 4 sections complete, get with your staff and identify areas that you should be paying more attention to if you really want to attract and delight that ideal patient. It is not unusual for a smart practice to identify changes to what they do and how they do it after completing this exercise. Step 4 Now that you have a good understanding of your ideal patient, ask yourself how they would want to connect with you. And what information or offer would be most relevant and interesting to them. Let s look at the actual patient worksheet.

4 WHO are they? - demographics of your ideal patient - lifestage - location - common problem / need WHAT are their pain points? - why do they need a dentist? - what would treatment mean to their life? WHY do they choose? - what do they care most about? - what are their fears & concerns? - what is stopping HOW are you their best solution? - how do you solve their problem? - how are you the best choice for HOW should you engage - how would you best connect with - what would most interest

5 Completing the Worksheet On page 6, we have an example of a Persona for a General Dental Practice in a small town in a suburban, residential area. Positioning The positioning for this practice is: The hometown favorite dentist for the whole family because: Local dentist serving the community for over 15 years State of the art facility with full range of capability to handle all your family dental needs Extended and Saturday Hours. Conveniently located in the heart of town Patient Profile This doctor looked through his practice and realized that his best patients were families where the whole family came to them for all their care. They did a lot of work being out in the community and involved with the local schools. Many of their new patients came as word of mouth referrals from one mom to another. Most patients started coming for general checkups and cleaning, the trust and rapport they built with their patients has resulted in many of them staying with the practice for more expensive and involved procedures. Although they recently had a corporate dental practice open up down the street with much lower prices and big marketing budgets, their core patient base has remained loyal. In interviewing patients, they realized that mom was the key decision maker. Most moms started with the practice when the kids were younger. At that point the quality of the practice was a selling point, as was the reputation and recommendation from other friends. She definitely needs care to be affordable and fit in the budget with her insurance. But the need that over-rode them all for her was convenience. With multiple kids, a career, and household to juggle, she needs a one-stop solution with hours to fit her schedule. On the next page we ll complete the worksheet using this information.

6 WHO are they? - demographics of your ideal patient - lifestage - location - common problem / need WHAT are their pain points? - why do they need a dentist? - what would treatment mean to their life? Female Married with children (10, 8, 5 and 2) Working Mom with hectic schedule Lives within 10 miles of the dental office Age Dual HH income >$95k Her primary goal is to care for her family. That means regular check-ups and taking care of issues when they arise... She feels like a good mom, when everyone is healthy and up-to-date. Juggling everyone s schedule/needs and her work shifts is her primary pain point. But she also needs to be sure she is smart with money choices and staying within budget. WHY do they choose? - what do they care most about? - what are their fears & concerns? - what is stopping When she is looking for anything, she turns first to her trusted friend group and other moms. Recommendations (and horror stories she gets at practices, school events, and sees on facebook) have a big impact. She doesn t have time for a big research project. She is most afraid of getting a bad doctor. She wants to know who is seeing her family. Trust is also a big deal with her. She is concerned about places that recommend work that isn t needed just to get business. Lack of trust or bad reviews will get you fired. But what really makes a difference for her is a dentist that can do all that AND fit in her schedule. Close by. Extended Hours, Family schedule blocks. HOW are you their best solution? - how do you solve their problem? - how are you the best choice for Our practice offers extended hours - morning, evening, and Saturday appointments are available. We have family schedule blocks and keep flexible time in our schedule to accommodate same day needs.because of our new practice management system, we have and text reminders to make it easy for her. And we are located in the heart of town with easy parking HOW should you engage - how would you best connect with - what would most interest Traditional mass advertising like postcards work with Heather. But she certainly doesn t have time to read magazines or newspapers. The personal connection and community involvement is where we will reach her. But the first thing she will do is check us out online. If our website doesn t look good or our reviews are bad, she won t take a second look. A personal invitation on Facebook is a good way to increase her awareness of our practice and see her friends who like us.

7 This document was produced by Bullseye Media LLC. For additional information and marketing resources, visit. Since 2006, Bullseye Media has helped hundreds of dentists across the United States and Canada build their brand, market their practice and protect their reputation both online and offline. You are invited to schedule a free, Marketing X-Ray. We will give you insight into your market, your reputation and your competition with actionable steps you can take to improve your position in your community. Visit /xray to schedule.