A written marketing plan provides a clear focus on the direction the service is taking and the contribution all members of the team can make.
The marketing plan needs to have SMART objectives that are Specific, Manageable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound.
The marketing plan should not stand alone, but be an integral part of the service provider’s overall business plan, outlining the short, medium and long-term goals of the service. This ensures that the marketing plan is an active process that is regularly reviewed, and adapted when ap- propriate. Ideally all members of the team should contribute to the for- mulation of the marketing plan, to ensure that each individual takes ownership of the plan and is committed to following it through. As well as being a strategic business tool, marketing is essentially a process car- ried out at every level, and by each individual, in an organisation (Chan 1992).
For example, the first point of contact for many customers will be the receptionist. A warm, friendly welcome to all contacting the department will set the tone and create a positive climate for the occupational health interaction. The impression created by each team member inevitably contributes to the successful marketing of the service. It is vital that all contact with potential and existing customers is courteous, prompt and professional. This creates a positive culture and ambience that will be communicated to customers. A satisfied customer will spread the message about the service in a positive way, which further contributes to successful marketing.
Successful marketing (and a quality service) is achieved by paying attention to all aspects of service delivery, taking care of the relatively straightforward day-to-day contacts, as well as the more ‘formal’ mar- keting strategies.
A SWOT analysis can be used to examine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within the service and the market it aims to serve (see Figure 3.3). Development of a marketing plan needs to start with some very basic questions:
1. What services are on offer? Service providers must be clear as to the range of services they can offer with the resources and staff avail- able and within budget constraints. Services on offer will be depen- dent on the range of skill mix within the team and access to facilities and transport. There is no value in marketing services and raising
customer expectations concerning services that cannot be delivered.
The range of services marketed may need to be adjusted, or addi- tional staff recruited, if the skill mix within the occupational health team changes.
2. Who are we offering services to?
3. How are we going to reach them?
4. Who are our competitors?
Questions 2–4 can be answered by using the formal marketing concepts of segmentation, targeting and positioning.
Segmentation
Segmentation is the process of separating customers into groups with similar characteristics. Segmentation provides a clear focus on the type of customer the marketing plan is aimed at and ensures that the service provider has addressed the practical implications of resources, location and equipment to meet customer needs.
Customers can be divided, for example, by:
Size:
r small enterprises – 50 or fewer employees r medium enterprises – 50–250 employees r large enterprises – 250 or more employees.
Geography:
r companies within a 20-mile radius
r companies within a defined geographical area r organisations with multi-site locations across the UK.
Sector:
r industry/commercial r electronics r retail
r financial institutions r manufacturing r transport r food and drink.
r public sector
r health care service providers r local authorities
r fire service r colleges r police service.
Segmentation allows the service provider to identify potential cus- tomers and to consider the occupational health requirements they are likely to have. Clearly, however, a full needs assessment can take place only when contact with the customer has been made. Occupational health professionals must not compromise professional ethics, for exam- ple by delivering a service such as lifestyle health promotion if they are aware that statutory requirements such as audiometric testing under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are not being carried out (HSE 2005).
The following case studies demonstrate market segmentation and will be continued later to show market targeting:
Case Study A An NHS Trust occupational health team planned to provide services to external organisations as a means of income gener- ation. Market segmentation was used to identify potential customers in the local area. It became evident that four large financial organisations had their headquarters within a 15-mile radius of the team’s base. The team decided that they could serve this type of organisation with exist- ing resources and without any additional capital outlay. The team had experience of counselling and stress management intervention, which could potentially be valuable in the fast-changing world of finance.
Case Study B Market segmentation was used by an occupational health nurse working independently. Segmentation allowed her to iden- tify a number of small electronics companies within a 30-mile radius, mainly sited in industrial parks on the outskirts of town. On average the companies had fewer than 100 employees and would not require a full-time service. The nurse had transport, portable equipment and experience of working in industrial environments and felt able to meet the expected health surveillance needs of the companies. The market- ing plan was therefore tailored to offer a peripatetic service on the cus- tomers’ own premises, with the emphasis on easy access to professional advice and support.
In-house occupational health teams can also use segmentation to identify specific departments within an organisation and to ensure that services are being marketed according to the department’s anticipated needs.
Targeting
Once the decision has been made to market to a certain segment it is essential to gather as much information as possible about potential cus- tomers, and indeed about competing service providers in the market- place. The type of information that can be collated on the customer includes work processes and activities, the structure of the company and the economic climate of the market sector. This information can be
obtained from the customer’s promotional material, annual report and accounts, company web sites and from local business networks.
Such background information helps to ensure that marketing can be tailored to meet the expected needs and culture of the potential customer.
Research into the market allows the service provider to consider the likely needs of the customer and predict some of the occupational health hazards and risks the customer may have. This professional perspective on the market sector will allow you to consider the services the customer is likely to need.
Case Study A (Continued) The NHS Trust occupational health team obtained the annual reports for the four financial companies and visited the web sites. This provided valuable information on the structure of the companies and their current business performance. The number of employees was also obtained by this method. It was noted that two of the companies regularly advertised for staff in local newspapers, suggesting that either business was booming or staff turnover was high.
Professional journals and the media provided research data that sug- gested the fast pace of change in such organisations might be causing a higher-than-average level of sickness absence due to stress and anxiety, with two recent claims of work-related stress being settled in court. The research suggested that the organisations had the need (and financial means) to consider a comprehensive occupational health service.
Case Study B (Continued) The independent occupational health nurse used a literature review to obtain background information on the hazards and risks of the electronics industry. Recruitment roadshows for the companies were held locally and these provided further information on the culture of the organisations and revealed the fact that employ- ees were often on short-term contracts. This suggested that marketing should be tailored to promote health surveillance and pre-employment health assessments.
Positioning
The information gained through targeting can be used to position your service to attract potential customers. The seven ‘Ps’ provide the key elements of the marketing mix:
r people
r physical evidence r process
r product r place r price r promotion.
The final four Ps – product, place, price and promotion – are usually used to describe the marketing mix required for goods. People, phys- ical evidence and process cover the specific nature of services, includ- ing the ‘intangibility’ factor. The marketing mix allows one or more of the key elements to be adjusted according to the potential customer’s needs.
It is naive to presume that the customer is interested only in price.
For example, the targeting research may suggest that the customer is prepared to pay a premium price in order to obtain the services of highly experienced staff. The marketing mix should therefore be adjusted to place the emphasis on people. Alternatively, the customer may have staff working on a number of sites across the country; therefore access to services and consistency of service delivery is important. This would make the place and process elements of the marketing mix the most important.
Understanding and adjusting the seven key elements of the market- ing mix to meet customers’ needs can create a ‘unique selling proposi- tion’ – the feature or features that distinguish one company’s services over another (Clarke 2000).
The seven Ps are described in more detail below, as they are the core elements of the marketing mix that all services need to address. ‘People’
is first on the list as it is the foundation on which occupational health services depend.
People A service can only be as good as the people who deliver it. The skills, experience, competences and qualifications of professional staff are key components in the people element of the marketing mix.
To deliver a quality service, competent, experienced occupational health professionals are essential. This should be the main emphasis in marketing a service and can be achieved in a number of ways:
r Using staff profiles and professional qualifications (within ethical guidelines – see below).
r Providing examples of professional staff’s experience, background and specific interest and expertise, e.g. 10 years’ experience in coun- selling or an interest in stress management.
r Providing references from other satisfied customers.
Physical Evidence Physical evidence is the tangible aspect of service delivery, including equipment and facilities. Customers are interested in the types of facilities used for service delivery and may request a visit to premises. They may want to see a mobile screening unit, inspect equipment in use, view examples of report styles and so on.
Other things that can be used as tangible physical evidence of a quality service include new, modern equipment and disabled access to premises. Copies of standard letters, reports and consent forms can be
useful in demonstrating style and format, but care is essential to ensure medical and commercial confidentiality.
Also helpful is evidence of software used for recording health screen- ing activities, appointment recall systems and production of reports.
Statistical reports and outcome of services, such as statistics showing a reduction in sickness absence for a customer or cost savings made by decreased litigation and savings in employer’s liability premiums can be very useful.
Process The process of service delivery needs to be clear and this includes nature of referrals, turnaround time for reports, format of re- porting, policies, procedures and agreed outcomes.
The service provider may have a quality system in place, which can be used to demonstrate a consistent method of service delivery with audited processes (see Chapter 4).
Other examples of the process of service delivery are: use of com- puterised appointment, recall and reporting systems; written policies and procedures for tasks, confidentiality and storage of records; com- pliance with ethical and professional guidelines; evidence of calibration and maintenance of equipment; system for handling customer feedback and complaints.
Product What exactly is the service ‘marketing’?
r A ‘one stop shop’ offering a comprehensive range of skill mix, in- cluding occupational health nurses and physicians plus health and safety advisers, ergonomists, physiotherapists, etc.?
r A nurse-based service with an appropriate skill mix and particular expertise in health promotion, health screening, stress management and sickness absence intervention?
r Particular expertise in one key area such as stress management, coun- selling, travel health?
r A task-based service for customers with a specific need, e.g. audiom- etry, risk assessment?
By identifying the expertise within the team and the aims and objectives of the service, the nature of the product and type of service on offer can be identified and an appropriate marketing plan created. Any service is doomed to fail if it markets a product or service it cannot adequately deliver. This inevitably leads to disappointed or dissatisfied customers who will not make use of the service again.
Place It is essential to consider where the service will be carried out.
The service provider may have premises in a central location, easily accessible to all customers. But what about the customer with loca- tions beyond the central area or staff working in remote areas? How
will they access the service? Will employees be expected to travel to the service provider or is a mobile peripatetic service to be made available?
Many SMEs do not have appropriate facilities within the work envi- ronment to carry out an on-site occupational health service, e.g. those based in small garages and workshops. They may also be reluctant to allow staff time away from work to access an occupational health ser- vice. This can present a challenge in service delivery. Some occupational health services meet this need by using fully equipped mobile units. In practice, staff can be mobile, and some equipment, such as vitalographs, is easily portable; however, a soundproof audiometry booth does not pack down easily!
Price Remember, pricing is only one of the seven Ps within the market- ing mix. As stated earlier, it is a falsehood that customers are interested only in price; they may well have other areas of priority. Organisations will not always opt for the cheapest provider; many will be prepared to pay a premium price for perceived quality of staff, prompt turnaround times for reports, accessibility of services or other components of service delivery.
In any commercial operation, a fundamental objective is to make a financial profit in order to survive. As discussed below, occupational health service provision can be carried out on a commercial basis with- out compromising professional and ethical standards.
Prudent financial planning will achieve the business objective of mak- ing a profit in order to survive but can also provide funds for training, investment in facilities and resources, and the ongoing development and education of staff.
Pricing for profit, therefore, is important. However, if the customer can remember only the price of the service, it suggests that perhaps the quality was lacking in some way. In occupational health we would hope that the competence and professional approach of the staff would be more readily recalled.
Prices can be calculated by:
1. Fee for service: each item of service has a price and the customer pays per number of items used. This is often used as a means of pricing task-based services involving equipment, such as lung function tests or audiometry tests.
2. Cost of professional time: this allows the customer to be charged in units of time, usually on an hourly, half-day or full-day rate. This can allow the customer to make the best use of the professional’s skills, contracting for an agreed period of time during which a variety of services can be carried out.
When costing work, the occupational health nurse has to consider cov- ering the direct and indirect costs of offering the service. These will include:
r Staff salaries and benefits (including employer’s contribution to pen- sion scheme, National Insurance, etc.).
r Cost of premises and running costs of facilities.
r Maintenance of equipment.
r Consumables.
r Professional indemnity and insurance.
r Training and development of staff.
r Transport (peripatetic or multi-site location).
r Depreciation of resources.
r Profit element.
Pricing is an important area in which expert advice may be required.
Pricing is also influenced by other factors, including:
r Price charged by competitors: while customers may be prepared to pay a premium for a quality service, they are likely to be aware of the ‘going rate’ offered by other providers. This will have to be taken into account when pricing services.
r Constraints made by government or outside agencies: e.g. some NHS Trusts and local authorities are bound by government policies on pricing, outsourcing and income generation.
r What customers are prepared to pay: the concept of ‘value for money’
is ultimately decided by the customer and is intrinsically connected to the quality of the service. Employers are normally looking for financial benefits from occupational health, such as a reduction in sickness absence and improved productivity from a fit workforce.
Perception of ‘value for money’ can influence the price employers are prepared to pay in achieving their own financial objectives.
Promotion There are a large number of methods, direct and indirect, that can be used to communicate with existing and potential customers.
The aim of promotion is to get the service known to all and to portray a particular image of the service.
The style and content of promotional material are important. Promo- tional material has to appeal to a wide range of customers. It must be visually attractive in order to encourage them to pick it up and read the content. Logos and brand names can be useful in attracting attention and encouraging people to find out more about the services on offer.
Examples of ‘straplines’ include:
r Occupational Health – Making your Workplace Better (WellWork Ltd, promotional material).
r Occupational Health Solutions (Business Healthcare, promotional material).
Once the reader has been attracted to the promotional material, the style and content of the information must be presented in a manner that will encourage them to read on. It is vital to avoid technical jargon and use language that will appeal to a range of readers. The emphasis should be on the benefits occupational health can bring to the customer and the unique selling points that the provider has to offer.
Promotional materials for services need to highlight the benefits of the service to the customer, rather than just present lengthy lists of the services on offer. Customers need to know how these can make a differ- ence to their organisation. For example:
r Cost savings due to a reduction in sickness absence.
r Reduced threat of litigation.
r Reduction in workplace accidents and inherent costs.
r Potential for reduction in employer’s liability insurance.
A professional image can be portrayed by consistency in letterheads, business cards and promotional leaflets. Good quality paper should be used for stationery, with printing in a clear typeface. This helps create an image of attention to detail, quality and reliability. The use of printed business cards, including staff qualifications, promotes the professional expertise available and provides customers with readily available con- tact details.
Most organisations will have a web site to promote their business.
The layout and design of the web site must also portray the profes- sional image you wish to promote. If the graphics, text and functions are clear and stimulating this will enhance the image of a forward think- ing, proactive organisation. Web pages can be used to outline services, introduce staff and promote events you may be planning. Video images can graphically display facilities. Offering direct e-mail contact encour- ages immediate access and interaction should the potential customer wish to contact you. Web pages can provide links to other sites of mu- tual interest, such as professional bodies, to provide a comprehensive occupational health network. It is essential that web sites and promo- tional literature be updated on a regular basis, to ensure only current information is conveyed.
Networking is regularly carried out by nurses at seminars, confer- ences and in day-to-day interactions with colleagues and other contacts.
Occupational health nurses working in single-handed posts often rely on networking to avoid professional isolation.
Networking is not only used to maintain contact with peers and for personal development; it is also an essential marketing tool. Network- ing affords an opportunity to explore an overview of current trends, discover contracts coming up for renewal and learn of colleagues who may be looking for a change of post or direction. This can be useful information in establishing new contacts, potential work and an aware- ness of colleagues’ movements. Some or all of these may be useful in