THE UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION IN MEDICAL TOURISM...

THE UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION IN MEDICAL TOURISM...                

                               WHAT'S YOURS?

18 May 2017

How important is having a unique value proposition in medical tourism? And what are the most common marketing mistakes made?

In the medical tourism business, are there any hospitals and clinics that have a clear idea what a unique value proposition (UVP) is? How many have identified what their UVP is AND communicate this to their target audience?

 Marketing in medical travel is usually focused on advertising and promotion. But to get it right, you have to get back to marketing basics. 

So... what is a unique value proposition?

Your unique value proposition:

1.   explains how you solve a problem or meet a customer need.

2.   highlights specific benefits of your product or service offering.

3.   tells the potential customer why they should buy from you.

4.   communicates how you are different from/better than your competition.

Your UVP is the sweet spot between - what you can offer, what others are not offering and what your customers need..      

                        So, what's yours?

          Take a few minutes to write it down.

Now score it against the four statements above.

Do you score 4 out of 4?           What's missing?

Common mistakes in creating a unique value proposition

Please select at random as I always do some web sites that might be found by a patient considering health tourism

Ask yourself what is the UVP of each of these health tourism providers?

A common failure made in medical tourism marketing is not communicating a clear and differentiated UVP.

Here are the most frequent mistakes:

Ø  It’s about me, not you

Ø  Most of the examples tell the customer. "this is what we do" not this is what we can do for you. They don't focus on customer benefits. They focus on the provider's products and services.

Ø  It’s not unique

Ø  In medical tourism, nearly everyone sells the same thing... price and quality.

Ø  There's little differentiation between agencies, facilitators and clinics.

Ø   A prospective patient knows that they're going to save money.

Ø  That's why they have come to the web site.

Ø  So, what makes one provider different or better than their competitors?

Ø   Why should the patient choose your clinic/service?

Ø  It doesn’t say what I will get

Ø  The customer is the focus of successful marketing.

Ø  It's not about you, your clinic, or your doctors.

Ø  It's about how you will meet the customer's need. Never forget that, and always focus on what you will deliver that meets that need.

How to discover your UVP

To create your UVP, you really need to understand your customers and what they are looking for. So, here is a simple suggestion to help you to think like a customer.

Go out in to your clinic waiting area. Go and chat to a few of your customers, and ask them to complete the following sentences in their own words:

·         I came to your clinic because...

·         The things I value most about your service are...

·         You're better than competing hospitals and clinics because...

You may be surprised by what they say.

And their responses may give you some insight into what your unique value proposition should be.