The best way to generate referrals for your practice is to offer an exceptional experience and outcomes that result in satisfied patients.

Furthermore, referrals are the most scalable form of lead generation, because the cost of advertising will only increase.

Expanding via warm audiences will always beat cold audiences because referrals from warm audiences are more likely to adopt procedures and be able to afford your services.

The world’s most successful brands rarely need to set up referral programs. Their customers are already incentivized to refer because the product or service is that good.

Unlock More Patient Referrals: Focus on Patient Experience Over Incentives

If you’re not getting all the patient referrals you want, I recommend you objectively assess and improve your patient experience. No amount of incentivization will make up for a poor or mediocre patient experience.

Improving your fulfillment takes time, so If you wish to set up a patient referral program in the meantime, I advise considering the value the patient is receiving from making the recommendation in non-financial terms.

My experience with thousands of refractive surgery patients is that offering financial incentives to refer their friends and family does little to increase referrals, and sometimes serves to reduce them.

Your patients will most likely refer to people they already know. So, there will likely be an emotional benefit that accrues to the referrer when making the referral. They will have ‘skin in the game’ because they will perceive that their reputation, credibility, and status in the eyes of the referred patient will be linked to the outcome of the referred patient’s experience. The referred patient will associate the value they received with the referring patient.

I’ve found that these types of customers are more likely to refer when the financial reward for referring is either non-existent or modest and falls below what they might consider being “bought” or “bribed”. These types of customers who make personal introductions to their existing network are different from ‘affiliates’ who will promote on a brand’s behalf solely because they have a financial incentive to do so.

I believe this also applies to most optometrists.

This is one reason I’ll likely never make a lot from affiliate commissions on the products or services I personally promote. I’m careful, to recommend only people or products that I feel will genuinely benefit the intended recipient, never solely for an affiliate commission, no matter how attractive. The risk to my reputation of making a poor recommendation is sufficiently high to act as a deterrent, compared to any financial incentive.

How to recognise and reward patients for referrals

I encourage all surgeons to recognise and reward patients who refer other patients. However, instead of sending money or gifts on a per-referral or referral volume tier basis, I’d advise you carry out one of the following alternatives:

1. Thank-you notes: A personalised, handwritten thank-you note can go a long way. This simple gesture can show appreciation and help strengthen the relationship with the referring patient.
2. Charitable Donations: Instead of paying patients, offer to make a charitable donation on their behalf to a healthcare-related charity or non-profit organization for each successful referral. This way, patients can feel that they’re contributing to a good cause.
3. Recognition and Acknowledgment: Recognize and publicly acknowledge patients who refer others. You can create a “referral wall” in your practice, and feature their stories on your website, social media, or in newsletter/email communications, showcasing their commitment to spreading the word about health and wellness.
4. Patient Appreciation Events: Host events specifically for patients as a token of appreciation. This could be an annual picnic, an evening out, or another gathering that strengthens the sense of community among your patients.
5. Exclusive Events: Organize exclusive events and invite patients who refer others to attend (i.e. a group dinner with the surgeon). This adds an element of exclusivity and value to their referral efforts.
6. Referral Contests: Organize referral contests for patients who refer the most people within a specific time frame. This encourages friendly competition and engagement. As a prize, you can offer swag such as your practice-branded merchandise, such as t-shirts, mugs, stickers, lens cloths, umbrellas, or tote bags, that have no monetary value.

As a side note, what your competition offers as a referral incentive is irrelevant. By the time your patient is poised to refer a friend, they couldn’t care less about what your competitors offer to refer a patient. Those offers don’t apply to them.

I’ll leave you with a final thought experiment: If you could only get new patients from referrals, what would your service delivery look like?

Note: Be sure to consult with legal counsel to ensure any incentive program, monetary or non-monetary, complies with local, state, and federal laws, regulations and professional standards and ethics.