Editor’s Note

By Stacy M. Menz, PT, DPT

One of the benefits of being on maternity leave is I have had a lot of time to think and ponder different perspectives.

During that time, I started to think about our customers—who are they? Who do we need to demonstrate our value to? The obvious answer is the children for whom we provide therapy services and their families. Yes, we can break this down further and create personas, but the answer is still the kids and their families.

I decided to take this a step further while thinking about it. Aren’t the doctors and other health practitioners or childcare providers just as much our customer? Aren’t we marketing our services to them as well, given they have the potential to send more children and families to us? We want them to know who we are and the value of our services, so they know they are inclined to refer their network of people to our practice as well.

And, to go another step, aren’t the professionals and staff I haven’t yet hired a customer as well? We are marketing why we would be a good fit for them and what we can offer to them as they grow their career, as well as a practice they can be proud to call their own.

I guess what I am getting at is that thinking about the customer can be more nuanced than just the person who is receiving our services. They all fit together into a puzzle that creates the big picture of us providing excellent care, we create value around and “selling” our services.

Who else do you consider to be your customer? Or, more important, who should you consider to be your customer but you are overlooking?