Mac Gambill knows a thing or two about how to communicate with your clients for better engagement...
This week, my #1 Nudge compatriot Mac Gambill and I took a break from running the company to deep dive on one of our favorite topics: digital communication for client engagement.
Engagement is our raison d'être at Nudge, and digital communications are the center of our sweet spot, so if you’re ready to learn the secrets of effective digital communications with your clients then you’re in the right place.
To summarize what you need to know about effective digital communication: It’s about delivering the right message, to the right client, in the right way, at the right time.
Easy right?
If you like what hear in this conversation, check out more episodes of Scale Well. Subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. Below is a reference so you can find what you’re looking for in this episode.
[0:22] - Check out Medical Fitness Tour 2018. Phil will be at the first stop, Feb. 2nd-4th in Phoenix, Arizona.
[2:13] - Mac and Phil discuss the different methods of communication and how to engage most effectively with clients on a digital platform. Plus why they both got into this.
[4:20] - Go to Scale Well Podcast Episode 23 for a deeper dive with Dr. Steve Feyrer-Melk and Matt Essex on using asynchronous communication versus synchronous communication in healthcare engagement, and which types of communication are more appropriate at different times than others?
[5:21] - Four different types of communication. (1) Personal, one-to-one communications ("Nudges"), (2) In-the-moment group communications, (3) Pre-scheduled personal or group communications, and (4) Pre-scheduled repeating messages ("Reminders").
“I think it was Dr. Steve who had this definition recently that a personal nudge needs to include both their “why” and their personal regimen or a reference from a previous conversation.”
[6:12] - Importance of how you’re engaging a client and the method you’re using being aligned with the content you’re offering them. Scenario examples of when these different types of communication are appropriate.
[8:29] - Asynchronous communication, meeting the consumer where they are and offering value to your clients by reaching them at the best times for them.
[9:50] - Difference between personal one-to-one messages versus scheduled messages and why that difference is important.
[10:23] - The length of your message does not correlate to the value of your message!
“The length of your message does not correlate to the value of your message.”
[13:00] - Group Communication and how that is different from personal and one to one communication. Keeping communication relevant to the why of the entire group.
[15:00] - Useful Reminder Communications, repeating scheduled messages. See more details on the scheduled messages update to Nudge Coach here. Also the value of understanding when your clients want to be engaged and how they want to be engaged is critical.
“Think about the length of a tweet, or maybe a litle longer, and keep it actionable ... so invoke thought or action.”
[17:45] - Use a combination of these methods of communication in a complementary fashion.
[21:00] - Web of engagement: opening the door to being able to engage and communicate with different people in various ways. That can make such a difference in making and forming relationships with your clients.
[23:25] - A teaser for a future episode about diving into communication even further to cover how you can develop a strategy for engagement based on a matrix of health status or conditions on one axis, and readiness for change on the other.
“I think where healthcare has failed has been that data has not turned into a relevant touchpoint or communication to the patient or client.”
Read more on flipping the healthcare engagement model to solve this failing here.
[24:55] - All forms of communication can be beneficial, but not all communications should be viewed the same. They can all be incredibly powerful but you need to use them strategically and tactfully.
“One word of warning: It’s much easier to turn someone off with an irrelevant communication than it is to build trust.”
Watch a full review of using Scheduled Messages in Nudge Coach, the do's and don'ts and best practices here.
