Most organizations know they need help with growth, referral relationships, marketing, or patient experience. But many leaders are not sure how to evaluate marketing and business development vendors.
That gap can lead to frustration, wasted time, and sometimes expensive missteps.
If you are considering bringing in outside strategic support, here are the questions you should be asking and the things you should know before you start.
Questions Prospective Clients Often Don’t Know to Ask
Many leaders start by asking about price or project scope. Those questions matter, but they are not the most important ones.
Start here instead.
Do you mark up services?
Some consulting firms resell marketing services, advertising, software, or vendor relationships. That is not necessarily a problem, but you should know whether markups are involved and how those relationships work.
Transparency matters.
What specialties have you worked in?
Healthcare strategy is not one-size-fits-all. A practice that primarily serves referring physicians operates very differently from a direct-to-consumer specialty. Pediatric, surgical, infusion, imaging, and hospital-based services all have unique referral dynamics and operational realities.
Experience across relevant medical specialties brings valuable perspective and the strategist should understand the nuances of your environment. If they have no direct healthcare experience, build in lots of time for explanations. And, if it involves copy writing, plan on providing most language and reserve extra time for editing.
Tell me about a client success.
Good consultants should be able to explain how their work helped an organization grow, solve a problem, or improve operations. They should have many relevant examples.
Tell me about a failure.
This question matters just as much. Strategy work involves experimentation and learning. The best advisors can talk openly about what did not work, what they learned, and how they adjusted. They should also be able to share client characteristics that aren’t a good fit for them.
Preparation Increases Efficiency
Healthcare consulting relationships are most productive when the client comes prepared. Time really is money in strategy work. The more information you can provide up front, the more efficient and valuable the engagement will be.
Bring:
- Performance data
- Referral reports
- Marketing metrics
- Internal resource availability
- Organizational goals
- Operational constraints
Context allows a strategist to move quickly past surface-level conversations and into meaningful analysis.
Be prepared to do some boring work to prepare your practice for marketing before the more exciting strategies. If you have internal resources, improve the operational foundation before you start marketing. If not, a good consultant should advise and assist with what needs to happen to set the practice up for marketing success.
How to Avoid Hiring the Wrong Strategist
One of the simplest safeguards is also the most overlooked. Ask for references. Talk to organizations that have worked with the consultant before. Ask about communication style, responsiveness, follow-through, and results.
Also pay attention to how the strategist approaches your initial conversation. Do they ask thoughtful questions about your operations? Do they try to understand your patient journey, referral sources, and internal constraints? Or do they jump straight into selling services? Good strategists spend a lot of time listening.
What Separates the Good From the Bad
In any consulting industry, transparency is the dividing line.
Red flags often include:
- Hidden markups on services
- Lack of clarity about scope
- Overpromising results
- Recommendations with no consideration for speciality, geography, and nuance
Strong strategists operate differently. They are clear about how they work, honest about limitations, and focused on practical execution.
When Organizations Most Often Need Strategic Support
Many consulting engagements are not ongoing retainers. Instead, they happen at key transition points in an organization’s lifecycle.
Some of the most common triggers include:
Onboarding New Practitioners
New clinicians need visibility quickly. That often requires a coordinated strategy that includes referral outreach, digital presence, and internal communication. Ideally, these strategies start three to four months before the clinician starts seeing patients.
Opening New Locations
Expansion brings operational and marketing complexity. Branding, messaging, referral relationships, and patient awareness all need to align across markets. Start on these the minute a firm address is in hand, especially if it’s a relocation over a new location.
Rebranding or Changing Your Name
A new name or logo affects everything from your website to referral communication. Strategic oversight helps ensure the transition is clear and cohesive.
Organizations navigating brand positioning often find it helpful to think intentionally about how their services are presented to both patients and referring physicians.
Revenue Growth Initiatives
When organizations are pursuing growth, the work often involves multiple disciplines including marketing, business development, patient access, and operational improvements.
In many specialties, revenue growth ultimately ties back to referral relationships and physician outreach. Strategic planning around this work is essential. For an example of how this plays out operationally, see our post on strategies for growing physician referrals.
Final Thought
Hiring a marketing and business development vendor should feel like bringing in a partner who helps you see your organization more clearly.
The best engagements are collaborative. They combine your internal knowledge of patients, clinicians, and operations with an outside perspective that helps identify opportunities and remove friction.
The more transparent the conversation and the more prepared you are going into it, the more valuable the relationship will be.
If you are approaching a transition point such as growth, expansion, or rebranding, it may be the right time to bring that perspective into the room.
