Are You Ready for the Moment Your CEO Asks, “How Is Marketing Contributing To Our Revenue Opportunities?”

Mike Milligan

“Eighty percent of CEOs don’t really trust marketers,” says Mike Milligan, President of Legato Healthcare Marketing, Inc., citing a recent Fournaise Marketing Group survey of high-level decisions-makers. “This is painful for me to say because I’ve been on both sides of the health care marketing table. But I’ve also learned that before you can overcome a challenge, you have to know what you’re up against,” Milligan says.

What are health care marketers up against? For starters, a fundamental lack of understanding between marketers and CEOs. “Even if a CEO is fully on board with the functions of the Marketing Department, there’s often a disconnect between the two,” Milligan notes.

So what’s the answer? “Marketers need to start thinking—and speaking—like CEOs,” says Milligan. “Think about it: C-suite staff is analytical; summary-oriented; focused on profitability, patient volume, quality scores, ROI. If Marketing wants to gain buy-in, backing, and trust from executives, it’s going to take both sides of the brain.”

Milligan advises marketers to do their homework before meeting with the C-Suite, including:

• Reading both the strategic plan and current operating plan.
• Understanding the organization’s goals and being prepared to explain how the marketing plan or campaign is aligned with those goals.
• Understanding and addressing at least one major concern of C-suite executives.

Milligan also underscores the importance of using the right metrics. He explains how one health network overhauled its marketing of four service lines and achieved some staggeringly impressive results—including a $1,664,000 increase in catheterization lab revenues compared to the same five months in the previous year.

Click here to read the full story: Think Like a Health Care CEO and Elevate the Role of Marketing.

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President