RHetoric

Now that a year has passed since the stimulus act became law, it's worth considering it's impact.  Many of our clients are selling into the government, healthcare, and education markets - and the impact has been significant.

On the one hand, our clients that sell to government agencies and education saw sales hold steady during the recession.  However there is new fear that the stimulus has mostly been spent and things will fall off a cliff in the year to come as massive holes open up in municipal budgets.

In healthcare, our clients saw a huge stall in 2009 as the promise of stimulus caused IT buyers to pause and wait for rules to be issued over what is or isn't covered by stimulus money.  However there is new optimism that money is starting to flow and the impact will hit in 2010.

Our client Onvia tracks this data down to the penny and told Fox Business News today that just 25% of the stimulus project money actually left Washington in 2009, yet the majority of it will reach the private sector this year.  Onvia also says that nearly half of all GDP is government spending - this is an astounding figure that may indicate anyone who ignores the government market is shelving half of their business development opportunity.

We'd love to hear from you if the stimulus has impacted your business, for better or worse.

The books are closed on 2009, and the various account teams at RH Strategic have been busy working with clients on their 2010 PR and marketing plans.  Here are some tactics we are recommending to clients and anyone else who wants to compete more aggressively for business in the healthcare, government, and technology markets this year.

This checklist is not a carbon copy of last year's recommendations.  That is because the landscape has been altered by current events (recession, stimulus spending) and the new ways prospects are gathering information (Twitter).

With that, here is the short list:

Move your best customers to the front.  In 2010, buyers will be cautious and looking for evidence that your solution is low risk - particularly in the government and healthcare markets but anywhere the recession has had a deep impact. Document your customers' best successes and market them through online case studies, speaker placements, press coverage, and awards. Sometimes a single case study becomes industry lore that generates returns for years!

Catch up with Twitter.  If you are still a cynic, it's really time to take another look.  Chances are good to excellent that some of your prospects are being heavily influenced by just a few people on Twitter.  You should be one of them - however avoid the bland corporate tweets that read like press releases. Focus on issues and ideas.  If you're already tweeting, focus on tagging to build followers.  Healthcare is surprisingly Twitter-friendly.

Update your web site with an inexpensive video or two.  The days of the $50,000, 15-minute corporate video are long, long gone.  The cost of web-quality video capture and editing has come way down.  Like down to a few thousand bucks.  And it turns out web visitors are much more likely to watch a 30-second video than they are to read web copy for 30 seconds.  Get a product developer on camera, a customer service rep, or your best customer.

Tie your messaging into what's happening in D.C. Let's face it: D.C. is the private sector's new partner in capitalism.  Buyers are looking for clues that you are in tune with directives coming from the top.  Creating jobs, fostering transparency, keeping Americans safe, improving patient safety - the list goes on.  Work it into your collateral, web site, and talking points.

Spruce up your proposals.  It will be important to show that you not only survived 2009, but you are leaping ahead in 2010.  A fresh, professional look and updated messaging communicates confidence and permanence.

Keep your web site current.  A regular drumbeat of press releases announcing customer wins, events you will be attending, and blog posts all show your company is current, relevant, and has momentum.  No one wants to call on a company whose last press release was April of 2008.  Regular content updates also do wonders for your search engine rankings.

And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t note that RH Strategic is happy to help with these or any of your communications needs in 2010.  All you need to do is drop me an e-mail at john (at) rhstrategic (dot) com, reference this blog post, and leave me an e-mail or phone number.  In most situations we would have a conversation about your needs and review some initial ideas from our team.  Then we will quickly craft a proposal that includes pricing for you to consider.  It’s pretty simple!

All the best for 2010.

I'm not sure what I expected of Alaska and although I never made it out of the "big city" into the villages, my trip to Anchorage exceeded my expectations. Not only was I taught how to tell my daughter I love you in a Yupik language by a kind Eskimo boy named Merlin, I was also touched by his father Butch who was flying to the University of Washington to treat his liver cancer. He talked with me about medicine in rural Alaska - and although I'm knowledgeable on this subject due to my work with GCI ConnectMD, I was still amazed to hear him point out his many challenges - things we urban dwellers often take for granted in the lower 48.

He said the paperwork to travel for any procedure is incredibly time consuming as a Medicare patient and often makes it difficult for him to be seen by a qualified doctor in a timely manner. Additionally, he said the travel back and forth to a hospital outside of his region is exhausting, requiring multiple plane rides for one visit - and often his condition requires many trips before an actual procedure is performed. Additionally, for most trips, he needs to enlist the help of a chaperone, which Medicare also pays for because his condition makes it difficult for him to travel long distances alone. GCI ConnectMD provides healthcare organizations with connectivity and communication tools for exchanging health related information and I began to wonder what Butch's life would be like if he could leverage these tools for check-ups via video teleconference or to re-gain his independence and travel to his nearby appointments alone. Clearly, reducing this sort of travel would diminish travel costs billed to Medicare as well.

It was wonderful to get to see the full GCI ConnectMD team, a group of people committed to providing health care tools and resources to their rural populations in Alaska and Washington State but it was especially satisfying to speak with a walking case for their technology.

Best of luck Butch!