Selling Wellness: Strategic Planning is the Way

By Phyllis Hanlon

Businesses face their greatest threats from internal factors, according to Pamela Johnson, a wellness supervisor at Northern Indiana’s WorkingWell occupational health network. Obese, stressed, sedentary, disengaged, and chronically ill employees impact a company’s prosperity. But evolving healthcare laws, the trend toward preventative medicine, and the plethora of available options pose a challenge for decision-makers who want to address employee health issues. This is where smart marketing can make your wellness program a key part of an employer’s health management strategy.

A study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reports that workplace health promotion programs can reduce average worker health costs by 18 percent and as much as 28 percent for older workers. Specifically, medical care expenses per person could be reduced by approximately $650. Also, in a boon for their investors, companies that invest in a culture of health ultimately derive a financial advantage over competitors, according to another study. Add in the benefits of reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and higher retention rates, the argument for implementing a wellness program becomes apparent.

Have A Plan

According to Ms. Johnson, preventable illness comprises 90 percent of overall healthcare costs. In an effort to ameliorate this burden, over 81 percent of American businesses have some kind of health promotion program in place. While some companies do biometric screenings or other types of health risk assessments, they don’t often follow up with a program to address the medical issues that plague employees. This provides a prime opportunity for companies offering wellness programs.

“Wellness used to be an informal, fun thing. Now it’s more complicated. So our marketing strategy comes from a place of being a partner with clients, no matter how big or small their resources are,” Ms. Johnson said.

Before targeting potential clients, Ms. Johnson suggests creating a marketing plan that establishes a vision, a strategy, and an action plan. “Because we are committed to strict protocols and strategic planning, you can be sure we have a long and short-term marketing plan in place for each area of the business,” she said. “We have doubled in growth just in the past year and having a detailed roadmap is the only way to navigate successfully.”

When developing a marketing plan, wellness programs would be wise to adopt a competitive advantage statement, that is, a brief explanation of what differentiates your company in the marketplace. WorkingWell embraces the credo: “A Certified and Customized Work Site Health and Wellness Solution.” Ms. Johnson added that, “We follow this up with our holistic wellness education program. This program is administered through our wellness portal. Our advantage is simply that we get results by offering the most advanced approach to wellness at a very competitive price by leveraging our vast resources and multiple locations.”

Ms. Johnson noted that in 2013, WorkingWell mobilized a new wellness team strategic plan that partners with the client to help them establish long and short-term plans for employee wellness. “We design a plan based on the resources of the employer and health of the employees. We come in with customized services that [can] tailor a program based on [the client’s] needs. For example, because wellness is rooted in ever-changing legislation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we roll the latest regulations into our program. Someone on staff is an expert in the ACA and communicates the changes to the client. This means our customers do not have to worry about compliance or fines. This also means we will help them get from where they are to where they want to be, even if using many of our services becomes part of their strategic plan for the future,” Ms. Johnson said.

Know Your Program

To create the most appropriate marketing plan, a wellness company has to understand exactly what they are offering and who the target audience is. Does the program focus on exercise, nutrition, and smoking cessation, or does it offer a combination of health risk measurements? The answers will influence their marketing strategy, said Fred Goldstein, acting executive director at Population Health Alliance, an advocacy, research, and education organization.

Also, your strategy will differ depending on whether your target market is a small, mid-size, or major corporation in a local, regional, or national arena, said Mr. Goldstein. Unless your company has a national presence, it is best to target smaller employer groups. “If a company is coming to compete in a larger space, it has to have a well-integrated and fully functional program with documented outcomes and considerably more variation,” he said. “Regardless of your audience, you should have a brand value related to what you deliver.”

Yale Miller, executive vice president of Aegis Health Group, said employers want cost-effective programs with measurable outcomes. “They are typically interested in reducing risk and increasing return on investment. You need to know what the employer wants. Be sure to speak in business terms and avoid the word ‘wellness.’ Health and population management are the buzzwords we use. Wellness seems undefined,” said Mr. Miller.

Rather than tackle a broad range of issues, Mr. Miller recommends addressing no more than three problem areas that will have the biggest impact. “If you look at statistics, four behaviors drive 75 percent of all chronic disease: exercise, diet, tobacco, and stress,” he said. “Part of the business strategy should be to survey the workforce about their interests and health risks.” Mr. Miller added that programs administered by local providers fare better than those provided by third-party wellness companies or insurance companies. A local provider has knowledge of and access to area resources and a better understanding of the company’s social, cultural, and environmental aspects. “[Local providers] can provide a continuum of care,” he noted.

Start At The Top

Simon Abbott, principal at Abbott & Company LLC in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a management consulting firm specializing in healthcare and population health management, said it is best to start at the top when marketing a wellness program. “Senior-level management these days is trying to reduce costs. To convince leadership your program is a worthwhile investment, you need to demonstrate how it will make a difference. You have to be able to show the program can turn an investment fairly quickly,” he said, emphasizing that decisions to purchase a wellness program will be analyzed carefully and may receive pushback. Abbott added that human resource departments are also a good place to begin.

Sallie Scovill, Ph.D., associate professor of Health Promotion and Wellness at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, agrees. “A wellness program requires a big financial output. You have to capture the attention of human resources or senior-level officers who can commit to a program.”

When trying to get your wellness company in front of a prospective client, credibility goes a long way. That is, the name or affiliation of your hospital may be an influential factor, said Dr. Scovill. “If you’re attached to a university, medical center, nursing school, or research institution, you’ll have a strong presence in the market. For an independent consultant, it’s harder,” she said. “You don’t have the technology and infrastructure a larger vendor has to back up what you want to offer. You have to make sure you can manage, deliver, maintain, follow up, and analyze data.”

Regardless of the size of your program and the market you are targeting, Dr. Scovill strongly suggests following the Wellness Council of America’s seven benchmarks. Using these best practice guidelines as a foundation, a wellness company can help an employer reach its goals. Even more important though, is to be upfront about the time it takes to change habits. “It takes two to five years and you have to commit the time and money,” said Dr. Scovill.

Seven steps to convincing an employer your wellness program is a great investment

Create a marketing plan
Adopt a competitive advantage
statement
Know and communicate what
your program offers
Understand your potential
client’s needs
Approach senior management
Use a variety of traditional
and technological marketing
methods
Know your competitors

The services your program offers will dictate the optimal marketing methods. “Membership in organizations can provide research, advocacy, and networking opportunities. It can help you get recognition,” Mr. Goldstein said. Dr. Scovill suggests attending conferences and reading journals like The Art and Science of Health Promotion and the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine to stay abreast of current news. Publication in an industry journal will put your program in the spotlight.

Presenting at conferences and seminars will also promote your program, said Kevin Trangle, MD, M.B.A., founder, and medical director of Kevin Trangle & Associates. “It’s a good idea to present to groups that have more leverage. For instance, you could address TPAs (third-party administrators) who do workers’ compensation or you could present to attorney, human resource, labor relations, or insurance groups. This is a better approach than going company by company,” Dr. Trangle said.

Traditional methods like direct mail, radio, television, and newspaper ads, as well as billboards, still occupy a small space in an overall marketing strategy. Digital tools have the edge in today’s round-the-clock connected world. Websites often serve as the first point of contact between a company and a potential client. Ms. Johnson said the WorkingWell website is constantly updated to reflect innovations. “We have our services listed at one URL for WorkingWell and we have a separate ‘toolbelt’ website that offers a great visual overview of our services,” she said. “One thing that has really helped our clients is an online scheduler that is another great form of communication and service.”

Social media is an inexpensive way to spread your message, and most companies have a presence on business-focused sites such as LinkedIn. Mr. Goldstein said wellness discussion groups on these sites can result in new business, and webinars are another great venue for disseminating valuable information and promoting your company.

In 2004, the health fair became a “must” for presenting wellness programs to companies, said John Buckley, CEO of Health Fairs Direct. Seventy percent of corporations in a variety of industries sponsor these events, he said. “A health fair brings together lots of local resources so employers can learn what is in the vicinity,” he explained. Assembling chiropractors, orthopedists, nutritionists, acupuncturists, dentists, and other wellness professionals offers the employer a one-stop shopping experience. Wellness companies, on the other hand, have a prime opportunity to market their programs to a wider audience in one venue.

Basically, health fairs are opportunities to both educate employers and clarify misconceptions. “This becomes a dissemination tool for exhibitors. Any health and wellness-related vendor can benefit,” said Mr. Buckley. “It brings the wellness program to life.” While some potential employer clients may be reluctant to hold a health fair, Mr. Buckley suggests explaining the value of such events. Specifically, that they may provide a way to decrease turnover, absenteeism, and accidents. Any company running a wellness program should be sponsoring health fairs twice a year, he added.

Communicate Your Value

Before approaching potential clients with your wellness program, you should evaluate your approach, your portfolio of services, and your relevancy to their needs. Understanding the value you can bring to a company and clearly communicating it may convince an employer your program is the one that can help it reach its goals. It is also a good idea to keep an eye on what your competitors are saying and doing, said Mr. Goldstein. “Recognize what is important in the marketplace so your organization can compete. Create a culture of health and explain your uniqueness and how it delivers value to differentiate yourself.”

“As hospitals move from fee-for-service to outcome-based reimbursement models, they want to get in front of chronic disease,” Mr. Miller said. “Employers are a good place to meet the population in defining that place. Programs that are skewed toward prevention are the natural next step in wellness.”

“To convince leadership your program is a worthwhile investment, you need to demonstrate how it will make a difference.”
—Simon Abbott, principal at Abbott & Company LLC

The Wellness Council of America or WELCOA (www.workingwelltools.org)

has been studying and promoting the health of America’s workforce for two decades. At the core of its patented Well Workplace model are seven benchmarks for success, all of which are “inherent in companies that have built results-oriented wellness programs.”