Barriers to purchase
There is an old saying- ‘I live in a box which is in a tunnel, which is under the sea. If you want me, find me.’
Barriers to purchase, as the name suggests are the various barriers that the consumers have to overcome in order to buy a service or a product. The barriers can be physical, psychological or financial. It always makes sense to list down the various barriers that your clients may have to overcome in order to reach you. Once you know the barriers, you can dismantle them one by one and make it easy for the clients.
An Obs-Gynae hospital I visited for consulting a few days ago is located about 1 KM from the main road. The huge campus is very well maintained. Sadly many people don’t want to go that extra mile just because the campus and the hospital seems to be good. This is coupled by the fact that most of the ladies who visit the hospital come by buses and trains from nearby villages and are pregnant. They may find it difficult to walk a KM especially after the second trimester of their pregnancy. They would rather go to the government hospital which is located near the main road. Fortunately the hospital management was not resistant to change and they promptly deployed one of the ambulances to run as a free shuttle service between the main road and the hospital. Now the vehicle runs every one hour from the road to the hospital during the working hours.
There may be several barriers that may be stopping the patients to come to your hospital. In the next one month if you are able to create a list of the barriers to purchase [physical, psychological and financial] and a plan to dismantle those barriers one by one
Vivek Shukla
Vivek Shukla Healthcare Marketing Consultant Sai Mahima Hospital, Ram Nagar, Dharamshala H.P. 176215 India Phone +91-9816086868 vivekshukla2002@hotmail.com
