Ep: 17 - Field Marketers as Relationship Builders

If, as marketers, you have passion for your product and can relay that through any medium, you will be truly effective at sharing your differentiator with the healthcare community.

Join our conversation with Francisco "Paco" Gonzaba,  the transformational Executive Director of Business Operations at Gonzaba Medical Group:

• Bringing systems and processes to a new marketing department
• What is unique about the field marketer’s mindset
• Passion for product and compassion for the target demographic

Ready to learn more about how marketing affects the much-needed paradigm shift in the US healthcare model? Let’s dive in. 

“Having compassion for your target demographic can give you insight on how best to approach them.” — Paco Gonzaba

Historically compassionate

Over sixty years ago, Paco’s father, Dr. Bill Gonzaba, established a one-room clinic in the South Flores (aka SoFlo) neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. 

An area rich in early-20th century architecture and now home to a globally known art district, Dr. Gonzaba saw first-hand how SoFlo’s residents lacked access to vital medical services.

Gonzaba Medical Group has scaled from a small family business into one of the largest specialty care organizations in the region, with over 800 employees. Its robust infrastructure includes an in-house IT department that leverages the latest tech to offer cutting-edge care.

Paco started working part-time at the clinic over twelve years ago while studying business at the University of Texas. He now holds a Master’s degree in science, which gives him a highly focused ability to execute multi-faceted growth strategies.

Art and analytics

Gonzaba had traditionally relied on a tried-and-true marketing approach of grassroots events and word of mouth. They knew they were beloved by their community, but had no ability to quantify the success of any specific tactic. So Paco introduced Salesforce to the team.

He created a flexible, innovative marketing structure that marries art and science to bring their brand of patient-driven healthcare to a much wider audience. They’re still utilizing organic outreach, but now data plays a key role in their success. 

“Marketing is key because we’re taking the brand to the community and trying to share with them our differentiator and why they should join us.” — Paco Gonzaba

Patient-centric

Most US healthcare providers are volume-based, meaning they need to see a lot of patients to make a profit. Clearly, delivering individualized service and building generational relationships isn’t a priority.

At Gonzaba, their goal is population health. And because they’re doing so well, other entities are trying to stick a toe in their market. 

“We’re a privately owned, independent medical practice,” Paco states, and not “backed by private equity deep pockets.” But Gonzaba has a crucial advantage.

The importance of having a culture. Their immense brand equity has been lovingly crafted for decades by working with patients como familia — as a family. 

Know your demographic

Healthcare is a vast and complex industry that’s extremely competitive and particularly volatile right now in the wake of the pandemic. But no matter what business you’re in, Paco’s top piece of advice is elemental. 

You can’t lose sight of your target demographic. You have to understand the influencers of your audience, he points out, you also have to know what appeals to them, and how they’re going to encounter your brand.

Gonzaba is offering a sensitive product, and they take a personalized, long-term approach that really works. 

“The field marketing team is a relationship-building team.” — Paco Gonzaba

A different mindset

Paco and his interdisciplinary team are optimizing with consistently fresh brand messaging and an emphasis on field marketing. 

They’re building vital relationships between insurance brokerages and eligible members of the community. This helps ensure that their older constituents get the coverage they need while becoming familiar with the array of beneficial services provided by Gonzaba Medical Group.

Education is a vital component of their winning strategy. Gonzaba developed a widely-shared directory that highlights their many specialties and experienced physicians. 

The Gonzaba Event Center features classes and activities — and four times a year they host the region’s largest senior dance events with thousands of participants.

That’s just one channel they’re using to reach wider strata of potential patients. 

Product passion

Since Gonzaba’s target demo is adults 55 and older, their lively contact center regularly executes effective telesales campaigns. They’ve also created an online ecosystem via social media, as today’s seniors are more active there than ever before. 

Paco believes that this definitely helps with patient retention and engagement, as does an effective martech stack. 

Salesforce is definitely in his top three. He also employs Microsoft Power BI for a variety of data visualization needs, and Basecamp as a project management tool.

He shares his top marketing op takeaway: deeply understand your product. Know what your differentiator is inside and out, and be able to relay that through any medium. 

Every target demographic appreciates passion.

More information about Paco and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francisco-paco-gonzaba/ 
• Company Website: https://www.gonzaba.com/