Scarcity Marketing Explained: Application in healthcare.

What if you positioned your practice like Tim Hortons in the land of Dunkin’?

 

By Editor-in-Chief, Concierge Medicine Today/Host, The DocPreneur Leadership Podcast

 

So, I’m riding shotgun with my teenage son who some of you have met, Matthew, riding through Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (yes, that’s a real place in Canada—not a children’s book or a lumberjack’s nickname). We’re up there visiting family when suddenly, Matthew blurts out:

“Hey Dad! Look—Tim Hortons!”
You’d think he’d spotted Bigfoot holding a maple donut.

 

Now, we live in the southeastern U.S.—where Tim Hortons isn’t exactly on every corner like it is up north (oddly enough though, they just opened one of two here in Suwanee, GA and Columbus, GA -- so lucky us!). Around here however, it’s all Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme and Waffle House. But to us? Tim Hortons is like spotting a unicorn running a drive-thru window. Which is precisely the point!

 

This, my friends, is called 'scarcity marketing.'

 

Scarcity marketing is when something becomes more desirable simply because it’s rare, hard to get, or only available some of the time. Ever had Duck Donuts? Those of you who know, you know, right!?

 

It’s psychology. It’s strategy. It’s genius—and yet, most physicians and practice administrators in healthcare don’t use it.

 

Let’s bring it back to your work more specifically in concierge medicine.

 

Scarcity is sort of baked into the concierge medicine model isn't it? After all, most concierge doctors cap their patient panel. Their not located everywhere and heck, sometimes the doctor only takes on only 500 patients a year. You’re not walking into that kind of practice on a whim with your phone in one had and WebMD printout in the other.

 

But here’s where it gets tricky:
Post-COVID, patients discovered this magical thing called options. Telehealth exploded. Everyone became a semi-professional medical researcher on Instagram and TikTok. Suddenly, your patients didn’t need to be within 10 miles to “see” a doctor. And now that we’ve entered the golden age of medical TikToks and YouTube health webinar gurus, even your great aunt knows how to self-diagnose using AI.

 

The result? Patients are more informed, but not necessarily more connected.

 

That's where you and your concierge practice come in and have the advantage.

 

Sure, while accessibility is great, it’s created a weird paradox. The more available something is, the less valuable it feels. Just ask Blockbuster how that went.

 

On top of that, many low-cost primary care and "affordable" (think sub $99/pmpm) subscription-based practices still haven’t fully bounced back from their pre-pandemic rhythm. Why? Because “urgent care is just easier,” or so they’ve been told. It’s the fast-food equivalent of healthcare—convenient, but not memorable, right?

 

Even still today, some medical practices have dropped their prices in hopes of attracting more patients. But marketing by being “the cheapest” (oops, sorry, most affordable) often becomes a race to the bottom. Spoiler alert: there’s not a trophy at the bottom -- maybe just some warm fuzzies though!

 

One industry expert we interviewed and spoke to rece