PaperlessPractice: One-to-One Marketing Technology Goes Wireless
The next time you’re in a doctor’s waiting room or standing in line at a store, you may be greeted by Wink-an animated character developed to educate, inform and market to customers who are in “waiting situations.”
Scranton-based PaperlessPractice Inc. is hoping that Wink, the virtual host of their WinkPad software programs, will help make current marketing efforts that are targeted at waiting situations-such as video loops or literature racks-obsolete.
Making the Most of Downtime
The WinkPad is a lightweight handheld electronic device similar to a tablet PC. “Imagine a customer waiting in line at a bank to speak to a service representative about savings account options,” says Dr. Michael Neal, CEO of PaperlessPractice. “Instead of flipping through a literature rack full of out-of-date financial services information, this customer could be given a WinkPad. Before the meeting, he can provide Wink with a few answers about his particular financial goals situation and instantly be given helpful information.”
In this situation, Wink could not only identify the best account for the customer-which may be a new option just unveiled earlier that day-but also recommend other bank services such as retirement planning advice and products.
Education First
“The primary function of WinkPad is to educate the consumer,” says Neal, who is an optometrist-turned-entrepreneur. “We find that when education and information come first, the advertising and product sales take care of themselves. It’s a wonderful way to interact with consumers, earn their trust and quickly discover information about them.”
Neal offers another real-life example: A patient seeing a doctor about high blood pressure provides Wink answers to a few relevant lifestyle questions. Wink can quickly assemble an educational list of the most relevant and up-to-date information-such as tips for reducing high blood pressure or new pharmaceutical products that could help. “While they are waiting to see the doctor, patients can get customized rather than generalized information to help their situation,” says Neal.
Keeping Pace with Rapid Change
Through Wink’s web-based service, clients can quickly upload new content and immediately broadcast it to all their WinkPads. “If the home office of a national bank decides to create a new type of account with different features, or if interest rates change, the details are instantly updated to every one of the bank’s WinkPads. You can’t do that with a literature rack or TV loop,” says Neal.
WinkPad is also a great solution for customer surveying. “The marketing VP of a restaurant chain can sit down on a Monday morning, prepare a new survey by noon, publish it to all the WinkPads in all locations and be getting results back that afternoon,” Neal says.
An Advertising Breakthrough
By providing information and feedback in realtime, WinkPad can target a specific advertisement to a consumer and trigger a purchase incentive at the point of sale. Neal notes this is similar to the Google model. “They provide information first, and millions in advertising revenue follows. When you’re looking for something very specific, people appreciate the advertising.”
Using the WinkPad system, advertisers will have an attractive alternative to mass advertising media such as newspapers or radio. “If I’m in a store looking for digital cameras, I can provide Wink with a few answers about my preferences, and Wink can generate product-specific information to educate me on my purchase,” Neal says. “Then a targeted product-specific advertisement can be delivered, helping drive the sale at point of purchase.”
Neal says PaperlessPractice is transforming the message delivery and data collection process from complex and fixed to being simple and mobile. “One of our competitive advantages is that our system is easily portable and does not require a live connection to the Internet for the consumer to be able to use it.”
The View from 30,000 Feet
Neal’s interest in helping businesses use technology to market to consumers began during his optometric training. In fact, the first two products successfully commercialized by his company were FrameCam and LensCam. These innovative solutions enable eyeglass and contact lens wearers to virtually “try on” different frames and colored contact lenses before buying.
BFTP started working with Neal while he was still in the concept stage. Over the past three years, BFTP has invested $450,000 in PaperlessPractice, funds which have been used to refine and enhance the WinkCast system. The company, which now employs 20 people, is located in the Scranton Enterprise Center-part of the Ben Franklin Business Incubator Network.
“Mike came to us fresh out of optometry school and was looking to change the way the optometry industry managed its in-office marketing,” says Jerry Ephault, regional manager for BFTP/NEP.
BFTP helped Neal realize that the concept behind the LensCam had value far beyond the optometrist’s office. “The real value was in the data capture and the ability to interact with customers, which can be applied to many other markets,” says Ephault.
“BFTP has been absolutely instrumental in the success of our company,” Neal says. “It’s hard to beat. Jerry would even put someone in place to address a gap within our management team when we didn’t have the necessary staff or personnel in place. You don’t get that from most investment partners.”
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