Thriving Practice with Tracy Cherpeski
Sep 16, 2026 · 37 min · 12 segments
What if your biggest marketing problem isn't actually a marketing problem? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Ashley Gay — founder of Digital Ash Agency and a fierce champion of the…
Ashley GayGuest
Tracy CherpeskiHost
So branding historically, when you listen to somebody like me talking about branding, it's incredibly obnoxious.
I mean, we can wax poetic about branding forever because we're nerdy and we love it, right? But the simplest way that I can put it is what, what your, your practice is associated with, what feelings are they associ- is- does it bring up? And that any touchpoint with the patient experience will inform your brand whether you do it on purpose or not.
So people before they even decide to be your patient, they're being informed by your brand about how easy it is to make that appointment, about who they spoke to on the phone and how they were spoken to, how easy it was to pay, how, [laughs] how easy it was to park at your office, how easy it was to, um...
Or w- were they greeted in the right way when they got there? Now, these are all things that happen before they even see the doctor.
Because a lot of a practice's brand is the doctor and how they interact with the patient, and that's usually the most memorable.
But most of the doctors that I know do that very, very well, but they discount everything else around them.
Most high-end service professionals, which is what a doctor is, they tend to build their practices with them at the center of their business universe.
Now, if we flip that and we put the patient at the middle of the business universe, not the care universe.
The care universe, they're always there, but the center of the business universe, well, that looks a little bit different.
That can mean some, some processes that are not as efficient as they otherwise would be, and some time and energy that's sacrificed on the patient's behalf just to ensure they have a good experience.
And this is how we evangelize patients on our behalf is the experience they have.
It's also the visuals and the messaging, and that's where your marketing comes in.
But unless we really stop and be intentional about who you are, what you want a patient to experience when they come to your office, your practice can run away with you a little bit and you're less confident in the decisions you make going forward if you don't have those guidelines set from the beginning.
So I always like to say your brand is how someone feels when they interact with your office.
So branding historically, when you listen to somebody like me talking about branding, it's incredibly obnoxious.
I mean, we can wax poetic about branding forever because we're nerdy and we love it, right? But the simplest way that I can put it is what, what your, your practice is associated with, what feelings are they associ- is- does it bring up? And that any touchpoint with the patient experience will inform your brand whether you do it on purpose or not.
So people before they even decide to be your patient, they're being informed by your brand about how easy it is to make that appointment, about who they spoke to on the phone and how they were spoken to, how easy it was to pay, how, [laughs] how easy it was to park at your office, how easy it was to, um...
Or w- were they greeted in the right way when they got there? Now, these are all things that happen before they even see the doctor.
Because a lot of a practice's brand is the doctor and how they interact with the patient, and that's usually the most memorable.
But most of the doctors that I know do that very, very well, but they discount everything else around them.
Most high-end service professionals, which is what a doctor is, they tend to build their practices with them at the center of their business universe.
Now, if we flip that and we put the patient at the middle of the business universe, not the care universe.
The care universe, they're always there, but the center of the business universe, well, that looks a little bit different.
That can mean some, some processes that are not as efficient as they otherwise would be, and some time and energy that's sacrificed on the patient's behalf just to ensure they have a good experience.
And this is how we evangelize patients on our behalf is the experience they have.
It's also the visuals and the messaging, and that's where your marketing comes in.
But unless we really stop and be intentional about who you are, what you want a patient to experience when they come to your office, your practice can run away with you a little bit and you're less confident in the decisions you make going forward if you don't have those guidelines set from the beginning.
So I always like to say your brand is how someone feels when they interact with your office.
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