Archive for Dental Office Marketing
Distinguish Your Dental Practice – So What is your Distinctive Competency?
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What is your distinctive competency? How do you appear different than the practice down the block? What makes your practice so unique that people want to come to you for dental care?
The more similar a business to another, the more important the distinctions. The more dental offices there are in your neighborhood, the harder you have to work to stand out.
Action step: Set time aside at your next team meeting for this activity. With your team, stand in front of a large mirror and ask yourselves these questions:
- How does our team go the extra mile?
- What do we do to encourage patients to seek us out?
- How are we different?
Play off of each other’s answers: tag onto what someone else said, encourage contributions. Above all things, record your responses.
When your list is completed, share it. Because what you’re looking for is looking for you.
Kindergarten for Dentists – Make Reading Fun!
Posted by: | CommentsAs a lifelong learner, I often find myself reading business and personal development books. This has made a tremendous difference in my life. Each month, I gift my Full Contact Coaching© clients with a book that I know they will love; one that will improve their practice.
Kindergarten teachers are always trying to make reading fun for their students; I used to see my wife, a Kindergarten teacher for 36+ years, do this every day. So, what about business books?
Here are my 3 tips for reading business books and making them fun – believe it or not!:
1. Notice the key points or best ideas and jot them down in a notebook. Later, list how you plan to implement those ideas in your dental practice. By writing the steps down, you are subconsciously setting the intention that you will get it done. Set time to formulate those ideas into a typed up, formal plan. Turn this plan into your own personalized “toolbox” of business tips for your dental or healthcare practice.
2. Ask for recommendations from other professionals that you respect. They will be flattered that you thought of them. Remember to surround yourself with those who are “smarter” than you are; it will inspire you to be better and you will learn from them.
3. Know that some books will change your life. And that’s a good thing! The feedback I received from my aptly titled book, Killing the Practice Before It Kills You: How Throwing Out My Business Model Saved My Life, has been an eye-opener in terms of how many lives I’ve changed.
Remember that the more you read, the more you learn and digest and improve.
Kindergarten for Dentists – Start Slow
Posted by: | CommentsWhat happens when you implement a new strategy into your practice? Kindergarten teachers always start with the basics and start slow when implementing a new lesson to their class. As healthcare professionals and Dental CEOs, we should also constantly evaluate how we communicate and how we implement new practices.
Just as it is a Kindergarten teacher’s responsibility to use “easy language”, simple methods and techniques that students understand; it is for business leaders, too. Building this commonality in your practice will completely eliminate confusion, frustration and stress.
So how can you implement new strategies into your practice “the easy way”? When I killed my practice after my heart attack, subsequently fired and re-hired some of my staff, there was a large learning curve for my team. Things were going to be different, and they knew it. How did I avoid overwhelming them and creating a tense environment?
Use these three strategies:
1. Create a bond and alliance with your team: Create a strong feeling of “team” so that they know they can always rely on you.
2. Use easy-to-understand terms: Use Open-Book Management practices, explain slowly and never be in a rush. Let them know you have ample time to answer questions.
3. Listen and adapt: Pay attention to what they say, and what they don’t say.
Kindergarten for Dentists – Use Your Words
Posted by: | CommentsIn Kindergarten, this meant for us to use our words instead of picking a fight. But, what about in dentistry? How can we use our words for the success of our practice?
Dental practice and marketing experts suggest that we learn how to use the right “language” when speaking with our patients to ensure that we get the results we want. This goes for us and our dental office team, as well.
As dentists – and business owners – sometimes we unintentionally “steer” our patients away from doing what we want them to do. We may say things like:
- Would you like to make an appointment for that [cleaning, cosmetic procedure, etc] now or just let me know some other time?
- Did you want to go ahead and pay today, or do you just want us to send you a bill?
- If you need to cancel, please just let us know.
When you speak in language like that – flexible, subconsciously ‘weak’ language – you are actually giving patients a choice. You are saying that it’s okay to make an appointment another time, pay when they can, cancel if they remember to or avoid an important procedure.
If you believe in the service and value that you are providing your patient – and have confidence – patients notice that. Consider making this “word adjustment” in your practice and see what benefits come about for you. You are the healthcare professional; if you are confident in what you have to say and request of your patients, they will listen. For example, change those sentences to be:
- I have Tuesday at 2pm and Friday at 4pm.Which of these two days works best for your next appointment?
- Mrs. Cuomo, your total investment is $1,500.00. How would you like to pay for this? We accept cash and can offer you a 5% pre-payment bookkeeping courtesy; your credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover); or we can arrange third-party financing. Which do you prefer?
- I wanted to remind you, Mrs. Stanich, we expect a 48-hour notification if you cannot make your appointment so that we can provide that time for another patient that is in need.
Kindergarten for Dentists: Compliments and Criticism
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes our dental offices are not unlike kindergarten classrooms – tears, tattling, teasing. What about playing a game with your staff that allows them to be more perceptive of negative and hurtful behaviors?
This is a unique Kindergarten game that can be easily adapted to a dental practice as well. How about using this at your next Morning Huddle?
1. Bring a bag of good quality chocolate candy, and a supply of tokens (poker chips work well) which the staff can barter.
2. Gather the staff at a table and distribute 10 tokens to each member. 1 token is worth 1 piece of chocolate.
3. Going around the table, each staff member makes a statement and the presents a token. The statement should thank someone for helping or for a special kindness that week, and then give a token to the person who performed the thoughtful act.
4. After everyone has taken a turn, the Dental CEO allows the staff to cash in their tokens for chocolate. (To make it even more interesting, use the tokens as points for gift cards or other small, nice gifts)
Happily, most staff members will love recognizing and acknowledging the kind contributions of their colleagues. Hopefully – you will even see some staff members volunteer “extra tokens” if someone made an especially kind gesture!
This may seem like a silly kindergarten game, but you will notice how you staff clearly enjoys the role of giving praise. They will also be more motivated to receive it from others!
Kindergarten for Dentists: Neatness Counts
Posted by: | CommentsRemember in Kindergarten when being graded, and the teacher would say “Children, neatness counts!” It counts in your dental practice, too. When a patient reads your marketing material or comes into your office for an initial cleaning appointment, they are making observations about you. These can be unconscious observations; they may not even know they are forming them. But the fact is, they are. And your kindergarten teacher was right – neatness counts!
1. Make it a habit to keep the reception area in your dental practice tidy, warm, clean and welcoming. While a pleasant reception area alone isn’t going to make a patient come back, it’s a sure bet that a messy and dirty one will make them not return!
2. In all of your marketing materials, pay close attention to grammar and spelling. Have several people proofread the final versions. First impressions count!
3. According to a 2010 study by Brother International Corp., office workers lose the equivalent of almost a week of work each year looking for files, online documents and office supplies. You do the math. The cost to your dental practice is astronomical. Makes sure that your own office is neat. If that’s not your area of expertise, bring in a professional organizer.
Kindergarten for Dentists – Celebrate Others
Posted by: | CommentsIn kindergarten, birthdays are the biggest deal in the world. There are sweet treats, decorations, things to play with and an overall atmosphere of fun. How often do you experience that much “fun” in your dental office? How do you celebrate birthdays, workplace anniversaries or Dental Hygiene Month (October)? What about routine things like your Morning Huddles and Monthly Team Meetings – do they feel joyful?
Creating small, but meaningful ways to celebrate in the office results in happier employees. As Dental CEOs, we know that this translates into high morale, low turnover, high patient satisfaction and so on. Here are my 3 tips for celebrating in the workplace:
1. Instead of bringing in the usual muffins and juice to a morning meeting, think about making it a little more special. Mix orange juice with non-alcoholic spritzer for fun drinks, and have the bakery decorate the treats with bright frosting and sprinkles.
2. Give gifts to recognize workplace anniversaries, birthdays and other milestones. They do not have to be expensive. Gifts are more meaningful when picked out especially for the recipient; something that does not feel generic. If it’s impossible for the doctor to do this due to time constraints, ask the employee’s closest workplace friend for ideas.
3. Have fun at your Morning Huddle meetings by bringing in inexpensive noisemakers and trinkets to team meetings. This encourages creativity – you will be surprised at the great ideas that your staff brings to the table when they are in a light, creative mood!
Kindergarten for Dentists – Play Fair
Posted by: | CommentsIn kindergarten, we are taught to “Play fair” by showing respect for each other, giving praise to our peers and not being boastful. Those are important life traits that we learn so early. How can we relay that information in our lives as not only adults, but doctors?
1. Show acknowledgment and praise for others in the community: Celebrate the successes of other local businesses that are improving and thriving in the community. Sending a congratulatory note when they expand business or have an anniversary is a polite gesture that shows your support and community unity.
2. Do not speak badly of another dentist’s work: If a patient comes in with work done by a previous dentist, remember to be professional and address the problem and the solution. Finding fault with their work (even if it’s true) and generally disparaging them are behaviors that have no place in your dental office. In all likelihood, that particular doctor is probably a lot like you – educated, committed, trying hard to treat his or her patients with the best oral health care. So, bury any negative comments.
3. Do not boast to patients that you are “the best.” They will find this out for themselves if you treat them well, take great care of their oral health and make the overall experience in your office a pleasant and positive experience. In other blogs, I constantly talk about how to make sure you stand out from the competition, learn what makes your dental services superior, etc.
Remember that arrogance, selfishness and conceit have no place in life or in your dental office
Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About….
Posted by: | Comments“Dentist review” sites are gaining popularity – Merchant Circle, Yelp, Angie’s List and others. It’s how many are selecting their dentist, with the help of what existing or former patients have to say about the dentist’s skill, professionalism, office atmosphere and more.
Now, word of mouth is one of my favorite and most powerful marketing strategies. Studies show that over 80% of consumers do research online before making a decision on a product or provider. It’s important to pay close attention to what people are talking about on these review sites. Here’s how:
1) Set up your profiles: Have an administrator from your office set up profiles on each of the popular sites. Having a complete profile looks more professional to users – include photos and your website, where applicable.
2) Use reviews as a marketing strategy: Copy positive reviews into your marketing materials and mention them in your website.
3) Ask nicely for reviews: Shower lots of appreciation on those that take the time out of their busy day to write a review. Encourage other patients to do so!
4) Counter negative comments: The faster you can address this, the better. Be prompt and professional – and offer a great solution to amend the problem. How do you know if angry patients are writing bad reviews? Set up a Google Alert – it’s fast, easy and free – and you will get notices when anything is posted about you.
