SmileMakers Dental Blog

It has now been ten weeks since returning from our Guatemala Dental Trip — 2009 was an amazing year!

Click here to see more photos from our trip.

Our first week was in the Northern Jungle town of El Remate; our second week was in the poor parts of Guatemala city and a kindergarten in a town outside Antigua called Pastores; our third and fourth weeks were spent providing treatment in the Western Highlands in the small remote town of Comitancillo (Comi) in the Department of San Marcos.  There are 60 smaller communities that consider Comi their city centre; many without dirt roads connecting them. In Comi, six dentists were available each day. Patients from small communities within 2-3 walking hours of Comi were designated a particular day for that community to walk to Comi and receive treatment by our three “in-town” dentists.  Farther more remote communities had the other three, “out-of-town” dentists drive to one of them to provide attention to that community for the day. With the donation last year of a gas compressor we were able this year to help previously unserviceable communities without electricity.  We’d awake with the sun and work until dark; exhausting and rewarding.  Even though many people went untreated, many others were taken out of pain because of our efforts.

“There is so much good that can be done in this world and this is just one of those little things we can do.” Trip Leader Dr. Brad Krusky Spring 2008.

These regions are not serviced by other dentists besides our group. The numerous patients with toothaches that waited over a year for someone to help were alleviated of constant pain. The very appreciative 194 men, 545 women, 214 boys and 230 girls were reminded that the treatment we provided was only possible because of support back home. These 1183 patients received 2999 more procedures than would have ever happened in their lives without support.

This year, with one extra week, increased efficiency, more donations & volunteers we provided 42% more patients with 56% more procedures than last year.  Over the past year, a group we work with closely, AMMID (Association Maya-Mam of Research and Development) collected a 15 page petition of signatures and fingerprints, (from those who can’t write), requesting we build a permanent clinic in Comi.  A requested plot of land has been donated by the municipality.  In partnership with AMMID, we have kicked off a campaign to raise the funds to construct and equip the clinic.  The land has passed environmental and engineering studies and excavation plans are underway.

Turn on the volume & see this video from Pastores:

To understanding dental marketing, you must start with this phrase: “If you don’t ask, you don’t receive… However, beware! You may get what you ask for.”

I’ll tell you a story about a client I worked with years ago. She came into my office and said, “Jim, I just built an outrageously beautiful new practice facility downtown. It’s just absolutely fantastic! But what I want from you, as fast as I can get it, is as many patients as you can possibly get me!”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve got to have patients to pay for that office,” she said.

I said, “Fine.”

Three and a half months later, I got a phone call: “Jim, I’ve got a problem.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

“I’ve got 57 new patients a month!” she said.

“But you asked for all the new patients you could get!”

“I can’t service 57 new patients a month! I’m doing nothing but examinations. I don’t have time for operative!”

Okay… Remember what I said about being careful what you wish for? Because if you market yourself using the principles I talk about, you could find yourself overwhelmed by the response you get. So let’s start with an important question: How many new patients do you really need a month?

But is that the REAL question? Or is it: On how many new patients can you do a full diagnosis and case presentation? You have an ethical obligation to your community to take care of the patients you see. You can’t just cherry-pick through 57 new patients a month. You won’t have time to do a good job on any of them.

So on how many new patients can you perform full diagnosis and case presentation in one month? The average number of production days in a month for a normal doctor is about 16. On a consistent basis, the number of new patients that a doctor can generally see is about two new patients a day and still maintain a productive operative schedule. That means, allowing time for operative, you’re going to want to see two new patients every day in a steady stream. That means the maximum number of new patients that you can handle in a given month is about 32.

Some will be children, some will have perfect teeth and some, God forbid, will not accept your treatment plan. Depending on your style of dentistry, even 32 could be too many. But remember, the REAL question is: “On how many new patients can you perform full diagnosis and case presentation?” Is anything more… ethical?

The master of system design and technology, W. Edwards Deming, famously said, “94% of success is the system, 6% is creativity.” After WWII, Deming went to Japan to rebuild industry using systems that target quality. He practiced it, he preached it, and it’s now become accepted truth in business.

A good program for marketing includes straightforward, step-by-step systems, and it’s important that you follow them.

I’ve seen lots of marketing problems over the years. Sometimes a doctor will say, “Hey, I got this great idea from one guy, and another from another guy, and I kind of combined them together into this one big great idea.”

Guess what? It won’t work. To be successful in your dental marketing, you must preserve the integrity of the system. I don’t care what system you use. The key thing here is to use one system consistently because it is designed to work as a whole. When you take bits and pieces of different ideas and put them together, you can defeat the entire system. So stay with your system.

First, choose systems that compliment your personality. I can’t stress this enough. It’s important! For example, I know one doctor who has an elephant. A literal elephant. And this doctor would go on late-night TV in his jeans, flannel shirt, and cowboy hat, riding his elephant. He’d say, “Come one, come all, and come on down and see the biggest teeth in town!” He was comfortable with that style of practice marketing.

Now, the question I’ve got to ask you is: would you be comfortable sitting on the back of an elephant telling everybody to come on down to your dental office? Perhaps not. What works for one doctor is not necessarily going to work for all doctors. This is what you’ve got to be careful about when you’re selecting your marketing strategies. You’ve got to make sure that they complement your personality.

Next, we want to start with strategies that have the lowest cost of acquisition. Why spend a dollar more than you need to before you have to? So start with the strategies that cost the least to acquire, then build up as needed and as new patients join the practice.

The third thing to remember is to choose systems that target the types of patients you want and screen out undesirables. We all know who the undesirable patient is: it’s the patient who calls you at 11:30 on Saturday night with a toothache and wants you to prescribe drugs over the phone.

And finally, we want marketing strategies that preheat the patients for case acceptance. And what does it cost you to get these referrals? Absolutely nothing other than treating your current patients correctly.

Not long ago, I got a letter from a doctor’s spouse complaining about the amount of time it took to set up an Internet marketing program - about 2 hours. This included a teleconference to customize the doctor’s Internet directory program with a practice profile and geographic markets, a complete email newsletter and patient communications program, and the selection of their dental Web site options.

Wow! Two whole hours to set up a comprehensive Internet marketing campaign targeted at cosmetic patients - each worth about $3,000 net to the bottom line at a cost of just $280 a month. Has there been a mental disconnect here?

Even if this doctor’s time was worth $1,000 an hour net, one new cosmetic patient a month will net him $30,000 by the end of the first year. These people didn’t want a marketing campaign - they wanted a magic bullet!

I’ve seen this magic bullet syndrome before, and not just in marketing. For years, we used a software program in our dental consulting business to manage practice statistics and team bonus programs. The time commitment? Two hours set up by the doctor and 45 minutes of team time a month. Net average increase in income? About $45,000 a year - and we still got complaints that it took too much time to administer.

The truth is that dental marketing and management are part of the doctor’s job description. Often a minor investment of your time in either can generate an outrageous increase in your bottom line.

In marketing, you are either pregnant or you’re not. There is no gray area. If you are going to professionally market and manage your practice, make the commitment or don’t. But if you do, follow through with it.

Think about it for a second - if you were the prospective patient, where would YOU look on the Internet to find a dentist? You’d probably use a search engine to accomplish that task. This means that your dental practice website will need to use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) principles in order to gain maximum search engine presence.

Visibility is the name of the game if you want to be found on the Internet. It all comes down to the search engines and SEO technology and research. If you think ‘Cosmetic Dentistry’ has become a buzzword of sorts over the past few years, look into Search Engine Optimization - it’s a multi-billion dollar industry in and of itself. Yes, that’s billion.

Then there’s the age-old question: When will I see a return on my investment? Do you honestly expect some arbitrary date in the near future when you will magically begin to recoup your investment? Sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it?

I can give you average dates all day long, but they don’t mean anything to YOU and YOUR practice. I’ve had a practice in Texas getting a full ortho case in less than 30 days and another in California get a major implant case in just a week from their dental practice websites.

Rather than you asking me when you will see a return on investment, I’m asking you; “How well prepared are you to deal with the requests that come through the Internet?” Up to 50% of all new patient appointments requests are lost at the front desk. We don’t want to see this system generating lots of appointment requests each month for your practice and having them lost due to poor follow-up, weak appointment setting skills, or worse yet, because of an apathetic, ill- trained receptionist.

Consumers can have a hard time telling one dental practice from another - that’s why it’s so important to differentiate yourself from your competitors. The key to successful marketing is being able to answer the questions: What makes your product better than the other guy’s?

Of course, there’s your experience and your education, the quality of your work and the thoughtful care provided by your team, your convenient location and your areas of specialty. You’re no marketing dummy - you know all this.

But don’t forget to think of it from the patient’s standpoint. When it comes to selecting a dentist, patients are as likely to be influenced by small factors as large ones. That means that small changes to your practice (changes that may seem superficial to you!) can keep the loyalty of existing patients and help draw in new ones as well.

By now you’re ready for me to get to the point. Reading your local newsweekly, I came across a short article listing dentists with DVD players. Patients can bring their own movies to watch or select from the dentists’ libraries.

Letting a patient watch a movie while you tinker away doesn’t change the quality of care you provide, but it does change the patient’s experience. And when it comes to marketing your practice, the one is just as important as the other.

It makes me think of children begging their parents to buy the SUV with the TV screen in the back seat. It’s a minor change customers perceive as more desirable. And do you know what? It sells a lot of SUVs!

So while your thinking big with your marketing plans, don’t forget to think small too. A fresh coat of paint, nice background music, a comfy chair, a movie to watch - these little things are an important part of your patients’ experience.

I’m trying to train you to be a marketing genius. So don’t forget to let people know about any improvements you’ve made. Remember, it’s not really bragging if you’re providing a benefit. If you have an ongoing patient communication program (like a regular newsletter), make sure to include this sort of information. Patients actually want to know about those things!

Our New Spring 2009 Dental Catalog is bigger and better than ever - packed full of new and expanded ideas on how to reward a child for a great check up, market your practice successfully and improve patient retention through effective communication.

And don’t forget, we have the lowest price around on Bags, Magnets, Recall and Appointment Cards! We understand every penny counts when trying to grow your business!

So, What’s New…

We’ve revamped our catalog layout to make one stop shopping easier. Rewards and Practice Building tools are now located in two easy to use sections, clearly separated by a handy tab divider for your convenience.

As always, we bring you tons of new options for prizes that will make children just love visiting your practice. Check out our cool, new Dental themed toys and hot character stickers.

New, fun Characters have joined the “party” to help you communicate more successfully with your patients! Take Home Bags, Recall and Appointment Cards are now available with Sponge Bob, Barbie, Shrek, Dora, Diego and Hot Wheels designs.

A new line of office décor will help you to spruce up your practice and differentiate yourself from your competition. Our exclusive range of dental themed posters will brighten any wall, new custom welcome mats will help to greet your patients with warmth, and new custom welcome mats will help to greet your patients with warmth.

A new line of greeting cards will help you professionally express your gratitude for your patient’s loyalty. Note cards provide a special touch that will build relationships and keep patients coming back. Available in colorful Welcome, Thank You and Birthday designs.

You asked and we listened…our recall card line has been expanded to include the cards that you need to help you improve patient retention. New designs now available in our product range: Hygienist, Orthodontic, Welcome, Patient Acquisition, Pediatric, Appointment Confirmation and Cosmetic.

Create an appointment and business cards unique to your practice and on budget with our new economical range. Available with a variety of colors, layouts and messages.

A new line of pre-inked custom stamps perfect for making daily office administration easier.

New fully custom magnets and pencils - now you can be the designer and create a promotional giveaway that speaks to your practice brand and maximizes patient acquisition strategies.

We hope you enjoy all that’s new for Spring 2009 and if you have any suggested ideas of products you would like to see us offer in the future then please email us.