I Love My Dentist

You need to be consistent and never allow things to fall through
the cracks. To run a business at the highest level you need to
make sure that perfection is the name of the game. Anything less
will result in a loss of positioning which leads to loss of income.

I’ve already discussed ‘follow through’ but it warrants repetition.
Creating new and exciting events but not following through on
the details is just a waste of time. Discussing sending out re-
activation letters, for example, and doing them just once is a
waste of time. You need to make sure that once an idea is born,
that you allow it time to flourish and grow. You need to make the
donuts…..

You need to be persistent. You can never waiver from your final
goals. Everyone will try to stop you in one way or another. Staff
may complain that it takes too much time, is too complicated.
Other dentists will tell you you’re nuts for doing “X”, your family
may think you’re spending too much time at the office (something
I hear from my 5 year old on a daily basis); some of your patients
may complain that all of this new stuff is just adding cost to their
treatment. If you believe in what you’re doing, you must be
persistent and never allow the fear mongers, or the naysayers to
put road blocks in your way.

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Chapter 12: Out of the Box Internal
Marketing

This is going to be a real fun chapter because I’m going to
provide you with down and dirty, real time tools and
techniques to start using tomorrow. All of these tools have
been used in my own practice so I know that they work. If reading
this is not to your liking and you prefer to see it live and in person
you can always take a look at our DVD at
http://www.dentalspacosmetics.com/dvd.htm. (I know a
shameless plug!).

I’ve divided the next two chapters into Internal and External
Marketing based upon how the tools are used rather than the
market you are trying to reach. The Internet is such a powerful
medium today that it reaches across both of those lines touching
your existing patients as well as potential new patients.

Internal Marketing Tools and Tricks

Voice Shot Fig. 3 Voice Shot
One of the ways we can easily
stay in touch with our patients
on a routine basis is by using
monthly telephone blasts. The

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tool we use today in our practice is Voice Shot.

Voice Shot (http://www.voiceshot.com) provides you with a cost
effective way to create a phone call message and then to have it
call your patients at a prescribed date and time.

For example: Using Mother’s Day as our Monthly Message

1. First you need to tell VoiceShot what kind of campaign
you are looking to create. Your choices are: Live Answer,
Answering Machine, or Both and then give it a
Campaign Name.

2. Next you need to record a message (i.e. Mother’s Day
message) using their online system.

3. You then need to export your patient telephone list
from your practice management system. NOTE: I would
suggest that you use the responsible party listing to
avoid multiple calls to any one home.

4. You then import that list into Voice Shot.
5. Voice Shot asks you when you want this call to be

scheduled.
6. You pay pennies per call via credit card.
7. You’re done!

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For Review these are the basic steps necessary to create a
VoiceShot outbound telephone call.

Fig. 4 Voice Shot Checklist
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It’s just that easy. But imagine how nice it is to receive such a
message. Right now, most dentists are not availing
themselves of this kind of technology so it is still fresh and
unique.

I can tell you personally that I get thank you(s) just about
every time I send out one of these calls. I do it monthly using
whatever holiday or occasion happens to occur that month.

I’ve also used Voice Shot to announce a new technology
(when we installed our new digital panoramic) and to
provide an incentive for treatment acceptance (Our Gas
Guzzler Saving Program).

Each and every time I use this service business increases in
one way or another. It is also a great way to re-activate
patients if you still have their current phone number.

By the way, as far as I know (and I’m not an attorney) the Do
Not Call List does not apply to us if the recipient is a patient
of record. I would suggest that you check this out online or
with your own attorney to be sure. To date, I have never had
a complaint.

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Written Testimonials
There is nothing better than a patient’s testimonial. I’ve used
testimonials for years as a way of showing new patients that they
have chosen the right dental office. Coming from an unbiased
source, testimonials work far better than anything the doctor or
staff can say about their office or services.

Up until recently, we used the printed testimonial in our office in
a wide variety of ways. I created a “Read What Others Have Said”
book using Picaboo (http://www.picaboo.com) and scattered
these booklets throughout the office!

I printed up smaller copies, once again using Picaboo, and send
them along with our Welcome Package to new patients.

I’ve actually sent them along with a Before and After Brochure
(also created in Picaboo) to new dentists opening in our area. We
hope that they will see what we do and hear firsthand how we do
it so that they will feel comfortable referring their patients to us
for dental care.

Voice Testimonials
Let’s take testimonials to a higher level. Let‘s put them on steroids
and use them to the fullest advantage by adding voice.

Just imagine the power of hearing, up close and personal, what
another patient has to say in their own voice. Compared to the
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written word, voice testimonials have the ability of actually
showing the emotions of the reader. You can feel the honesty in
their voice and tell immediately if this is real.

To create voice testimonials is very easy using: Audiogenerator.

Audiogenerator
To create your own voice testimonial using Audiogenerator you
need to:

1. Become a member of Audiogenerator. You can find a
link to their site at
http://www.dentalspacosmetics.com/dvd.htm.

2. Once you are a member you need to log in and click on
the Testimonial Recordings link on the left side of the
membership page.

3. On the next page you’ll find your 800# for patients to
call to leave their testimonial.

4. In our office once we hear a patient saying anything nice
we immediately ask them to record a testimonial. We
hand them a card with the 800# and ask them to record
a testimonial at their convenience. We offer them a
portable phone in our office if they feel comfortable
doing it at that time.

5. Once the recording is done, it will appear on your My
Testimonials page on Audiogenerator.

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6. To use the recording all you need to do is copy the code
they provide and have it pasted on your website or blog.
I happen to do this myself but it is just a matter of
seconds of time for your webmaster to do it for you.

We use these testimonials on our office website, in our blog and
on our office computers. Our staff is trained to use these voice
testimonials whenever the opportunity arises such as when a new
patient is in the dental chair and asks a specific question such as,
“What is a Lumineertm?” Without skipping a beat, our staff will
open the Lumineertm Voice Testimonial.

There are certainly other ways of creating and using voice
testimonials. You can use a simple hand recorder and then play it
back when appropriate. You can use the Sound Recorder on your
computer, create a WAV file and then use it in a similar manner.
None of these ways, however, provides the ease of use and
‘privacy’ associated with Audiogenerator. It is well worth the
couple of dollars a month to have this great tool in hand.

Using Email
OK. This is going to be a bit selfish but being a true believer in
being upfront I want to mention that the next product I am going
to discuss, DentiGramtm, is something I actually created and is
marketed by a company that I have an interest in as well. There
are, to be fair, other programs that do some or most of what

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DentiGramtm does but I honestly believe that for the dollar
nothing compares. That being said, you can apply most of what I
am going to talk about over the next couple of pages to most of
these programs as well.

I am going to use DentiGramtm as an example because 1) it does
all of the things I need it to do, 2) it’s my baby and 3) I know it
works.

As I mentioned in previous chapters there are lots and lots of
ways to reach and touch your patients. Email is just one tool but
because of its low cost and ease of use, I believe it is a very
valuable tool and should be in the armamentarium of every
marketer, both dental and non-dental.

Let’s talk about the main features first and then we’ll talk about
the actual integration into your practice.

eAppointment Reminders
DentiGramtm, as well as most of the other email programs,
provides a simple way of reaching your patients to confirm
appointments. These email reminders can be scheduled to arrive
at your patient’s inbox, for example, two weeks before the
appointment and then again, one or two days before. You have
the option of setting the delivery schedule based upon your office
protocol.

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Contained within the email message is a button that provides
your patient with the opportunity to just click on it to confirm
their appointment. If the appointment is not convenient they can
then call to reschedule.

Once the Confirm button is clicked a message appears on your
DentiGramtm home page alerting you to the confirmation. You will
also see a list of all patients that have not confirmed their
appointments as well. You can then call these people to verify
that they will, indeed, be keeping their scheduled appointment.
Last minute cancellations and disappointments can kill a
profitable schedule.

eCards
In a similar manner, using a program like DentiGramtm you can
send out timely eCards to one, some or all of your patients
automatically. These eCards can be sent on holidays, graduations,
baby births etc. Each eCard can be customized for a particular
patient or used ‘as is’ in a total patient list mailing. Holiday and
Birthday eCards are automatically sent to registered DentiGramtm
patients listed in the database.

eCards cover a wide range of topics, holidays, special occasions
etc and can be used to maintain contact with you patients during
the year with just a few clicks of the mouse.

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Once again, most of the email communication programs available
today have similar functionality. Take a look at all of them, check
out the cost but make use of this new technology today.

eCoupons
Another feature of DentiGramtm which may or may not be
available in other programs is the monthly eCoupon. These
coupons are totally customizable and can be used to provide
discounts etc for services within your practice such as Tooth
Whitening, New Patient Exams etc.

eMessaging
Another great tool that is available in DentiGramtm is eMessaging.
This text messaging tool allows you to immediately contact any
patient in your DentiGramtm database that has a cell phone. There
is no cost to the patient and you are almost assured of delivery.
The message is customizable for any and all types of
circumstances.

eNewsletter
This is probably one of the most powerful tools in the
DentiGramtm arsenal. DentiGramtm provides you with two types of
eNewsletters. One is a standard newsletter where the
copyrighters have completed most of the text for you. You can
make changes if you wish to suit your practice and then just Click
Send. Really fast, easy and simple to use.

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The other type of eNewsletter is more customizable. You can
either select from a Content Library of articles covering a wide
range of topics or add copy of your own. You can use the Content
Image Library to add images; photos etc to the newsletter or
upload your own images and save them to your personal library.
Once the newsletter is finished, yup, just Click and Send.

There are many other features included in DentiGramtm such as
Patient Re-activation, Referral Tracker (eReferral) and much,
much more.

Disclaimer: Once again, just to make
sure we are on level ground, I am a
principal in the company that
created and sells DentiGramtm.
There are other programs out there
that you can look at if this holds any
interest for you.

My personal belief, however, is that Email Communication
regardless of the product chosen is a very simple and cost
effective way to stay in touch with your patients? Just imagine
how this could be used in your practice.

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Chapter 13: Out of the Box External
Marketing Tools and Tricks in General

External Marketing Tools and Tricks

In this chapter I wanted to touch on a couple of ways to enhance
your external marketing. These tools really cross the boundary
between internal and external marketing but I felt that, for the
most part, they really provide an entry into your practice more for
those not currently associated with it.

These tools are really not in any specific order of importance. So
here goes…..

Podcasts
What are Podcasts in the first place?

Basically a Podcast is, according to the
New Oxford American Dictionary, "a
digital recording of a radio broadcast or
similar program, made available
on the Internet for downloading
to a personal audio player," but
the generally accepted definition
has expanded to include video as
well as audio.

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I think the expanded definition really should include any audio or
video information that can be easily transferred to another where
it can be listened to or viewed on that individual’s personal digital
device. Podcasts can be audio, video or a combination of both
media formats.

The first question you might ask is “Why do I need to learn to
create Podcasts of all things?” The answer is real simple. Podcasts
are:

1. Easy to do.
2. Cost practically nothing to create.
3. Can be used in a wide variety of way to increase new

patients.
4. Can be used in a numerous ways to maintain contact

with current patients.
5. They’re cool!

How to Create a Podcast
There are some basic steps you need to take to create a Podcast.

1. Market, Message and Media – The three most
important words in marketing.
a. Who is your target audience for this message?
You need to know who is going to receive it in

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order to make sure that the message is
relevant for the market.

i. However, there are times you may
just want to record something and
then figure out where it can be
used. A bit backwards, but hey,
who’s looking.

b. Once the market is determined, you need to
create your message. Write it down, rehearse
it and make sure it conveys your message.

c. Finally, you need to figure out what is the best
media to use for the delivery. Is it an audio file
(wav or mp3) or a video file (typically avi, swf
or even QuickTime if you’re a MAC user)

2. Create – Once you’ve completed Step 1 you need to
take the message you’ve written and figure out how you
want to create the file. You have several choices
(probably a lot more than I can talk about here)
a. Using Sound Record in Windows XP or Vista
you can simply record your message and save
it as a WAV file.
b. Using Audiogenerator (the link can be found
in the previous page or in the Resources
section) you can create the voice file. Another
nice feature of Audiogenerator is the ability to

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create a script and then read it from the
teleprompter while you are recording. Of
course, you can read from a piece of paper as
well with the other methods.
3. Publish – OK, you’ve created your Podcast and now
have a file sitting on your computer. What do you do
next? Well, you really have a whole bunch of choices. So
here is a partial list on where to publish:
a. Publish your Podcast on your own website
b. Add your Podcast to your Blog (don’t have one
then read on)
c. Add your Podcast to YouTube or one of the
other social sites
d. Create a link on your office computers and
play the Podcast for patients where the
content is pertinent to their dental health. For
example, you might create a Podcast about
tooth whitening. It may just be an audio file
that discusses the choices available in tooth
whitening or it can be a PowerPoint
presentation with voiceovers actually showing
before and after pictures. In either case, you
can place a link on your operatory computers
to show this Podcast at the right moment in
case presentation.

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e. You can provide these Podcasts in a format
that can be downloaded onto an IPod, IPhone
or other MP3 device.

f. You can provide a series of Podcasts on one or
a number of topics on a CD or DVD and then
distribute it to current and/or new patients.

4. Promote – Does a tree falling in the forest make any
noise if no one is there to hear it? The same applies to
Podcasts. They really need to be heard to be useful. So
the question is how do you promote your Podcast?
a. You need to yell it from the rafters. Your staff
needs to mention your podcasts to your
patients and explain to them how to access
them on your website and/or Blog. If the topic
is pertinent to their dental health they just
may go and listen. This is also a great way to
get the patient to start visiting your website
and using it as a source of up to date
information.
b. The same basically applies to your Blog as
well. In this case, you can actual ask them to
comment on the contents so that a dialogue
can begin. Keeping your patients interest will
not only create a great Blog but will become
viral in the sense that the more interaction

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that occurs, the greater the chance that
others will drop in to be part of the
conversation.
c. Announce your Podcast in your office
newsletter explaining how to find it, what it
contains and that it can be downloaded.
d. Send links to your podcast via email to all of
your patients once a month. If you are using
Audiogenerator to create your Podcast this is
as simple as cutting and pasting a link into
your email. There are numerous email
programs you can find that will allow you to
send broadcast emails to your patients. Once
again, as long as your patients provided you
with their email addresses, these emails are
not considered to be SPAM. (See Resources)
e. Once again get your Podcast listed on
YouTube or one of the other social sites.

Video Podcasts and More
Audio podcasts are easy to do and simple to promote but by
adding video to your Podcast you will create greater interest and
attention. Adding video is not all that tough using Instant Video
Generator, a product from the same company as Audiogenerator
(see Resources).

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The steps to create a video podcast (or any other video) using
Instant Video Generator are:

1. Market, Message and Media – sound boring but this
holds true for just about any marketing you plan on
doing. You need to determine your market, create an
appropriate message and then determine the correct
media to distribute that message.

2. For the purpose of this chapter we’ll assume you’ve
done all three as above.

3. Login to Instant Video Generator.
4. Select Video Recorder – The first step in recording your

video is to create a script. You do so using their script
recorder. Once it is finalized, you will be able to read it
off of a teleprompter during video recording. This is
immensely helpful especially in the beginning.
5. Record your Video – this is done, once again, through
Instant Video Recorder. Don’t worry, you can stop it at
any time, redo etc until you’re satisfied with the result.
6. Publish – Once you’re totally satisfied with your
production, you publish the video in one of a number of
formats. You can then place it on your website, in an
email or send it via a custom made digital postcard.

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Adding videos to a website increases viewer retention which
results in increased sales which in dental terms means more
new patients.

Web Sites
In this part of the chapter I just wanted to hit on a couple of
enhancements you can make in your current website. I am going
under the assumption that those of you reading this book already
have a website and therefore understand the importance of a
website in today’s marketing mix.

I can tell you personally that I have not one but several websites,
each linked to the other. My main website covers our office in
general with staff photos, a tour of the office, general dental
information, directions to the office, a method of registering a
new patient and much, much more.

My other sites are more specific in nature emphasizing implants
and cosmetic dentistry. Each of these sites hones in on the
importance of these modalities and spends all of the attention of
the viewer on these limited areas of treatment. If you have a
sedation practice, a practice doing lots of Endodontics or a
specialty practice which also uses new and exciting techniques,
you too can develop separate sites for each of these items making
sure to link one to the other. This increases the chance of being

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picked up by the search engine spiders resulting in an increase in
position in the various search engines.

There is no reason to divert the
attention of the viewer on things
that have no importance to them.

Why Does a Dentist Need a Website?
This question really should not deserve an answer today but, in
reality, there are still loads of dentists without websites.

In this day and age most people find their information on the
web. They use search engines like Google and Yahoo etc. to find
just about everything from cheap gas to a new physician and
dentist. They look at websites as a true source of information in
much the same way as they used to read encyclopedias and
newspapers. They believe what they see and read and make
critical decisions based upon that information.

Over the past several years I have seen, personally, a rapid growth
in the number of patients I see referred from my various
websites. Additionally, these patients seem to be more educated
and, believe it or not, seem to be more trusting. It seems that
looking at our website is almost as good as meeting us personally.
They tend to get a good feeling about whom and what we are by
looking at the various pages on our site.
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To stay afloat in this new economy and digital age, you absolutely
need to have at least one if not many websites. You need to
update them regularly keeping them fresh and current. You need
to alert you patients to the fact that your website is a true portal
to your practice; one which will provide them with valuable
information concerning their personal dental health.

If you’re now convinced that a website is not a luxury but a
necessity, you need to decide on what type of website to create.

Different Types of Websites
In my mind, there are basically three types of websites.

1. Brochure Websites – this is the type of website you see on
the web that shows pretty people on the home page with
lots of flash. Images go in and out and across the page. Very
pretty to look at but not very effective in capturing potential
patient information.

This type of website is more of an online brochure that tends
to brand the practice. If you look around the web you’ll find
that most dental practices use these types of websites and
truthfully, they all look the same.

2. Lead Generation – this type of website is designed to
capture the patient’s basic information so that you can then

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market to them over the next period of months and years. If
you think about it, it is a total waste of time (from your
standpoint) to have someone come to your site, obtain
information and then leave without your knowing it.

This type of website will have at least one form, usually on
several pages that requests at least the visitor’s first name
and email address. Once the visitor hits submit they are
taken to your main homepage where all of the information
they want is usually contained. The object, obviously, is to
garnish as many email addresses as possible so that you can
market to them on future occasions.

3. Combo – I think that the best website format for today’s
market is a combination of the two formats whereby you still
create a beautiful site that provides numerous opportunities
to collect important patient data.

I would imagine that most dental websites should have a
nice look and feel, provide information to the visitor and also
provide an opportunity for the visitor to request a free
report, a free newsletter or to ask questions that can be
answered by the doctor or staff. The object of a dental
website is to a) make the visitor as comfortable as possible
as quickly as possible, b) provide enough information to
satisfy the needs of the visitor (what were they looking for

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when they came to your site in the first place) and c) obtain
their name and email address so that if they do not call for
an appointment you can send them your newsletter etc. in
the future.

You should make sure that there is always a way for the
visitor to request an appointment. Also, make sure that your
office telephone number holds a prominent place on each
and every page. Don’t make visitors search high and low for
your office information. Make it as easy and as convenient as
possible for them to give you a call.

Enhancing Your Website
What can you do to make your website unique and different? If,
as I believe, you need to have a practice that is unique and
different, I would suggest that your website be the same. Just
having a website today is just not enough. Pretty much everybody
has one and in order to stand out you need to be different.

By the way, if you don’t have a website, don’t worry. We’ll show
you how to get a website up and running in a matter of
minutes….FREE. Now it may not have all of the bells and whistles
we’ll discuss in a moment but a website it will be. Once this is
done, you can take a moment to look into creating something
that will truly be an adjunct to your practice.

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Here are some tools to use to create a unique website:

Adding Audio
We’ve discussed the use of audio on your website in previous
chapters. Suffice it to say that adding audio to any website will
tend to capture the attention of your audience and keep them on
the page longer. That is one of the keys to website success.

Adding Video
Adding video goes one step further in keeping the attention of
your audience. Both audio and video are simple to create, easy to
insert and great for presenting information quickly.

One of the concerns when it comes to video is speed. The last
thing you want to do is have someone wait minutes to load a
video. One of the advantages of using a service like Instant Video
Generator is that the video is streamed from their servers and
therefore appears in just second.

Instant Video Generator is used in much the same manner as it is
in creating video podcasts. Once the video is created you have a
number of choices on how to use it on your website, blog or office
computer. Just use your imagination…..

Adding Pertinent Popups
This may be a bit controversial but adding popups can also
increase retention and interest. Now, as a dentist, I wouldn’t add
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popups about anything unrelated to the dental care of my
patients or something relating to my office. We use popups to
introduce new techniques and services, a change in schedule, a
new staff member etc. We do not use them to sell male
enhancement medication, vacation homes or magazine
subscriptions.

Keeping popups pertinent to the needs of you patients is the key
to using them efficiently and effectively without becoming a
nuisance.

A great resource for adding popups is a web based service call
AdImpact. With this web based product you use their templates
to create graphic popups that can be custom designed to open at
specific times, close at designated times, open other widows,
travel with the viewer down the page and much more. You can
find a link to this service at http://www.adimpact.com.

Fig. 5 AdImpact Popup In our office we have used
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introduce a new whitening
service. We designed the
popup so that if the patient

was interested in whitening
all they had to do was click

on the popup and they were taken to a separate page that
discussed whitening in all of its many facets. We made sure that
they never really left the original page so that when they closed
the whitening page we still had them on our home page.
AdImpact provides a number of different ways to use the popup
as well as over thirty different templates to choose from.

Lead Generation and the Forms – As I mentioned previously, one
if not the main, purpose of your website is to capture the
pertinent information of the visitor so that you can provide them
with appropriate information at a later date. In other words,
market to them continuously until they yell uncle.

There are several ways to do this but the big boys in marketing all
seem to use one web based service called AWeber. This company
provides a simple, wizard based, step by step process to create
the forms necessary and then provides the snippets of code
needed to implement the forms on your website or blog.

Here’s how it works:

1. First you need to become a member of AWeber and pay
the small monthly subscription fee. (You can find the
link to AWeber at
http://www.dentalspacosmetics.com/dvd.htm.

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2. Once you log into your account you can find Web Forms

under the Listings menu at the top of the page.

3. Next you need to click on Create Web Form.

4. On the next page you will be able to set up the web

details. It’s not the purpose of this book to be a support

arm of AWeber. You can, however, leave the details of

this page pretty much as they are for now. You can

always change them in the future.

5. Click Next.

6. On the next screen

you will create your

form. You can start

by clicking on the top

box and typing in

your headline. This

headline is the main

body of the form and

should include the Fig. 6 AWeber Lead Capture
text you want the Form

viewer to read such as: “If You Would Like a Copy of

Our Newsletter Please Complete the Form Below and

then Click Submit.”

7. Next you will complete the remainder of the form by

adding fields that the viewer needs to fill out before

they hit Submit such as Name and Email Address at the

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very least. If you choose, you can also ask for the
remainder of their address info as well. This will help
you when it comes time to send “snail” mail but may
hinder the viewer from completing the form. Most
people will provide their first name and email address
but will stop short when you ask for more personal
information.
8. If you want to get more cooperation you will need to
provide a free offer of some kind. Possibly a free report
on a specific dental topic or maybe a complimentary
smile analysis etc. The promotion is up to you but by
adding one you will definitely increase the percentage
of viewers that will provide you with this very important
information.
9. After you complete the form, AWeber will provide you
with the necessary code to paste into your website or
blog. This is not very tough to do and if your IT or
Webmaster starts charging you outrageous fees for
doing it…change your webmaster.

AWeber has many other features that make it a very valuable
addition to your marketing toolbox. Once the form is pasted on
your website, AWeber tracks the responses for you and saves all
entries in a database. You can now decide to use that information
to send the respondents additional marketing materials.

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Autoresponders: def. - Software tools
or agents running on web servers,
which automatically send a standard
reply to the sender of an email
message.

Autoresponders are a great way to stay in touch with minimal
effort. Autoresponders are emails, newsletters etc that are
automatically sent to a list of people without your personal
intervention. All you need to do is create the autoresponder one
time, set a time and date for its delivery and then AWeber will
send it to your list automatically without your ever touching a
computer key again.

As I’ve said before if you want to maximize the benefits of your
website adding forms to it can be extremely valuable. You should
place these forms throughout your website so that anyone visiting
can have an opportunity to request whatever it is that you are
offering. You can even add these forms into
a popup so that the impact is even greater.

CopyDoodles Fig. 7 CopyDoodle
This is a bit of a divergence from the other Coffee Stain
tools I’ve mentioned because it is not a web
based service or even a program. It is a whole

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bunch, 6000 or so, of graphics designed to enhance the look and
feel of your website. Everything from Arrows and boxes to a wide
variety of unique graphics are there for you to use (for some
reason they even have a coffee stain graphic) by just inserting
them into your document. These graphics come in different
formats to be used in printed material or on a website or blog.

CopyDoodles are used specifically to draw the

attention of the reader to the part of your

website, blog or even printed newsletter,

brochure or direct mail that you believe

Fig. 8 CopyDoodle warrants their attention.

Arrow You can see CopyDoodles

in use by just looking at the

“A Bright Idea” bulb used throughout this book.

This is only one small example of this very

powerful tool. You can find more information and a

link to this tool at Fig. 9 CopyDoodle
Graphic

http://www.dentalspacosmetics.com/dvd.htm

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Chapter 14: Blogs

This chapter will be devoted to a brief discussion of an integral
part of any online presence not only for dentists but for any
business looking to attract and keep the attention of
potential customers. Web sites were the online method of choice
during the 90’s but blogs have now taken over.

To understand the importance of blogs just look at the political
scene today. Some of the most powerful and influential groups
are the bloggers. They just may be responsible for the election of
our next president.

Blogs have gained popularity, in my opinion, because they are a
living and breathing entity. Good blogs are kept up to date so that
the viewer has something new to see and hear every time they
return. Good blogs provide a simple way for the visitor to
participate, vent and communicate with the blogger so that they
feel part of a community.

Blogs are easy to set up, usually free and even easier to maintain.
So let’s talk a bit about blogs…..

What Are Blogs
By definition a Blog or Weblog is a journal kept on the Internet.
This journal is often updated daily and contains all the

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information that the person maintaining the BLOG (the blogger)
wishes to share with the world.

Furthermore, blogs provide an easy way for the reader to respond
in a two way method of communication.

Why Does a Dentist Need One?
Just like a website, if you are going to appear to be unique and up
to date you just need to have a blog. Blogs are a great way to
communicate with patients if you are not a computer geek like
me. You can set them up yourself, as you’ll see in a moment, add
the content yourself without the help of a webmaster and your
patients can respond instantaneously.

Adding to your blog is easy to do so that keeping it current is
much simpler than updating your website. Most dentists just
don’t have the skills necessary to add html code to their websites.
Blogs, on the other, just require some typing into a box and
hitting the Publish button.

Creation
So, how do you start your own blog? I would suggest that there
are two places to go to build a blog, Blogger
(http://www.blogger.com) and WordPress
(http://www.wordpress.com). For the purpose of this book I’ll
discuss creating a blog with Blogger (since this is the one I

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basically use although I also have a blog through WordPress as
well). Both of these companies provide blogs for FREE.

Setting you your blog is done as follows:

1. Setup an account with Blogger and select the name for

your blog. You’ll need to select a template for the blog.

Don’t worry; you can always change this in the future.

Also, don’t worry now about all of the extra stuff you

can do with a blog. Just get it up and running…

2. Once your setup is completed, you need to log into your

account.

3. You’ll find yourself at your blog Dashboard. Click on

New Post

4. Add a title for your new post. This is what the reader

will first see when they look at your latest entry to your

blog; much like the headline for a newspaper article.

5. Disregard the link

field. You can learn

more about this

functionality once

you are more

comfortable with

blogging.

6. Now you’re ready Fig. 10 Blogger
to add your article.

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Just type into the box much as you would into any word
processor. You can change the fonts, bold face etc.
7. Once you’re happy, click Publish Post.

To see the results of your efforts just click on View Blog at the
relative top of the page.

You’re now a Blogger. All you need to do from now on is add
content and watch your blogging community grow.

Promotion
Eventually you need to get people to come to your blog in order
to make you community grow. Some of the things you can do to
make this happen are:

1. Announce in your office newsletter that you have a blog
and give your patients a reason to go there often. You
might want to have a special “blog offer” that can only
be received if they go to your blog. Make it a mystery
and people will just be intrigued enough to try it out.

2. Send out a blast email to your patients with a link to
your blog.

3. Make your blog important. Let you patient’s know that
you will be providing office updates, change in schedule,
special offers etc. on your blog. Let them know to check

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this out often so that they don’t miss a special event
etc.
4. Let your patients know that you review your blog every
day and will answer any of their questions (or the
questions of their family, friends or business associates)
online. This can avoid lots of annoying phone calls and
patients feel that their needs are being attended to
professionally.
5. Print signs introducing your blog and place them in
pertinent areas in your office.
6. Add links to your blog on your website(s).
7. Create blog pins and have your staff wear them in and
out of the office. You might just say, “We Blog, Do
You?” on the pin. (Just a thought. I’m sure you’ll come
up with something much more clever.)

Hopefully, you’ll stop reading right now, get on your computer
and create a blog. It’s free. It’s easy and it’s fun. If you hate
typing, get a staff member to update it daily. You can discuss just
about anything in your blog from office current events to the
addition of new techniques, technologies or a staff member. You
can even add personal information as well. Patients love to hear
about your life and your family as well.

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Chapter 15: Creating the Overwhelming
Patient Experience

I’ve just received a copy of a magazine published by a well
known dental distributor where they have several articles on
creating a WOW experience. What amazes me is took these
gurus so long to realize what is really important in the growth and
maintenance of a unique dental practice.

For years all these coaches talked about was your AR, recall and
having different colors in your appointment book. They were
more concerned with mechanics than emotions. They failed to
realize that patients buy emotionally and then justify their
purchase logically. As dentists we know that it is the emotional
side of our patients that requires most of our attention. The
mechanics, after a period of years, is the easy part. Dealing with
the anxiety and stress of dental treatment is far more complicated
than creating a perfect subgingival margin.

As a practicing dentist for over thirty years I have basically seen it
all. I used to practice with 14 staff, 4 lab technicians and a whole
bunch of stress. Today, I practice with 7 staff, three days a week,
have a 7 figure income and face far less stress each and every day
thanks to the Dental Spa Environment. Let me help you create
just such an environment in your office. Here are the Steps you

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need to follow in order to start prospering from the benefits of
Dental Spa Cosmetics and Souriretm.

I need to provide you with another disclaimer at this point in the
book. I am the owner and President of Dental Spa Cosmetics. The
following pages in this chapter are devoted to presenting a new
and unique concept in dentistry. You can choose to utilize our
services or just do them on your own. There is obviously no
obligation whatsoever on your part to try our products at all.
However, the Souriretm Experience will:

1) Remove much of the stress and anxiety found in most
dental practices.

2) Create a Unique Dental Experience for your patients
3) Provide you with the tools to differentiate your practice

from the practice down the street or across town.
4) Make sure that your practice prospers during both good

and bad economic times.

"Do every act of your life as if it were
your last."

Marcus Aurelius

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Another Anecdote:
I just bought a new car. Now, that is not an earth shattering event
for most, but I’ve got to tell you that it was a truly terrific
experience for me and I need to tell you about it.

On Friday, my “N“car (I leave out the name of the car
manufacturer to avoid lawsuits) brakes failed for the fifth time.
That’s right, over a 3 ½ year period I’ve had to replace the brakes
on this ‘accident waiting to happen’ car five times.

That by itself is not the basis for this story. The manufacturer of
the “N” car has not stood by their car or the faulty brakes at all.
They basically have denied any liability and are just going to sit
back and wait for the lawsuits to arrive.

The story is based upon what happened after I dropped this death
trap off at their showroom.

My wife and I went to our local BMW dealer to buy a new car. The
experience there was, to say the least, overwhelming. Atypical of
most car dealers, I was treated as if I was really important. They
showed me the cars, told me the difference between the various
models, explained the costs associated with the various options

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and then when I told them I needed a car TODAY, they showed
me what they had in stock.

Now, here comes the kicker. I told them that I had no car to go
home with since my wife had to leave for a doctor’s appointment
and I dumped the ‘death trap’ off at the dealer just an hour
before. I asked them, not really expecting anything, if there was
any way for them to provide me with a loaner car until I could
come in tomorrow to pick up my new car. This dealership not only
provides loaners when your car is in service but there is
absolutely no cost for the service. Quite remarkable in this day
and age.

I was amazed that they said, “Sure, let me see what we have”. I
left that day, after leaving only a $500 deposit on my new BMW
with a brand new 525 BMW loaner. Absolutely incredible!

As a student of amazing customer service I just had to recount
this story. I came back the next day to pick up my black on black
BMW convertible. Not only was the car pristine but they had gifts
for me as well.

We can learn a great deal from Competition BMW in Smithtown
NY.

1. Go the extra mile. (Sorry for the car metaphor)

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2. Do the unexpected.
3. Give a gift to new clients. Something they will truly

appreciate. (Competition BMW gave us a nice flashlight,
a keychain, a n umbrella and a BMW racing cap which
my 5 ½ just loved and wore all the way home)

They have a customer forever. We just ordered a 525 BMW for
my wife.

Creating the WOW Experience

Although the concept of a WOW experience has become
somewhat a cliché I wanted to provide you with some simple
tools that may help you in your search for easy to implement, cost
effective ideas to create this experience starting tomorrow.

1. Patient Calls:
a. Calling the night after a treatment visit is no
longer a WOW. Calling a couple of days later
as well just might be a WOW especially if it’s
over the weekend.
b. Thank you calls to great patients. Nothing is
better than calling a patient that has been
especially helpful or cooperative during

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treatment and thanking them for the privilege
of treating them.
c. Just Thinking of You Calls – exactly what it
says. Give patients a call just to say hi. Nothing
to do with anything other than that they were
on your mind and you wanted to say hello.
d. New Patient Welcome Calls – calling a new
patient the night before their visit is a great
way to welcome them to your office. It is also
totally unexpected and shows you really care.
2. Personalized Music – you can ask your patients what
their music choices are the day before when you
confirm their appointment and then download their
selections from programs like iTunes.
a. Have your staff burn these selections onto a
cd and give it to your patient in their after visit
gift bag.
b. Be sure to have the CD labeled with your
office information, the patient’s name (i.e.
Music for Mr. Jones created by Your Practice
Name). This is easy to do with simple cd label
programs available at any computer store.
3. Soft Cushioned Head Rests make a real difference in
patient comfort. Vibrating chairs are an additional
bonus for some patients.

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4. Warm Paraffin Hand Massage – these units are
commercially available on the Internet and require little
training. Just be careful not to burn your fingers or
those of your patients.

5. Dazzle Cards – have your staff send personalized cards
to patients on special occasions. Keep a stack of these
cards (blank inside) and ask staff to send out two cards a
week to patients celebrating special occasions,
overcoming illnesses, etc.

6. Personal Contacts – Stay in contact with your patients:
a. Three (3) months after treatment is
completed.
b. Six (3) months after treatment is completed.
c. 1 Year after treatment is completed.
d. Your Anniversary Date with the patient. Real
nice to recognize and thank your patients
yearly for their loyalty.

7. New Patient Gift Package – just like the BMW dealer
who gave me a beautifully presented gift box when I
signed for my new car, we too should provide just such
a gift for our new patients immediately after their initial
visit to our office. In our office this includes:
a. A Dental Spa Umbrella
b. A Dental Spa Attach Case

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c. A Souriretm Fragrance for either men or
women in a terrific Souriretm Gift Bag.

Before you begin this journey you need to sit down with your staff
and make sure that everyone is on board. Without the support of
your staff, this new and exciting adventure just will never happen.
When talking with your staff you need to ask yourself the
following question, “How can my staff benefit from this new
practice environment?” Just to help out a bit, dentist to dentist,
here are some of the answers:

 This new office environment is just a better place to
work. Patients that are more comfortable and less
anxious are easier to treat. The person in the office that
tends to bear much of the brunt of this patient anxiety
is the staff. Removing even a small amount of patient
stress will make your staff’s day better and more
productive.

 The more your staff knows and learns, the more
productive they become. The more productive they
become, the more important they are to your practice.
The more important they are to your practice, the more
they can and probably should earn. Just a suggestion…..

 Dental Spa Cosmetics has a very generous Affiliate’s
Program that can be shared with staff. By distributing

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some of the commissions to staff you can obtain their
support for this new program almost instantly.
 Applying makeup is just fun. Most of the procedures
we do in the dental office, after a period of time,
become routine. This is true for staff as well. Imagine
how much fun they will have applying the various
cosmetic and stress management products. Fun can be
a great stimulant and lead to increased production and
staff participation.
 Doing something different is just fun. Doing the same
thing day in and day out is just plain boring. If that is
true for you, imagine how boring this can be for a staff
member. With boredom comes complaisancy , one of
the cardinal sins you definitely need to avoid if you are
going to prosper in any economy.

Determine never to be idle…It is
wonderful how much may be done if
we are always doing.”

Thomas Jefferson

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Stress the Uniqueness of Your Practice Rather
Than Pain, Drill and Fill:

How would you rather be known by your patients and their
families, friends and business associates? As the dentist that
drills, fills and bills or as the really unique office that provides the
kind of services patients just never expect but when received truly
appreciate. I think the answer should be obvious.

I am obviously a bit biased but I am sure if you have practiced for
more than a day you know as I do that most, if not all, of what I
said is true. Dentistry can be tough not only for patients but for
the dentist and staff as well. We hope that by providing pleasant,
patient oriented and rewarding services we can make the day at
the office just a bit better for all.

Additionally, if we as a profession never change, never follow the
systems developed by the more successful business models
where people spend their dollars willingly (i.e. hotels, restaurants,
clothing and jewelry stores etc.), we will continue to fight for
every dollar, continue to deliver a service that is not cherished but
rather just accepted as somewhat necessary. This may have
worked when the economy was strong but with the approach of a
recession we need to be more selective in what we do in order to
attract the kinds of patients that can afford the dentistry they

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want and need and then refer their friends, family and business
associates.
We need to be part of the solution rather than just players in the
mainstream failure. We need to create a change in order to
prosper rather than just treading water until the economy
bounces back; hoping that we have not drowned in the interim.

"The difference between a successful
person and others is not a lack of
strength, not a lack of knowledge, but
rather a lack of will."
Vince Lombardi

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Let’s Start the Souriretm Experience!

Before we begin this discussion I want to spend a moment
discussing the topic of Spa Dentistry. About 7 years ago I
started probably the first, or at least one of the first, spa practices
in the U.S.

It was truthfully pretty much of a fluke and was due to the fact
that my new receptionist was also a licensed esthetician. We
began with warm paraffin hand massage and continued until we
were providing ever increasing services such as reflexology.

This was a unique concept 7 or 8 years ago. Today, if you Google
the term, spa dentistry, you’ll find over 350, 000 entries. Spa
dentistry is no longer a totally unique concept. It has been written
about in many major magazines and has appeared on T.V.

For some reason, the term has gotten a somewhat bad reputation
in some circles. I personally don’t understand why but there will
always be some people that just don’t like anything new and
different.

I think that dentistry can learn a great deal by looking at other
businesses that are successful in dealing with customers in a
similar manner as we do with patients. Businesses such as spas,
dermatologists, plastic surgeons and even high end hotels and

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restaurants have learned the lesson and realize that they need to
treat people a bit differently to be successful.

That being said, there are just three (3) steps to introduce the
Souriretm experience into your practice. None of these involved
either a huge expense or a tremendous amount of time. You can
do all or just a little bit at a time. It’s really more about creating
the unique experience than adding any one of the tools or
products mentioned in the following pages.

Step 1. Dentistry Needs A Change – An
Attitude Change

Let’s assume for a moment that some or most of this makes
good sense to you and your staff. Before you begin this new
project I would suggest that you, once again, look at your Patient
Avatar. Who is this patient? What do they want and need? What
are they used to when they go to a restaurant, clothing store or
hotel? What do they expect from just about everyone and
everything?

Know your patient; their worries and anxieties. There is no doubt
that just about every patient entering a dental office comes to us
with preconceived notions. Unfortunately, most of these past
experiences have not been wonderful. They may go back years
when dentists “drilled and filled” with little or no concern for

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patient comfort. We need to change this paradigm before we can
move forward providing the kind of sophisticated care most
patients really want and need.

Let’s take a look at the typical patient as they enter our offices.
They may have just sat in traffic banging on the steering wheel.
Their kids got up late and had to rush to get to school on time.
They may have had a fight with their spouse or boss just prior to
their dental visit. They may have just had a flood in their home
and had to rush out for their dental appointment. Does any of this
sound familiar?

They enter a typical dental office, either as a new patient but
more likely as a patient of record. They are ushered into a
treatment room with a perfunctory hello and how are you? No
one really listens because the schedule is pretty full and we need
to get that crown finished today. The doctor enters the room,
says hi, places some topical followed by a needle stick. Numbness
follows and the process goes on.

Treatment is completed, the patient rinses (probably dribbles a
bit) and goes to the front desk, pays their bill (hopefully) and
schedules their next appointment.

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