I Love My Dentist

dress for the days ahead. Like politicians, dental gurus are rarely
held accountable for the errors they make in their advice.

Just think about how their mistakes affect each of us on a daily
basis. We dress incorrectly wearing too little clothing when it’s
cold and wearing too much clothing when the weather is much
warmer than expected. We listen to the stock gurus and sell when
we should buy. We listen to the politicians only to find out the
next day that they had no idea what they were talking about. We
may listen to dental coaches and gurus and apply techniques that
may have worked twenty years ago but haven’t been updated to
work in today’s unique climate.

Looking at gas prices and hearing about increasing oil prices 24/7
on cable news may not really affect most people’s actual life style
but it sure sets the stage for a psychology that results in the public
staying at home rather than taking vacations, avoiding trips that
are not essential or trying to put together multiple errands in one
trip to save gas. This leads to increased stress and anxiety that
probably is a lot worse than the couple of cents they would have
to spend if they were to just continue as they had before the
scare began.

The dental literature, like the media, is replete with stories about
recession and depression and how we as dentists need to work in
such and such manner in order to stay ahead in these tough

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times. I would suggest that when times are tough you need to
work harder and smarter to prosper so that when times get good
you are ready to take full advantage of the reversal. Tough times
are just an excuse to be more creative; to think a bit out of the
box. Think of these times as a challenge rather than as a problem.
This is not a time to be traditional; it is a time to be adventurous.
Most of these self-proclaimed experts in the dental field have
never even had their fingers, let alone their gloved hands, in the
mouth. They have never spent more than a couple of hours at
best in the dental office. Some have never even been to the
dentist themselves (just kidding, I hope). Yet, we (and I include
myself) often take what they say as gospel and sometimes even
go so far as to redo our offices, taking on huge debt in doing so.

"Action is the foundational key to all
success."

Pablo Picasso

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Learning to Prosper

It’s also important to
understand that certain groups
always prosper even during
tough times.

There is no reason why a dentist, any dentist, should not be in
that group. In this economy, I believe it becomes increasingly
more important to look at your market and make a decision
whether you want to treat the masses or the classes. During the
coming months, the masses will most likely be more affected by
the changes in the economy than anyone else. The classes will
just move ahead, pretty much as before.

As you think about the future you may need to rethink your
marketing plans and practice strategy if you want to do more than
just survive. It takes a bit more effort and planning so that when
times are tough you are totally prepared for what may come next.

You have to; once again, think about how these economic
changes affect your patients and staff. Whether these changes
are for the better or for the worse. Think about how these
challenging times affect your patient and be prepared to create

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tools to help them achieve their dental goals regardless of the
economic challenge.

A perfect example is the use of credit companies such as Care
Credit. Being prepared to provide long term, no interest loans are
a great way to help patients over this hurdle. There is a better
than even chance that there will be a dramatic change in the
economy in the next 12 months and having a no interest loan to
weather that storm can be a tremendous help for patients in a
financial bind.

Think about it; if the democrats win, hopefully change is in the
wind. If the republicans want to win, they need to fix this
economy before the election or face an angry electorate. In either
case, 12 months could be just long enough to weather this storm.

Whether you believe the depressing forecasts or not, remember
that there is more abundance in this country than ever before.
There are more millionaires today than in past decades. There are
more people making more money than ever before and they all
need dental care. You just need to find them and provide them
with a service that is far and beyond their expectations.

Now, I know I’ve heard that dentistry is not on the top of most
people’s wants list. I’ve probably been heard saying this myself as
well. But, today, things are a bit different. Thanks to adhesive

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dentistry the world of cosmetic dentistry has totally changed.
Thanks to implant dentistry, the edentulous world has undergone
a transformation.

Those people who are fortunate to be called Wealthy (and I really
have no idea how to categorize this group because the word
wealth has so many definitions) really do not want lousy looking
teeth. They just need to be told so. They typically have the money
and the time to take care of their dental needs and for the most
part, may already have purchased their yachts, fast cars and
diamonds so the competition for their dollars is not quite as tough
as in other potential markets.

The Baby Boomer generation (of which I am one) is hoping to live
forever and to have their teeth in their heads until that day. Not
only have them but have them in good shape so that they can eat
well and enjoy the fruits of their labors. A terrific opportunity for
any dentist smart enough to attract these types patients to their
practices. (You need to take a look at your Patient Avatar (see
Chapter 3) and see if this image reflects either of these groups).

Two great markets to attract, keep and then convince to refer
their families, friends and business associates.

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Fees

This sort of brings me to a discussion of one of my favorite
topics, fees. How do we as dentists determine our fees? What
is a fair fee? How much is too much?

Before I discuss some of my thoughts on fees I just have to tell
you about an experience I literally just had at the mall with my
son five minutes ago. We stopped there to buy some shoes for
him and bumped into a Tooth Whitening Kiosk.

There was a young man sitting at the booth wearing scrubs. Four
or five chairs surrounded him with tooth whitening lights at each
chair. At the time I was there all of the chairs were empty but that
doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when they are full.

The tooth whitening process is hands off. The patient (i.e.
customer) does all of the work, sits in front of the light and then
pays the bill. The price - $129. No dentist or hygienist is involved
in the process. They make a point of saying this in their literature.

The reason I am bringing this to your attention is to point out the
fact that playing the “lowest price in town” game just doesn’t
work. If you base your fees on being the lowest priced guy or lady
in town, you can be sure that somewhere, sometime someone
will be cheaper.

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Point of Personal Privilege: OK maybe a bit political but personally
I find this kind of stuff, tooth whitening in the middle of a mall,
somewhat demeaning to the dental profession. Of course,
everyone has a right to do what they want in whatever way they
feel appropriate as long as it is legal. I hope, though, that the local
dental societies will find the time to take a hard look at these
tooth whitening businesses real soon to make sure that they are
following all of the necessary health guidelines so that the public
is protected. As someone who once owned a tooth whitening
company I can tell you that whitening is not whitening is not
whitening and that there are downsides to every procedure
regardless of how innocuous they may appear. If these
procedures do not work as promised, or worse cause some harm,
they will only tend to taint procedures that do work at the dental
office.

Enough said…..

If I Raise My Fees My Patients Will Leave
Back to our discussion on fees….

How often have you heard the following, “Oh, my God, I’ll lose
all my patients if I raise my fees!”

I remember over thirty years ago when I had a similar discussion
with my old partner. We had to make a huge decision whether to

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raise our crown fee to, are you ready, $150. That’s right, $150.
Just like today we felt that a fee that high could cause our
patients to leave in droves. What happened, obviously nothing
and nothing will happen today either.

I’m not going to quote you statistics which you can find on Google
but suffice it to say if you raise your fees, the increase in fees will
more than enough compensate you for any possible loss of
patients. You may lose a handful, but don’t worry, that will only
free you up to take better care of those that stay.

A day does not go by that the public is not faced with increases in
just about everything they buy. Inflation goes on whether we like
it or not and our practices need to be proactive, maintaining our
financial position, in order to continue to provide the finest in
dental care. If our practices are not financially stable there is no
way we can continue to provide great dental care.

How Do We as Dentists Determine Our Fees?
For years the average dentist opening an office in Average Town
USA would just look at the office to the right and then the office
on the left, see what they were charging and either add them up
and divide by two or just pick one or the other.

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Another group of dentists, feeling their offices or skills were a bit
better than the office to the left or right would just charge a fee
slightly higher to compensate themselves for those extra skills etc.

Other dentists, feeling that they could undercut the office to the
right or left, would just charge a lower fee hoping that patients
would see the lower fee and flock to their offices.

For the purpose of this discussion, I am purposely leaving out
insurance based practices because of my own lack of experience
in this dental sphere. I really have no idea how they determine a
fee with someone looking over their shoulders with a hatchet
ready to chop it down at a moment’s notice.

What is a Fair Fee?
I would suggest that none of the above is a really good way of
determining a fair fee. By definition, I would assume a Fair Fee is
any fee a patient will pay for a service they want and the dentist
feels compensates him/her for their skill, time and overhead.

First, you should never deal from fear when determining your
fees. Patients will always pay a fair fee for a great service. You just
need to provide that great service. I am truly convinced of this
fact and it has held true for over thirty-five years in my practice
regardless of the pending economy. Defining great can be a bit
daunting but we’ll try to help with that later on in this book.

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Secondly, you should always determine your fees based upon
your skills, your overhead and your needs. Now it is true, that
most patients, if not all, will never know how great your margins.
But I would suggest that maybe they will know how great your
practice is by the way it is differentiated in other ways and then
extrapolate that your dentistry must be just as great.

Don’t we always tell a book by its cover, until proven wrong!
Don’t we always expect that beautiful, great smelling, well
managed (you can input your favorite restaurant, department
store, car dealership etc) to be great in every way based upon our
first impression. If they then live up to our expectations we also
assume that the results of this encounter were well worth it. This
is true even if we never know if the fish they cooked was really
any better quality than what we could have eaten at a less
expensive restaurant across town. We placed value on the total
experience and lump every part of that experience into one entity
and are willing to pay for it.

Since our patients can rarely qualify our dentist skills they must go
by all of the other events that have occurred on their way to the
treatment room and beyond in order to make their evaluation. If
we can convince them that our practices are unique in every
other way they will believe (and hopefully are justified in that
belief by the great dentistry you provide) that the care you
provide is worth the extra fee.

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So, I guess the moral here is that
your fee can pretty much be
whatever you want as long as the
service you provide exceeds your
patient’s expectations.

Your fees need to be derived from the skills you posses, the costs
to provide it and your individual wants and needs. If you feel that
you need to have a fee that is twice (or more) the national
average then so be it. Just be sure that the experience you
provide your patients is more than worth it.

You deserve to make loads of money and never feel regretful for
doing so. We, as dentists, work extremely hard to earn the
income we deserve and therefore should never, ever feel that any
fee we charge is too much. That is up to our patients to determine
without any undue pressure from us.

By the way, you must (and I mean must) have your entire staff
believe that you are worth every penny, and more, of the fees you
charge if this is going to work. Just the slightest hesitation from a
staff member when the fee is mentioned in your absence (and
trust me this happens a lot more than we think) can be a death
knoll to case acceptance and patient longevity.

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How Much is Too Much?
Well, I guess you can figure out my answer to this by now without
too much help from me. The reality is that no fee is too much if
you are worth it. If you look at fees around the country for almost
any service, the values spread out over huge terrain. I have heard
of one dentist in one town charging, for example, $800 for
porcelain fused to metal crown and the guy down the street
charging $2400. They work in the same town; treat the same
patient population and both provide a professional service.

I think the real answer to this
question is, “How much do you
think you’re worth?”

"Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so
is losing."

Vince Lombardi

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Chapter 3 – Marketing 101

First Steps First

Now I know this may sound a bit over the top but let’s take a
moment to think about what marketing is really all about.
This is, as mentioned previously, not a total do-it-yourself
marketing book but rather just a whole bunch of ideas, thoughts,
tools and techniques I’ve used to keep my practice at the top of
our profession.

Dental practices, like any other businesses, need to market to
survive. Whether you realize it or not, we all market in one way or
another. Practices that spend time planning their marketing and
then working their plans will tend to be more successful than
those that leave most of this to chance. Years ago it was enough
to open an office, be a good guy or gal and just wait for the phone
to ring. With increased competition, advertising and increased
costs, this has all changed.

Ask any marketing expert and they’ll tell you, regardless of what
type of marketing philosophy you espouse to, that you need to
not only know your market but you really need to understand it as
well.

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You need to think about the Three
M’s of Marketing: Market, Message
and Media.

Dentistry is no different than any other business and it is critical
that each and every practice sits down and understands who they
are truly marketing to before designing any change in your
practice. You need to understand who you are treating and, more
importantly, who you want to treat before spending a single
dollar on any marketing program, internal or external. You do
have a choice as to whom you treat.

We all know that we can’t treat everybody so why not just treat
the kind of patients we want to treat. That may be a certain
demographic group, a group of patients that have a specific need
or a service you just like to provide. For example, as a
Prosthodontist I decided thirty plus years ago that I wanted to
help people restore their mouths but I didn’t want to provide
other services such as Endodontics and Periodontics. My practice
therefore has no kid’s stuff, no broaches or files and I leave the
marketing of those services to others who are more adept at
providing those services.

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You need to truly understand
your market before you can
create the correct message and
then decide upon the right media
to use to get that message out.

Some of you may feel that during tough times you need to do
everything just to survive. I guess under certain circumstances,
when you need to put food on the table that certainly can be
true. But what I would suggest is that you at least start thinking
about what changes you can make so that when things get better,
and one thing you can be sure of is that times will get better,
you are ready to apply some of the concepts provided in this
book.

Why is it so important to know your market? Well, let’s look at
one example where you think your patient population is younger
families with children and you set up a children’s corner in your
reception room. Or, you are building a new office and you think
that having a kid’s corner will be a great marketing idea.

You then take a moment and do a demographic study only to find
out your actual patient population is seniors. Or, after giving it
some thought, you realize that the most stressful times of your
day occur when handling screaming youngsters. Knowing who

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your patients are and who you want to treat are probably two of
the most important concepts in a successful marketing program.

Creating Your Own Patient Avatar

Most software programs can do a fairly good patient
demographic for you but I would suggest you take it one
step further and create, both physically and mentally, your own
Patient Avatar.

An avatar by definition is: a
virtual representation of a
physical being or thing with
attributes that are created by
the user.

OK, this is my definition but for the purpose of this book I want
you to start thinking of your ideal patient in terms of a virtual
being. Start giving that patient a physical appearance even if it is
only in your mind. How old are they, what do they look like, how
educated are they, what do they like to eat, drink and even watch
on TV or in the movies? What kind of foods to they eat and as a
further extension of that thought, what kinds of restaurants do
they frequent? What do they wear and where do they shop? Do
they have kids and if so, how many? I think you get the idea…

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Once you’ve created your own Patient Avatar you can start
thinking about what you need to do to attract that kind of patient
to your practice. Every attribute you give to your avatar has a
focus and can be developed into a marketing tool.

If they like to eat in fast food restaurants, then give them
McDonald’s gift certificates as a thank you for referring new
patients. If they tend to frequent fine clothing stores, provide
rewards geared to their wants and needs. If they’re older, then
certain types of seating and lighting along with music etc. may be
appropriate; if they’re younger certain magazines may be more
appreciated.

This is far more than just target marketing; it is getting to know
your patients from the tips of their toes to the tops of their heads
and then using that information to attract more patients just like
them. Remember, plumbers tend to refer plumbers and CEOs
tend to refer more CEOs.

You can now think about what your message is and how you want
to use the various media outlets to get that message to your
targeted market. This alone is a great topic for my next book so
stay tuned…..

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Talk to Me Marketing (TMM)

Talk to Me Marketing refers really to
the relationship that needs to be
developed between the dentist (or
other business owners) and the
patient (customer). Talk to Me
refers to talking directly to the
patient (customer) in a language they
understand.

Most of the time when we think about marketing we are
talking about direct mail, Yellow Page ads, Valpaks Radio
and TV. We never really think about one of the most profitable,
easy to use and simple to implement aspect of marketing, Direct
Communication.

TMM is more concerned about the relationship that is being
developed than the actual words being used. It is about relating
to people whose concerns come first, rather than a treatment (or
a product) that needs to be sold in order to make a profit.

It is all about taking care of the customer’s needs before the
needs of the business owner. This need to be a team effort where

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each and every member of the team understands the importance
of treating patients like the valuable guests they
truly are!

It is about Care and Concern before
Cash and Coins.

It overpowers the ads you place on TV or in the local newspaper.
It connects you to the patient directly in a way that is up close and
personal. No other form of marketing has this kind of power.

Talk to Me Marketing means listening to the wants of patients
and first attending to them and then looking at what we, as
professionals, consider to be the needs. It is a difficult to get
patients to accept treatment that they emotionally don’t want. It
is far easier to get them to accept what we believe to be
necessary treatment once they have received and enjoyed the
benefits of their wants.

"It is easy to hate and it is difficult to
love. This is how the whole scheme of
things works. All good things are
difficult to achieve; and bad things are
very easy to get." Rene Descartes

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Some Additional Points to Remember When
Developing a Marketing Plan or Program:

Repetition Counts

In the past it was thought that you needed to stay in front of
your patients (customers) about 15 times a year in order to be
there when they finally decided to consider recommended care or
to refer.

Today, with all of the attention being paid to your patient’s
eyeballs, 15 interactions are just not enough. Our current patients
or potential new patients are inundated with marketing messages
24/7. Hundreds of times a day they are subjected to ads, direct
mail, TV commercials etc. that are all intended to get them to buy
something.

To compete in this crazy market we need to be there, in their
view, 50 or more times a year to just be competitive. Fifty or
more times is a daunting task but not impossible as we will show
you in the following pages.

Before you begin thinking about all of these contacts and
interactions, you really need to consider what you are going to
say and do when you finally have their attention. Here are a
couple of concepts to consider.
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The AIDA Principal

Marketing is not an arbitrary phenomenon. It is a highly
detailed and complicated process that requires a great
deal of thought and preparation. Marketing concepts apply to just
about every interaction we have as dentists and business men
and women from attracting new patients, keeping existing
patients and even to obtaining case acceptance at higher case
values.

AIDA is one of the formulas you can use in order to market
effectively and obtain increased case acceptance at greater case
value. This concept applies to dentistry as much
as it applies to any other business.

AIDA is an acronym for Attention,
Interest, Desire and Action.

The acronym stands for:

A- Attention

The first principal in the A.I.D.A. formula is to grab the patient’s
(customer’s) attention. The attention grabber is the headline or
subhead in an ad. It might be the first words out of your mouth
during case presentation. For example, if you have a patient that

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needs implants you might start off the conversation with, “Did
you know Mrs. Smith that dental implants today can replace
missing teeth in just two visits and eliminate the need for
removable dentures?” or more to the point, “Mrs. Smith, do you
really want to wear dentures?”

In the case of periodontal treatment you might use the old “blood
and pus” introduction by saying something like, “Mrs. Smith, I see
that during your exam there was a great deal of blood and pus
during probing. Has this been a problem for you in the past?”

I- Interest

The second principal in the A.I.D.A. formula is to get the patients
interest. This can be achieved by simply stating the main benefit.
For example: "We will make your teeth whiter than ever before in
just a matter of days".

D- Desire

The third principal is desire. You want the patient to want the
product you are selling, and you do this by improving what you
have to offer, or creating an irresistible offer, offering something
that can't be offered by your competitors. Remember patients

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buy what they want emotionally and then justify it with the
rational side of their brain.

A- Action

The last principal in the A.I.D.A. formula is to get the patient to
take action on your offer. You simply make the offer and tell the
patient what you want them to do. In other words, just ask for the
sale! This step is sometimes skipped because dentists don't want
to ask the patient to take the final action. But if you don't ask, and
tell the patient exactly what you want them to do, you won't get
the acceptance you want!

The next question one should ask is how you simply apply this
formula to the practice of dentistry. Well, as said before, it applies
to just about any product or service being sold or marketed. And
yes, we do sell and market, whether we like it or not.

Also, let’s not forget that for the most part our product(s) are not
necessarily on the top of the list of wants for many patients.
Other than cosmetic dentistry where patients are truly electing to
have the procedure done for personal reasons, most of the other
dental services are just not as important as a vacation, a new car
or a fine dinner out with the family. We do not sell big diamonds
to rich woman or fast cars to rich men. That last comment is not

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meant to be sexist but rather to point out that we have a product
we believe is critical to the health and well being of our patients
but to many of them, it’s just something they want to avoid
whenever and wherever possible.

So, the first thing you need to do in any marketing or selling
encounter is to gain the attention of your audience. To bring this
into dentistry, this may be during the initial clinical exam where
you begin establishing a relationship and start to talk about some
of the issues facing your patient. One of the most well known
gurus of my time, Walter Haley, used to talk about using the
words, ‘blood and pus’ wherever possible to gain the attention of
the patient. This is a great example of the AIDA principal. Patients
start tuning in when these two words are used in conjunction
with their clinical exam.

Once their attention is obtained, you need to create interest. This
may be by talking about the relationship of oral infection to heart
disease, using this same example. If, instead, you gain your
patient’s attention by focusing on a chipped front tooth they were
unaware of that might be affecting their smile, you can create
interest by talking about No Prep Veneers.

Creating desire can be accomplished, once again by using these
same examples, by either showing examples of diseased

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periodontal patients or by before and after pictures of great
looking smiles.

Action, well, you need to get your patient to accept the dental
care and determine a financial arrangement that they can fit into
their lives. Sometimes, action can be created by providing
discounts for payment in full at the first visit. Sometimes it just
takes offering no interest financing through various financial
institutions to get your patient to act.

The AIDA formula is just one of many strategies that can be used
to increase case acceptance during both good and bad economic
times.

The PAS Formula

Another formula that is talked about in the marketing
literature is the PAS System. In this strategy you first
state and emphasize the Problem. Next you Agitate to
establish urgency and need and then most importantly you
present a Solution.

In dentistry, this strategy has been applied historically for years.
The patient presents and the dentist notes a particular situation
(i.e. a fractured tooth, a periapical area etc.) – the Problem.
He/she then tells the patient what will happen if this situation is
not resolved such as infection, loss of tooth, swelling etc. –

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Agitation. Finally the dentist tells the patient what he/she can do
to solve the problem – the Solution. This is a classical example of
the PAS formula, one you are probably using without even know
it.

Pick one that is comfortable for you and then implement,
implement, implement!

Marketing In General

Just a brief comment about marketing in general. There are
loads of books and videos you can purchase to learn about
marketing your dental practice. In the remaining chapters in this
book, as well as the DVD, I will try to provide you with some
unusual, unique and modern techniques and tools to assist you in
your marketing efforts. This book is not intended to be a
marketing tutorial by any means. Where appropriate I will,
however, give you my two cents. Choose to add these words of
wisdom to your current marketing plan or not, it’s your choice.

"Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water
loses its purity and in cold weather
becomes frozen; even so does inaction
sap the vigor of the mind."

Leonardo da Vinci

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It’s All About the Experience

Marketing, as I see it, is all about creating an exceptional
experience and then letting everyone know about it. It’s
really all that simple.

Increasing new patient flow, case value
and case acceptance starts with
providing a unique dental
experience; one that goes way
beyond what the patient expects.
An experience that the patient
cannot compare to any other dental
office they have ever visited.

You need to be beyond comparison! You need to be so unique
and different that your patient not only expects to pay a bit more
for the incredible service you provide but are more than willing to
do so. They need to feel that they are getting even more than
they are paying for and then they will do so willingly and refer
others just like themselves.

You need to provide 100% every day, and 1% more each and
every day thereafter.

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You need to set the stage from the minute that patients enters
your office. Remember, subliminally, they can tell by their five
senses what they are getting involved with, who you are and then
make decision about you and your office, even before the first
hello. They can use their sense of smell to tell them if you office is
like every other office they have ever been in (need I say more
than Eugenol), their senses of sight and hearing to see if your
office has any chance of being something unique, the sense of
taste to suggest that you have taken their comfort to a new level
and the final sense of touch which can be exhibited by the first
interaction with your staff welcoming committee.

It continues with creating a relationship that supersedes the
patients past experience and concludes with an offer they just
can’t refuse. Remember buying is emotional not rational.

Those offices that understand that you need to give 100% today
and then 1% more each and every day have a major step ahead
in going from good to great.

Now, I’ve got to tell you that my kids would be the first to tell you
that this is not as easy task. Achieving 100% is hard enough and
for the most part, most of us never reach it. But actually
exceeding it can be daunting to say the least.

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The concept basically starts
with the premise that if you
don’t strive for 100% you’ll
never reach it.

Using 100% as a goal, you may, with hard work, just reach 90 –
95% and that’s not bad. However, if you set your goals at 90% to
start, then 80 -85% may just become acceptable. Those offices
that set their goals at the highest possible levels are the ones that
will truly differentiate themselves automatically from all others.

In order to go from Good to
Great you need to provide
Exceptional Customer Service as
well as an Extraordinary Product.

Both must come hand in hand. It is not the scope of this book to
discuss treatment procedures. I will leave that to others.
However, we will break down the Exceptional Customer Service
concept into its component parts during the remainder of this
book putting different emphasis into the various chapters.

Before I forget, I must give credit to Jim Collins in his book “Good
to Great” for the basic concept I am discussing in this chapter. In
his terrific book, he reviews major companies and puts them into

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one or the other group, Good or Great, based upon several
factors, mostly financial. He then looks at the Good companies to
see where they fell short of the Great ones.

It is my belief that in the profession and business of dentistry, the
major differentiator is Exceptional Customer Service. Those
offices that tend to be great provide overwhelming customer
service starting even before the initial phone call and never
stopping, even after the patient leaves the office. They also
provide great dentistry as well. But we all know, that except for
cosmetic restorations, most patients have no way of evaluating
the quality of dental care they receive but they do constantly look
at the quality of the personal service they are provided.

The ‘Great’ dental offices I have seen in my many years of
providing dental care are constantly changing and growing. They
have no fear of bringing something new into their practices
whether it is a new technique, a new piece of equipment or a new
marketing philosophy. They are constantly looking to improve in
all of the various aspects of their practice and they have a staff
that stands behind them 100%.

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Another factor in going from good
to great, at least in the dental
profession, is never becoming
complacent.

Tomorrow is a totally new day and your competition will never
stop trying to gain an advantage. Never doubt that we are all in a
competitive environment. Patients just love to sit at lunch or at a
meeting and discuss their dentists. Make sure that you provide
your patients with the best ammunition possible to present you in
glowing terms. More on this later….

"There are three classes of people:
those who see, those who see when
they are shown, those who do not see."

Leonardo d Vinci

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Niche Marketing

Over the past couple of years I’ve heard that “if you want to
be one of the masses, market to the classes. If you want to
be one of the classes, treat the masses” Well, maybe and I say
maybe, that worked in the past. But in this new and challenging
market I believe you have to look at your own niche, that part of
your practice that stands out from all of the rest and target that
market.

First of all, the masses are shrinking. All
you need to do is read the Sunday
papers to find out that we are living
with a diminishing middle class.
Secondly, it is the remaining part of
the middle class that will be most
affected by the today’s economy.

Just looking at a market for the dollars they have to spend is, in
my opinion, not the whole answer either. You also have to look at
that part of your practice that you WANT to treat. The kind of
dentistry you WANT to do and then target that market as well.
Hopefully, the two markets are the same.

You can only be an effective marketer if you know your market
and spend your limited dollars wisely. Throwing out a ton of mail

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to an unknown market can only result in a ton of mail being
tossed in the circular file, along with your ton of money.

Additionally, sending out a load of marketing material to, for
example families, when you have a cosmetic practice or are
looking to appeal to those patients needing cosmetic dentistry, is
a total waste of trees.

In this new and relatively educated market (thanks to the
internet) you have to be able to not only present but to educate
and be ready to answer questions. You need to be ready to
communicate so that relationships can be entered into on a basis
that appeals to your target patient. Need I say, Talk to Me
Marketing…..

Remember the Patient Avatar. What does this patient want?
What have they asked for in the past? How have you attended to
their needs and has that resulted in the necessary number of
referrals?

I honestly believe that pretty much every dentist is GOOD; in
order to differentiate you from the GOOD dentist requires effort,
skill and most importantly, action. Differentiation is one of the
keys to going from Good to Great in dentistry just as it is in any
other business. Just look at the Great restaurants in your town.
What makes them Great? Why do people wait on long lines or call

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in advance to get a table at these establishments? Is it the great
food? The great personal service or is it something else?

I would suggest that it is a combination of many things but if you
had to put all of them in just one category, it would be
differentiation. They have managed to create a niche that makes
them different from all of the other food places in town. It may be
the prices, the décor, the food, the people, the location or all of
them rolled into one. But the one thing that is for sure is that to
be successful they have to be different.

Different can be defined in many ways and doesn’t necessarily
mean that you have to dramatically re-create your practice from
the front door to the exit. What it means is finding a way to create
something unique and special in your practice that will provide
your current patients something to talk about at lunch, back at
the office after their visits or at home that evening over dinner.

If you don’t give them
something to talk about, they
will talk about nothing!

If you truly want to hear “I Love My Dentist” you need to go way
beyond the old paradigms of dental care. You need to rethink
each and every aspect of your practice keeping in mind the way

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patients think and act. You need to be proactive and step forward
to assist them in overcoming their old way of thinking.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that many of you already have
“some” patients who truly love you. But, if you polled the general
population and asked them “Do you love your dentist” I would
think that the answer would not be what we would like to hear.

Additionally, some of you may be saying, “Hey, I don’t need my
patients to love me; just to keep their appointments and pay their
bills!” I would say to you that this may have worked in the 70s, 80
and maybe even the 90s, but not today. If you want to increase
case acceptance at a higher case value; if you want to treat less
anxious and less stressed patients; if you want to have a more
relaxed and happier office, you need to treat patients that “love
you”.

"A journey of a thousand miles must
begin with a single step."

Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher
considered to be the father of Taoism

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Chapter 4: Where Does It All Start
(Otherwise Known as “Before the Call”)

What does this mean? How can you begin your relationship
with your patient even before they call your office? This
makes no sense….

Well, if you give this some thought, potential new patients are
exposed to you, your office philosophy, your skills etc by hearing
about you from other patients, your lab or other dentists. They
get to know you from Google searches and then by what you say
on your website or Blog. This all happens way before they meet
you personally.

Years ago, before the World Wide Web, personal contact was the
major way dentists obtained new patients. You treated a patient
well, they told two people and then they told four people and so
on, and so on and your practice grew by leaps and bounds. This
was the only way you could obtain new patients because
advertising was either illegal or unethical. That changed years ago
and ads started to appear in just about every media available;
newspapers, yellow pages, magazines, radio, TV and more.

Patients (customers) are inundated by messages daily and have to
be very discretionary regarding how they spend their time. Rather
than wasting time sifting through all of the junk mail, more and

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more people are using the Internet to search for information of all
kinds including dentistry and doing so at their own pace. They are
able to take a brief look at your website or Blog and get a pretty
good idea of whom and what you are and what you have to offer
them.

They can get a referral from a friend but before they venture into
your office, they can look under the rug to see what you are all
about just by reviewing your website. Don’t have one, we’ll
handle that too in later chapters but suffice it to say if you don’t
have a website today, you’re just way behind and need to catch
up quickly.

This is both good and bad. Unfortunately, there is a whole bunch
of bad information and misrepresentation on the web. The
discriminating patient, looking for valid information, has no real
way of knowing whether the information they are receiving is
real.

The good news is, however, that you have a simple way of putting
your best foot forward. Websites are easy to produce, simple to
update and can provide an easy way for you to communicate with
your patients on many levels. Additionally, websites are very cost
effective. You can actually create multiple websites at no cost and
still have the flexibility of keeping the content fresh in a very
simple manner.

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Before I forget, I want to mention that no longer is it a good idea
to have just one website. You need to have multiple websites,
linking one to another, with each website having a unique URL
(web address).

Obtaining a high visibility on the various search engines is to a
degree, determined by the number of links to your website.
Having one website linked to another just helps you get to the
first page on the search engines…a great place to be. This is not
the only tool needed to get this kind of positioning but it certainly
will help.

There are specialists in this area that can help you achieve these
search engine goals. Be careful though, I’ve been burnt several
times using companies that never produced the results they
promised. The whole SEO (Search Engine Optimization) business
is very complex and changing rapidly. You need to be real careful
on how you spend your hard earned dollars achieving search
engine positioning. But don’t doubt the importance of being on
the first page of Google. We have found that a much larger
percentage of our new patients today are coming from the
Internet and when questioned, they tell us they found us via
Google.

So, getting back to the title of this chapter, Before the Call,
advertising and marketing put you in front of lots of eyeballs

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every day, even before your patient takes the first step into your
office. You need to think about this even if you receive most of
your new patients from either existing patients or referrals from
other dentists. Even these types of patients will tend to check you
out on the web before they venture into your office. What will
your advertising, website and Blog say about you? Do you provide
the right impression or are you just another office saying the
same thing as everyone else (i.e. painless dentistry, Free
whatever, Complimentary Stuff, etc.)

Ask yourself, “What would make you
select you as your dentist?” Then
take a look at your Patient Avatar
and ask the same question. What
would make your ideal patient
choose you and then make whatever
changes are necessary to attract those
patients?

We’ll give you some tricks of the trade in future chapters so make
sure you read on….

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Chapter 5: The First Call and the Minutes
Immediately Thereafter

I guess you’ve put your best foot forward because the patient
actually made the decision to call your office. Now what do you
do?

Traditionally, there are more or less accepted ways to handle the
new patient phone call. Most of the gurus out there will want you
to:

1. Answer the phone before the third or at the very latest,
fourth ring.

2. Make sure to SMILE when you answering the phone.
3. Make sure to introduce the practice and yourself. Offer

the caller help. “Hi Dr. Jones’s office, this is Mary. How
can I help you?
4. Make sure to capture at least the new patient’s basic
information (this will vary from office to office):

a. Name
b. Address
c. Phone Number(s)
d. Email address
e. Referral Source
f. Insurance Information if applicable
5. What was the reason for the call?

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6. Make sure to answer your patient’s primary reason for
calling. If they have an emergency (as defined by your
office) it needs to be treated seriously and immediately.
Never leave a problem (even if it a problem only as
perceived by the patient) unanswered. Doing so sends
the wrong message and one that usually leads to loss of
a new patient.

7. If not an emergency then offer the appropriate
appointment as determined by your office procedure
manual.

8. Offer the new patient a separate visit to tour your office
prior to their treatment visit. A great way to start
relating to the new patient without the typical stresses
associated with the treatment visit. A quick tour of the
office, introductions to the doctor and staff and a
presentation of your welcome package personally.

Now all of this is routine, boring stuff. What I would suggest is
that most of you reading this book already are doing a pretty
good job handling the new patient phone call. Never take this for
granted since it can make or break the new patient experience.
Numerous books have been written on this very subject and I
would recommend that you take advantage of this information
making sure to pass it onto your staff.

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You need to provide your staff, anyone that may at any time
answer the phone, with the skills they need to treat these calls
with the required expertise. Never assume that staff knows how
to do this without educating them.

After the First Call

OK. Your staff has answered the call and scheduled an
appointment. What you do next can either help or hurt the
chance that the patient will:

1. Keep or miss the appointment
2. Be set up to expect the kind of personalized,

exceptional service you will provide
3. Be on the path to accept your treatment suggestions.

Immediately after the call your staff needs to set in motion
several items:

1. Send out your office Welcome Package containing:
a. A Welcome letter from the doctor. This is
rarely done and will make an impact! Make
sure the doctor (or at least someone) signs it
personally in ink. No computer signatures
please.
b. Your office brochure which should contain:

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i. Staff pictures. This helps you patient
feel more welcomed when they
arrive at your office. Your staff
pictures should also be on your
website as well.

ii. Pictures of your office.
iii. Directions to your office
iv. All pertinent phone numbers

including emergency telephone
numbers
c. Office financial policies where appropriate.
Some offices may feel uncomfortable sending
out this kind of information. I’ve tried it both
ways and have found it beneficial to provide
this information prior to the first appointment
so that my new patient is well informed prior
to the financial consultation.
2. Call the referral source immediately if possible and
thank them profusely.
3. Provide the doctor with a New Patient Form that
outlines:
a. The patient’s chief concern

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The time and date of the
appointment so the doctor
personally can call the night
before….that’s right, the night
before the first appointment.

b. The referral source. If it was another dentist a
call to that dentist prior to treatment is
indicated.

4. Have the doctor call the new patient the night before
their initial visit to the office. The purpose of this
appointment is to:
a. Introduce the doctor in a non-threatening
manner.
b. Offer to answer any basic questions that the
patient may have on their minds.
c. Start the Talk to Me Marketing process. This
creates an initial opportunity to start personal
relationships between the doctor and the
patients which will decrease the chance of
disappointments and no shows.

5. Send a thank you gift to the referral source if it is a real,
live person. Sending a gift to the internet won’t work…..

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Chapter 6: The New Patient Experience

Who Are Your New Patients?

This chapter is probably the most important one of all. Before
we go into any details, I want to define New Patient. To me a
new patient is just about ‘every’ patient in your practice. I say this
because all too often we tend to forget the patients that have
been with us for years and treat them, well, like ’second hand’
citizens. We forget that they too have wants and needs and these
may have changed over the years. We tend to forget that their
lives, both medical, dental and financial, are possibly different
today than when they first became patients. We should be aware
of these changes and do everything we can to assist them with
their health needs.

All too often we tend to overlook the
needs of our ‘old’ patients because
either we don’t want to burden
them with more dentistry knowing
what they have done in the past or
we prejudge them and avoid the
discussion altogether telling
ourselves, “they won’t do that
anyway!”

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A new technique arrives at our door and we present it to every
new patient that walks into our reception room (assuming they
need that service) but overlook one of our greatest resources, the
patients that have trusted us for years and years. Ignoring this
huge potential market is just a mistake but one that is
unfortunately made in dental offices every day.

The point here is “Don’t Neglect Your
Current Patient Base”. They are
probably your most important
source of New Patients if you
choose to another look at them with
slightly different glasses!

OK. Other than your existing patients there are basically four
other types of New Patients we will encounter in our practices.
Each of these groups requires a slightly different approach in
order to make sure that they feel that they are the only thing that
matters. Creating a unique patient experience for each type of
patients requires a great deal of thought and planning since each
of these groups came to you in a different manner perhaps even
for different reasons.

Training your staff to recognize the difference and then to attend
to their specific needs is a critical component of a great practice.

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In years gone by we even graded patients based upon their
specific patient type. Personally, I think that may work in some
practices where the dentist or staff has great psychological
diagnostic skills. I prefer to treat all patients individually and learn
to communicate before making these types of decisions.

This can take several visits, way into the treatment process. To try
to do this at the first or even the second or third visit may result in
real misjudgments that can affect the long term relationship
severely. Most patients present to the dental office with a certain
amount of anxiety which may manifest itself into a
misinterpretation of their personality traits.

The different types of new patients are:

Referred – Non-Professional
This group of new patients is probably one of the easiest to
establish a relationship with because they typically arrive with
preconceived positive ideas about your practice from the referral
source whether it is a friend, relative or business associate or else
they just would not have called in the first place.

1. They wouldn’t have called and made an appointment if
the referral source didn’t sing your praises. However,
living up to those accolades can sometimes be a
daunting task because the relationship you established

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with the referrer is oftentimes bases on a different set
of circumstances than the one you are trying to
establish with the new patient. People are just different.
2. Additionally, the new patient’s personality, their dental
needs, their financial status etc. may be totally different
than the referral source.
3. Do not prejudge them based upon the referral source
even if they come from similar backgrounds etc. I know
I’ve previously said that CEOs refer CEOS but within
these individual groups people are still unique and have
their own sets of wants and needs. They also come with
their own unique set of baggage from their own past
dental history.
4. Make sure to find out the relationship they have with
the referral source. You never know what has transpired
between the two parties so don’t presume! They may
have been referred months ago and now they’re not
even talking to the referral source.
5. Ask if a thank you to that referral is appropriate.
Sometimes, the referring source would prefer to remain
anonymous. Sounds kind of silly but over the years I
have had several patients comment about the fact that
the referrer just didn’t want to be mentioned. I guess
the responsibility is too great.

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Referred – Professional
This group of patients arrives at your office by referral from a
dentist, a physician or some other health care professional. These
patients typically:

1. Arrive with specific needs as demonstrated by the
referring professional especially if this referral came
from another dentist.

2. They are also forewarned about their dental condition
and are probably a bit more receptive to treatment.

3. Don’t assume, however, that the information they were
given is valid. Oftentimes either the patient has
misconceptions or the referring professional just got it
wrong.

4. Therefore, always call the referring health care
professional to get the real scoop. Never assume…..

5. Always thank the referring source appropriately.
6. Remember, that in many if not most states, the

referring professional assumes some level of
responsibility just by making the referral.

Walk Ins, Shoppers and Searchers and more….
This is probably the most difficult group to understand and work
with in order to integrate them into your practice. They arrive at
your office because of convenience; maybe they saw an ad in the
yellow pages or in a local magazine or in today’s market, maybe

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they saw your website or blog. Basically, they come to you
because of something they saw that intrigued them enough to get
them to call. They come with very little information about you
other than what they have read or heard. Now it’s really up to you
to prove your case.

You have only moments to make a good (or hopefully Great) first
impression. It’s been said that people (customers, patients or just
people in general) make their initial judgment in as little as 5 – 7
seconds. If you think about it, that first couple of seconds happens
initially on the telephone, maybe on your website or when
eyeballs hit your ads.

OK, your patient has some kind of feeling about your office. They
may have had a pleasant conversation with your front desk
patient coordinator. They hopefully received your Welcome
Package and have had time to review it so that they have some
familiarity with your practice. Now, it’s time for the rubber to
meet the road. It’s time to meet face to face and create a bond
that will eventually lead to a successful case presentation and
acceptance and then unsolicited referrals of friends, relatives and
business associates.

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