Being the Holiday season, it is a time for giving.
Many of you in your practices create some sort of giving program. Maybe it is a giving tree, or perhaps you have a barrel where patients can drop food or toys for less fortunate families or children.
This is a great idea, a great program and shows your heart and the true meaning of serving others. But have you taken every possible step you can to ensure that your barrel gets filled?
What if you could promote your charity collection for free? What if there was a way to collect more food from the public to fill your barrel? And, what if there was a side benefit of possibly drawing some new people into your practice…and maybe they become patients?
Well, never fear, there is a simple way to do this.
ACTION TO TAKE: Create a press release promoting your food/toy/whatever collection and send it to the local media. Make sure you include details like where the goods go once they are collected, how long you are taking donations, and how much you are hoping to collect.
News outlets (especially newspapers) love these feel good stories. If anything, you will get a mention in the calendar of events section. It will hopefully draw new people into your office to drop off food, and they may turn into patients of your practice.
Don’t feel bad asking for these donations and possibly getting a patient or two out of it. Many charity organizations have ready-made programs designed for this purpose. These are free to anyone willing to collect donations, and often include everything you need including a fill in the blanks press release.
When Bill Gates makes a $1 Billion donation to the World Aids Awareness Association, he knows that the media will eat it up. He’ll make sure to create publicity not only for the charity, but also himself. The charity doesn’t mind his promotion because they get $1 Billion as well as the publicity.
If you do run a charity giving program in your office, it is to the charity’s and to your best interest to promote it to everyone you can. This includes press releases as well as announcing it in your newsletter to your current patients. This will draw in more gifts to the charity, and possibly create some patients for you too.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Email Rules Of Engagement
The following story has been posted by many if not all of the major news companies around the world including Yahoo, AP, Reuters, BBC, and many websites (including this one) have also reprinted the story.
For those of you that haven't seen it yet, here is the run down:
The email response from the office manager has now been sent the world over by email forward and has been printed both online and in paper by many of the major newsgroups. AP, Yahoo, BBC, and Reuters to name a few. It's surely been read by tens if not hundreds of thousands of people.
The response has destroyed the company, and the owner has since fired the office manager (which happens to be his wife).
What to learn: TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! With the invention of the internet it allows anyone to communicate anything to any number of people INSTANTLY.
What was supposed to be a "private" email has now been spread worldwide, and has destroyed a business, all because an employee got a little snappy with a customer and documented it in an email. Just imagine if this was your employee and your business.
If you say "My office staff would never do that." Reread the above example, and remember...the office manager was THE OWNERS WIFE!
ACTION TO TAKE: If you don't have office rules of engagement for email communications, do it now. ANY employee you have on the internet has the immediate power to create a problem just like the above one.
Also, realize that email is solid documentation, if you aren't willing to have it broadcast to the world, don't put it in an email. That [forward] button is to close to the send button to risk putting anything out there that could compromise your business.
Even though there is no standard set for email and it is still considered "informal," make sure you and your staff communicate in a professional manner at all times through email, or otherwise, because you never know who is going to see, read, or hear your message.
For those of you that haven't seen it yet, here is the run down:
Lawyer Paula Brosnahan, 33, and her fiance Steve Hausman, 36, who will marry in April next year, sought a quote from The Great Marquee Company for their Whangaparaoa cliff-top wedding. They viewed photos on the company's website and arranged an appointment to inspect a marquee in Devonport.
But when the Mt Albert couple decided the marquee would not be suitable and sent a polite email to the company saying they would look elsewhere, they were shocked to receive a reply from the firm saying their wedding wasn't posh enough for its tents.
The couple, who met 17 years ago, had written a polite letter saying: "Paula and I went and viewed your marquee setup at Devonport ... unfortunately we did not like it ... thanks for your assistance and we are sorry that it turned out this way."
Two hours later the firm's office manager, Katrina Jorgensen, replied to the couple: "Your wedding sounded cheap, nasty and tacky anyway, so we only ever considered you time wasters. Our marquees are for upper class clients which unfortunately you are not. Why don't you stay within your class levels and buy something from Payless Plastics instead."
The email response from the office manager has now been sent the world over by email forward and has been printed both online and in paper by many of the major newsgroups. AP, Yahoo, BBC, and Reuters to name a few. It's surely been read by tens if not hundreds of thousands of people.
The response has destroyed the company, and the owner has since fired the office manager (which happens to be his wife).
What to learn: TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! With the invention of the internet it allows anyone to communicate anything to any number of people INSTANTLY.
What was supposed to be a "private" email has now been spread worldwide, and has destroyed a business, all because an employee got a little snappy with a customer and documented it in an email. Just imagine if this was your employee and your business.
If you say "My office staff would never do that." Reread the above example, and remember...the office manager was THE OWNERS WIFE!
ACTION TO TAKE: If you don't have office rules of engagement for email communications, do it now. ANY employee you have on the internet has the immediate power to create a problem just like the above one.
Also, realize that email is solid documentation, if you aren't willing to have it broadcast to the world, don't put it in an email. That [forward] button is to close to the send button to risk putting anything out there that could compromise your business.
Even though there is no standard set for email and it is still considered "informal," make sure you and your staff communicate in a professional manner at all times through email, or otherwise, because you never know who is going to see, read, or hear your message.
Here Comes the Holidays
It’s been a generally accepted myth that the holidays (Thanksgiving to New Years) is a bad time to do any marketing. All types of businesses find their marketing doesn’t work, and because of that, December is their slowest month of the year.
In Jerry’s SofTouch managed practice, we have found the opposite to be true. The practice opened to a full schedule the week of thanksgiving, The Christmas postcard pulled in patients, the letter to the current patients for a the chance to buy Whitening certificates for their friends and family also pulled well.
See, the holidays are not a bad time to market, however, they are a bad time to market badly. Here are some simple rules for your holiday marketing:
1: Go with who you know. Your patient base is loyal, and has a relationship with you. What can you offer to them to make their lives less stressful during the holiday season (think Christmas gifts for friends)?
2: Don’t try and compete with “big business.” Doing a newspaper ad or insert during the holidays is almost marketing suicide unless it is huge and colorful and offers a great deal. The newspaper is so full of Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sears it is ridiculous. Sure the newspaper people will tell you the paper has the largest readership during the holidays, but many of those “readers” just look at the advertisements.
3: Make sure to be in the office. Many offices send a postcard or mailing only to have shortened office hours or vacation weeks when they are out of the office. If you plan to be out the week before Christmas, don’t send out a mailing that gets delivered that week. You’ll get calls, but nobody will be there to answer them.
4: Allow time for your mail. Allow a couple of extra days for your mailings to get delivered. Local mailings should not take much longer, but plan for a delay.
5: WHAT TO DO: Take advantage of opportunities. Be a bell ringer, have a canned food drive, adopt a family, have a “giving tree” in the office. Make sure to promote these to your patients and the local media (if you need help, call us).
6: WHAT TO DO PART 2: Hit the ground running on New Years. A little thing called a “TAB ON” ad netted almost 40 patients on New Years day of 2005 for the SofTouch office. The phone began ringing off the hook at 6 AM on January 1st. That is a good start to a year for any practice.
Christmas mailers, and New Years celebration offers to current patients and neighborhoods have both been great producers for the SofTouch practice here in Salem.
In Jerry’s SofTouch managed practice, we have found the opposite to be true. The practice opened to a full schedule the week of thanksgiving, The Christmas postcard pulled in patients, the letter to the current patients for a the chance to buy Whitening certificates for their friends and family also pulled well.
See, the holidays are not a bad time to market, however, they are a bad time to market badly. Here are some simple rules for your holiday marketing:
1: Go with who you know. Your patient base is loyal, and has a relationship with you. What can you offer to them to make their lives less stressful during the holiday season (think Christmas gifts for friends)?
2: Don’t try and compete with “big business.” Doing a newspaper ad or insert during the holidays is almost marketing suicide unless it is huge and colorful and offers a great deal. The newspaper is so full of Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sears it is ridiculous. Sure the newspaper people will tell you the paper has the largest readership during the holidays, but many of those “readers” just look at the advertisements.
3: Make sure to be in the office. Many offices send a postcard or mailing only to have shortened office hours or vacation weeks when they are out of the office. If you plan to be out the week before Christmas, don’t send out a mailing that gets delivered that week. You’ll get calls, but nobody will be there to answer them.
4: Allow time for your mail. Allow a couple of extra days for your mailings to get delivered. Local mailings should not take much longer, but plan for a delay.
5: WHAT TO DO: Take advantage of opportunities. Be a bell ringer, have a canned food drive, adopt a family, have a “giving tree” in the office. Make sure to promote these to your patients and the local media (if you need help, call us).
6: WHAT TO DO PART 2: Hit the ground running on New Years. A little thing called a “TAB ON” ad netted almost 40 patients on New Years day of 2005 for the SofTouch office. The phone began ringing off the hook at 6 AM on January 1st. That is a good start to a year for any practice.
Christmas mailers, and New Years celebration offers to current patients and neighborhoods have both been great producers for the SofTouch practice here in Salem.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
"I will prescribe regimen for the good of my patients..."
First of all, don't skip this article thinking you have heard this before. Yes, you do know the patient truly pays your bills, but I still, time and time again catch examples of mixed messages going out. Are you trying to draw new patients, or draw the glorious attention of your peers.
I don't know how you practice, but I have yet to see a dentist get a check from their competition with a note saying "Great ad, here's $500."
Now, down to business, In browsing through a marketing trade journal I caught eye of an ad for an internet printer.
I have not posted the ad online due to copyright and internet-sharing rules, but the picture shows an upscale beautiful building surrounded by palm trees with the granite company sign out front for a company called Modern marketing. The headline reads “You Come First.”
So, what’s wrong with this ad?
Well, at first sight it is an attention grabbing ad. Beautiful building, bold headline, pretty colors, etc.
But supposedly at this company, I COME FIRST. If I come first, why do they need an office on the beach with palm trees and a big granite logo? Their supposed concern is about my business, and me, right? If they were that concerned, they should buy me a building. (Keep in mind, this is an internet printer, not a retail store. No customers actually go in the building.)
All to many times I see dental offices make the same mistake. They claim to be about the patient through and through, but their office, marketing, and sometimes attitudes reflect the best interest of the doctor and staff, rather than the best interest of the patient.
Take one simple example, the dental chair… this is built with the comfort of the doctor in mind, all tools within reach, stainless handles, 400 different adjustments, etc… What about the patient? They get an “ergonomic” vinyl banana seat to lay in. (A friend of mine had a root canal recently, and her only complaint was back pain from laying in the chair. No root canal pain, just pain from the chair. She complains about it to this day.)
Action to take: Look at your practice, take every aspect and ask yourself, what am I doing to run my practice for best interest of the patient? Then take your marketing and ask, “What am I doing to convey my patient benefits? Remember, the patient ultimately signs your check.
I don't know how you practice, but I have yet to see a dentist get a check from their competition with a note saying "Great ad, here's $500."
Now, down to business, In browsing through a marketing trade journal I caught eye of an ad for an internet printer.
I have not posted the ad online due to copyright and internet-sharing rules, but the picture shows an upscale beautiful building surrounded by palm trees with the granite company sign out front for a company called Modern marketing. The headline reads “You Come First.”
So, what’s wrong with this ad?
Well, at first sight it is an attention grabbing ad. Beautiful building, bold headline, pretty colors, etc.
But supposedly at this company, I COME FIRST. If I come first, why do they need an office on the beach with palm trees and a big granite logo? Their supposed concern is about my business, and me, right? If they were that concerned, they should buy me a building. (Keep in mind, this is an internet printer, not a retail store. No customers actually go in the building.)
All to many times I see dental offices make the same mistake. They claim to be about the patient through and through, but their office, marketing, and sometimes attitudes reflect the best interest of the doctor and staff, rather than the best interest of the patient.
Take one simple example, the dental chair… this is built with the comfort of the doctor in mind, all tools within reach, stainless handles, 400 different adjustments, etc… What about the patient? They get an “ergonomic” vinyl banana seat to lay in. (A friend of mine had a root canal recently, and her only complaint was back pain from laying in the chair. No root canal pain, just pain from the chair. She complains about it to this day.)
Action to take: Look at your practice, take every aspect and ask yourself, what am I doing to run my practice for best interest of the patient? Then take your marketing and ask, “What am I doing to convey my patient benefits? Remember, the patient ultimately signs your check.
Monday, November 13, 2006
"No Thanks, I'm just looking"
Business owners in general hate “tire kickers.” Those people that call, or even come in just to check out prices and see what special deals they can get.
The main problem with “tire kickers” is how you deal with them. Once they ask for a price or are tagged as a price shopper or tire kicker they are written off as a lost cause. You think to yourself “they are just shopping, they won’t buy,” and before you know it, you have treated them so badly they don’t buy, and then you just say, “I knew it, they never buy.” The perfect self-fulfilling prophesy.
The next time a tire kicker calls and asks for a price, don’t shut them out. Tell them the price and treat them well. Give them details and benefits and explanations of why your prices are what they are. Something like “We treat our patients with the highest quality materials and care, and we wouldn’t want to have low cost prevent us from giving you the best possible treatment.
Pour it on, the more details and benefits you give, and the nicer you are will make the practice stand out to these shoppers. Present the practice and price with pride, but also build value in it.
If a person calls and asks for the price of an exam, tell them, but also tell them the 17 different exams you do…oral cancer, pocket depth, etc. This will show them that you go the extra mile. Now they pay $120 for several exams, rather than $120 for just a regular, plain old exam.
Our society is based on competition. For that reason, there will always be “tire kickers.” Treat these tire kickers in a way they have never been treated before. Take them through the steps you take with your best patients, and watch how many of these “tire kickers” actually purchase based on the value of your practice rather than the price.
The main problem with “tire kickers” is how you deal with them. Once they ask for a price or are tagged as a price shopper or tire kicker they are written off as a lost cause. You think to yourself “they are just shopping, they won’t buy,” and before you know it, you have treated them so badly they don’t buy, and then you just say, “I knew it, they never buy.” The perfect self-fulfilling prophesy.
The next time a tire kicker calls and asks for a price, don’t shut them out. Tell them the price and treat them well. Give them details and benefits and explanations of why your prices are what they are. Something like “We treat our patients with the highest quality materials and care, and we wouldn’t want to have low cost prevent us from giving you the best possible treatment.
Pour it on, the more details and benefits you give, and the nicer you are will make the practice stand out to these shoppers. Present the practice and price with pride, but also build value in it.
If a person calls and asks for the price of an exam, tell them, but also tell them the 17 different exams you do…oral cancer, pocket depth, etc. This will show them that you go the extra mile. Now they pay $120 for several exams, rather than $120 for just a regular, plain old exam.
Our society is based on competition. For that reason, there will always be “tire kickers.” Treat these tire kickers in a way they have never been treated before. Take them through the steps you take with your best patients, and watch how many of these “tire kickers” actually purchase based on the value of your practice rather than the price.
Friday, November 10, 2006
November 10, 1775
Today was the birthday of The Marine Corps.
I say this for two reasons:
#1: I am a former Marine myself,
#2: Every year, Marines everywhere celebrate this birthday of one of the greatest military forces in the world.
When I was on active duty, the biggest event of the year was the Marine Corps ball/birthday party. A huge celebration, usually within your 3500 person unit that involved everyone from the newest Marine and his girlfriend, to the most Senior Officer and his long time wife. We celebrated, talked war stories (some had more than others), and danced the night away to show our love for the Marine Corps.
What can a dental practice learn from this?
#1: Events like these bring together Marines everywhere. To this day, I still get emails from my Marine buddies wishing me happy birthday on November 10th. The comraderie and experience of celebrating a landmark occasion is the best team building excercise you can do.
In your practice, celebrate the practice birthday, or an employees aniversary at the practice. Even just set aside a time to gather all the practice staff together away from the office. Get to know your staff as people rather than as hygienists and assistants. These "events" will help them work together as a team, and create a better, more efficient workplace.
Don't limit yourself just to staff parties, patient events can create comraderie and a sense of community as well.
#2: An event like the Marine Corps Birthday, celebrated yearly is a newsworthy item. The Marines have been around 231 years now, and every year, the news media announces it on a national scale.
In your practice, an anniversary, or "birthday" of the practice, if celebrated right can become a very newsworthy event that can gain you notariety ain your community not to mention free publicity and new patients. Make it a point to have and promote events in your community with the purpose of celebration for the community.
Celebrate your practice. There is no doubt it is a big part of your life. You celebrate birthdays and anniversaries of your friends and family, why not your practice?
Have a profitable week!
I say this for two reasons:
#1: I am a former Marine myself,
#2: Every year, Marines everywhere celebrate this birthday of one of the greatest military forces in the world.
When I was on active duty, the biggest event of the year was the Marine Corps ball/birthday party. A huge celebration, usually within your 3500 person unit that involved everyone from the newest Marine and his girlfriend, to the most Senior Officer and his long time wife. We celebrated, talked war stories (some had more than others), and danced the night away to show our love for the Marine Corps.
What can a dental practice learn from this?
#1: Events like these bring together Marines everywhere. To this day, I still get emails from my Marine buddies wishing me happy birthday on November 10th. The comraderie and experience of celebrating a landmark occasion is the best team building excercise you can do.
In your practice, celebrate the practice birthday, or an employees aniversary at the practice. Even just set aside a time to gather all the practice staff together away from the office. Get to know your staff as people rather than as hygienists and assistants. These "events" will help them work together as a team, and create a better, more efficient workplace.
Don't limit yourself just to staff parties, patient events can create comraderie and a sense of community as well.
#2: An event like the Marine Corps Birthday, celebrated yearly is a newsworthy item. The Marines have been around 231 years now, and every year, the news media announces it on a national scale.
In your practice, an anniversary, or "birthday" of the practice, if celebrated right can become a very newsworthy event that can gain you notariety ain your community not to mention free publicity and new patients. Make it a point to have and promote events in your community with the purpose of celebration for the community.
Celebrate your practice. There is no doubt it is a big part of your life. You celebrate birthdays and anniversaries of your friends and family, why not your practice?
Have a profitable week!
Welcome, but Expected Surprises
There are those things in life we come to expect. Simple things like the car starting in the morning, the light turning on when we flip the switch, or our coffee to be hot when we buy it.
Then sometimes we get unexpected surprises. Events like a power outage, or finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk.
One of the above surprises is an inconvenience, but the other is great, and can make a persons day. Finding $20 of “free” money on the sidewalk…that could make anybody’s day.
Two days ago, I purchased a package of Hostess Ho Hos. Chocolate snack cakes, which come 3 to a package. I returned to my desk to hammer out some work, and opened the package to find there were 4 treats inside the package rather than 3.
I was rather excited to get 33% more snack for my dollar, and it put a smile on my face. Was I expecting it? No, but it sure put a smile on my face.
How can you apply this to your practice? Create a system to randomly reward patients for using your services. Maybe at the start of the week, you pick a number, say 14. Then, patient #14 for the week gets a $10 Starbucks card, unannounced and unadvertised. If you don’t think that makes someone’s day, try it.
The same works for staff. Show up one day with a box of muffins and look at the smiles on their faces. Don’t tell them you are doing it, or make it a regular thing, just do it randomly. They will enjoy the little surprises.
These little unexpected surprises will help to keep patients coming back, and keep your staff productive as ever.
Just imagine the word-of-mouth you will create when patient #14 goes to work and brags about how here dentist surprised her with a free Starbucks gift card.
Then sometimes we get unexpected surprises. Events like a power outage, or finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk.
One of the above surprises is an inconvenience, but the other is great, and can make a persons day. Finding $20 of “free” money on the sidewalk…that could make anybody’s day.
Two days ago, I purchased a package of Hostess Ho Hos. Chocolate snack cakes, which come 3 to a package. I returned to my desk to hammer out some work, and opened the package to find there were 4 treats inside the package rather than 3.
I was rather excited to get 33% more snack for my dollar, and it put a smile on my face. Was I expecting it? No, but it sure put a smile on my face.
How can you apply this to your practice? Create a system to randomly reward patients for using your services. Maybe at the start of the week, you pick a number, say 14. Then, patient #14 for the week gets a $10 Starbucks card, unannounced and unadvertised. If you don’t think that makes someone’s day, try it.
The same works for staff. Show up one day with a box of muffins and look at the smiles on their faces. Don’t tell them you are doing it, or make it a regular thing, just do it randomly. They will enjoy the little surprises.
These little unexpected surprises will help to keep patients coming back, and keep your staff productive as ever.
Just imagine the word-of-mouth you will create when patient #14 goes to work and brags about how here dentist surprised her with a free Starbucks gift card.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Repackage Your Practice
There are truly many ways to innovate in your practice.
You can create a new procedure, or invent a new piece of equipment, but sometimes, the easiest way to innovate is to create “packages” of services.
These packages offer convenience for the patient, and if put together and priced right, can really help to grow a practice and lock in patient loyalty.
These packages can be either developed within your practice, or they can involve some joint ventures with other businesses.
Consider a package that offers teeth cleaning and tooth whitening. A cleaning is $129, and a “cleaning plus” option may be $199. Many people seeing a normal option and an upgrade will go for the upgrade just out of fear of being normal.
Or, take it a step further and have your “new patient beauty special.” This one takes a beauty spa, and offers not only teeth whitening at your practice, but a facial, manicure, and a tanning session at the spa. A “mini-makeover.”
Now, you have taken your practice from a simple health maintenance solution, to a true health and beauty solution. People will opt for the package because you offer all that service and value at a competitive price.
Do some research on your current patient base, and ask a few questions of them. What would they like to see you offer? If you offered _______ would they take advantage of it?
Then, put a package together. Maybe start with a limited number, and really commit to selling them. Make sure every staff member mentions the package, mention it in your patient newsletter, and place signage around the practice.
Action To Take: Look around your area and see what types of business you could team up with to create a patient beneficial package. Hint: Think Spa, Hair Salon, Tanning, Health Food, etc.
You can create a new procedure, or invent a new piece of equipment, but sometimes, the easiest way to innovate is to create “packages” of services.
These packages offer convenience for the patient, and if put together and priced right, can really help to grow a practice and lock in patient loyalty.
These packages can be either developed within your practice, or they can involve some joint ventures with other businesses.
Consider a package that offers teeth cleaning and tooth whitening. A cleaning is $129, and a “cleaning plus” option may be $199. Many people seeing a normal option and an upgrade will go for the upgrade just out of fear of being normal.
Or, take it a step further and have your “new patient beauty special.” This one takes a beauty spa, and offers not only teeth whitening at your practice, but a facial, manicure, and a tanning session at the spa. A “mini-makeover.”
Now, you have taken your practice from a simple health maintenance solution, to a true health and beauty solution. People will opt for the package because you offer all that service and value at a competitive price.
Do some research on your current patient base, and ask a few questions of them. What would they like to see you offer? If you offered _______ would they take advantage of it?
Then, put a package together. Maybe start with a limited number, and really commit to selling them. Make sure every staff member mentions the package, mention it in your patient newsletter, and place signage around the practice.
Action To Take: Look around your area and see what types of business you could team up with to create a patient beneficial package. Hint: Think Spa, Hair Salon, Tanning, Health Food, etc.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
