Research and Development

As a small business, sometimes there comes a struggle between working in your business and working on your business.

One of these so-called struggles is research and development. How do you know what your patients want? How do you know how much they’ll pay? And of course, how do you market it?

It’s actually a simple problem to have. There are many companies that deal with Oral Health products in the real world. Companies like Crest, Colgate, etc…

These companies spend millions if not billions doing market research, focus groups, surveys, test markets, and demographic evaluations.

All you need to do is take what they do and apply it to your practice.

Take the product at right for example. Crest has done their research and taken a simple Crest Whitestrips kit and made it into the “AGE DEFYING STRIPS.” That promises to “Remove up to 20 years of stains off your smile.”

Crest has, no doubt, spent hundreds of thousands in research to make this product what it is. The focus groups, the surveys, the visual comparisons, and the simple design of the box. Most likely, even focus group testing side-by-side products where the only difference is color.

Doing this research for you is as easy as walking down the oral care aisle in any grocery/department store you may be in and taking mental notes.

In the Crest Whitestrips case, they’ve taken a teeth-whitening product and made it into an Aging reversal product. Their millions of dollars translates into a free lesson for you.
Until next week…

Your Circle Of Influence

In pursuing our yearly goals as well as our marketing goals, sometimes we try to effect things that we have no control over.

Each person has a “Circle Of Influence” that measures who and what s/he can control. The further from the center you get, the less control you have.


The Circle Of Influence Let’s take your practice for instance. I have put together a figure to the right that shows your “Circle of Influence.”

You are the center. You can sway your staff very easily because you sign their paychecks, and they work for you.

Your patients aren’t quite as easy to persuade as your staff because they do have other options when it comes to dental care. They do have a relationship with you, however, and this keeps them quite receptive. If this relationship is developed correctly (newsletter), the receptiveness grows.

On the outside of the circle you have the public. They are very difficult to convince and motivate by you. They have no relationship with you, and know of 50 other people in the community just like you, one of which they may already have a relationship with.

What does this have to do with marketing? It definitely shows us where to focus energy. If the center of the circle (you) is not solid, there can be waves throughout. If your staff is not solid it can affect your patients. If your patients don’t feel connected they can affect the public.

Also notice what’s not in your circle…other practices. You do not have hardly any influence at all over them, nor should they have any influence over you.

Make sure you focus on your circle of influence and keep it round.

Have a profitable week!

Dental Press Releases

Incredible news!!!

We distributed Dr. Busby's press release to 152 contacts in the Madison area.

This morning, he got a call from the LARGEST NEWSPAPER in his market (170,000+ distribution on Sundays.) and they are coming to his office on Tuesday to do a story on his massaging dental chairs.

What would he pay to have an ad in that paper...probably thousands.

Now he will get a thrid party endorsement as well as (most likely) a picture and a feel good story about his practice in the LARGEST paper in his market.

Making It Important

Remember those goals you set for yourself and wrote down a week or so ago...

Go to Kmart, buy a frame and hang them in your office.

This will draw attention to them, make them look important, give them additional value, and make the staff take notice. It will also make that flimsy piece of paper you wrote your goals on last for the whole year.

Out of Sight...

In the dental marketing world, goals are helpful...if communicated properly...

We are now one week into 2007, and hopefully you have already taken steps toward fulfilling your goal of having the best year ever for your practice.

What are your goals for your practice? Does everyone on your staff know them, and could they relay them to me if I asked?

As you know, one of the keys to a successful practice (just like a successful sports team) is the team aspect. The way they work together to bring the practice to realize their goal is important. You need to do everything you can to keep everyone headed in the right direction.

It amazes me how many dentists we work with that do not relay their goals for the practice to their staff members. Then, the dentist works toward a practice goal basically by his/herself while being frustrated because they feel they have no help.

Just as in football, with you being the quarterback, if the play is to run to the right side, you need to make sure the whole team knows that so they can block for you. If you are passing, you need to tell the team that so they can block and/or get open for a pass.

In your practice, as in any business, it is necessary to have specific WRITTEN goals. Your first order of business if you haven’t done so already is to write down your goals and post them where you see them daily. This is your roadmap for your practice for the next year.

The second order of business is to post the goals where everyone else in the office can see them. Then, they are reminded what the destination is, and can offer help and assistance for the journey.

If you don’t tell anyone what the destination is, how are they supposed to help you on the journey. Communicate the practice goals to everyone in your practice, and remind them of those goals often.

Have a productive and profitable week!

P.S. There are many other people you can let know about your goals. Your family, friends, and your suppliers can all be helpful when you need support and help in acheiving goals.

A Fresh Start

The first business day of the New Year. We’ve celebrated the coming and going of 2006, and now we have a fresh start, a blank canvas, an empty box that we call 2007.

Maybe you have a vision of what 2007 looks like both personally and for your practice. Maybe you even have some of those goals written down and put in a place you see them daily (if you don’t, do it now).

Once you have decided on your goals, the key is to, as NIKE would say “Just Do It!” Take swift, ferocious action toward attaining them.

There is no other way to achieve them.

2 things to remember about your goals.

#1: Don’t try to eat an elephant in one bite:
Break your large goals into some very bite-size chunks that are easy to attain. If your goal is to lose weight for example, maybe a sub-goal would be to get a gym membership. This makes it easier to see progress and will help to keep you on track toward your final goal.

#2: Every day is a new beginning:
You don’t have to wait until January 1st to start a new goal. Start one tomorrow, February 1st, August 27th…it doesn’t matter. Lay out your goals, and take swift and ferocious action to attaining them.

And, as NIKE would say, “JUST DO IT!”