Jake Goates, founder of Goat CMO, shares his journey from sales manager to fractional Chief Marketing Officer for dental practices nationwide. After earning a degree in professional sales and managing a large call center, Goates discovered that better marketing directly improved sales performance. He entered the dental industry 13 years ago teaching phone etiquette and patient conversion, eventually recognizing that practices had become too data-driven and transactional at the expense of genuine patient relationships. Goates developed a proprietary algorithm that analyzes patient data against credit bureau spending behaviors to create actionable personas, helping practices understand their patients' values and preferences. He emphasizes the importance of rebranding when necessary, scripted office tours for new patients, and cleaning up online presence before investing in advertising. His fractional CMO services provide strategic marketing expertise at a fraction of traditional CMO costs, with packages starting at $1,000 monthly.