Our guest on this episode of The Best Practices show is Xana Williams, Founder and CEO of Golden Proportions Marketing. Xana coaches Kirk and the ACT Dental team often on their marketing plan and strategies, continually encouraging them to adjust and improve their systems and goals.

Xana joins us on this episode to discuss how to avoid the upcoming production plummet and end 2020 strong. She explains that many people inside and outside of the dental industry are viewing the current crisis as COVID, but that the real crisis is actually the recession caused by COVID, which could impact the economy for years to come. She walks viewers and listeners through the 6 stages of every crisis, identifying the manifestations of each of these stages as they are appearing right now. The 6 stages are: warning, risk assessment, react, revise, resolve, recover.

Many dental practices have been riding high this summer with packed schedules and waiting rooms, but they are unprepared for the production plummet that will likely take place during the remainder of 2020 because of their inconsistent marketing efforts. Xana discusses ways for dental practices to get back to where they need to be during a recession in order to differentiate themselves from competitors. In addition to updating your vision and goals based on the current economic landscape, it is crucial to make sure that you have the right systems in place to effectively push through the ups and downs of business while providing excellent customer service.

Xana encourages listeners to resolve to not get stuck again and to be prepared for the impacts of this recession by staying vigilant about tracking your KPIs and getting your name out there. Finally, she emphasizes the importance of having a good group of advisors around you who can help you identify blind spots and opportunities while you have your head down in the day-to-day.

5 Main Takeaways:

How to avoid the production plummet (6:21)

6 stages of this crisis (7:50)

COVID is not the crisis - the recession caused by COVID is the crisis (9:48)

When you stop marketing, you will fall off the cliff (29:52)

Differentiate yourself through brand awareness campaigns and superior service (35:36)

Key Quotes:

"Everybody has this Idea that we just need to get back to normal, but I'm gonna tell you that normal is gone."

"Everybody is thinking of the crisis as if it is just COVID."

"A little bit of slowdown leads to a complete flattening out."

"COVID is having a long-term effect on the decisions we are making."

"We are making our decisions based on where we are stuck right now."

"Always be marketing."

"If you don't know where you're going, you don't know how to get there."

"Have a system for everything or that's where you'll run into your service problems."

"Whenever there is a failure in any business, it is inevitably based in the system."

Snippets:

4:22-4:55 – Why it is important to pay attention to avoiding the production plummet

7:42-7:50 – Most practices are not prepared for the remainder of 2020 or 2021

20:11-20:42 – The coming financial fallout

24:21-24:41 – Trying to push the train

39:50-40:08 – Having the right systems in place

46:46-47:59 – Looking at your cash flow

52:40-52:55 – Running a business overall during the recession

Bio of guest:

Xana Winans has been in the business of dental practice marketing for 25 years and she is married to a dentist, so she has ridden the highs and lows of the economy through the lens of the dental industry plenty of times. Xana has learned that two of the keys to effective leadership during crisis and peace-times are to always be marketing and to make fast decisions, and she coaches Golden Proportions Marketing's clients with these keys in mind.

Contact:

https://www.goldenproportions.com/

https://www.goldenproportions.com/septemberslump