SmartBox Dental Marketing

Cialdini’s Principle of Consensus for Dental Practices

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Patient Attraction Episode 1114

This is the last of a series of podcasts in which I’ve looked at how dentists can apply Robert Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence to get more new patients. Today’s podcast is on a subject near and dear to my heart – Consensus, or social proof, as it’s also called. Social proof is a powerful recruitment tool for dentists who want more new patients … if it’s handled right. Online reputation management is absolutely essential these days, because a handful of negative reviews can cause you to lose patients you’d otherwise get. After the break, I’ll be back to tell you how to make social proof work for you rather than against you. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– As the saying goes these days, if you’re not on Google, you’re nowhere.

– Getting found online is crucial because that’s where more than 90 percent of prospects begin their search for a dentist.

– But when prospects find you, what will they see people saying about you and your practice?

– Patient reviews on your website, on Yelp, on Google +, and on other review sites constitute social proof.

– Enough very positive reviews, and prospects will take that as confirmation that you’re the right dentist for them.

– But online reputations these days are measured in fractions of stars.

– Most review sites offer reviewers the chance to assign a star rating, usually from 1 to 5.

– It takes very few 1-star ratings to knock down your overall rating.

– And when prospects can choose between a 5-star dentist and 4.2-star dentist, which do you think they’ll select?

– Many prospects don’t even read the reviews if the dentist’s rating is too low.

– But a low rating is usually accompanied by negative reviews.

– And when your prospects read those reviews, they’ll definitely click away and choose another dentist.

– Dentists who ignore their online reviews and ratings are asking for trouble.

– And yet, all too many of them do.

– Managing your online reputation is essential, but it’s also an enormous time suck.

– There are ways to make the job of overseeing your reviews easier.

– You can set Google My Business to notify you automatically when a new review is posted.

– You can do the same for Yelp and other review sites.

– I recommend enabling those notifications, because a large part of recruiting patients online is interacting with them.

– Be sure to thank everyone who leaves a positive review.

– And emphasize that everyone who visits your practice can expect the same good experience.

– But even more important is dealing with negative reviews.

– You simply can’t afford to let those remain unaddressed.

– But you also can’t afford knee-jerk reactions online.

– Since bad online reviews can be personal, it’s often best to let someone else respond.

– And you need to have a carefully considered plan in place before anyone from your practice addresses the review.

– If at all possible, try to take the conversation offline.

– If you can resolve the issue with the unhappy patient, consider asking them to post a retraction online.

– So, interact with admirers and minimize the damage from disgruntled posters.

– But the very best way to maximize your star rating is to request reviews from your patients.

– The timing on asking is a bit sensitive.

– If someone has been in the chair for an hour and still has a numb jaw when they’re walking out, that may not be the best time.

– But you should have a follow-up system in place for every patient.

– The more positive social proof you can present, the more new patients you can expect to schedule an appointment.

– SmartBox dentists don’[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1113

Welcome to the fifth podcast exploring how dentists can use Robert Cialdini’s Principles of Influence. So far, we’ve looked at the principles of Reciprocity, Scarcity, Authority, and Consistency and their application to dental marketing. Today, I’ll be looking at the principle of Liking. A lot of people read about that principle and have a “Well, duh” reaction. But there are some extra wrinkles when it comes to using this principle to attract new dental patients – particularly if you have a diverse patient base.

I’ll be back after the break to tell you more.  

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– Cialdini’s principle of Liking basically says that we buy from people we like much more often than from people we don’t like.

– But he expands on that by adding that what determines whether we like someone is based strongly on how similar to us they are.

– In some cases, the similarity is physical – height, gender, skin color, and so on.

– The liking can also occur because of similar educational levels, socioeconomic status, or even shared backgrounds and experiences.

– When it comes to the usual sales process – whether from a route salesperson, at a car lot, or a marketing rep – the salesperson may have to work hard to establish a connection.

– Skilled salespeople do that all the time.

-It’s an essential skill for success.

– But all those interactions are face-to-face, a luxury that most dentists don’t have.

– The sales process for dentists begins long before a patient sets foot in the practice.

– And the relationship, so to speak, usually begins when a prospect visits your website.

– Let’s face it – no dentist is going to have enough in common with every single website visitor.

– Not unless your market has only one race, one economic bracket, and a certain minimum educational level – and you share all of those.

– But if that’s the case, you’d be the rare exception.

– Most other dentists are going to have to find a middle ground that appeals to as broad a base as possible.

– The end goal of all your marketing is to put more patient butts in your chairs.

– To reach that goal, your prospects have to like you, trust you, relate to you, and regard you as the dental expert.

– And that’s where you begin with your marketing to take advantage of the principle of Liking.

– Nobody likes it when somebody talks over their head.

– If you need an example, think about a theoretical physicist discussing gravity waves.

– Unless he or she makes an effort to simplify things, the discussion is likely to go right over your head.

– And you’ll tune out.

– That’s exactly what happens on too many dentists’ websites.

– They’re not written for patients; they’re written to impress other dentists.

– Many dentists’ videos are the same – technical, jargon-loaded, and totally boring to non-dentists.

– Make sure that everything on your website, in your social media, and in your blog is on a level that the average prospect will understand.

– Generally, that’s going to be at about a middle school level for online marketing.

– Keep to that level, and you’ll hold the attention of many more of your prospects.

– But the focus of your online content has to be for and about the prospects.

– Focus on the benefits of treatment rather than the process.

– Most of your prospects don’t want to know the details.

– They just want to eat comfortably, smile without embarrassment, and laugh freely.

– And finally, make sure your marketing conveys that you’ll do everything possible to ensure their comfort.

– It also needs to show you’ll make their experience as relaxed and painless as possible.

– The bottom line to all this discussion is that getting de[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1112

Who likes to be thought of as being inconsistent? Nobody, that’s who. Dr. Robert Cialdini, a pioneer in the area of interpersonal influence, has done extensive research into how people are influenced to make decisions. His principle of Consistency is used widely in advertising to influence prospects to make buying decisions. Dentists can go to school on his work and on the experiences of many, many marketers. I’ll be back after the break to tell you how to use Cialdini’s work to attract more patients to your practice.

- I’m Colin Receveur.

- Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast™.

- It’s been my experience that once people have committed to something, they’re unlikely to change their minds.

- That’s particularly true if that commitment was made and witnessed by someone else.

- That’s one of the psychological traits Dr. Cialdini was curious about and began investigating.

- From his research emerged his principle of Consistency.

- Consistency is sometimes called Commitment, but the basics are the same.

- Once a public commitment to something has been made, people tend to act consistently with that commitment.

- That’s something dentists can take advantage of in their marketing.

- Let’s assume your website is showing up in local search results.

- You’ve had the search engine optimization work done.

- And you’ve got helpful information on your site written for your prospects’ level of understanding.

- Now, will your prospects decide to book an appointment based on their first visit to your site?

- Probably not, because there’s a lot of dental competition out there.

- Once your prospect looks around your site, they’ll likely click away to one of your competitor’s sites.

- That is, unless you give them a reason to learn more about you and your practice.

- That’s where dental advertising lures come in.

- You can offer something of value in exchange for their email address.

- That something could be a free e-book written by you or a ghostwritten book.

- It could be a white paper on a particular dental problem and solution, or a research article that laypeople will understand.

- By agreeing to give up their email address for something of value, they’ve made a commitment.

- And that commitment is to receive further information from you about their dental wants and needs.

- The process of staying in front of your prospects via email is known as drip marketing.

- You’ll need a series of emails about each particular dental problem or desire.

- Typically, that series might run to between 7 and 10 separate emails.

- Given the number of dental conditions you treat, writing all those emails is quite a large time commitment.

- So that’s something you might want to outsource.

- But once you have those emails in hand, you’ll need to send them out at carefully timed intervals.

- Send emails too often, and you’re pushy.

- Send them too seldom, and your prospects could be lost to a competitor.

- This is an area where using an automated response system can keep you from making mistakes and save a huge amount of staff time.

- With the right emails to the right patients at the right times, you’re continuing to influence them.

- Since they’ve already committed to receive those emails, you can be reasonably sure they’ll read at least some of them.

- And they’ll be more likely to choose you to solve their dental problems.

Cialdini’s Principle of Authority for Dental Practices

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Patient Attraction Episode 1111

You’re the dental authority, or at least your patients and prospects should look at you that way. But have you ever thought about what it means to be the dental authority? It may very well not be what you have in mind. And the distinction between being an authority and being an authority figure is crucial for dentists. After the break, I’ll continue exploring how dentists can use Dr. Robert Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion to promote their practices. And how you can use your Authority to attract more patients to your practice, and keep them. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– If you’ve looked up Dr. Cialdini’s work on the psychology of persuasion, you’ve seen that the order in which the principles are given tends to vary.

– It doesn’t really matter, because each Principle of Persuasion can operate independently.

– For instance, in the previous podcast I discussed the principle of Scarcity.

– The principles of Scarcity and Reciprocity, which I looked at in the first episode, don’t necessarily work together.

– For  example, if someone responds to a time-limited offer by purchasing something, they don’t feel obligated to do something extra in return.

– But let’s say you’re positioned as the best and only logical choice in your market to solve your prospects’ dental problems.

– That’s Scarcity.

– And when your practice makes an extra effort with a prospect’s appointment scheduling, that prospect will be more likely to reciprocate.

– Remaining loyal to your practice is how your prospect “repays” you.

– So, the principles can be used to reinforce each other, but they don’t automatically work that way in all cases.

– Today, I want to talk about how dentists can use the principle of Authority to promote their practices.

– The term “authority figure” doesn’t sit well with a lot of people.

– An authority figure is basically someone who has power over what other people do.

– And a dentist who tries to command or bully patients into procedures – or even flossing regularly – isn’t going to be in business long.

– A dentist doesn’t need to be an authority figure to his or her prospects.

– A dentist needs to be the trusted authority on solving patients’ dental problems.

– Why? Because dentistry is a trust-based business.

– Your patients are letting you put your hands – and sharp, hard instruments – into their mouths.

– They’re trusting that you won’t hurt them and that you’ll solve their dental problems.

– Think about it – would you let a dentist you didn’t trust perform an endodontic procedure on you?

– Of course not.

– Your objections would probably be based on technical competence, sterile technique, or something your prospects don’t often think about.

– But dental patients today view dentists as competent until proven otherwise.

– Relatively few of them are looking for the best hands in town.

– Your prospects are looking for the dentist they perceive as being the right choice to help them.

– And that includes being someone they can trust to take the best possible care of them.

– So, your Authority – capital A – comes from your prospects viewing you as the trusted dental expert for them.

– It doesn’t matter whether you wrote the book on a procedure.

– Hardly any of your patients would read it, and even fewer would understand it.

– It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got an additional string of letters after DDS or DMD.

– Your prospects don’t understand the difference between DDS and DMD, much less which cosmetic dentistry academy you attended.

– What matters is that you’re seen to be the right dentist for them – likeable, relatable, trustworth[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1110

Welcome to day 2 of how dentists can use Robert Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion to attract more new patients and keep the ones they have. In this podcast and the 4 podcasts to follow, I’ll be looking at one of the principles each time. If you’re not familiar with Cialdini’s work, I highly recommend it. Everything he’s written about so extensively directly applies to your marketing efforts. I’ll be back after the break to tell you about his principle of Scarcity.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’ve been an admirer of Cialdini’s work for a long time, particularly his Principles of Persuasion.

– The principles themselves are universal, although there are some wrinkles in exactly how they play out in different cultures.

– Today, I’m talking about his principle of Scarcity.

– Scarcity is pretty straightforward.

– If there are only a few of something, or if something’s available for a limited time only, people are more likely to want it.

– They don’t want to miss out on savings, or acquiring something.

– You see this all the time in advertising.

– “Limited time only!” “Sales ends Wednesday!” “This weekend only!”

– Or, “Only 25 left in stock! Don’t miss your chance to SAVE!”

– Or, “Available to the first 50 customers only!”

– And even though this advertising scarcity is almost always artificial, people are still persuaded by it.

– Not everyone, but advertisers don’t need everyone.

– They need enough people to respond, and generally enough people do.

– There are 2 limiting factors when it comes to using Scarcity.

– The first is that you can’t use it for too long a time or too often.

– People catch on to the fact that savings aren’t time-limited.

– Or that there really are a lot more than 25 left in stock.

– Unless they’re seeing the ad or offer for the first time, they’ll no longer respond.

– So time- or quantity-limited Scarcity is something to use carefully and with a planned timetable.

– The second limiting factor is that it has to be something people will want.

– Here’s a silly example just to make the point.

– You can try pushing a limited time offer on used motor oil, but you’re not going to get many takers, if any.

– There’s nothing desirable about used motor oil.

– Now, you’re probably wondering how this principle applies to dentists.

– After all, you’re not selling bouncy castles or hand vacuums.

– Let’s start with time-limited offers.

– What you are selling is dental treatment.

– Think about what treatment in a general practice usually focuses on: cleanings, exams, X-rays, whitening, minor restorations, and minor cosmetic dentistry treatments.

– If your state regulations allow, you could discount some or all of those things.

– Maybe you already do … and so do your competitors.

– That’s a price war that you’ll need really deep pockets to win.

– But there’s another way to use Scarcity, and that’s to offer an enhanced service for a limited time.

– If your exams don’t usually include oral cancer screening, add that as a free feature.

– But add it only for the next 20 or 30 new patients who make an appointment.

– Again, if you’re allowed to, offer one time-limited, in-house whitening session.

– Or a free trial of a take-home whitening program.

– Or a free computer simulation of the end result of cosmetic dental work.

– Maybe schedule an extra half day once or twice a month and advertise limited availability.

– But don’t try offering a root canal special.

– That’s something people need but wish they didn’t.

– It’s not something people want.

– Using Cialdini’s principle of Scarcity in marketing your practice is l[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1109

Dr. Robert Cialdini is the well-known author of the classic book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. It hit the New York Times Best Seller List and it’s listed as one of Fortune’s 75 Smartest Business Books. Since its release in 1984, Cialdini’s book has sold over 3 million copies. I’m a great admirer of Cialdini’s work, and it’s partly responsible for how I think about the business of marketing. Over the next 6 podcasts, I’m going to show you how dentists can apply Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence to get more patients and sell more of your case solutions. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– When it comes right down to it, marketing is the process of influencing people to take a certain course of action.

– In the case of dentists, the end goal of all your marketing is to influence people to book an appointment.

– Basically, it’s to get more butts in your chairs – because that’s how you make money.

– Robert Cialdini has done groundbreaking research into how influence works.

– He discovered 6 Principles of Influence, and he’s become famous around the world lecturing and teaching how to use these principles in business.

– Those principles are Reciprocity, Scarcity, Authority, Consistency, Liking, and Consensus.

– I’ll be talking about each of these, and how dentists can use them, over the next 6 podcasts.

– Today, let’s start with the principle of Reciprocity.

– Reciprocity is another way of saying “implied obligation.”

– Basically, if someone does something nice for us, we feel obliged to do something nice for them.

– You can see that principle in its simplest form when it comes to opening doors.

– Somebody holds the door for us, and we feel obliged to hold one for them.

– Or, someone picks up the check, and we feel obliged to reciprocate.

– We get a gift from a co-worker, and we feel like we should give them a gift at some point.

– Reciprocity is pretty much universal, although the details may vary by culture.

– And some people are self-centered or selfish enough to feel as if they don’t need to reciprocate.

– But you can pretty well count on the principle applying to almost every new patient you want to attract.

– The exchange doesn’t have to be identical.

– Patients generally reciprocate through loyalty to your practice, positive reviews, or word-of-mouth referrals.

– That difference in the type of reciprocity is something you can use in your marketing.

– Your state regulations may not allow you to offer something of financial value.

– But the right information to the right patient is always valuable.

– You can offer a free white paper, a research article that a layperson can understand, or a free e-book written by you, for instance.

– In exchange, you get their email addresses and an agreement to receive future communications from your practice.

– That’s the quid pro quo.

– And that allows you to send them additional information until they’re ready to choose you.

– However, that’s not the only way you can use the principle of Reciprocity.

– Small gifts to your patients once they’re in your practice are acceptable almost everywhere.

– Dental floss, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and related items in a nice gift bag are always appropriate.

– If you have print copies of your book, you can gift those.

– Of course, you won’t expect your patients to give you presents, and ethics guidelines would probably keep you from accepting them.

– In this case, reciprocity means a greater degree of loyalty to your practice.

– And the lifetime value of a patient is more than enough repayment.

– And sometimes, reciprocity brings higher case value to your practice.

– That’s what happene[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1108

You’re going to sell your dental practice – in 5 years, in a decade, or in 30 years. The only question is whether you’ll be able to sell it for the amount you need to begin your next business venture. Or the amount you’ll need to fund the kind of retirement you want. If your current or projected practice valuation isn’t where you need it to be, the time to begin correcting that is now. Because you never know when the economy will head south again and take your practice with it. Stay tuned. After the break, I’ll tell you how to attract the patients who will grow and protect your practice and its valuation.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Dental practice valuations took a hit following the Great Recession of 2008.

– It took another 7 years before that lost value was recovered.

– Most of that lag was due to higher unemployment, home foreclosures, and poor job prospects.

– People hoarded money to pay bills and keep food on the table.

– Dental care was far down the list of their concerns.

– And dentists’ incomes suffered as a result.

– Today, dentists’ incomes have largely recovered and are slowly rising.

– But an increasing chorus of economic experts are sounding the alarm about the stock market.

– The second-longest bull market since World War II will come to an end, and the only question is whether your practice will be ready.

– The resilience of your practice is determined by the kinds of patients in your base.

– If your patient base has a high turnover of low-value cases, you could be in trouble.

– Because when jobs go away and incomes dry up, so will your new-patient pipeline – just like in the last recession.

– I’m not saying this to be an alarmist: another recession is coming.

– Estimates about how severe that recession will be are all over the map.

– It just makes sense to take action now to safeguard your practice against whatever may happen.

– The way to recession-proof your practice and safeguard its valuation is to attract patients who are loyal to your practice.

– And who have the funds and willingness to pay more for a dentist they like, trust, and relate to.

– Those patients are about 20 percent of any given market, including yours.

– But you won’t convince them to choose you by advertising the same way you do to your current patient base.

– People today overwhelmingly begin their search for a dentist online.

– That’s where your marketing presence has to outshine your competition.

– Remember, these better patients have discretionary income and the willingness to spend it on the righmt dentist.

– Your online marketing has to convince them that you’re the only logical choice to solve their dental problems.

– That takes repeated communication to those prospects over time.

– Getting those prospects to opt in to receive emails from you should be your first priority.

– Once you have their email addresses, you can send them information that addresses their dental needs, wants, and fears.

– That information should position you as the right choice to be their dentist.

– These better patients are extremely loyal to the right dentist.

– They’re the patients who stay, pay, and refer.

– Their lifetime value to your practice is many times that of a typical price-shopper or insurance-driven patient.

– That makes them your best insurance policy against the coming economic downturn.

– And it s afeguards your practice’s valuation so that you can sell it, when you’re ready, for what you deserve.

– Of course, you’re still going to be seeing that churning patient base of yours while you’re also trying to enhance your online presence.

– Be prepared for some long hours in the even[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1106

I’ve probably heard every possible reason for why dental practices fail. There have been only a few occasions when I agreed that the failure was beyond the dentist’s control. Generally, those were due to forces that couldn’t have been foreseen. Serious illness tops that list, followed by unexpected economic downturns in small markets. After that, those so-called reasons were basically excuses for poor dental marketing approaches. I’ll be back after the break to run down those excuses and explain why not one of them is valid. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Overall in the U.S., less than 2 percent of dental practices fail.

– That’s an encouraging number, or should be – but there’s a problem.

– Dental practices can limp along in failure mode for a lot of years without closing their doors.

– Those practices see and treat patients, pay the bills, and slog along year after year.

– Raises happen once in a great while; equipment wears out and is rarely replaced.

– It’s slow-motion failure.

– And those dentists have a raft of excuses for why they’re not doing better.

– I’m going to run down the top 3 excuses dentists use to explain why their practices are dying by inches.

– One of the most common excuses is that prospects in their market don’t want to pay for anything.

– Yeah, that’s true of many prospects.

– But a lot of those people don’t have dental insurance or the means to pay out of pocket.

– And it’s certainly not true of the other prospects who do have the ability and willingness to pay.

– The dentists who complain about low-value cases are usually marketing to those people by advertising low price, discounts, and specials.

– They’re doing what their competitors are doing, which is the same thing dentists have been doing for decades.

– Basically, those dentists are getting what they ask for.

– Another frequent excuse from dentists is that the patients they’re getting have no loyalty to the practice.

– That one always amazes me.

– Dollar General stores’ entire value proposition is low price.

– Do you think that Dollar General stores really expect customer loyalty?

– Those customers will go wherever the price is lower.

– Dentists who advertise on price and discounts are extremely lucky to get any patients who are loyal.

– That’s because they haven’t given their prospects any reason to think about establishing a long-term relationship with the practice.

– And finally, dentists complain about the competition in their area.

– Stop and think for a second.

– Dentists are marketing exactly the same as everybody else in their market.

– They’re all competing for the same limited pool of low-value prospects.

– That pool consists of price shoppers, one-and-dones, and insurance-driven patients.

– The practices with the lowest price will win, if anybody can be said to win.

– But their margins will be razor-thin, and they’ll have to keep spending a lot on their marketing to continue attracting more patients.

– It’s a race to the bottom, and that’s not where you want to be.

– Does any of this sound familiar?

– Then your dental practice could be dying by inches.

– But you don’t have to keep struggling to attract patients who will stay, pay, and refer.

– Those are the ones who will help you grow your collections and your practice.

– Are you serious about taking a no-excuses approach to your success?

– Are you ready to forget about trying to be the low-price, low-success dentist?

– Then here’s what you do.

– Visit smartboxwebmarketing.com and schedule your free Practice Discovery Call.

– We reserve these calls for serious dentists who want to se[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1105

Most businesses of whatever size hit plateaus in their growth curves. They’re doing okay, they’re making money, but it’s roughly the same amount of money month after month. Maybe that describes your dental practice. You’re ready to grow, either by adding another dentist or opening another office, but your new patient numbers just aren’t there. Basically, you’re stuck. But there is a way that hundreds of dental practices have used to get their practices unstuck and moving up the growth curve. I’ll be back after the break to tell you what that is.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– There are lot of dental practices out there today, and competition is steadily increasing.

– Between the record number of new dental graduates and corporate dentistry steadily expanding, private practice dentists are challenged like never before.

– If your practice’s growth curve has plateaued, it’s not surprising.

– But I know it’s very frustrating for dentists who want to grow their practices.

– Today’s competitive environment is like nothing dentists have ever faced.

– It’s no longer the case that if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always gotten.

– Now, you’ll get less.

– And yet, far too many dentists keep doing what they’ve always done to attract new patients.

– They keep advertising on low price, on specials, on insurance, and on discounts.

– They get low-value cases, price shoppers, and one-and-dones.

– The lifetime value of those patients to your practice is low.

– And because you’re not getting repeat business, you have to keep spending money on marketing to attract more low-value patients.

– With more competition coming into your market – and if it’s not there yet, it will be – you’ll have to spend even more.

– If your business has plateaued, look to your markemting first.

– To be fair, those low-value patients are probably 70 or 80 percent of your market.

– So it makes sense that you would target them in your advertising.

– But what about the other 20 to 30 percent of your prospects – the higher-value ones?

– How many of those better patients are you getting?

– If you’re not targeting those better prospects, you should be.

– Because the lifetime value of one of those patients is equal to many of your one-and-dones, price shoppers, or insurance-driven patients.

– Getting more of those better new patients can transform your practice.

– Just ask Dr. Ron Receveur of New Albany, Indiana.

– He told us,  “The number of visits to my website is down during the time that I’m collecting a lot more money.

– “So we’ve extrapolated that information from more visits, less money, to less visits, higher-quality patient, more collections. It’s working.”

– Basically, Dr. Ron is working less and earning more.

– How does that sound to you?

– Would that get your practice off its plateau?

– If your practice’s growth curve is basically flat, you’ve got to do something soon.

– Because your competition is increasing.

– That flat curve will turn downward, and you’ll be hard-pressed to turn it around.

– And with all that competition you’re facing, trying to compete on price is going to cost you a fortune.

– Have you had enough of little to no growth in your practice?

– Are you serious about getting your growth curve back on track?

– Visit smartboxwebmarketing.com and schedule your free Practice Discovery Call.

– We reserve these calls for serious dentists who want to see a Patient Attraction System that can double or even triple their practices.

– Join me for our next podcast.

– Until then, keep moving forward.

The post How Dentists Get Their Practices Unstuck appeared first on Smart[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1104

Being a small business owner is a challenge for the principals … like dentists. Any number of things demand your attention, and a lot of them have very little to do with dentistry. Even some of the dentistry-related needs aren’t things that only a dentist can handle. And yet, too many dentists try to wear all those hats. That doesn’t make financial sense, and it doesn’t add to your longevity in your profession. I’ll be back after the break to tell about one hat you should definitely take off forever, and what you can gain from doing that. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– As a small business owner myself, I know exactly how exhausting the job can be.

– That used to be true for me.

– I started as a one-man shop helping dentists get more and better patients.

– I did absolutely everything – meeting with dentists, handling contracts, doing the search engine optimization, writing ad copy and online copy, and handling finances.

– Finally, I decided that if my business was going grow, I needed to hire some competent help.

– Once I did, things got a lot easier, and I started making a lot more money.

– Of course, that required me to let go of doing everything myself, and that wasn’t easy at first.

– There are a lot of dentists who have qualified staff but still act like they’re a one-person operation.

– They have their fingers in personnel, in office logistics, in payroll, and even in office cleanliness.

– Those do-it-all dentists might bill 200 dollars an hour or more, but they’re doing things that someone who makes 20 dollars an hour could do.

– That makes absolutely no sense.

– Maybe you think you’re saving money, but you’re not.

– You’re actually costing yourself money.

– Are you a do-it-all dentist?

– Have you ever wondered why?

– Maybe it’s because you’re determined to succeed, so you feel you have to do everything.

– I’ll leave your reasons to you, but there is one hat that I want to encourage you to take off permanently.

– And that’s your amateur marketing guru hat.

– I know that you didn’t spend 4 long years in dental school to become a search engine optimization specialist.

– And let me tell you, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend in the evenings and on weekends to master SEO.

– You’ll never be as good as someone who does SEO full-time and gets paid for it.

– You also  didn’t go to dental school to write huge amounts of online content so you can appeal to the prospects you want to recruit.

– And while you might be a talented writer – not many dentists are – that writing takes time away from your family, your friends, and from just living.

– The only reason you went to dental school was to learn how to solve patients’ dental problems.

– And get paid well for doing it.

– Wearing your marketing guru hat doesn’t make you a dime.

– If you’re very lucky, it gives you more new patients to treat and make money doing it.

– Look, whatever your hourly rate is, you’re not going to pay a marketing firm that much.

– It makes no financial sense to keep doing your own marketing.

– And it adds to the stress of running your own business.

– That’s the last thing you need if you’re going to make it to retirement.

– So, you shouldn’t be the do-it-all dentist.

– Dr. Michael Abernathy, owner of Summit Practice Solutions, knows that.

– Here’s what he said:  “We’re finding that social media, websites, anything on the internet is so convoluted in the way that Google changes their software, there’s new things every week.

– “We just can’t do it all. As dentists, we just can’t keep up with it. So you have to go to somebody you trust.

– “We’ve been using Colin with ou[...]