SmartBox Dental Marketing

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Patient Attraction Episode 1082

There are a lot of milestones in life – birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, retirement. There are only a few milestones in dentistry, and one major milestone is reaching the million-dollar mark in collections. While it’s true that a million dollars isn’t what it used to be, that’s the initial goal that many, if not all, practices shoot for. If you’re doing everything you can think of to reach that goal and it’s proving hard for your practice to accomplish, stay tuned. I’ll be back after the break to tell you how to drive your collections to the million-dollar mark and beyond.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– Here’s some interesting news from the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute.

– General practitioner owner-dentists had an average gross billings per dentist of under $650,000 in 2015.

– That’s not bad, but it’s not all that good.

– That’s the average, and the odds are good that a comparative handful of really successful dentists skewed that number upwards.

– How many dentists are grossing significantly below that 650,000 figure?

– Based on the thousands of dentists I’ve met, I’d say far too many.

– And that’s just not right.

– I have a soft spot for dentists, and I think they should be able to enjoy what they do and make a really good living doing it.

– And they should have time to enjoy the rewards of their labors even while they’re still in practice.

– Not only that, but I think dentists should have a very comfortable retirement when they’re ready.

– That’s the world I’m trying to build.

– So, consider your own billings.

– If you’re well over that average, you’re probably feeling pretty good about things.

– But if you’re below average, you’ve got a lot of work to do.

– That’s particularly true if you’re looking at retiring in 5 to 10 years or so.

– From all available indications, you don’t have a lot of time to boost your practice’s value and secure your retirement.

– A practice that bills 1 million or more will do a lot to give you the kind of retirement you can really enjoy.

– So, if you’re not there yet, how will you get there?

– When faced with the question of how to grow their practices, most dentists will answer that they need more patients.

– If they have a lot of open chairs, that answer makes sense, but it doesn’t go far enough.

– The real answer is to get more and better patients.

– Your average case value is the important part of the solution.

– Get a larger number of low-value patients, and you’ll work harder for less.

– Get more higher-value cases that will remain loyal to your practice, give your patients a superior experience while they’re in your office, and you’ll be well on your way to reaching or surpassing that million-dollar milestone.

– It sounds so easy, right?

– So why don’t all dentists pursue better patients?

– A large part of the reason is that dentists have drunk the marketing Kool-Aid.

– They chase patients by advertising on price, discounts, and coupons.

– A certain amount of that is probably necessary for most dental practices, but dentists go too far.

– Better patients are those with the willingness and ability to pay more for the right dentist.

– And the right dentist is one they relate to, trust, and view as a dental expert.

– You can’t position yourself as the dental expert by constantly trying to become the low-price leader in your market.

– If you’re serious about reaching and surpassing that million-dollar milestone in your practice, here’s what you need to do.

– Visit PatientAttractionBlueprint.com and schedule a Blueprint call.

– We reserve these calls for serious dentists, the kind who want to see a p[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1081

Sometimes, hostile forces can sneak up on your dental practice. That’s been going on for some time – three enormous forces are already impacting your collections, your new patient funnel, and your bottom line. Too many dentists still believe that their livelihoods won’t be affected. Nothing could be further from the truth, and you need to take action now to avoid disaster later. When we come back, I’ll lay out the nature of those forces and the best way to break the siege of your dental practice. Stay tuned.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I know thousands of dentists, thanks to my line of work.

– I have enormous respect for dentists.

– They’re entrepreneurial types, like me, who are dedicated to making their marks on the communities they serve.

– They’re also dedicated to providing a living for themselves, their families, and their staff – all while giving their patients excellent and appropriate care.

– Dentists take on a great deal of responsibility, and that earns respect.

– But many dentists, for all their positive qualities, tend to have a blind spot.

– That blind spot is in the area of threats to their practices.

– There’s a sort of “head-in-the-sand” mentality that leaves dental practices vulnerable.

– Sometimes the threats are purely local, such as another dentist opening a new practice.

– Some threats operate on a much larger scale, and dentists may not notice them.

– There are 4 dangers to your practice that you absolutely must be aware of and plan for.

– Those 4 dangers are corporate dentistry, new dental school graduates, declining insurance reimbursements, and economic uncertainty.

– Now, let’s be clear: those dangers aren’t currently impacting every dentist in every market.

– That in no way means that they won’t be coming to your door.

– Corporate dentistry may seem like old news, but the fact is that the rate of expansion is increasing.

– Many corporate chains expect to double the number of their locations over the next 3 years.

– If your practice is in a smaller market, even one new competitor can decrease your share of dental prospects.

– Corporate dentistry follows the money, and if there’s money to be made in your market, corporate will be there.

– New dental school graduates pose a 2-pronged threat.

– New dentists are using corporate dentistry to make money while they pay down their debts from dental school.

– Corporate dentistry pays well, and those grads can probably get themselves to a much more comfortable financial place in a few years.

– Once that debt load is reduced or eliminated, those new dentists will join existing practices, open their open practices, or even open a corporate office.

– There are more than 65 dental schools in the U.S., and more are planned.

– You’re looking at some 6,000 new dentists entering the field every year.

– And some dentists continue to delay retirement because their practices haven’t recovered from the Great Recession of 2008.

– At the same time that you’re facing greater competition, you’re facing declining reimbursements from dental insurance.

– Delta Dental seems to be leading the trend toward slashing reimbursements, but you can bet that other insurers will join the movement.

– With less third-party reimbursement, your patients and prospects will have to pay more out of pocket.

– And that leaves them looking for the lowest-cost dentist.

– You don’t want to be the low-price leader in your area.

– You can cut your margins, but you’ll have to see more patients to make up the shortfall in collections.

– You’ll work yourself half to death for less money.

– Whether you know it or not, your dental practice is already [...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1080

Are your days in your dental practice filled with an unending stream of low-value and not very interesting cases? If so, welcome to the joyless world of treadmill dentistry. This might not be much comfort, but you’re in good company. Way too many dentists are running as fast as they can to stay in one place and not making enough for all their hard work. But dentistry doesn’t have to be that way, and it shouldn’t. I’ll be back to tell you how to get off your treadmill and start enjoying the dental journey. Stay tuned.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I talk about my dad, Dr. Ron Receveur, sometimes on this podcast, and the reason is that I’m really proud of him.

– I think he’s an example of what dentistry should be like.

– He just can’t wait to get to work in the mornings because he’s doing what he loves.

– And he’s getting paid really well to do it.

– Dad is the go-to dentist for dental implants for a 200-mile radius around Louisville, Kentucky.

– He knows that he’s making a difference in people’s lives every day that he’s in the office.

– And he’s having the time of his life doing what he loves.

– I’m happy to say that SmartBox plays a big role in getting Dad’s practice more and better patients.

– But Dr. Ron Receveur’s experience should be yours.

– Why isn’t it?

– Did you spend 4 long years in dental school and rack up huge debts just to do an endless string of drill-and-fills and routine exams, maybe with an occasional root canal and crown to make things interesting?

– Is what you’re experiencing on a daily basis what you thought dentistry would be?

– Or are you on a dental treadmill with no way off?

– I think dentists deserve better, and I’m devoting my life to making sure they get more and better patients.

– If you’re ready to get off your dental treadmill and start doing the dentistry you love to do, the first place to look is your marketing.

– Too many dentists advertise on price, specials, and discounts.

– The result is that they attract price shoppers, insurance-driven patients, and one-hit wonders with no loyalty to the practice.

– That’s pretty much the definition of a dental treadmill.

– There’s a reason why SmartBox promotes our ability to get more and better patients.

– The way off the dental treadmill is to get more patients who aren’t motivated by price or insurance.

– What dentists need are patients who will stay, pay, and refer.

– You might not think your market has a significant number of those “better” patients.

– If your practice serves a strongly disadvantaged area, you may be right.

– Otherwise, about 20 percent of your prospects fall into the “better” category.

– And those are the patients you need to attract if you’re going to enjoy dentistry like my dad does.

– Are you serious about leaving your treadmill and growing your practice?

– Are you serious about experiencing dentistry as the joy it should be?

– Then go to PatientAttractionBlueprint.com and schedule a Patient Attraction Blueprint call.

– You can get more patients, more profits, and more freedom.

– And you can get off that treadmill for good.

– Join me for our next podcast.

– Until then, keep moving forward.

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Patient Attraction Episode 1079

Dentists are trained as clinicians, not as marketers. And yet, many dentists still take a hands-on approach with their marketing. That’s not necessarily a good thing. Too often, a trial-and-error approach is nothing more than a trying experience that’s filled with errors. Most hands-on dentists’ marketing approaches reflect those errors. After the break, I’ll tell you about the 3 marketing metrics you absolutely must monitor if you’re going to keep your chairs filled without breaking the bank.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I know thousands of dentists, and I’ve learned one undeniable truth from them.

– VERY few dentists are good at marketing their practices.

– Look, I sympathize.

– My dad’s now a very successful dentist, but I saw firsthand that he wasn’t always good at marketing his practice.

– And the marketing field is very different now than it was when he first got into dentistry.

– What always surprises me is how many dentists are still marketing like it’s 3o years ago.

– Today’s dental prospects overwhelmingly begin their search for a dentist online.

– 90 percent of your potential patients are using Google, Bing, or Yahoo search as their first step.

– They’re not rummaging around for that postcard you sent out 2 months ago or looking in the phone book.

– If you want patients to find you and choose you to solve their dental problems, you have to be a strong presence where they’re looking.

– And there’s no more competitive landscape these days than the internet.

– I know that you didn’t study search engine optimization in dental school, much less everything else that goes into being found online and chosen as THE dentist to solve your prospects’ dental problems.

– And you shouldn’t concern yourself with all that now.

– You don’t make money doing your own online or offline marketing.

– You make money by seeing patients and solving their dental problems.

– The vast majority of dentists are better served by hiring a trusted dental marketing firm.

– But you should know how to monitor the most important indicators of how successful your marketing is.

– In the end, there is only one metric that really matters, and that’s how many new patients you’re getting in your chairs.

– But if you learn and keep an eye on the 3 metrics I’m going to tell you about, you’ll be able to see problems in your marketing before they become severe.

– Metric number 1: Traffic to your website.

– Your website is often the last stop for prospects before they choose you.

– If you’re not getting much traffic to your site, you can’t get that many new patients.

– You won’t get every prospect, but more traffic offers the opportunity for more new patients.

– Google Analytics can monitor your website traffic and provide a host of data about the behaviors of visitors to your site.

– Metric number 2: The number of leads your website generates.

– Decision making is a process, not an event.

– Dental prospects can take quite a while to make up their minds about a dentist.

– Your website should offer something of value for your prospects in exchange for their email addresses.

– Once they opt in to receive more information from you, you’re positioned to stay in front of them until they choose you.

– Each prospect who opts in is a lead, and leads are a good indication of the effectiveness of your marketing.

– Again, not every lead will become an appointed patient, but you can track how many do.

– That can help you pinpoint issues with the information you’re sending them.

– And the final metric is new patient phone calls to your practice.

– That one is almost impossible to monitor without having call tracking in place.

[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1078

Dentistry can be a very repetitive business. Like any business where day-to-day operations are pretty much the same, dentists can let their guards down when it comes to paying attention to warning signs. And that can have long-term implications for retirement because things change outside your practice. After the break, I’ll be back to tell you the 3 mistakes you must avoid if you’re going to make a graceful and well-compensated exit from dentistry. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Like you, I’m a business owner.

– I know that a lot of my days are basically repeats of the previous days.

– I’ve found that it’s easy for me to fall into a routine, and to focus on what’s going on inside the business.

– But no business exists in a vacuum, not even dental practices.

– Yes, you make money seeing patient after patient and solving their dental problems.

– If you’re fortunate, you have good repeat business from loyal customers and a good supply of new patients ready to replace the ones who move away or drop out.

– But one of the truisms of business is that what works today won’t necessarily work tomorrow.

– It’s important to keep an eye on what’s going on outside the walls of your practice.

– You need to prepare for changes in the economy and in the industry.

– And those changes are coming.

– Without trying to get political, I think it’s fair to say that the current Administration has introduced a high level of economic uncertainty.

– The safeguards that were put in place to avoid another Great Recession are being whittled away.

– And another recession can put your retirement plans at risk.

– That was proven when the Great Recession of 2008 forced countless dentists to delay their retirements.

– Those dentists wound up working far longer than they intended to.

– If you’re 20 years or more from retirement, you can probably weather another economic downturn and retire pretty much on schedule.

– But if retirement is less than 10 years away, you might be forced to delay it.

– Or you might have to retire with a great deal less money in your pocket.

– There is a way to safeguard your practice against economic uncertainty.

– That’s to stop making the 3 mistakes that can sink your retirement.

– Mistake number 1: Focusing on volume rather than on quality.

– All patients deserve quality dental care, but not all patients represent the same case value.

– If you focus on the prospects in your market who have the ability and the willingness to pay more for the right dentist, you can work less and make more.

– Those better prospects are typically about 20 percent of a given market.

– Mistake number 2: Being “just another dentist.”

– Dentists today are viewed as being competent professionals.

– In other words, one dentist is about as good as another in your prospects’ minds.

– You have to give prospects reasons to choose you instead of a competitor.

– You won’t accomplish that through advertising low prices, specials, and discounts.

– That’s what “just another dentist” does.

– Establishing yourself as the preferred choice for your prospects takes time and a systematic approach to your marketing.

– Mistake number 3: Continuing to drink the dental marketing Kool-Aid.

– Most dentists market for new patients as if it’s still 1995.

– They do postcard campaigns, newspaper ads, and maybe a radio spot or two.

– Dental prospects these days overwhelmingly begin their search for a new dentist online.

– Google says that people consult an average of 10.4 sources of online information before making a buying decision.

– If you want prospects to choose you as their dentist, you ha[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1077

Your dental practice is as strong as its foundation. I’m not talking about your physical plant, but rather about the quantity and quality of the new patients in your sales funnel. There are a number of factors at play in the economy and in Washington that can weaken the foundation of your practice. And as the old saying suggests, when the foundation goes, the house goes. I’ll be back after the break to tell you how to strengthen and secure your practice. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– I know thousands of dentists, and I know that many of their practices aren’t doing nearly as well as they could be.

– I also know that not all patients represent the same case value or will give any loyalty to your practice.

– The dentists who are getting relatively low case value patients and one-and-dones are vulnerable, although they may not realize it.

– Their practices rely on attracting a high volume of new patients consistently.

– If anything diminishes or interrupts that flow of new patients, those dentists are in trouble.

– And trouble is on the horizon.

– The U.S. is in one of its longest boom cycles since the end of World War 2.

– Sooner or later, that boom will give way to an economic downturn.

– The last time a significant downturn happened was in 2008, and dentists’ incomes are just now beginning to reach their previous levels.

– During the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, unemployment doubled from 5 percent to 10 percent.

– Some 8.7 million jobs were lost.

– That’s a LOT of unemployed people who had to reserve what funds they had to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

– There’s no way to know when the next recession will happen or how bad it might be.

– But a recession is coming, and when it does, people will begin to cancel dental appointments or defer care.

– Is your practice prepared for your new patient funnel becoming a lot emptier?

– I hope so, but I doubt it.

– The vast majority of dentists still advertise price, discounts, and specials.

– The result is that they attract price shoppers and insurance-driven patients with no particular loyalty to a given dental practice.

– Dentists’ marketing then becomes a constant chasing after new patients to keep their pipeline filled.

– When the next recession happens – and it will – price will become more important than ever to dental prospects.

– And dentists will do even more of what they do right now – undercut each other on price to try to attract more new patients.

– If you’ve got extremely deep pockets, you might be able to “win” that price war.

– But winning might mean cutting your margins to the bone … and seeing a lot more patients because your average case value would drop tremendously.

– Still, you could keep the doors open if you don’t mind working yourself half to death.

– I’m guessing that doesn’t sound like a scenario you would want to experience.

– So let me tell you a better way to safeguard your new patient base.

– It’s easy to sum up: get better patients.

– In any given market, some 20 percent of dental prospects aren’t driven by price or insurance.

– These better patients have the means and the willingness to pay more for the right dentist.

– To them, the right dentist is someone they relate to, like, trust, and consider a dental expert.

– Once you’ve established yourself as the right dentist in these prospects’ minds, you become the best and only logical choice to solve their dental problems.

– These are the patients you need to safeguard your new patient base and your practice.

– But you won’t get those patients by traditional advertising.

– You will get them by taking a systematic approach to a[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1076

Dentistry is widely regarded as one of the very best professions in the United States, but I know a lot of dentists who wouldn’t agree with that. Oh, they would have if they’d been asked 5, 10, or even 15 years ago, but not now. Something has changed in the practice of dentistry, and it’s not a change for the better. If you don’t look forward to going to work, stay tuned. I’ll be back after the break to tell you how to get back to doing what you love instead of what you have to do.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I know a lot of dentists, and overall they’re a very happy group.

– But I know too many who are seriously thinking about selling their practices.

– When I talk to those unhappy dentists, I find that they have a few things in common.

– One is that they’re not handling enough of the cases they love to do.

– Practically every dentist has a type of case that really gets their motor running.

– Enough of those cases will make up for a lot of routine exams and filling replacements.

– Another thing those dentists have in common is that they’re working more hours and days than they really want to.

– That includes dentists who have been in practice for some years and those who are looking at retirement.

– They’re tired of the 5- or even 6-day-a-week slog, and I can’t say that I blame them.

– That’s a lot of time to spent hunched over open mouths and doing unrewarding work.

– Most of those dentists need their time off just to recover and try to prepare for the next week.

– And many of them can’t manage more than one week of vacation a year, if that.

– That’s not what they had in mind when they got into dentistry.

– The 2 things that unhappy dentists have in common have one thing in common.

– They’re not getting enough of the right kinds of patients.

– What they are getting is an unending stream of low-value, price-driven, insurance-driven patients with no loyalty to their practices.

– So they’re doing unrewarding work too long for not enough in return.

– But when you think about it, that’s not surprising, because those prospects are who they’re marketing to.

– When I say that, most unhappy dentists deny that it’s true.

– But after a few minutes of analyzing the appeal of their marketing, they change their tune.

– They ask me, “Well, what else should I do?”

– There’s an old saying that if you want something other than what you’ve always gotten, you have to do something other than what you’ve always done.

– And those dentists have been chasing dental patients by advertising low prices, specials, and discounts.

– They’ve done nothing to differentiate themselves from all the other dentists who advertise just the way they do.

– They’ve ignored the 20 percent of every market that has the resources and the willingness to pay more for the right dentist.

– They’re getting what they ask for, but not what they want.

– These unhappy dentists won’t get that 20 percent of better patients by being the low-price leader.

– The motivations for that group are very different.

– They’re interested in finding the right dentist – someone they like, trust, and consider to be the dental expert to solve their dental problems.

– If you’re among that group of unhappy dentists, look to your marketing first.

– What are you doing to stand out from the great mass of dentists?

– In today’s competitive dental industry, you have stand out because all dentists are assumed to be competent.

– If you want better patients to choose you, you have to give them reasons to think of you as someone other than “just another dentist.”

– What I’ve just described is the foundation of SmartBox’s industry-leading Patien[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1074

As a small business owner who knows thousands of dentists, I have sound experience backing up this statement: dentists shouldn’t do their own marketing. I’m not saying that they can’t, but it’s the rare dentist who can master the complexities of today’s hypercompetitive dental industry. After the break, I’ll tell you how you can get back to doing what you love and get a far better return on your marketing investment.

– I’m Colin Receveur, CEO of SmartBox.

– Thanks for tuning in to the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– My dad’s a very successful dentist in the greater Louisville, Kentucky, area.

– I’m proud to say that he’s also a SmartBox dentist.

– He’s been in practice for decades, and I’ve gotta tell you that he’s having a great time.

– That’s because he gets to do what he loves and handle the kind of cases he loves to tackle.

– SmartBox handles all his patient attraction efforts while he gets to play and make a lot of money doing it.

– But it wasn’t always like that.

– I practically grew up in his practice, and I remember the lean months and difficult years.

– I remember him struggling with what offer or special to advertise each month.

– And I remember when that advertising didn’t pay off well enough.

– Dad really doesn’t have bad months anymore, much less bad years.

– He’s seeing fewer patients but with a higher average case value.

– He’s making more while working less, and I couldn’t be happier.

– Now, you might think that I’m cherry-picking a best-case scenario.

– But that kind of freedom is the rule rather than the exception for SmartBox dentists.

– We work with more than 550 dentists on 3 continents to help them get more and better patients.

– And do you know what one of the hardest things is to convince those dentists about?

– It’s to stop chasing new patients on price, specials, and discounts.

– That’s how dentists have gone after prospects for decades, and it’s become traditional dental marketing.

– But this is a new era for dentistry, and the old ways don’t work like they used to.

– Your prospects aren’t looking for a dentist in the newspaper.

– 90 percent of dental prospects begin their search for a dentist online.

– And the online environment doesn’t play by the same rules as traditional dental marketing.

– For one thing, your prospects have access to an unbelievable amount of information about dental practices in your market.

– For another, there’s no guarantee that your practice will even come up in local search.

– It takes considerable knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to make that happen.

– And SEO is constantly evolving, so if dentists want to handle that themselves, they have to stay abreast of the changes.

– But part of ranking well in search is the quality of the content on your website, in your blog, and in your social media posts.

– Google has rules for what it considers great content, and the truth is that the best content wins.

– You can’t just throw up a website and expect it to work for you, although a lot of dentists still do that.

– You’re also competing with dentists in your market with paid online ads, so you need a thorough knowledge of search engine management techniques.

– And you need time to manage your pay-per-click campaigns.

– What I’ve discussed barely scratches the surface of everything that goes into attracting new patients online.

– Are you beginning to get a sense of why I believe dentists shouldn’t do their own marketing?

– They didn’t go to dental school to become marketers – they spent those 4 years and a ton of money to learn to solve patients’ dental problems.

– Dentists who do their own marketing are amateurs going up against professionals.

– Tho[...]

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Patient Attraction Episode 1072

For most dentists, their practices are vehicles to a good life and a comfortable retirement. At least, that’s how it should be. But in today’s hypercompetitive environment, if you’re not growing, you’re losing ground. If your practice has reached a plateau, that’s something you have to fix sooner rather than later. There are forces at work that are capable of damaging your practice, if not causing it to fail. I’ll be back after the break to tell you why you must take action now, and how to go about it. Stay tuned.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I know thousands of dentists, and too many of them are stuck in a rut.

– They’re getting what they’ve always gotten in terms of new patients.

– Usually, they get price shoppers, insurance-driven patients, and one-and-dones because they chase patients through their low-price advertising.

– They do a volume business in low-value patients, with the occasional better patient thrown in.

– That’s hard on you, your back, your staff, and your facility.

– Still, many dentists make a go of that kind of practice for many years.

– But now, dental insurance companies are putting the squeeze on reimbursements.

– Dentists are getting less insurance reimbursement which shifts the burden to the patients.

– And not every patient pays in a timely fashion.

– I know dentists who wind up waiting for 6 months or even longer for patients to pay.

– In the meantime, supplies have to be ordered, staff paid, and the lights kept on.

– Cash flow is important for any business, and reduced insurance reimbursements and slow-paying patients can really put the squeeze on yours.

– Cash flow issues can also make it harder for you to step up your marketing to attract more new patients.

– Every dental prospect in your market that you don’t get is an asset for your competitors.

– And new dental patients are what you need if you’re going to grow.

– But if you continue to attract the same low-value patients, you’re going to experience the same cash-flow crunch – unless you require payment up front.

– That’s a good way to make exactly nothing when your prospects bail out.

– Still, quite a few dentists have started demanding prepayment in full, with the insurance reimbursement going to the patient.

– So, you’re getting less money in a timely manner and fewer patients – plus, it’s tough to spend more to bring in more patients.

– Sounds like a pretty neat trap, doesn’t it?

– Fortunately, there is a way to double or even triple your practice, get better patients, and rely less (if at all) on insurance.

– That better way is SmartBox’s exclusive Patient Attraction System.

– SmartBox works with more than 550 dentists on 3 continents to help them get more and better patients.

– Those better patients aren’t driven by price or insurance acceptance.

– In fact, they’re willing to pay more for a dentist they like, relate to, and view as a dental expert.

– These patients – about 20 percent of your market – are interested in quality dental care, superior outcomes, and the experience they’ll have in your practice.

– You won’t get those better prospects through advertising low prices.

– You can’t be the discount dental expert.

– But the Patient Attraction System is specifically designed to position you as exactly what those better patients are looking for:

– The best and only logical choice to solve their dental problems.

– That’s how you grow your practice, and frankly, you don’t have much time.

– Not only are dental insurance companies putting the squeeze on dentists, but there are also 3 other forces that spell doom for your practice.

– First, corporate dentistry has economies of scale and deep pockets tha[...]

Why Aren’t Your Dental Patients Making an Effort for You?

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Patient Attraction Episode 1071

You might not believe this, but there are many dental prospects who will go the extra mile to see the dentist they want. That’s probably the opposite of your experience. Usually, it’s the practice bending over backwards to accommodate new patients. And if you can’t accommodate them, they hang up and call another dentist. It doesn’t have to be that way, and it shouldn’t be that way for you. After the break, I’ll share one dentist’s experience with getting really motivated new patients and tell you how he did it. Stay tuned.

– I’m Colin Receveur, founder and CEO of SmartBox Web Marketing.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– Let’s get right into it.

– One of our SmartBox dentists, Dr. Sean Hanson in Salem, Oregon, told me something fascinating awhile back.

– He said, “The fact that we’re getting 70 new people a month that are still willing to come and see us on a Monday through Thursday type deal,

– “which I know isn’t ideal for most people, means that we’re doing something right.

– “And you guys are doing something right because we’re driving people to our door who want to come in …

– “… and will make an adjustment to their schedule to come and see us and make it a priority.” 

– That’s kind of mind-blowing, if you think about it.

– For one thing, Dr. Hanson is getting 70 new dental patients a month.

– With his four-day workweek, that means 4 new patients a day on average.

– But even more important is that those new patients think that it’s vital that his practice meets their dental needs.

– And they’re willing to be inconvenienced to make that happen.

– Those aren’t even established patients; they’re first-time callers.

– But they already value what Dr. Hanson offers over anything that his competitors offer.

– How many new patient phone calls do you get where prospects are willing to accommodate your practice?

– I’m going to guess not many.

– Dr. Hanson decided to take a different approach to attracting new dental patients.

– As you can see, it’s paying off extremely well.

– As a matter of fact, Dr. Hanson’s marketing return on investment in March was nearly 1300 percent!

– I know thousands of dentists, and I know just how many of them would love to have an ROI even close to that figure.

– How does your ROI measure up?

– Most dentists chase patients by advertising low price, discounts, and insurance acceptance.

– They’re competing with the rest of their market to be the low-cost dental provider.

– That kind of advertising is a race to the bottom that only the most well-off practices can win.

– And even if you win, you’ll be working harder for less money because you’re getting low-value cases.

– If you want what Dr. Hanson enjoys, or even better, here’s a recommendation.

– Go to www.PatientAttractionBlueprint.com.

– You can schedule a Patient Attraction Blueprint call where we’ll show you a Patient Attraction System that can double or even triple your practice.

– And if you think that’s an exaggeration, just ask Dr. Hanson.

– He told us, “We had probably 20-30 [new patients], maybe 40, before SmartBox per month.

– “Last month, we almost hit 70. We were at 69. Before that, our highest total was 57.

– “Definitely, we’ve seen the influx of new patients.” 

– We reserve those Blueprint calls for serious dentists, because frankly, what we offer isn’t right for everyone.

– It’s a radically different way of positioning dentists to be the best and only logical choice to solve prospects’ dental problems.

– And it requires dentists to put aside what they think they know about dental marketing – and to take their hands off the marketing steering wheel.

–[...]