I’m not a big political follower, but I do find the strategies and marketing tactics used by the political parties and candidates very interesting. Millions of dollars go into their campaigns, so watching what they do is instructive. I do however find some of the hate and combative behavior disgusting. It really comes down to a lack of respect for another’s’ point of view.
Whether it’s national policies, your local community, or your practice, it really comes down to helping people get what they want. When it comes to the next president of our country, it really doesn’t matter who gets elected in terms of your practice’s future. It’s more about how the rules change and how you play the game, fairly. It’s about how you create your own plan within the walls of your practice.
In his fascinating book, Simply Rich by Rich DeVos, he talks about what he and his partner Jay found was the special ingredient to scale Amway to the largest Network Marketing Business in the world at that time. I highly recommend this book for practice owners. His philosophy about how you can help people and your community and the exponential returns on your practice is not one to miss. He later successfully applied this idea as an owner of the Orlando Magic NBA team as well.
THE SECRET SAUCE
In the book, he talks about the early days of his business growing and how they realized one day that they could no longer do door-to-door selling to really scale up Amway. Rather, person to person selling was the new key to successful growth. This involved getting referrals and seeing prospective clients by appointment. They drew their Amway sales plan on a piece of butcher paper in their kitchen and it became the model they used for years on their way to becoming a multimillion-dollar company. Like most things, yours doesn’t need to be fancy either, its more about consistent execution than it is about making it perfect.
The other day I was asked to review a new piece of facebook ad software for a company that helps dentists get new patients. It’s very interesting, however, it goes to show that when you think you just need “more new patients,” it’s usually closing your back door and following up with the patients you already have that is MOST IMPORTANT and produces the highest ROI when compared to cold leads.
REMEMBER, whatever your case presentation system is, that your patients only have a system for not accepting treatment. They don’t have a system for what they do accept, and frankly, most people don’t love dental treatment or someone inside their mouths. Only you can produce a system for helping them see the value of accepting it. Get better and improving your case acceptance and most importantly TRACK YOUR RESULTS! Follow up with your lost or inactive patients and reach out to those who are kicking treatment down the road. If you’d like to learn more about our MAPSS case acceptance system which can increases your case acceptance by 50%-100% without any cost to you, join our monthly growth membership program or read my new book, The Owner’s Guide to a Productive Dental Practice: 7 Pillars Every Dentist Needs to Grow in the New Economy.
Remember, dental practice ownership is a marathon, not a sprint. Build long term relationships with your patients.