Why Dentists Should Not Cut Back On Marketing During A Recession

By Christopher Hall / PRDent Ltd

Dentists who own their own practice are primarily health care providers who also happen to be business people. Some Dentists are exceptionally good business people whilst others clearly need support.

It is common knowledge that during a recession the smaller bespoke practices and the cosmetic clinics are hit hardest. The temptation to reduce business overheads has never before been more tempting. Whilst reviewing your business is always a good idea, hastily reducing your expenses is a natural knee jerk reaction during a recession and one that may not be totally necessary.

Please remember three things:

1) Restorative dentistry is more of a need than cosmetic procedures and wants are always fi0rst to go during tough times.

2) It may get a bit tougher to find but the new business is out there if you are prepared to work a bit harder

2) Expenditure is more controllable than income when push comes to shove but do not stop or cut back on your marketing.

The marketing that you do is a key component in your business and making sure it is still working for you is a high priority now that the recession is firmly influencing the economy. This is essential for business survival and unless you take control soon your business may not live to tell the tale or it will take years to recover.

Reviewing your marketing plan with your consultant, making absolutely sure it is still relevant and that you are still executing the tasks set out in your plan properly is business basics. I cannot emphasise enough that marketing is the tool for bringing in new patients to your dental practice and that taking your eye off the ball is potentially business suicide.

During a recent exhibition at Earls Court I engaged with several people who had severed ties with their marketing company in an attempt to reduce business expenditure. After a little digging it became obvious that the marketing companies in question were resting on their laurels and simply collecting in monthly retainer fees and giving little in return. The result was obvious in that the client did not see the value anymore and the financial contract was duly broken.

Your marketing activity is essential to raising profit within your practice, lifting the profile of the dental clinic and perhaps the key people within by using a variety of techniques. If you do not have a marketing plan (dentists often don't plan in this area) then get one. If you do have a marketing plan then ensure that it is still working for you. Industry changes and you must ensure that you are not courting the wrong target market. If you are then you are wasting resources. Perhaps your target market has changed now that we are in a recession or maybe you’re not identifying consumer demand. Unless you like going to work everyday and working hard without enough benefits then keep a lifeline going with your marketing consultant.

Toothache won’t go away just because we are in a recession which means that basic dental care is always needed.
Consumer spending maybe down but I cannot emphasise enough that the recession is not affecting everybody and some people are in the market for private cosmetic and restorative dental treatment. You just need to make sure that you are reaching out to them.

During hard times we all need to take a good look at ourselves and if necessary adapt to the changing environment. Ensure that what you are offering is what your target market wants / needs and make sure you drive home the message using a variety of methods.

Consider offering finance to patients to make treatment more affordable. There are specialist finance companies that can help you offer finance packages to your patients. In recent years the 0% finance phenomenon has taken the dental industry by storm which has increased profit and improved cash flow for the dentist. Consider offering orthodontic, endodontic and periodontal treatment if that is what your target market needs. Offering teeth whitening solutions can also increase profits for your clinic but please research before jumping in feet first.

Here at PRDent Ltd we keep in contact our clients and ensure that the marketing plan is still effective, especially if a major event such as recession changes the face of things. As a minimum our clients appreciate the call and at best we stop resources being wasted.

Before cutting back on marketing think about reviewing what you have or even increase your marketing activitiy to see you through hard times. Id done right it should pay dividends.

Most importantly we take the hard work out of marketing so that the Dentist can concentrate on patients who are king and queen.