By Christopher Hall / PRDent Ltd
Over the years I have met hundreds of Dentists and very few had a true understanding of Marketing!
Most Dentists want more business but seem to think providing patients is like a tap that you can turn on and off at will.
An ad in the Thomson directory or a leaflet drop is the whole extent of Marketing for some dentists. Often poor results would leave a bad taste in their mouth.
Dentists are very bright people but need to understand the benefits of marketing and make it part of their business. Some dentists know enough about Marketing to understand that it is an essential element of their business and they do well from it. There are also Dentists that are doing nothing in terms of Marketing which is hurtful to their business.
Every day some dentist is fighting for survival, scrabbling for new business. The patients that walk through the door are mainly down to sheer luck which gives the business just enough to survive another day.
For some Dentists, Marketing is the Holy Grail of their business! How can they find it if they do not know what they are looking for? This is perhaps where a professional can help but don’t think that an input from the Dentist is not needed.
Marketing is not a DIY activity and doing it yourself is as bad as your patients getting involved in DIY Dentistry and pulling there own teeth with pliers bought from B&Q.
Just in the same way as patients brush their teeth and do a little flossing, you can execute one or two segments of marketing yourself if you wish but let a professional supervise.
On the other hand you may wish for us to execute everything for you.
Marketing is all about your customers. Unfortunately, it is not about what you want which can be the biggest mistake.
A need a marketing strategy and a formally trained consultant canidentify your target market in depth. Just proclaiming that the over 50's is your TM!
Do you want to aim your efforts at the over 50's with money or without?
You need to find out who will buy from you and why they will buy!
As previously mentioned, Marketing is all about your customer. You need to find out who your customers are and clearly target your message towards them.
Get your marketing right at the beginning of your business or you will be constantly back tracking once you have hit that brick wall.
Don't take a punt on marketing unless it is part of your overall strategy. If you do then you will be constantly chasing after the short term results. Your business needs to gain financial strength which means you need to play out some long term strategies as well. More importantly they need to be the right strategies.
This is just the beginning of what Marketing is all about. Let me tell you that the world is your oyster if you get your Marketing working correctly for you.
This is not the whole story. This is an insight into Marketing!
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Willful Disinformation
By Christopher Hall / PRDent Ltd
I am a big fan of Michael E. Gerber, the author of the E-Myth series of books. I cannot recommend enough that you read his books.
In E-Myth Revisited he talks about some well known theories which have been my Mantra for years but obviously he has a unique way of getting these thoughts across in a practical and easily understandable way.
He states that most small business owners (I know this does not exclude Dentists) think of Marketing as just good old common sense. Dentists are the same as any other business owner in the fact that they suffer from "Willful Disinformation". This is where you decide what you want to do without any researched information to guide you. You just go ahead and do it without any interest in what is true!*
I have been guilty of the same thing myself several years ago. I can now see my mistake!
Your stationary may be designed by the local printer with a logo thrown in for free. Colours are picked by your wife, husband or neighbour and signs are designed by the local sign writer who's experience is sign writing, not determining what colours and shapes are psychographically correct.*
If I can add one of my own here, this happens to be my biggest gripe! Web Developers who are really web builders who know a bit about Marketing and a bit about Graphic Design but not enough. This takes me back to an old saying which is that people should stick to what they are good at and not try to be a jack of all trades.
Before you know it you will be sending a whole lot of mixed messages out there which may or may not get to your target market and if it does could confuse them.
If you are a business owner you must take a serious interest in Marketing but you do not necessarily have to be sensitive to the science of marketing. An interest is good enough!*
The entire business process by which your company does what it does is a Marketing Process!*
"It starts with the promise that you make to attract patients to your door.*
"It continues with the sale you make once your patients are there.*
"It ends with the delivery of your promise before they leave the door.*
Dentists really must see the Marketing process as not only how to attract patients but how to deal with them when they call you or visit you in person or via your website. This is where the branding and customer experience comes into it which is all Marketing. Finally, you want your patients to leave with a positive experience that will surely be passed by word of mouth.
The Lead Generation, Lead Conversion and Client Fulfillment is an essential key process.*
The whole process should be seamless and totally connected. How well you do it will determine how successful you will be at making them come back to you for more. Getting existing patients to come back to you is a lot less expensive than finding new ones all of the time, although new patients are the life blood of any dental practice.
Marketing never stops!
* Michael E. Gerber, E-Myth Revisited (New York: Harper Collins 1995), p.230-232.
I am a big fan of Michael E. Gerber, the author of the E-Myth series of books. I cannot recommend enough that you read his books.
In E-Myth Revisited he talks about some well known theories which have been my Mantra for years but obviously he has a unique way of getting these thoughts across in a practical and easily understandable way.
He states that most small business owners (I know this does not exclude Dentists) think of Marketing as just good old common sense. Dentists are the same as any other business owner in the fact that they suffer from "Willful Disinformation". This is where you decide what you want to do without any researched information to guide you. You just go ahead and do it without any interest in what is true!*
I have been guilty of the same thing myself several years ago. I can now see my mistake!
Your stationary may be designed by the local printer with a logo thrown in for free. Colours are picked by your wife, husband or neighbour and signs are designed by the local sign writer who's experience is sign writing, not determining what colours and shapes are psychographically correct.*
If I can add one of my own here, this happens to be my biggest gripe! Web Developers who are really web builders who know a bit about Marketing and a bit about Graphic Design but not enough. This takes me back to an old saying which is that people should stick to what they are good at and not try to be a jack of all trades.
Before you know it you will be sending a whole lot of mixed messages out there which may or may not get to your target market and if it does could confuse them.
If you are a business owner you must take a serious interest in Marketing but you do not necessarily have to be sensitive to the science of marketing. An interest is good enough!*
The entire business process by which your company does what it does is a Marketing Process!*
"It starts with the promise that you make to attract patients to your door.*
"It continues with the sale you make once your patients are there.*
"It ends with the delivery of your promise before they leave the door.*
Dentists really must see the Marketing process as not only how to attract patients but how to deal with them when they call you or visit you in person or via your website. This is where the branding and customer experience comes into it which is all Marketing. Finally, you want your patients to leave with a positive experience that will surely be passed by word of mouth.
The Lead Generation, Lead Conversion and Client Fulfillment is an essential key process.*
The whole process should be seamless and totally connected. How well you do it will determine how successful you will be at making them come back to you for more. Getting existing patients to come back to you is a lot less expensive than finding new ones all of the time, although new patients are the life blood of any dental practice.
Marketing never stops!
* Michael E. Gerber, E-Myth Revisited (New York: Harper Collins 1995), p.230-232.
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