Effective Marketing That Works
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September 2008 Newsletter
Five Keys To Effective Marketing
Orthodontists around the country continue to report reduced case starts and the talk of recession is making them ever more watchful of this key indicator of practice health. With an increasing number of general dentists offering orthodontics, aligners and veneers to "straighten" teeth, orthodontists may be feeling more than ever the need to augment their marketing efforts.
Creating a marketing plan tailored to your individual practice can capture potential patients' awareness, stimulate interest and positively impact your case acceptance. Successful practices know the needs of their market and strive to meet those expectations on many levels.
Key #1: Assign a marketing coordinator
I recommend hiring someone to work at least one day weekly to manage aspects of your marketing program - making deliveries to referring dentists, replenishing game supplies, shopping competitive practices or getting bids for a direct mailing. An energetic stay-at-home mother whose children you treated and who is not shy about touting your accomplishments is a good choice. If you prefer to have staff handle the position, you want them to want the job so have them apply for it - don't just appoint someone. Select the person who has exhibited the most enthusiasm and creativity for such work and the required administrative skills. Don't, however, expect staff to handle marketing during regular business hours. If you do, they'll fail. Besides, most staff members will value logging the extra hours.
Key #2: Establish an annual marketing budget
Six percent of total collections should go toward marketing, 10% if you plan to do external campaigns - direct mail, radio or cable TV ads, etc. Collections of $500,000 translates to a $30,000 to $50,000 annual commitment. Spending from $2,500 to $4,150 monthly keeps the visibility of your practice high.
If it's a matter of cash flow for funding, concentrate first on the systems required to finance the effort: e.g., delinquencies at 3% or below, supply budgets in check, finishing treatment on time and staff salaries on target. In addition, put as many patients as possible on automatic payments via credit cards and ensure your recall system is being worked. If your TC's close rate is under 80%, address it. Rather than making followup phone calls to uncommitted prospective patients, email them asking how to alleviate their concerns. If it's regarding money, people are more likely to address it via email. Perhaps the usual tactics (the ABC credit rating and 1/3 down) may not work in this economy so consider alternatives. For families you trust, ask for a smaller deposit or break it up over several months and extend payments beyond treatment. Be open to outside patient financing. www.chasehealthadvance.com, among others, offers flexible programs. Offer discounts for account payoffs at year end when many people need to use monies remaining in their flexible-spending accounts and apply these monies to your marketing efforts the following year.
If after these systems are operating smoothly you still feel your cash flow won't support marketing, consider a low-interest loan that allows you to bring in income with increased patient starts while you're making payments. My company, Orthodontic Management Solutions, works with several companies that offer financial aid for such endeavors.
Key #3: Know your competition
Knowing how other orthodontists in your immediate area market themselves is essential for differentiation and improving your efforts. Have your TC make copies of competitors' quotes from prospective patients and ask staff to collect samples of competitors' Web sites and print ads, and to report movie, radio or TV commercials they notice. Have your marketing coordinator call your primary competitors at least annually to "secret shop" them, engaging in the New-Patient Phone Call, receiving the follow-up materials and even undergoing consultations. Tape the phone call and review it at a staff meeting. You'll wince ("I can't believe she put me on hold four times!"), you'll laugh ("Does she know anything about her doctor?"), and if you're lucky, you'll learn a few things you should be doing.
Critique your competitors' new-patient packages to see how yours stacks up against theirs for professionalism and content. If your secret shopper actually goes through a consultation, you can often ascertain fees, treatment philosophies and what types of internal marketing your competitors conduct. If so, use the information to differentiate yourself in the market and during consultations. And when you're done, find someone to secret shop your practice and put yourself through similar scrutiny.
Key #4: Build your marketing program
Every practice should have a yearly marketing plan broken down monthly into internal and external campaigns. Orthodontists focus considerable effort on internal patient appreciation and reward programs to promote patient referrals but often fail to ask for the referral.
Here are ways to change that. Keep small displays in various locations that read, "We want more patients just like you and would appreciate your referral." Hand out cards that offer incentives (cash, a chance to win a large prize; e.g., an iPod) for referrals. Check out www.ormcomarketing.com to purchase customizable cards and related materials.
New patients are most excited about treatment at its beginning and debonding. At least at these times ensure someone is assigned to asking for referrals and handing out referral cards. Practice saying such things as "Gosh, we enjoy having John here and we'd love to have more patients like him so if you have friends or relatives who would benefit from orthodontics, please give them our name." Clinical assistants who remind patients of how far they've come - pulling up pretreatment photos from time to time - keep the idea of referrals on patients' minds. Asking for referrals will feel awkward at first but after you do it a few times and see consultation numbers climb, it will get easier.
External marketing efforts are often focused on cultivating relationships with local dentists and their staffs. While dental assistants still appreciate muffins in the break room and dentists their free lunches, surprising the staffs of your top three referring dental offices with something out of the ordinary - chair massages from a handsome male masseuse - are the kinds of things that keep them thinking about which patients would benefit from your services. In addition, send the often overlooked office managers in your referring practices unique birthday gifts - a treat of chocolate-covered strawberries is something they'd not likely buy for themselves. Better yet, have your office manager take the office managers of your referring dentists to lunch individually. You'll learn a lot, even why the referrals from your best source have slacked off recently.
I strongly suggest singling out hygienists for wooing. They're actually in a better position to refer patients than dentists. Hygienists put a high premium on professional skill development so offering CE accredited courses is one of the best ways to earn their respect and loyalty. Have presentations accredited through your state dental association for lecturing at local RDH study clubs and societies. Hygienists also like to be involved in hygiene care prior to and during orthodontic treatment so collaborating with them during their patients' treatment is a great way to foster their continued allegiance and more referrals.
Make sure your Web site speaks effectively for your practice. Hardly a prospective patient today will call your practice without having made judgments based on your Web presence.
Now comes the fun stuff. Think outside the norm. Consider running ads at local theatres or on cable TV. Ads can often be developed through the broadcasting entity in a packaged deal. Get quotes to do a direct mail campaign. Direct mail companies can sort households by zip code, salary, number of adolescent children, etc., and can develop materials that reflect the professional, fun or high-tech nature of your practice. Explore www.yourtown-direct.com for material and services at reasonable rates.
The key to effective external marketing is sustainability. Your target audience will become aware of your message only with repeated exposures, so engage in such activities when you can sustain them for six months at a time. While ads in local newspapers and magazines keep your name in the public eye, direct marketing, if targeted appropriately, has the potential to drive patients directly to your door.
Key #5: Measure success
If you can't measure your marketing program, you can't manage it. Establish a routine that your front office staff and treatment coordinator ask how prospective patients heard about your practice and track the results. At quarter's end, count the prospective patients who responded to each marketing activity versus how many started treatment. You may find that activities bringing in the most calls have poor conversion rates and vice versa. Knowing which ideas work and which don't allows you to modify your plan.
Conclusion
Although marketing is integral to the prosperity of your business, most orthodontists go into practice with little functional knowledge about how to promote themselves or handle consultations satisfactorily. With a budget, game plan and tracking system, you can become as proficient at directing this facet of your practice as any other.