How do we make sure this comes in?

I think that it’s fair to say that it hasn’t been the rosiest economic picture for quite a while now. I am quite sure that we can all remember better times and we hope and pray for many more of these in the future. However! We won’t be sailing into a land of milk and honey anytime soon. So, what can you do to make sure that you and your practice still retains patients, gains new patients and makes money in the current circumstances?

1. A positive mental attitude. Now I don’t mean by being one of these buffoons who stays positive by living in their own bubble and ignores the real events going on in the world outside. You can be positive whilst still being grounded and realistic – know that you have a healthy business and that with the right steps it can grow.
2. Ensure that your recall system is spot on. Now this may seem so obvious, why would I even bring it up? I bring it up because most practices I speak to, still don’t do this properly. You need to:

• Whether paper or computerised, every patient has a recall date
• These are then pulled out on a weekly basis and letters/emails/texts are sent

We do all that, you cry. Well a lot do (not all!). Even so, then you need to:

• Follow up by telephone within 1 week of the letter/email/text landing and no appointment having been made
• Keep following up – at least twice more

Quite simply, there will be a massive increase in your recall success rate.

3.Your website must be:

• Easily found
• Impressive to potential patients
• Capturing data of visitors to enable follow up marketing

4.Your service is exemplary. At the end of the day, most patients don’t really remember the dentistry as long as you didn’t hit a nerve! They do remember if the team greeted them with a smile, offered them a drink, and looked like they gave a damn. If you do this well, they may tell the family and a couple of friends. If you do this badly, they will tell everyone.

5.Use email effectively. I’m guessing that the marketing budget you have to play with at the moment is not huge. I would make the point very strongly that in times of hardship, it is even more important to spend resources on marketing. When there are scarce resources, you have to make sure that you are working even harder to attract these.

Whatever your marketing budget, email is a fantastic resource for:

• Educating and informing existing patients
• One time offers or promotions
• Promoting to those who have left details through your website

And, up to a point, it’s free! Take advantage of it.

6.Work together. There are likely to be other, like-minded businesses with whom you could pool marketing resources. Speak to other ‘health’ orientated businesses such as gyms, beauty salons and the like, and work together. At the very least, you could place promotional cards at each other’s premises but you could offer discounts or even joint promotions.

7.Promotion of easier payment. A patient plan is a good way for them to know exactly how much they are going to be spending on the family’s dental care. It may not even be a great deal different to  the amount they would part with on ‘pay-as-you-go’,  but they will know what it will be and when. That’s a lot of budgetary peace of mind.

If you offer finance do you actually let patients know? It never ceases to amaze me that so many practices do, but that you’d be hard pressed to know that unless you asked! Don’t make judgements about what people can and can’t afford – that’s their business. Give them the option at least.

8.ASK for referrals. This seems to illustrate a strange quirk in human nature. As a user of a business, I am of course quite aware that I can refer and recommend to them and may do so, once in a blue moon, when asked a straight “Can you recommend a good dentist?”  However, you will be shocked by the increase in the number of referrals that your practice receives if at the end of every appointment, you hand out 2 or 3 business card sized referral cards and say to the patient, “If you value the care that your receive here, please do let friends and family know. Here are some referral cards that you can keep in your purse/wallet.”

Whether you offer an incentive is up to you – there will be a great increase in referrals either way.

9.If there are free press opportunities available, take them. Mouth Cancer Awareness Day, Oral Health promotions in schools, you name it – if you can gain coverage in local and even national media, so much the better.

10.Measure, measure and measure again. How can you ever know if any of the initiatives above were successful if you didn’t appraise them? Email and website are easy enough – most of the good email systems will now offer free reporting on how many were opened, clicked on and the like; while Google Analytics can be fantastic for the website.  Offline is a little trickier and requires a well trained team that are on the ball. Not beyond the wit of man though – the more figures that you get back, the easier it is to know what is working and how to change what isn’t.

Testing times for sure but most of the business challenges we face are not insurmountable with the right attitude and a good plan.

Freedom of Speech?

This is a knee jerk piece of ‘legislation’ that will impact on all of us, dentistry included. I normally talk and blog about marketing and PR – let’s just say this one is a little less about dental PR and marketing and a bit more about liberty and getting on my soapbox!

Why did we need an investigation into the press in the first place? We didn’t. All of the cases that wind people up, were and are already covered by existing legislation.  Put simply, a lot of powerful people had had their noses put out of joint. Expenses anyone? They were just waiting for the right moment and for the ‘Great’ British public to be suitably outraged – phone hacking. Don’t get me wrong, phone hacking was outrageous but I for one would be amazed if the setting up of the enquiry was not driven by MPs seeking revenge, rather than a genuine desire to see justice for the Dowler family et al?

The British press has always been nasty – that’s its raison d’être. And Rupert Murdoch is hardly a figure that most would like to empathise with. It’s hard to love him or a great deal of the press. And, the Labour Party saw an opportunity to put the boot in for all the 80s stuff. Whatever your politics, you have to admit that in the 1980s, Murdoch specifically and the right-wing press in general, took the Labour Party, under Neil Kinnock, to the cleaners. Ed Milliband (and more likely those around him with longer memories) saw an opportunity to even the score – and an ineffectual coalition let them.

And so, the Leveson inquiry was born. If you ask a lawyer how to deal with a perceived problem, what is his likely response going to be? Of course – legislation. That will be the natural position of any lawyer. Dare I say it; it would be like asking a dentist about fluoridation?!

Lord Leveson, after enjoying his time in the media spotlight (and like most, he did enjoy it), delivered his damning verdict on the British press that he was quietly asked to deliver at the beginning. And, the middle class liberal sycophants (scratch a liberal and find a fascist), loved it. Hacked Off (more on them later), BBC, Hugh ‘what hooker?’ Grant, Ed ‘looking for a cause to nail my colours to’ Milliband – were all quick to say what a triumph the report was and a ‘wake-up call’ for the press. This has the smell of the Dangerous Dogs Act about it – put into law at haste and the people will deal with it at her Majesty’s pleasure. Legislation in a hurry leads to unforeseen loopholes and bad law.

So Hacked Off got what they were after. And who exactly is behind Hacked Off, apart from a couple of shagging comedians? The chairman of Hacked Off is a guy that you may not be aware of called Hugh Tomlinson QC. However, if I told you he was the man behind the gagging orders that assisted Ryan Giggs and Sir Fred Goodwin, would you get an idea of where he was coming from? And, what I cannot understand is that so many on the left – the side that allegedly sticks up for the masses – are happy with the fudge that this will become. As well as likely to be thrown out for being in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (one in the eye for Mr Farage), the bill would like to force ‘relevant publishers’ to join a ‘voluntary’ regulator.

This was originally expected to just be the ‘proper press’ – but no! (And what does proper press mean – The Spectator, Private Eye and many others have said they will not sign up.) It includes all you idiots online – me included! When this was announced, suddenly the Twitterati and bloggers weren’t so keen - “this was only for the old fashioned media surely?”

If you don’t join the ‘voluntary’ regulator, then you may be liable to exemplary damages – even if you are in the right! What does this mean?

1. You could pay for both sides’ costs – even if you won?! Natural justice much?
2. If you have joined ‘the club’ of relevant publishers – you could still have to pay both sides’ costs! They have written a clause in that could catch you anyway!

This has led to the ultimate irony of the Russian press, yes, under Putin, laughing at us - http://ruvr.co.uk/2013_04_18/Royal-charter-may-lead-to-self-censorship/

What is this obsession with not offending anyone? People need to be offended! Can you imagine living in a society where no-one was offended – God it would be dull? If you are offended, tough. Don’t read it, turn the TV over etc. We cannot legislate for offence. We seem to be living in a society that is driven by emotion rather than logic – as a toe rag who works in PR and marketing I will take some responsibility for this – but not all! We have become too concerned with how we appear to be rather than who we actually are. No panic, but that’s what causes empires to end. I think that this illustrates many people’s nostalgia at Thatcher’s death. Those who couldn’t stand her when she was alive, missed the certainty and honesty that she, (and others such as Michael Foot), provided. Maybe not a happier world but a simpler world.

Aside from the assault on all of our freedoms, this could also affect the dental world directly. Now, if you have been following the press reports of this story you may respond, “No! Any title that “relates to a particular…trade, business, industry or profession” and only covers news related to the title is exempt. Only it isn’t. Or at the very least, no-one knows.

What would happen if Tony Jacobs (www.GDPuk.com), Julian English (Dentistry), Lisa Townshend (Dental Tribune) et al, uncovered a potentially embarrassing story about say, Barry Cockroft, (apart from the usual embarrassing stories) – that could cross the line between purely dental and into political in his role as CDO? What would happen then? Er…we’re not sure. When the Culture Secretary, Maria Miller (whose brief covers this area), was asked about a similar scenario, she responded, “Ultimately the court will decide…If a publication is concerned about whether it would be caught by the new regime, it can of course seek legal advice.”

So, make sure that you’re ‘lawyered up’ folks before you print anything remotely contentious! Or, we could be running the FREE Julian English/Lisa Townshend/Tony Jacobs campaign in the very near future.

PS  Just to be clear it is the Editor that goes to court, no-one else Julian/Tony/Lisa!

Over the 10 days we had the opportunity to walk around beautiful countryside, play a bit of golf on a stunning course, forage for seaweed and edible plants around the Porthcressa beach and much, much more.

I have included a number of photos to inspire you. If you need time away from the coalface, I can recommend it.

The only downside was spending three and a half hours on the Scillonian ferry in gale force winds on the way back to Penzance. (Pics taken of this are here)

The extra mile. The little touches. The items that patients will mention to friends and family – because it sure as hell won’t be the dentistry! What do you do at your practice that is over and above in terms of patient experience and memorable?

Very rarely will patients (or consumers) remember the ‘meat and drink’ of a service (unless severe pain or discomfort is caused!). They can’t recall the full oral tissue check that you carried out, or the advice on their gum health for that matter.

However! They will remember were they were greeted well by the team or whether they were offered a coffee or not. 

Consider the two pictures below. Ask yourselves some questions.

Does the foil on the can serve a useful purpose?

Does it affect the taste of the drink?

Do the collar stiffeners serve a useful purpose?

Is it a purpose that could have been more easily servers by sewn in stiffeners of a cheaper material?

As you can see the 2 products are slightly different. One does serve a useful purpose but one that could have been done more easily by an alternative. The consumer does feel that they are paying for quality by having these metallic stiffeners.

The other – the foil – serves no real purpose other than branding, suggesting quality and making the customer feel warm and fluffy. And yet, it is likely to make a good number buy again.

So what ‘foil items’ can you offer your patients to make them feel warm and fluffy and more likely to return regularly, request higher value treatments and refer friends and family.

So no whitening fisticuffs.(Megawhite didn’t attend in what was probably a wise decision).Oh well, can’t have everything – where would you put it?! And a massive improvement for me on 2012 when I had horrific toothache which ended in a root canal. 

An interesting show though. I do feel however, that there is an element of quantity over quality. They really do pack the exhibitors in and good luck to them – it is their business model. Dentists attend free – and that is partly where the model can fall down in my eyes.

A lot of dentists attend for the excellent education on offer, but they aren’t really here with their ‘purchasing’ hats on and therefore they can be thin on the ground away from the lecture theatres. Some of the aisles have the whiff of tumbleweed about them! From an exhibitors point of view (I am not one by the way, this is just what I hear), more effort needs to be made to get attendees to engage with the exhibition. If they don’t, in the long term it will impact negatively on the show.

So, a good turnout but more needs to be done to perfect. Anyway, I did get this rather excellent badge… http://pics.lockerz.com/s/285614958

On Thursday I had a few hours to kill in West London. A long story involving a cancelled meeting, the joy of Advance train tickets on Great Western and the fact that I had a meeting in the early evening. What could I do with my time? Spend it in the pub? Maybe go shopping on Oxford Street? No, there must be something better for my soul.

And then it presented itself – a friend sent me a tweet saying did I know that there was a conceptual artist also called Christopher Baker who was exhibiting at the Saatchi Gallery on the Kings Road? I had to admit that I didn’t but I was going to find out!

I arrive at the Saatchi Gallery to find that ‘my’ exhibition wasn’t on that day. No matter, I had decided that viewing art was what I wanted and that was what I was going to do. 2 exhibitions were on – ‘Breaking the Ice: Moscow Art 1960-80s’ and ‘Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union: New art from Russia’. Off I went…

Interesting! Surprisingly I felt that the more modern exhibition was darker than the Soviet one. There was definitely a thread running through that the breakup of the Soviet Union has left a vast underclass and the capitalism has seen big winners and big losers.

The Moscow art from the Soviet era was more my personal preference – maybe it struck a chord as I was also a child of the 70s and 80s? I include some of my favourites below.

Following on from my recent blog about taking the time to look around once in a while, visiting an art gallery would certainly fall into that category. There is also something good for the soul that I can’t quite put my finger on – you feel better when you leave than when you arrived.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to take a look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Ferris Bueller 1986

The advent of mobile and social technology has led to a feeling of 24 hour connectivity and the lines between work and social life have become blurred. We are constantly ‘in-touch’ and this can become a strain if we are not careful.

And these aren’t the thoughts of a Luddite by the way – I have completely embraced the online revolution and enjoy the time that I spend on Facebook, Twitter, blogging and the like. (And I am writing this on a tablet!) The point I want to get across is that we need time away from this now and again to crystallise our thoughts and do what we do better. Only when we are completely uninterrupted can we think away from our norms.

I found my train journey to be very useful in terms of work and decisions to be made. What can be your equivalent of the Bristol-Edinburgh train journey?

So, the event is nearly over and many of us will be winging our way back home after a really tiring but enjoyable event. What have we learnt?

• That a large number of (mostly male) BACD members can grow one hell of a moustache
• That going to bed after 4am and too many drinks will catch up with you
• That ALL dentistry should be ‘cosmetic’

The BACD team led by Suzy ensured that all ran smoothly and that both trade and dental professionals were looked after.

From a marketing point of view, the questions that we were asked most often were:

1. How can I make social media work?
2. Email – what should I be saying, when and how often?
3. What should my website deliver?

More on these in the weeks and months to come.

I say roll on the 10th anniversary BACD 2013!

It is now the end of Day 2 of the BDTA Dental Showcase 2012 at Docklands ExCel. I am not exhibiting but instead use the three days for meetings with clients; meetings with potential clients and catching up with old friends.

It seems to me that the dental sector (professionals dislike the term ‘industry’!), has been slowly changing over the last few years and many of the companies who exhibit have been slow to notice this change. Up until only a few years ago, companies could pretty much turn up at the NEC or ExCel, say “this is our new wonder product” and then expect to write huge orders. BUT! Dental professionals and the market are changing:

• All dental professionals now expect a bit more ‘wooing’ than they used to. They are a damn sight more sophisticated than they used to be – they don’t all fawn at the first free toothbrush on show! We all need to make more effort to impress the visitors
• It isn’t just dentists. Once upon a time, to their shame, the dental trade only wanted to speak to the ‘decision maker’. Well now the decision maker could be one of about 5 or 6 people, depending upon the product/service
• The recession. I hope that some dentists don’t mind me saying that so many practices were being badly run and perhaps the economic situation has crystallised this fact. BDTA Show attendees now are much more ‘business aware’ than they used to be. (Although perhaps still not enough?). The attendees now expect relevant business advice and how it can make an impact on their practice. They are not just medical professionals but now business owners.
• Assumption. The dental sector used to assume that the profession would turn up and buy – this can be the case but the profession are just so much more discerning these days.
• Online/Social Media. This really relates to all the examples that I have just given. The world has changed. We want a bit more nowadays! Social media is all about interactions and conversations. I despair when I see ‘big’ names in the dental world that have ‘Protected User’ status so that their tweets cannot be retweeted on Twitter (for instance!!). They don’t understand the value of social media OR how it works. If you wish to target any dental professional then you need to be happy to enter into a conversation with them. It is not a ‘channel’ for selling at people.

Anyway, enough of my (well-founded) gripes. Whether you are dental professional or dental trader, give some consideration to the others’ point of view.

A real conversation…

I’m fed up. I’m fed up with people and companies who seem to believe that online and social media is just a platform to SHOUT advertising messages at me. Repeatedly.

The clue is in the name – social. It is about conversations and interactions. That doesn’t mean that your practice cannot promote itself. It means that you have to be clever and remember; people buy people.

If you need assistance with managing an online and social media campaign that has a human face, get in touch by emailing Chris at chris.baker@coronadental.co.uk

(And feel free to recommend us below!)