Take a look at our newsletter this month!
By Dr. Tom “The Gems Guy” Orent
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Economists think the next U.S. recession could begin in 2020. Surveys find that more than half of economists see downturn by 2020, a presidential election year.” Fact is, we are currently nearing the end of the second longest sustained period of growth in U.S. history. Harvey Mackay titled his book, “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty.” Things are still pretty darned good, and we know they’re going to take a turn for the worse sooner than later (i.e. likely in the next 14 months). There is no time like the present to grow your practice and your revenue (dig your well before you’re thirsty)! BOLD PROMISE If, during the next 12 months, you do what I’m about to recommend in this article, you’ll increase your practice revenue by at least $100,000 per full-time Dentist in your practice. Solo doc? Then this is an easy, six-figure increase if you follow my lead and effectively deploy my “Pentagon Strategy.” Two docs in your practice? Then you may enjoy a $200,000-plus increase. HARSH REALITY Only a small percentage of the Doctors reading this will actually do most of what I recommend, but some will. And since some will … why not ensure that you are one of them! Our members' level of action on the Gems I’m about to suggest will fall on a bell curve. The good news is that the majority of
our members will deploy perhaps two or three of the five strategies and still do incredibly well.
(concept) at a time. Chances are, you may already be doing several of these “Gems.”
Even if you’re “already doing that,” don’t just cross this or that off the list. Even the best run practices can do better on most, if not all, of the five walls of the Pentagon. Your patients will be the ultimate beneficiaries as well they should be. Their health and longevity are our primary mission. Take great care of them and your team will have more fun, professional satisfaction, and you’ll all make (much) more money. So, let’s get down to “brass tacks.” We know the economy is soon to plummet. What can we do today to ensure we’re in a far better position tomorrow ? "If, during the next 12 months, you do what I’m about to recommend in this article, you’ll increase your practice revenue by at least $100,000 per full- time Dentist in your practice." PENTAGON SIDE NO. 1: CALL CENTER OPERATIONS Relax, I’m not going to suggest that you hire a room filled with telemarketers to work in your office. Well, not exactly . There are two giant, likely as-of-yet untapped opportunities in your practice. Both can be “mined” using the same
RELY UPON THE PENTAGON FOR STRENGTH
How will the Pentagon help you weather the coming financial storm? Well, it’s not the actual Pentagon. (The Department of Defense likely has more on their plate than making sure we Dentists continue to make a great living.) Rather, I’ve used the Pentagon as a metaphor, a way for us to envision a strong, fortress-like building with five equal sides. Each of the five sides represents a critical piece of your revenue defense puzzle. When planning your defense, anticipate two or three months for each of the five sides of the Pentagon. Start right away. By the end of 2020, regardless of the timing or depth of recession, if you effectively deploy most (or all) of these five strategies, you’ll do very well. Always remember TOBI, “The One Big Idea.” I urge you to take your time and invest at least a couple months, focusing on just one wall
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solution. The two areas are recall reactivation and lead-gen follow-up. I’ll explain both.
You could increase your practice revenue by $220,000 per year (hygiene services plus restorative diagnosed and treated) "just by adding a single extra day of hygiene recall (eight patients) per week!"
Let’s start with recall reactivation, the one with which you are more familiar. You are likely doing some (or all) of the following in order to reach out to existing patients who are overdue for recall and currently don’t have a scheduled appointment:
COMMONMISTAKES MADEWHEN DESIGNING YOUR RECALL CALLER STRATEGY • Your recall caller doesn’t have a set time each day during which they are dedicated solely to making these calls ISOLATED from everything else. Because there is no set schedule dedicated exclusively to making these calls, you can’t guarantee a minimum of 16 hours per week is devoted to recall reactivation phone calls. • You’re paying the caller an hourly wage instead of commission for each patient who schedules and shows up. You’re making these calls during the daytime hours (when your patients will be least likely responsive). You rely on your existing teammembers to make the calls (kiss of death, given that your existing teammembers are already quite busy and would rather not stay at the office four nights per week until 9:00 p.m.). THE MATH If you added only eight recall visits to your schedule each week, the resulting increase in your practice revenue would blow you away. Let’s use $150 per recall visit, for example. Prophy, reexam, bitewings, fluoride. 8/week x 50 weeks = 400 patients x $150 = $60,000. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Let’s say of those 400, just 1/3 of them needed/accepted any restorative care. 400 x 1/3 = 133. Let’s say each of those did $1,200 in restorative care (no huge cases, though you’re likely to get some). 133 x $1,200 = $160,000. $60,000 recall services + $160,000 in restorative care = $220,000 per year … just by adding a single extra day of hygiene recall (eight patients) per week! To learn more about how to effectively deploy Gems’ nighttime recall caller strategy go to SITE MAP GOLDMINE TEAM TRAINING TOOLKIT 009 HOW TO DOUBLE HYGIENE RECALL. • • •
That is, calling anyone (everyone) who has expressed interest in any of the treatments or services you offer. If you’re marketing effectively, you’ll be generating long lists of “leads,” prospective new patients who’ve not yet scheduled or stepped foot in your practice.
•
Emailing
• SMS or Text Messaging ( Both of these first two can and should be handled using one of the many automated systems e.g. Lighthouse 360, Demand Force, Solution Reach, Revenue Well, etc.) Snail mailing postcards preaddressed by your patients during their prior recall visits. Oh, you used to do that back in the 1990s but haven’t done anything that “old- fashioned” in three decades? Think again. It’s still one of the most effective techniques for getting your patients’ attention. If you’re already doing the first three, then bravo, nicely done. If not, you should be. Get that started ASAP. With respect to the Pentagon, we’re only going to focus on the outbound call. The majority of dental practices make recall reactivation calls … but they make several key mistakes which are costing them an easy six figures every year. • • Picking up the phone and calling them.
Here is a short list of ways you can generate leads for your practice:
•
Hold in-office evening implant seminars (Invisalign, smile makeover, etc.)
•
Exhibit at street fairs
•
Write a book the lay public would love to have and give it away for free
•
Run Facebook campaigns generating interest in your book, your in-office seminars, etc.
•
Speak at local schools, senior centers, etc.
We’ve only scratched the surface of how you can generate leads. Many of our members who’ve done street fairs schedule 10–15 patients right then and there at the fair, plus they get 50–100 prospective patients to complete an “interest” card in return for a free spin of a prize wheel or ticket/entry to a big prize drawing. If you’re doing your (marketing) job right, you could attract hundreds and hundreds of leads (prospects who’ve yet to schedule) every year. How are you following up on those leads? Email. Most just send a few emails. That’s a good start, but you’ll only scratch the surface if you stop there. Snail Mail. Send every prospect your dental practice monthly newsletter for at least 18 months after they raise their hand (become a lead). If you’re not currently sending a monthly newsletter at least to your patients, shoot me an email Tom@1000Gems.com and I’ll introduce you to Shaun. His team does a lot of the heavy lifting to make this newsletter possible. 2. 1.
What’s the other potentially lucrative use of a teammember dedicated only to making outbound phone calls? Lead-gen follow-up.
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3. Outbound Phone. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you’re doing No. 1 and No. 2, then add to that a dedicated outbound telephone caller, your new patient flow will continue to increase exponentially. HINT: Your dedicated (exclusively doing) recall caller can also do outbound phone followup of leads. PENTAGON SIDE NO. 2: PATIENT FINANCING Mrs. Jones has been with you for a number of years. Today was her recall visit. She wasn’t thrilled to learn that she needed $2,500 worth of treatment, but she trusts you and told you she’s definitely going to schedule the care. You thanked her for coming and told her you were looking forward to seeing her again shortly. You moved on to your next patient. When your team member reviewed the available financial options, Mrs. Jones said she was unable to handle even the three-pay option you offered. No worries. Becky opened a browser and pulled up Care Credit online. You can substitute any of a dozen alternative third-party financing companies. The result will be the same. Approximately 50% of your patients will be turned down by these companies. Result? If that’s your last alternative, $2,500 walks out the door. If you only lost one little $2,500 case each week that’s $125,000 annual revenue flushed down the toilet. Likely you’re losing more than just one small case. A one-Doctor office may be losing $150,000, $200,000, or more due to your inability (unwillingness) to offer financial options the patient can afford. NEVER BE YOUR PATIENTS’ BANK Just about the worst advice anyone could ever give a Dentist! Sure, all the “gurus” tell us not to be the bank. But the banks are where all the big money is! Between my two practices, we did more than $400,000 per year in internal long-term patient financing … creating longer
term payment plans for patients who otherwise couldn’t afford the care.
•
Only offer ILTF if your Gems Ratio is under 1.2:1. Gems Ratio is your total Accounts Receivable/Average Monthly Collection (based upon most recent three-month floating average, using net collections … i.e., collections minus refunds). NOTE: This becomes crystal clear when you are using your Gems Dashboard. If you’ve not yet begun using your Dashboard, ask your Personal Gems Concierge for assistance in going live on the dashboard ASAP. It’s an included benefit of your membership. Only offer ILTF to “A” patients. An “A” patient, for purposes of ILTF, is defined as a patient who • Has never stiffed you financially (bouncing a check is okay as long as they made good on it in a few days, and covered any bank charges you may have incurred), • Accepts and commences recommended care within a reasonable period of time (less than a year). This is to avoid those who only show up as emergency patients, never really commit to getting themselves into better shape, then disappear for years in between emergencies.
There are a number of things you must consider in order to stay safe and profitable when offering internal long-termfinancing .
•
Never offer ILTF until or unless you’ve exhausted all of the more traditional financial options:
•
• Five percent courtesy for prepayment in full;
• Three-pay which is a 40% deposit
plus the remainder split into two equal payments, one at 30 and one at 60 days (for which you NEVER bill and ALWAYS get authorization to charge their credit card or collect postdated checks at the start); or
•
• Outside third-party financing.
For a detailed explanation of “traditional” financial options and the exact verbal skills with which to sell them, SITE MAP GOLDMINE UNDERGROUND TEAM TRAINING TOOLKIT 006 FINANCIAL OPTIONS AND EXACTLY HOW TO SELL THEM
"A one-Doctor office may be losing $150,000, $200,000, or more due to your inability (unwillingness) to offer financial options the patient can afford."
• Has not no-showed a scheduled
appointment within the last 3–4 years
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WED 3/4/20 to SAT 3/7/20
REGISTER FOR YOUR GEMS FAMILY RETREAT TODAY!
MARCH 4-7, 2020
Don’t Miss Special Pre-Event DayWithMr. VanceMorris! “Systematic Magic LIVE! FromWalt Disney World”
A Disney Insider’s “Behind the Curtain” System for Service, Development, Growth and Profits. Unvarnished Behind the Scenes Service and Profit Truths (not found in a Disney Institute seminar) Who Should Attend this SPECIAL PRE-EVENT DAY? This “Deep Dive” peel back the curtain on EXACTLY HOW Disney consistently delivers legendary service is mission critical for Dentists, Office Managers, or those with the authority to affect change in your practice
Create an environment where the outside world melts away, inhibitions to price are lost and patients become raving fans. Inspire, encourage and impel your team members to ACTIVELY deliver consistent, superior and best-in-class service Create a more efficient (profitable) process for delivering best-in-class service to your patients day in and day out Become recognized as THE expert “Go-To” dentist in your area What sets you apart from all the rest of your local competition Create service standards that consistently deliver profitability far exceeding today’s dental profesion norms.
Mr. Vance Morris GKIC Reigning Marketer of the Year
What’s Included in this SPECIAL PRE-EVENT DAY: Exclusive ½ Day Meeting building your own Disney Style Service System. At the end of the day you will have a blueprint to implement in your practice the following Monday. Value ($3497) Resources, Guides, Blueprints andWorkbooks (Value $297) Exclusive VIP reception with current Disney Leaders . Ever want to know how “the rubber hits the road”? You will have unprecedented access to these Disney leaders to ask any question you want to. We will also be serving a feast of hors d’ oeuvres menu that will certainly be your dinner. (Priceless)
Dr. James Metz is a 1973 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. He maintains a restorative dental practice with an emphasis on dental sleep medicine and reconstructive dentistry. Dr Metz’s current research with Oral Appliance Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Headache have led to the completion of a 136 consecutive patient study was just published in Frontiers in Neurology. The outcomes, using his techniques, have compared favorably to CPAP therapy for mild, moderate, and even severe OSA patients.
Dr. James Metz KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Metz was a member of the American Dental Association’s Scientific Investigation Committee Workgroup, which defined the role of the Oral Appliance for the control of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Metz during the past 7 years has been a member of the Scientific Investigation Committee of the American Academy of Restorative Dentistry, which publishes their literature review yearly in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. He has served on the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine board of directors, course development committee, public relations committee, chair for both the Introductory and Advanced Course of Dental Sleep Medicine, and vice-chair of the AADSM Annual Meeting in 2014. He is a board member of the Ohio Sleep Society. Metz is the founder and current chair for the Dental Interest Group of the American Thoracic Society. As a member of the American Academy of Restorative Dentistry and International Academy of Gnathology, he has pursued excellence in the field of Restorative Dentistry during his entire career. Dr. Metz is also a member of the American College of Dentists, American Dental Association, and served as president of the Muskingum Valley Dental Association. COURSE OBJECTIVES Breathing is basic. Our primitive brain controls the process, and we take it for granted. We as dentists can influence the available oxygen dramatically. An understanding of the physiology of breathing will allow for a more precise treatment plan of our restorative care. Considering that breathing well may increase your patient’s quality of life and possibly even their lifespan as well as the durability of the finished restorative case, this course will cover the process from intake to completed treatment. The overall objective is to present a logical and efficient way to incorporate Mandibular Advancement Therapy into dental practice.
5. Eval, analysis, & comprehension of polysomnogram reports & the necessity of med- ical eval & importance of a multidisciplinary team approach to treating snoring & OSA 6. Appliances 7. Building a delivery team in the office.
At the completion of this talk, participants will be knowledgeable in: 1. Why we sleep and how sleep impacts your day-to-day dentistry 2. Physiology of sleep (focus is the heart, brain, and basic pulmonology) 3. The terminology of Sleep Medicine 4. The pathophysiology, demographics, and sequelae of OSA
8. The appointment process – how to handle the flow. 9. Patient motivation – it is more than an appliance 10. Billing and Insurance
“SATURDAY AFTERNOON PRIVATE BEHIND-THE-SCENES Disney Tour Limited to the 1st 60 People to Register” Private Keys to the Kingdom Tour (not available to the general public)
An in-depth, 3 to 4 hour behind scenes look at the most iconic theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. You will experience exactly how Disney consistently creates the magic on a daily basis through this tour of the Magic Kingdom. You will go “underground” into the “utilidor” and see how the magic is created from the perspective of the cast members. The tour guides will also focus on the “business” of the park.
VIP Attractions experiences (at least one and maybe two behind the scenes look at the rides, depending on time) then of course; you’ll have a chance to ride the ride! The tour will focus on the FOUR key strategies that Vance introduced you to: Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. This will solidify your un- derstanding and ability to implement your own key strategies in your dental practice. Tours are small groups with plenty of time and opportunity for questions.
Disney has limited this tour to a hard count of 60. This is the maximum they can do in one day. So if you want to see the behind the scenes magic, SIGN UP TODAY! These spots never last! Please indicate on your form how many spots you need. We will be counting these at the back table. Once we hit 60, it will be sold out.
“The Secret to Using KPIs to Achieve Killer Practice Income!”
During this presentation you will discover:
The #1 activity you must do every day to avoid unpleasant and disastrous financial surprises Discover the single best tool for “Gems-centric” practices to always identify neglecated areas, track progress, and master their numbers How using your dashboard to implement and track a few simple changes can create massive and sustainable gains in profit The only time it’s remotely okay to ignore the numbers (“non-quantifiable criticals”)
The KPIs that matter most and how to fully leverage them to create more profit, happier team members, and healthier patients The critical leading and lagging indicators in your practice (and what to do about them) The 3 ways to get your team super-motivated and hyper-focused on your numbers How unhealthy business data leads to unhealthy patients and an unhealthy practice (and income)
TOM RICH, MBA Senior Practice Analyst
“The Dental YouTube Blueprint - New Patient Electromagnet!”
How to Tap Into Social Media’s Best Kept Secret, and Immediately Drive More New Patients to Your Practice Create a successful YouTube Channel for your dental practice
Manage SEO in order to get YOUR videos to the top of Google Find optimal keywords and phrases for your dental practice Use those keywords to rank at the top of Google Finally demystify using cards and end screens Determine which tools to use (both free and premium) for video creation Build a following of people on YouTube who are your ideal potential new patients
LISAWEBER, RDH Certified GG12 Coach
Make high-quality videos on a budget that get you found, AND drive potential new patients to your practice Properly use titles, descriptions, and tags Create a clickable thumbnail to get more views Place your video ads on your competitor’s You- Tube Channels and capture their audience Use YouTube to set up real-world marketing funnels Leverage YouTube’s 5 billion daily viewers Create YouTube ad campaigns to promote your practice
“Top 7 Essential Wealth Building Strategies for Dentists”
Learn the right way to pay off debt How to obtain financial freedom.... earlier than you thought possible Should you use a financial advisor? The REAL cost of financial advice
Passive income secrets 101 You BIGGEST tax breaks
DR. JEFF ANZALONE Board Certified Periodontist, Certified GG12 Coach
REGISTER FOR GEMS FAMILY DISNEYWORLD RETREAT TODAY! PRE-EVENT DAY is WEDNESDAY, 3/4/20. SESSIONS END NOON SATURDAY, 3/7/20 FOLLOWED BY SOLD OUT BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR SATURDAY AFTERNOON (WAIT LIST ONLY)
STEP 1: Complete contact & attendee information
Primary Doctor Attending:__________________________________________ Spouse Attending: _____________________ Additional Doctors Attending:___________________________________________________________________________ Team Members Attending ____________________________________________________________________________ City: __________________________________ State:_______ Primary Doctor’s Cell Phone:__________________________ Email Address for Confirmation ____________________________________________ Today’s Date___________________
STEP 2: Enter into each line, the TOTAL NUMBER attending EACH event
____ Friday Evening Gems Family Retreat Dinner ____ Saturday Gems Members’ Doctor & Spouse Mastermind Session ____ Saturday Gems Team Members’ BREAKOUT Mastermind Session ____ Saturday Gems Disney Behind the Scenes Tour (1st 60 registrants) Behind-the-scenes tour is SOLD OUT. Indicate number for WAITING LIST
____ Vance Morris’ Systematic Magic LIVE (add $447 per person) ____ Thursday Keynote and GG12 Certified Coaches Presentations ____ Thursday Evening Illuminations & GG12 CELEBRATION Dinner ____ Friday Doctor and Spouse Mastermind Session ____ Friday Team Members’ BREAKOUT Mastermind Session
Please enter any special dietary needs here __________________________________________________________________________
STEP 3: Fill in the 6 yellow cells, then enter credit card & signature
__Visa __MC __AMEX __Disc # ___________________________________________________________ City: ______________________________ State: ______ Signature Authorizing Charge: ________________________ Date: ________ Name On Card: _____________________ Exp: ___/___ Upon registration, tuition will be charged to your credit card on file. After registering for the event, you will receive a confirmation which will include a link to book your room(s) in the event hotel at our group rate if space within the Gems group block remains available. “Disney Behind the Scenes” Tour is limited to the first 60 people (and is currently sold out). The PRE-EVENT DAY, “Systematic Magic LIVE” with Vance Morris is an additional $447/person (but worth TEN TIMES that!) Your Retreat Tuition is FULLY REFUNDABLE if you cancel at least 30 days prior to the event. *GG12 & GG12 Alumni Members credit card will be charged a $200 REFUNDABLE Deposit, to help plan for meals and retreat space. The FULL $200 will be REFUNDED the week after you ATTEND the retreat (or if you Cancel 30+ days Prior to event). Your card will be charged $447/person for the Pre-Event day. CHARGE MY CREDIT CARD ON FILE (check the box and sign above) BONUS GIFT for ALL doctors registering before 12/31/19, choose any one of our 7 Gems Swag. See photos top of this page, of the 6 Gems Family Swag T-Shirts, or , you may choose one of the Planet Gems Thermal Cooler Bags (out of this world!). T-SHIRT # ___ SIZE ___ or Cooler Bag ___
FAX FORM TO 1-508-861-1550 (Outside USA/Canada FAX 001-508-861-1550) OR CALL 1-888-880-GEMS (4367) TO REGISTER TODAY!
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• You like! No, they don’t need to be your best friend, but this test helps you to avoid major PIA patients … those you wish would take their business to the doc-in-the-box down the street. It’s a pretty low bar. They simply have to be kind, courteous, and respectful when speaking with you and your team. • Always charge a simple service fee (never interest/APR) when allowing patients to pay over a period of more than 2 months.
Before deploying this strategy, watch the video: SITE MAP GOLDMINE UNDERGROUND TEAM TRAINING TOOLKIT 015 HUGE PROFITS FINANCING THE UNFINANCEABLE.
of “New Frontiers of Dental Practice Success” for the final three sides in Part II of this article. If you invest the next 4–5 months, putting all five strategies in place, you’ll reap the financial rewards of your efforts from 2020 until the day you retire.
That wraps up the first two sides of the Pentagon. Watch for the January 2020 issue
And remember, you’re only one Gem away!
Word Search
Sudoku
Solution
HOLIDAYS FLURRY FROZEN PENGUIN
WREATH SNOWFLAKE WINTER SLEIGH
COOKIES ORNAMENTS REINDEER STOCKINGS
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GEMS INSIDERS’ CIRCLE™ QUARTERLY Q&A WEBINARS: Four times each year, I’m available in the evening for up to 90 minutes to answer your questions about any topics of your choice regarding dental practice management. GEMS FAMILY SPRING RETREAT — DISNEY WORLD, FL: Doctors and team members often tell us they have never experienced anything like our retreats in all their years attending dental continuing education. Experience it for yourself and form a lifelong bond with other Gems family members. If you’re ready to experience a transformative time for your practice and your life, head on over to InsidersCircle.com and click on the retreat banner in the top left corner. Register now!
For the latest up-to-date information about what’s happening on Planet Gems, go to InsidersCircle.com and click on “Calendar” (menu bar, top left of homepage). If you have questions, please contact your Personal Gems Concierge or call 1-888-880-GEMS (4367). 90-MINUTE GG12 TEAM TRAINING WEBINARS: GG12 Dental Practice Transformation members, please block out this monthly program on your calendar. These occur just once each month, but they could easily be the most important 90 minutes you and your entire team will invest.
Dec. 4: 10–11 a.m. EST — GG12 Office Hours
Dec. 16: 8:30–10:00 p.m. EST — Gems Insiders’ Circle Webinar
GG12 OFFICE HOURS: Twice each month, my office door is open for your visits. This is an opportunity for GG12 Doctors and Team Members to reach me directly with questions about dental practice management.
Dec. 18: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST — GG12 90-Minute Team Training
Dec. 20: 12:00–1:00 p.m. EST — GG12 Office Hours
Dr. Steven Martin, Canada Dr. Ken Miller, Canada Dr. Francis Long, Canada Dr. Patrick Chu, Canada Dr. Danny Payan, Spain Dr. Theo Visser, UK Dr. Craig Young, Canada Dr. Howard Smith, Canada Dr. Rocco DiAntonio, NJ Dr. Thomas George, IL Dr. Darya Ghafourpour, CA Dr. Christopher Carroll, WI Dr. Ahmed Esmail, NJ Dr. Ron Fuhrmann, VA Dr. Robert Solow, CA Dr. Bobbie Morris, LA Dr. Sam Townsley, AL Dr. James Mchenry, MI Dr. Sangita Chandran, TX
Dr. Patrick Dillon, CA Dr. Stephen Lavrisa, IL Dr. Glen Maylath, MI Dr. Grant Holloway, CA Dr. Ovral Wynter, NY Dr. Chris Devlin, PA Dr. Roger Sohn, CA Dr. Ralph Jackson, GA Dr. Ron Levine, MD Dr. Alexander Farr, CA Dr. Charles Campbell, TX Dr. Hala Al-Tarifi, CA Dr. Gregg Van Beek, SD Dr. Eric Larson, UT Dr. Bruce Woermke, BC Dr. James Warren, TX
Dr. Cynthia Wiggins, MI Dr. Joshua Herzlinger, NY Dr. Stephen Brewer, AL Dr. Robert Wheless, NC Dr. James Butler, OH Dr. John Waschak, OR Dr. Mark Espinoza, AZ Dr. John Deakins, MO Dr. Jeffrey Muller, CA Dr. Samuel McLaurin, MS Dr. Neil Hoss, CT Dr. Gary Tobin, CA Dr. Greg Harvey, WV Dr. Ronald Murphy, IL Ms. Paula Burch, TX Dr. Philip Goduco, IL Dr. Susanne Baaqee, FL Dr. Christine Ally, NJ Dr. Juyong Chung, CT
Dr. Richard Ragnell, TX Dr. Robert Korwin, NJ Dr. Angela Cortese, NJ Dr. Charles Keefe, CT Dr. Curtis Rindfleish, NY Dr. Ethan Kolderman, MI Dr. Steven Connolly, IL Dr. Martin Orro, CA Dr. Robert Chacon, CA Dr. Jayne Hoffman, CA Dr. Stephen Gordon, IL Dr. John Mrozek, IL Dr. William Frith, CA Dr. Scott Elrod, TX Dr. Mark Whitlock, TN Dr. Ardeshir Raghlan, IL Dr. Peter Wilk, WI
Dr. Meng Syn, CA Dr. Ed Magida, PA Dr. Lou Trainor, MA
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Growing and maintaining a thriving practice requires us to master many different business systems. The one most often neglected, yet without which you cannot thrive, is your new patient attraction system, your marketing. Steady state in business is a myth. Your practice is either growing or dying. You must be CONSTANTLY strategizing on new patient acquisition. No two practices are alike, but I’ve identified “9 Critical Keys to Increasing Patient Flow” that every dental practice can execute. Effective marketing requires constant attention, time, money, and ongoing testing. Your Gems Coach and/or Personal Gems Concierge will be happy to help you make the best possible marketing decisions. Reach out to them today. DEPLOY SIMULTANEOUSLY: It’s tempting (and easier) to take each of the keys one-by-one and slowly integrate them into your practice, testing new marketing angles in a linear fashion. However, doing so will be woefully insufficient to truly ramp up and maintain your new patient pipeline. Instead, you need to attack new patient flow on all EXPECTATIONS ... 1. fronts … at the same time! (marketing strategies constitute an exception to TOBI!) Effectively marketing your practice requires deploying at least 6–8 different strategies and tactics simultaneously and consistently throughout the year.
Most practices would be wise to decrease (or suspend) spending money on ads during that period. Never cut back your marketing when your patient load climbs. Instead, build your practice and add more providers as the flow increases. 2. NEW PATIENTS AT WHAT COST? If you market effectively, you may anticipate spending roughly $250–$300 per new patient acquisition. Use this cost as a barometer for the success of the keys you deploy. If you are spending more than $250–$300 per new patient acquisition, your return on investment may not be high enough to justify continuing that particular marketing strategy. BUT… don’t jump to pull the plug based solely on cost per patient. You must also take into account the type (i.e. Value) of patients you’re getting from each source. If you’re spending $500 per new patient via a Google pay-per-click implant campaign and getting a much higher lifetime average per patient, then $500 per new patient may well be worth the investment. The $250–$300 rule of thumb is for campaigns that attract your bread-and-butter, general dental patients. IT’S JUST A TEST: There are many rules in marketing you must follow in order to gain a competitive advantage for your campaigns. That said, we may suggest something that’s worked amazingly well in 30 other members’ practices and yet there is NO GUARANTEE it will work 3.
in yours … nor will you know until you TEST! “ALL MARKETING IS A TEST!”
In order to get to the point where you’re deploying 6–8 effective
marketing strategies consistently and simultaneously throughout the year, you will likely have to test many more than that. You may try five and only find two that work well and three that fail. Keep using the two that worked and replace the three that failed in search of one more that works well for you. Effectively marketing your practice takes time and patience … but it can change your practice, your lifestyle, and your life. track how much ROI you are getting, specific to each ad campaign. Plus, know the exact cost of each new patient acquisition. Simply pushing out marketing without carefully tracking will only set you up for failure. BATTLING NO-SHOWS: New patients scheduled as a result of advertising will NO-SHOW more often than a direct referral from an existing happy patient. That’s why we urge you follow the “20/20/20” rule for the new patient exam. The “20/20/20” exam is a paradigm shift which bears zero resemblance to what you were taught in dental school (or likely by anyone ever).
4. TRACK CAREFULLY: You MUST
5.
Deploy the “20/20/20" new patient exam and you’ll not only protect your time (and
The only exception is the brief period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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income) from new patient no-shows, but you’ll increase the likelihood that your new patients will STAY, PAY, and REFER to you. ( Pro Tip: Watch GoldMine UnderGround Team Training Toolkit “054 Maximum New Patient Return 20-20-20” video at InsidersCircle.com to become a master at this move. Again, it’s a major shift from what you’ve been taught, but it’s PROVEN to help you keep patients!) THE 9 KEYS Now that you are armed with the knowledge on how to effectively utilize these keys, you can begin putting these tactics into practice. Remember, effectively using these tactics will require a monetary investment, time and effort, a clear idea of what works best for your practice, and … most importantly … TESTING. ZOCDOC.COM: Zocdoc.com works well for the majority of our members who’ve tried it. You pay only $299 per year to be featured on Zocdoc.com, plus $110 for each patient you acquire through Zocdoc.com. Let’s look at the math. If you paid your $299 for the year and only got one patient every other month, you’ve added six new patients at a cost of $299 + 6($110) = $959. $959/6 = $160 per new patient. If it works at all for you, then it’s a BARGAIN! It’s absolutely worth testing. They limit the number of Dentists with whom they will work in each area … so check it out and join Zocdoc today if still available in your area. 2. REFERRALS: Who are your very best new patients? The ones most likely to show up for their appointments? The new patients with the highest rate of case acceptance? Referrals! Simply put, they’ve already heard from their friends, relatives and/or coworkers … your raving fans … how amazing you and your team are. Now, let’s get started. 1.
above the average, I’ll guarantee that less than 3% of your active patients refer a patient each month. Here's the math: Let’s say you have 1,800 active patients and you see 40 new patients per month. If 1/2 of those come from your website, street sign, and other marketing, then you’re getting 20 referrals per month. The good news is that you can double or triple your new patient referrals with relatively minimal effort or expenditure. Watch the Gems Family Retreat keynote presentation by Dr. Chris Phelps, “Cialdini’s Principles in Your Practice.” This video is a MUST SEE if you want to increase case acceptance and new patient referrals. NOTE: It was a 1/2- day presentation. Very much worth watching the entire video. But … if you’re short on time and don’t need help with case acceptance, then fast forward to the last 10 minutes to watch his killer strategy for doubling, or even tripling, referrals. www.InsidersCircle.com SITE MAP RETREAT PRESENTATIONS CIALDINIS PRINCIPLES IN YOUR PRACTICE - DR. CHRIS PHELPS. GG12 Dental Practice Transformation Members should also watch my GG12 Exclusive presentation on this topic. www.InsidersCircle.com SITE MAP GG12 MONTHLY TEAM TRAINING TOOLKIT 071 RETREAT PART III - HOW TO TRIPLE NEW PATIENT REFERRALS. GET THE RIGHT PATIENTS: If you could wave a magic marketing wand which ensured you could attract exactly the “right” kind of new patients, what attributes would you most want them to have? They … a. DO NOT have managed care insurance! b. Pay your full fee-for-service! c. Respect and appreciate your professional judgment. d. Can afford to pay for excellent care. e. Actually enjoy visiting the Dentist! 20/1800 = 1%. Thus, 99% of your patients don’t refer each month.
the “right” kind of new patients, watch this GG12 Exclusive, “069 RETREAT PART 1 - ATTRACT 933 OF THE RIGHT KIND OF PATIENTS.” 4. UTILIZE STREET FAIRS: Here’s a secret … Marketing can be FUN. Acquiring new patients should be enjoyable, so have a little fun in your community while you do it! Street fairs can be one of the easiest, quickest, and most fun ways for you and your team to acquire new patients. This is one of the few instances in which dental team members can make their usual pay plus a bonus of as much as 5x, 10x, or more for a FUN afternoon! Imagine the smiles on your team members’ faces when you hand them FIVE or TEN TIMES their usual pay! Of course, you’ll be smiling as well! www.InsidersCircle.com SITE MAP ADVANCED MARKETING BRAIN TRUST "O11 NEW PATIENT SURGE FROM STREET FAIRS." You won’t be disappointed! IMPLANT PATIENTS FROMWEB TO YOUR CHAIR: There are a lot of folks promising us the moon when it comes to Google Ad Words. David Herman has a proven track record of delivering a steady flow of new implant patients. Watch David’s presentation, 5. www.InsidersCircle.com SITE MAP GEMS INSIDERS' CIRCLE WEBINARS "089 HERMAN BLOW AWAY PRODUCTION GOALS WITH LASER- FOCUSED TARGET WEB MARKETING” 6. BILLBOARDS ROCK! Billboards are one of the most underutilized marketing avenues Dentists rarely consider. People spend hours in their vehicles each day, and many often take the same routes on their commutes. Many of our members have crushed it by placing their new patient ads on local billboards. Platinum and GG12 members, I’ll be happy to write and design your billboard ad with and for you. Then I’ll have my graphics folks create the final artwork so you won’t have to do a thing. Your
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The bad news is that 99% of your patients do not refer to you each month! You do the math. Even if you’re
GG12 Dental Practice Transformation Members, if you’d like to attract more of
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Gems Inside
p.1. How the Pentagon Can Protect Your Practice During the 2020 Recession
p.5. Happening on Planet Gems
p.6. Increase Patient Flow With These Tactics
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only assignment is to Google “Billboard rentals near
So, why do we recommend including direct mail as an important part of your marketing arsenal? Simple. Through direct mail you can reach prospective new patients who you otherwise simply cannot reach. The fact that it could end up costing you more per new patient is irrelevant to your success. As long as the cost per new patient is reasonable and the ROI > 3:1 during the first year and >5:1 after 2–3 years, your marketing should include a direct mail component. We have Gems Family Members who have seen tremendous success mailing postcards through www. DentalMarkting.net. Last week, one of our members in Connecticut reported investing $8,000 in one post card run which resulted 31 new patients who’ve already spent over $42,000 in his practice. At a per-new-patient cost of $258 and an early ROI of 5.25:1, they are crushing it (and routinely do) with these postcards. NOTE: DentalMarketing.net is a big company with many copywriters and designers. I’ve worked closely with some of their writers and designers to help give our members the highest chances of success. If you decide to work with them, reach out to me at Tom@1000Gems.com and I’ll make sure you get a writing and design team who is familiar with what is ALREADY WORKING for our members, and I’ll be happy to help you critique and edit their work prior to final approval. There’s no guarantee of success (everything in marketing is a TEST!) … but we can certainly improve your odds!
planning to fail. We urge you to create a Google Marketing Calendar for your practice. Your marketing calendar will help you to keep track of which strategies, ads, etc. are running when, and to REMIND you via reminder emails (automatically sent by your Google Calendar) when it’s time to plan and deploy each tactic. Without a marketing calendar, your efforts will be haphazard at best. One of my favorite quotes from Karen Lamb says it all. If you begin right now, 12 months from now you’ll be happy you did. After testing each and every one of the above strategies (several at a time), continue on with the ones that bear fruit and cut the others loose, making room to test new ways to increase your new patient flow. Ask your Personal Gems Concierge for help creating your Google Marketing Calendar and to set up a call with your Gems Coach to answer any questions you may have about marketing your practice. We’d love to hear from you! Let us know about your successes. Equally important, if you deploy a strategy which has been proven successful time and again by our other members (e.g. Street Fairs!) and you don’t experience profitable results, don’t give up. with your coach to walk through the strategy step-by-step. More often than not, you were closer to success than you realized, and your coach may identify a simple tweak or two which could make all the difference. Email your experiences and successes with these tactics to me at Tom@1000Gems.com. If a Gem isn’t working for you, ask your Concierge to schedule a “Debriefing Call” 'A Year From Now You’ll Wish You’d Started Today!'
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a. Nobody more than 4 miles away b. No Medicaid patients c. Only direct connection leads
8. DIRECT MAIL: Good old-fashioned “snail mail” (print advertising sent via the postal services) is too often overlooked these days. Everything I’ve covered so far is faster and easier than direct mail. All of the above may even be cheaper per new patient acquisition.
9. PLAN TO SUCCEED! Without taking the time to plan your marketing, you’re
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