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Market The Benefits, Not The Features
If you want to make sure that you succeed in your practice marketing efforts, make sure you understand that the most important consideration creating an effective advertisement is to focus on the benefit to the consumer in choosing you as their dentist. Most dental practices are way too focused on the features of their practices and are not consumer focused in their advertising and marketing efforts.
If you analyze most dental ads, you’ll notice that they are all about how long the practice has been in the business, where the dentist received their degree, the number of awards they have won, the beautiful facility, the kinds of restorative procedures they provide and their advanced training. Most dental practices actually think that the longer the list of features, the better. Unfortunately, what consumers want to read or see or hear is shockingly different.
Consumers really don’t want to hear about you. Consumers want to know how you can benefit them. In fact, in an age-old service business like dentistry it is even more important that you clearly define for consumers what you will do to make their lives in some way better, easier, simpler or improved.
Rule number 1 is the rule of WIIFM – It means “what’s in it for me?”
You need to plant your message into your customers’ brain and speak to their needs, their wants, their fears, their pain and their desires. After you’ve got the attention of a consumer (which might last only seconds) you’ve got to go to the next level of communication by clearly defining benefits, and show them how your unique products and services can help solve their problems, achieve results they only dream about, and take away pain that they might have been feeling in a particular area of their life.
Finding the most effective benefit statements can take some trial and error, but once you have identified the benefits that make consumers in your community respond to your marketing and advertising tactics, you’ve got to push the messages hard and repeatedly in all parts of your marketing campaign. When creating benefits statements think about things like, how much time will they save? How is it going to make their life easier? How much money they can save in the long run? How will it make them feel better about themselves.
Most dentists are not very creative when it comes to differentiating their practices from the competition. They are usually constrained to the features that they see in every other dental ad and end up just like everyone else in their market. The obvious question then becomes why would a consumer begin to notice you among your competitors. Your aim must be to interrupt and demand attention from your customers. Telling a consumer that you have friendly staff and that you are a family dentist won’t cut it.
Being different, brutally honest and “in-your-face” will make you stand out from the crowd. Avoid marketing messages based on facts and logic but instead advertise based on the emotions of consumers. Be enthusiastic in your approach and just shy of over the top. Such a style will strengthen your chances of making an impact on consumers. People attach emotions to the thoughts they have, so you need to grab them by their emotion.
People buy based on emotion, then they justify their purchase decisions based on logic. We buy something we want, then justify and rationalize our decision to make us feel OK with the decision we made. As consumers we all operate this way, and as dental professionals you must follow the same emotional flow to make your advertising and marketing efforts as effective as possible.
Once you have clearly defined the benefits of your practice, make it a priority to include a call to action. Remember the advertising formula AIDA, which means, “Attention, Interest, Desire and Action”. It is also important to remember that when you get to the call to action, you take your potential new patient by the hand and instruct them exactly on what you want them to do. If they are ready to buy, they will be waiting for your direction, and it’s your responsibility direct them. “Call us today to schedule your first appointment”, or “Call us now and ask us about Free Whitening for Life” are just two examples.
I can promise you that if you’ll keep these basic concepts in mind during your career that you’ll see a level of advertising success that most dentists will never experience.
Interested in increasing your new patient flow? Click Here
To reach Joel Harris Email him at Joel@thedentistsnetwork.net
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Partnership Contract Issues
More practitioners today are recruiting associates. Many are considering partnership since retirement is still many years away. Someone asked me recently, at a seminar, what percentages of partnerships succeed. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clear answer for this, since no real data has been accumulated. However, in looking at issues that we deal with on a day-to-day basis regarding partnerships, we find that we are contacted to work with partnerships that have failed. The failures, unfortunately, often relate to the fact that no partnership agreements were ever prepared. Partners working together for 20-25-30 years, and then when things go wrong, events occur that destroy life-long relationships.
Oftentimes partnership issues revolve around disability of one partner and how that partner would be bought out and what impact it may have on the practice’s future operations. It is sad to see dentists become enemies after practicing side by side for their entire career because no one took the time to really resolve how they would end their relationship, if an event such as disability were to occur. On the other hand, we have had cases where one partner decides to leave earlier than expected due to loss of interest in the profession or burnout. Agreements, again, need to address these issues, as well.
Will You Be an Equal Partner?
In speaking to dentists who desire to make their associate a partner, oftentimes the senior partner wishes to retain control, therefore requesting a partnership arrangement with the senior partner holding a 51% interest and the junior partner 49% interest. In our opinion, that sends the wrong message to the partner to be, meaning that working together as an employer-employee for several years and now becoming partners, when really there is an element of control, makes many young partners to be quite concerned.
In a legally binding partnership or corporation as a shareholder, if one has control, one has control to make all decisions, without challenge, unless agreements are put in writing to the contrary. Also, it should be remembered that if a valuation has been prepared and an equal partnership is not offered, the junior partner is entitled to a minority owner discount. This minority owner discount can vary anywhere from 15 to 30% of value, based on the amount of ownership that the senior partner retains. The larger the ownership percentage, the higher the discount. Above and beyond the minority owner interest issue is the element of control.
Allocation of Revenue
Historically, years ago, partners shared compensation equally, irregardless of effort. In today’s world, that model does not work. Income can be split based on a percentage of production and ownership as well as hygiene income. By allocating available partner profit between production and ownership, partners who work harder, spend more time in the practice, are more productive per hour, can be rewarded accordingly. Often times failed partnerships are due to the fact that the income splitting formula does not take these points into consideration, and one partner becomes jealous of the other for making the same amount of money without the same level of effort. One of the approaches that we use is to pay each partner as an associate in their own business. The percentage paid should be based on overhead, just as it would if you paid your associate. The remaining available income after the production compensation is paid to the partner, is then split, based on the percentage of ownership. This is a very straightforward method and one that acknowledges individual differences in production. Whether or not lab should be factored into the partnership equation is based upon the production profile of each partner. For example, if one partner is performing a majority of the complex restorative and cosmetic services, clearly lab expense needs to be considered just as you would with your associate. The other partner is more of a surgical partner, focusing on Endo, Perio, Oral Surgery, etc. than they would be very much in favor of an expense allocation to the other partner for lab.
Mandatory Retirement
Both parties need to critically look at their overall financial plan and goals to determine when that age will be mandatory. Most of our clients look at between 70 and 75 as a mandatory retirement age.
Establishing Minimum Days
As partners get older, obviously they may not be able to produce at the same level as they did years prior. In addition, health issues may slow them down, as well. Finally, due to their overall financial condition, they may desire to work less and can afford to do so. However, there should be a point in that partnership relationship if too much time is taken away from the practice, that can have a deleterious effect on the sustaining partner, causing him/her to feel overworked and underpaid. Therefore, we recommend that a minimum number of days and/or hours be set, that must be met by each partner, in order for them to retain their partnership status.
Minimum Production Goals
In lieu of number of days and hours, one can consider using annual production or a monthly production average as a criteria for qualification to retain partnership status. In each case, the idea is to set measurable standards where, if below those performances, an individual should not have the right to retain a partnership interest. This is particularly true if a good portion of the income is split equally. Not addressing these issues will create significant stress and lead to partnership solution issues.
If you would like to receive a complimentary market analysis, click here.
Questions regarding Partnerships? Email Dr. Snyder at Drsnyder@thedentistsnetwork.net.
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