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8 Secrets to Success with Direct Mail
Direct mail can be the most powerful form of advertising or external marketing used by dental practices when executed properly. Here are eight secrets that I rely on to make sure that my clients get the best return on their investment in direct mail.
Mistake 1: A poor mailing list
Do you know what the most important part of your direct mail campaign is? It’s the mailing list. A great direct mail piece with great writing and beautiful graphic design might pull double the response of a poorly created direct mail piece. However, the best list can improve response many times more than a bad list used with an otherwise great piece of mail.
A mailing list is not just a way of reaching your market. It IS the market. Age, income, home-ownership, children in the home, marital status, distance from your practice and other important demographic data must be considered and analyzed when purchasing or renting a mailing list.
The best list available to you is your list of patients who previously visited your practice or responded to other marketing attempts.
Mistake 2: Not testing
Big consumer companies fanatically test their direct mail. Dentists rarely track response or test different mailing pieces or lists against each other. As a result, they repeat their failures and have no idea what works or doesn’t in direct mail.
A good idea is to look to a professional dental marketing agency that has had the benefit of trial and error on a national level with many types of direct mail.
Mistake 3: Not using a letter
A well-written sales letter can be the most important part of your direct-mail campaign. In a recent marketing article about a company that tested two basic direct mail pieces. Mailer “A” consisted of a sales letter and reply form. Mailer “B” was a large postcard. The result? “A” out pulled “B” by a 3-to-1 ratio. Postcards can be very effective and shouldn’t be overlooked, but letters are often hard to beat.
Consumers are trained to view letters as “real” mail, and postcards as “advertising.” Often a combination of both letters and postcards alternated to a particular list will ensure that the list is hit hard from different angles to achieve the best response rate.
Mistake 4: Not having an offer
An offer is what the consumer “gets” when they respond to your mailing. A direct-mail package should sell the offer, not the practice. For example, if I mail a letter describing free whitening for life, my letter is not going to do the whole job of convincing the reader to become a long-term patient. But the offer is capable of swaying a consumer to at least show interest enough to call the practice.
Have a well-thought-out offer in every mailing. An ad that ran in a local newspaper offered free whitening as the anchor offer. The dentist received dozens of replies. An identical ad was run but it promoted whitening at a discount price of $49 instead of the normal price of $199. Number of responses the second time? Only one.
Mistake 5: Being too subtle
Some dentists like the idea of being soft and smooth without looking too aggressive. This approach is a mistake that may be very expensive.
The typical consumer reads for four seconds before deciding whether to continue reading or stop. Your letter or card must grab attention immediately. So start your letter with a powerful and compelling sales point and never slow down.
Ask a provocative question, going straight to the heart of the reader’s most pressing problem or concern. Lead off with a fascinating fact or incredible statistic. State your offer up-front, especially if it involves a free offer.
Know the “hot spots” of your direct mail piece—the places that get the most readerships. They include: the first paragraphs of the letter, its subheads, its last paragraph and the post-script (80% of readers look at the PS); the post card headline; picture captions; and the subheading near any offer. Put your strongest selling efforts in these spots.
Mistake 6: The magic words
Many dentists operate under the mistaken notion that their objective is to be “different” and “unique” and avoid the magic words of direct mail because they are cliché. Here are four of the magic words you should include in your direct mail campaigns:
Free. Say free toothbrush, not complimentary toothbrush. Say free consultation, not initial consultation. Say free whitening, not inexpensive whitening.
No Obligation. Important when you are offering anything free. If patients aren’t obligated to stay on as a long-term patient, say so. Consumers need to be reassured that there are no strings attached.
Announcing or At Last. Consumers love to think they are getting in on the ground floor of a new thing. Making your mailing an announcement increases its attention-getting powers.
New. “New” is sheer magic in consumer mailings. But it can be a double-edged sword in dental marketing. On one hand, consumers want something new. On the other hand, they demand dental services with proven performance.
Mistake 7: Starting with your practice in mind—not the consumer The reader opening your sales letter only wants to know, “What’s in it for me? How will I come out ahead by becoming your patient instead of another dentist?”
Focus on the consumer. Ask your typical patient, “What’s the biggest problem you have right now?” Your direct mail piece should address such problems, and then promise a solution. Most dentists focus their message on their unique credentials and degrees, their beautiful office and their wonderful team. Focus on a flexible schedule, payment options, convenient location and the insurance accepted.
Mistake 8: Creating and reviewing direct mail by committeeIs your direct mail piece being reviewed by committees made up of people who have no idea (a) what direct mail is; (b) how it works; or (c) how it should be designed? Your spouse or your dental assistants base their opinions on their own personal prejudices and buying habits that often don’t reflect your entire community. Why pay experts to create mailings based on long years of trial-and-error experience, and then deprive yourself of that knowledge by letting personal opinions get in the way?
Interested in knowing more about how to market your practice? Click Here
To reach Joel Harris Email him at Joel@thedentistsnetwork.net
Interested in having Joel speak to your dental society or study club? Click Here
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The Eight Telltale Signs of a Saturated Practice
After being in practice ten to fifteen years, some dentists are faced with the decision to recruit an associate since they have more patients than they can properly manage. There are eight telltale signs that will confirm whether your practice needs a full time or part time associate. If you are experiencing many of these symptoms you are on track to consider an associate.
1. Doctor’s schedule is full six to eight weeks in advance.
Our rule of thumb is that if you have 90% of your schedule filled six to eight weeks in advance on a consistent basis, you show one of the cardinal signs of saturation.
2. Hygienists are booked two to three months in advance 90% of the time.
If the doctor is booked out weeks in advance, it goes without saying that Hygiene is completely booked as well. This is particularly true in practices that pre-appoint patients. Scheduling flexibility becomes very difficult with many patients not being seen within their regular recall cycle. This also leads to Hygiene slippage, which means that in addition to potentially adding another doctor, more than likely you will need to add additional Hygiene days.
3. New patient hygiene appointments are not readily available.
Since many practices pre-schedule hygiene appointments, saturated practices seldom have time reserved for a new patient hygiene appointments. High demand for recall appointments makes these valuable time slots unavailable. Therefore, new patients may have to wait four to six weeks before they can see the hygienist thus delaying all treatment and perhaps frustrating a new patient to the extent that they’ll switch to another dentist! We recommend that scheduling templates so this scenario can be prevented. For example, if you average twenty new patients a month, we recommend that you reserve twenty appointment slots for new patients. If there is an opening for the coming week with an open new patient appointment slot, it is usually easy to fill with an overdue patient who has been waiting for their recall appointment.
4. Stop accepting New Patients
If you are winding down your career you may consider this an option but if you are in the middle of your career this may be a strategic error. Patients may start spreading the word that you are too busy and this can harm your practice’s long term vitality. We never advocate this approach so keep the doors open and take action to recruit another doctor.
5. Increased specialty referral
You used to enjoy providing a full range of clinical services but as patient demand is putting increased pressure to see more patients, you now find yourself referring more services to specialists. We typically see endo and perio services the first to be referred out.
6. Clinical production is stagnant
It is difficult to increase production. In fact, saturated practices begin scheduling shorter appointments thus producing less dentistry per hour in order to accommodate those patients demanding to see their dentist! Therefore, saturation not only adds stress, but it also can reduce office efficiency
7. Increasing number of “patient of record emergencies”
Saturated practices often have an increasing number of “emergencies”. These are patients who are not off-the-street emergencies, rather those patients who have fallen out of their normal recall cycle and have clinical problems that normally would have been detected at their recall exam. Left unattended, these problems boil over to the point where a call to see their doctor is in order to fix the problem!
8. Scheduling multiple appointments for complex services
Saturated practices also exhibit difficulty in scheduling multiple appointments. Again, if only 10% of available time is available in saturated practices, it is no small wonder why multiple appointments become problematic and frustrating to both the patient and the doctor.
Determining the number of Associate Days needed.
The good news about saturation is that there is a solution. We find that saturation equates to about 1,700 to 1,800 active patients in a general practice. If the doctor is providing more complex restorative and cosmetic services, that number will drop to about 1,300 to 1,400. For example, if you have a patient base of 3,400, and you have no time to breathe, you are probably on track for a full time associate. This advice is tempered by the fact that your entire patient base had at least one appointment over the last 3 years. If not you may be fooling yourself into a false sense of security.
Conduct a chart audit first to make sure your numbers are reliable before you offer someone a full time position...
On the other hand, if your patient base totals 2,300 patients and you have the symptoms listed above, you probably have an excess of 600 patients. This equates to a part time associate working two to three days per week. A chart audit is in order here as well to make sure you know the correct number of associate days to offer. Our rule of thumb is for every 200 to 250 excess patients you will need one associate day per week to meet that patient demand.
So in the end, excess patients equal an opportunity to implement your first step in the transition planning process.
Interested in having Dr. Snyder speak to your dental society or study club? Click Here
The Snyder Group provides a vast array of transition services. Please visit their website for details.
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