Big Case Dental Practice Marketing Blog
The a life saying, “what got you here won’t get you there” has been a pretty good truism for a long time and under the current realities it has become a bottom line fact for where dentists stand with what they face for the coming 20 years of practice….
I’ve talked before about average being over for the middle classes in the U.S. Those not moving beyond average are no longer on the right side of economics in the global age. It is what it is….
For professionals (you) this moving beyond average means not simply an elevation of clinical skills above average BUT of very key critical business skills that include everything from administrative and leadership skill to promotion and marketing…..
We’ve just existed a 70 year period where growth in the profession was “always” happening. Along the way, we bought into a lot of variations of “always.”
It was “always” like this. This is “always” did things. Here’s waht you “always” do. There’s a real problem with the word “always.”
Language and logic students have an aversion to always because they understand it creates real issues with constructing not just sentences but logical arguments that can stand up in writing, law, and relationships be they personal or business.
As a profession we drank the “always” kool-aid of what we thought was predictable when it came to economical what was expected to happen for the “average” dentist in the business of practice without a lot of effort.
We had a short list of “always” trends which contributed to our 70 year run of gradual economic growth for average practitioners being average at everything.
Those “always” trends got us to 2007 and contributed to a profession wide general consensus that they were trends that would always with with us and continue to get us there “forever.” Now, after a post-recession stagnant period never seen in recorded economic history, most dentists wait for the :”always” trends to return while all the data says it’s not happening. In other words, what got us here ain’t getting us there……
So what were the trends that got us to through the good ole’ days before the recession to end all recessions hit and awakened us to a new reality?
The “golden economic age” for average dentists was fundamentally driven by the following 5 MAJOR factors:
#1. Disease demographics. Those born B.F. (before Fluoride) needed LOTS of dentistry on an ongoing basis. FYI. B.F. patients are entering the R.I.P. cycle of life which greatly diminishes their dental needs.
#2. Rapid expansion of general population greatly outpacing provider number increases.
#3. Rising household incomes (even when adjusted for inflation) equaled always increasing expenditures on elective services such as dentistry.
#4. Employers adding on dental benefit packages during the peak of the economic boom meaning FREE money to dentists.
#5. Higher paying jobs routinely available if one was willing to work contributing to the purchase of more elective services over time.
Anyone with even a cursory reading of demographic, job, and economic data likely sees potential problems with 4 of the things above that brought us……those with a basic cursory knowledge of dental disease trends related to flouride will also see a potential issue with item #1.
Hardly anyone thinks or even takes actual time to think these days. For that fact, I’ll return to all 5 items next week so it’s spelled out in black and white to limit the cognitive challenges a few will have with understanding.
Now….Is growth still possible for dental practices? Absolutely, in fact, those making very deliberate choices are doing just that. Those with the correct thinking on dealing with the 5 trends still have amazing futures in the profession because even more incredible technology is always in the pipeline.
Here’s an example of what happens based on one’s decisions……
“Dear Colleague,
After about 1 year to the day of studying Big Case Marketing (Master Dentist Academy Principels), we launched our first print ad campaign in two local newspapers.
We had done some external advertising before, poorly organized, and to nobodies surprise, it was not a success.
With our new, better educated and better planned campaign, we had over 100 calls in the first 2 weeks.
Yesterday we had our first Free Consult day, and scheduled 6 cases at $30,000.00 each.
I can hardly believe it, even as I type it.
We are still learning and modifying our process, but we would never had reached this level of success without the training my Team and I got through Big Case Marketing (Private Consulting & Maximum Case Acceptance System).
Thank you so much.”
Dr. M. S.
Ottawa, Ontario Canada (2012)
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Dental CE is great. It’s the path that unlocks all kinds of ways to serve your patients better IF it’s thought through. Most dentists don’t think anything through carefully regardless of whether it’s CE or not. That’s the simple truth–wish it wasn’t but it is what it is.
When it comes to CE, most dentists really don’t understand what they are paying for, getting, or will ever use based on the structure they have back in their in-practice systems and their chosen level of leadership. Yes, better leaders do far MORE dentistry. Lousy leaders do one tooth dentistry even with massive CE levels.
Ultimately, there are only two types of CE. One is world class handing the doctor tools that are quite valuable (if the tools get to be used) and there’s all the rest. Most in the profession choose “all the rest” as a default option and their skill levels show it.
Examples of “world class” courses include those conducted by Kois, Misch, Spear, LVI, etc. If you aren’t taking courses at that level, then you’re better served not traveling at all and simply doing all your CE online and at the most minimal cost since the ability to learn something well enough to put it into clinical use via a lesser level of training (not world class) is nearly impossible.
Now that the bar has been set, for those considering or in the midst of pursuing “world class,” let’s look at the economic costs of attending such to set the tone for how important other aspects unrelated to the actual course are to make up for the investment.
As I believe that Kois’ Treatment Planning I course all by itself would transform the entire profession (The ADA should buy it on DVD and send it to every practicing dentist) let’s talk specifically about the cost of attendance for that particualr course.
Here’s the breakdown for a dentist in Knoxville traveling to Seattle for the 3 day course:
$280 Current airfare (cheap in the rainy/crappy winter time of year)
$650 Hotel with taxes
$150 Food/sundries
$5395 Course fee
$2000 Minimum opportunity cost (no income for two days out of clinic)
$6475 MINIMUM total cost. If you like flying direct, first class, staying at better hotels, or have a greater minimum opportunity cost when you are away from work, you can adjust the minimum total cost appropriately.
It’s expensive AND it’s valuable when the doctor’s leadership, ability to promote, and team and doctor ability to ethically and systematically sell are all in place as a part of taking such a course.
In fact, only when those 3 planets are aligned does it make sense to put resources of this magnitude into play. John has NINE courses……you can do the math.
Knowing the minimum total cost on this, it’s amazing that the first step on the path to better clinical skills isn’t one in which a foundation of ethical selling for elective services is laid first. Everything taught in world class courses are elective and mostly outside the reimbursement systems. In other words, you have to find the patient who needs/wants and then discuss treatment in ways that make sense for buying.
In an age, where online education exists for such a thing (solid, ethical, selling foundations)…….one either gets smart on this or stays really DUMB….
Which is it for you?
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Kodak, Dollar Stores, and Your Choices
I’ve watched the series of plunges and gradual descent into economic hell by Koday Corp since the dawn of the digital camera. In corporate time lines, it’s been a very quick race from market giant to ineffectual pipsqueak.
There are some serious things to learn from this for every dentist out there. Yet, most will barely pay attention to this headline or to other even more pertinent ones that apply directly to their livelihood.
Even fewer will spend time thinking about what’s underlying the headwinds they continue to feel “post-recession.” They’ll head into the office another day and simply think about what bur or scalpel they’ll start the day with or when that next (insert special interest here date/activity) arrives.
Kodak’s leader’s realized way too late in the game that it’s model got moved. Lots of smart very highly educated engineers and business men were paid well to be vigilant and to “think strategically” but Mr. Market and Mrs. Consumer changed the rules in broad daylight while a the brains were tending to the company’s well being.
At Koday, quick changes were needed but they didn’t happen. Half-butted attempts at printers and cameras were launched. Sitting in my desk is a pretty darn good HD portable video camera branded/sold by Kodak with a battery life of about 5 minutes. I like it but it needs a power cord at all times to operate it. Sort of removes most benefits of use. THAT was to innovation as what throwing gas on fire is.
Fortunately, for dentists, none of us are behemoths like Kodak, we’re not big and lumbering. We can choose quickly to be smart OR dumb.
We can, when economic conditions or patterns change, make very quick turns and changes in response to the marketplace as long as there is a cash flow and debt service either in the business or personally isn’t out of control.
The first catch is we have to realize things are changing. The second catch is that one must realize that clinical leaders, professional organizations, MOST business consultants, will either be just as ignorant of what’s afoot or see what’s happening and refuse to point it out becuase by oding so they must offer solutions. It’s simply easier to distract everyone and hope that things go back to how they used to be.
When was the last time ANYTHING went back to the way it was? Answer: N-E-V-E-R.
Right now, the most important change underway for your practice, future, and livelihood, has absolutely nothing to do with technolgy.
The biggest trend and change you need to be concerned with is the shrinking income and buying power of the vast majority of your patients and potential patients.
The dental insurance gravy train is ever more like a drying up crusty train. That fact isn’t changing.
Put these two together and the long show up to work and it always gets better for the detnist boom by simply floating with the trend (ever growing and rising middle class size, wealth, and insurance coverage) is retreating as quickly as Kodak’s sales of TMAX film did.
A quick perusal of the best and the worst performing highly visible and talked about businesses invariably would include Apple on the best side and Best Buy on the worst. Apple targeting the affluent AND those so motivated by the cult they’ll find a way to buy what they want. Best Buy selling to the shrinking middle just like the average dentist.
The latest data on Best Buy shows that on a profit margin per square foot basis, their performance is as good as an average dollar store.
Ultimately, this consumer parable, visibly effecting the good and not so good fortunes of the big guys, also means you have some choices to be making.
Will you continue to sell to a shrinking, poorer, middle consumer or will you move upstream and target those with enough real dental problems that they are motivated to find ways to pursue treatment (I’ll find a way to buy an iMac no matter what!) or actually target a more affluent patient and deal with what that means.
If you’re going to keep targeting the drying up middle class insured, I strongly suggest you start to earnestly study the dollar store model very very carefully as that is where you will need to focus your attention related to marketing, selling, and managing your overhead related to quality of facility, staff and technology.
If you plan to fight the trend and move upstream, I suggest you focus on creating and communicating why you are different from everyone else and address all the facets of selling and promotion. Only those things can take you out of the way of the sea change underway.
The choice is yours…..upstream or dollar store…..
If you choose upstream, and would like some help getting there, you can go and get a selling and promotion education for free by hanging out at the local book store (if it still exists). Cancel your weekend activities now…..
If you’d like specialized help (and speed), we’re ready to give you the first step in going upstream which is a solid foundation in ethical selling so you can begin moving further away from Dollar Store land. To get going, simply click here.
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From time to time, things from some of our best clinical post-graduate educators catches my eye like this ad from Dr. Frank Spear.
Kudo’s always go to these folks for providing a wealth of clinical information that puts their attendee’s on a different plyaing field at least in a THEORETICAL sort of way. [By the way, on this kind of subject matter (occlusion that drives most treatment decisions and helps manage health/risk, attemptint to piece it together from a whole bunch of 2nd tier experts is not recommended…..go to one of these reputable educators).
Kudos to Frank for realizing that education is headed down the distance path very quickly. The number of reasons to get on a big plane are fortunatley shrinking with each passing year.
Now….back to what’s not right about this proposition. The flub here is saying that magically you’ll “earn” more because you “learned” or some variation on that theme. (I’ve heard Dr. Kois tell his attendee’s a disclaimer about his courses delivering $$……kudos for that kind of honesty).
But….no disclaimer here. In fact, big promise. Bravo to them for using that message as they certainly understand some fundamentals about a lot of us in the profession. No kudos to anyone signing on who doesn’t have a grasp on what reality is related to selling occlusal based services.
Here’s the reality, as soon as one leaves anything that is emergent or one or two tooth treatment based insurance dollars, it is not simply “learn and then earn.”
Things like worn dentition and occlusal disease often times have a minimal next step of several thousand dollars for some device that takes considerable skill to deliver after astute diagnostics. And then definitive treatment can be $40K, $50K, $60K…..etc. There’s NO WAY to have the “snowball’s chance in you know where” to do those kinds of cases without approaching promotion and selling very differently than 95% of the profession. Thus, to get the little “sold” sign on the case….you need much much much more than this DVD or an entire Spear-Pankey-Kois-LVI-Dawson program.
By the way, we’re one up on Frank, our version of digital learning, isn’t a DVD, it’s immediately available as soon as you sign on for our online training in ethical, behavioral based selling (the Maximum Case Acceptance Online Program).
Here’s what Dr. Abbott (began using the System in last 2010….in a very post-housing bust, broken consumer world) had to say from Phoenix recently: “Just wanted to let you know that October was our best month ever in my practice. This month we have already beat that and are scheduled to do $30,000 in the last next few days. Thanks!” In his case, heavily insurance based practice but selling more effectively and ethically as he diversifies for success in the new reality that all dentists live under…..
Oh yeah…..if you plug into ethical selling, you really will earn more while you learn. In fact, it’s something I put into writing as a guarantee. No clinical CE educator does that….no one……
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Happy Thanksgiving! Still one of my favorites even though I now enjoy it with frozen margaritas and cold smoked turkey on the beach. No snow, no leaves to pick-up, and no funny pilgrim suits.
THE END IS NEAR
2011 is rapidly closing out. In spite of the changed economy, in which most generalists are suffering, our members upgrading their ethical selling abilities are having some record months. If one only viewed their world, it would be a much happier one than most dentists in the Western industrialized world currently enjoy. [FYI: We’re unveiling a credentialing process where more promotional ads/strategies will be made available to those doctors who get a solid foundation in our ethical selling Program—now available online.]
By and large, the momentum, ANY practice has for the last 6 weeks of the year is related to what happened 6-10 weeks previously. October-November requires specific annual action to made December-January excellent months.
Annual planning via the calendar is a key to making this annual transition a good one. Making time for planning requires a commitment to doing this and it certainly helps when one is selling at the right fee levels so there is breathing room for very important activities that must occur during administrative time.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ECONOMY
Bottom line: we aren’t producing services or products with rapidly rising demand or value that drives jobs or wages. As a side-effect, we’re simultaneously consuming less which creates a negative feedback cycle.
No one at the national level want’s to say that the end result is that the middle class wage earning is “S.O.L.” but that’s the reality of this show. To see through the smoke-screen of “business as usual and we’ll eventually get back to the way things were in the boom years,” you simply need what Napoleon Hill wrote about years ago which is called ‘accurate thinking.’
The same holds true in dentistry. There are practices, quite a few of our members, having their best year yet because of the decisions they made and continue to make. The most successful dentists have one word completely missing in their vocabulary—blame.
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