Don’t let the treatment get
ahead of the diagnosis
For more on this topic, go to www.dentaleconomics.com
and search using the following key words: marketing,
practice development, marketing focus, practice goals.
Imagine — if you can —
thIs brIef scenarIo happenIng In your offIce...
A new patient presents and, before
you’ve said more than a friendly greeting, he
immediately requests a prescription for an antibiotic
to treat a painful tooth.
How’s that again?
“Yes,” he says,
totally sure of his self-prescribed treatment plan.
“Could you please write the prescription so I
can be on my way? And thank you very much.”
This is fiction, of course, but it
illustrates our point. We don’t know a single
dentist who would seriously entertain a patient’s
own treatment request without a proper and thorough
history, exam, X-rays, or whatever else is appropriate
to a well-considered and proper professional diagnosis.
Hold that thought.
As we talk to practices around the
nation, at least once a week someone will call and tell
us they “need a flyer” or they “want
a newspaper ad” or something else intended (they
believe) to grow the practice. Our concern, of course,
is that the “treatment” appears to be getting
ahead of a proper “diagnosis” marketing-wise.
And when we ask prob•ing questions about the true
nature of their needs, that is all too often the case.
They have jumped to a conclusion and not a solution.
The first four questions to ask:
In determining what’s needed
for a successful marketing program, you first need to
carefully walk through some discovery questions. Take
your time with this “diagnostic” step and
don’t jump ahead. Invest the time to ask yourself
questions and get a clear and unbiased perspective on
where you are and what you need to do to achieve your
practice development goals.
Here are the first four things to
decide:
• What, exactly, is
the goal?
Begin with the end in mind: What is
the quantified outcome? Goals are best expressed in
specific amounts, such as increased revenue dollars,
the number of new patients, or treatment plans begun.
The terms goal, strategy, and
tactic are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably.
A goal is the big picture expressed as a number.
A strategy or strategies are the ways
the goal will be achieved. Tactics are the
tools that achieve the strategies.
So if you’re thinking you need
a new tactical tool of any kind, it should be because
it specifically supports one or more strategies to achieve
the goal. Define the goal first, then decide strategy,
and then the most effective tactical tool — plan
in that order.
• What is the likely
return on investment (ROI)?
Because marketing generates revenue
(not an expense), elements of a marketing plan produce
a measurable ROI — provided, of course, that you
are tracking results daily. Can you predict or at least
estimate the ROI as part of the plan?
Here’s a hint: the overall goal
for a good plan is to have about a 4:1 return on investment.
Tactics individually and collectively need to generate
a positive ROI, but some tac•tics will have a
higher or lower ROI — and the only way to know
is to diligently track the source for each new patient.
Some of our other articles in this series can provide
guid•ance, or give us a call and ask about our
experiences.
• Am I faithfully sticking
to my marketing plan?
Sometimes a practice will lose marketing
focus. For any of a hundred reasons, maybe marketing
is neglected or forgotten. Or perhaps the competition
is advertising via skywriting, and your office is highly
tempted to answer with a skywriting campaign of your
own — but it’s not part of the plan. Stick
with your plan. Make appropriate adjustments if
needed, but don’t do impulsive add-ons or fail
to stay on track.
• Don’t have a
plan?
If you don’t have a well-considered,
evidence-based mar•keting plan, you can skip questions
1, 2, and 3. Develop a professional plan first. The
selection of any tactic without the context of a plan
(with goals, strategies, tactics, budget, schedule,
tracking, etc.) is an open-ended risk.
And maybe this is a case where a prescription
for an anti•biotic is exactly what’s needed
… but then again, you don’t really know.
If you try to set the course of treatment before you
develop a clear diagnosis, your results are likely to
be an unhealthy and wasteful mistake.
Stewart Gandolf, MBA, and Lonnie
Hirsch are cofounders of Healthcare Success Strategies,
and two of America's most experienced practice marketers.
They have worked with dentists for a combined 30 years,
have written numerous articles on practice marketing,
and have consulted with more than 3,000 private health–care
practices. They may be reached by calling (888) 679–0050,
through their Web site at www.healthcaresuccess.com,
or via e–mail at info@healthcaresuccess.com.
Source:Dental Economics
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