Your Website – A Valuable Marketing Tool

Hannah Daniel manages a dental health blog backed by 1Dental.com, and has recently worked on the Free Dental Care Finder project, a tool that helps people find free and low-cost dental care in their community.

First impressions are everything, so what does your website say about you? As a dentist, your website is no longer just a place to dump all your information in case someone happens to stumble across your page while looking for dentistry in your area. Your web page is typically where people go first nowadays, so you need to see your website as a marketing tool and make that first impression count!

Appearance Matters

Most people today do their research on the Internet. They want to be fully informed ahead of time to ensure they will be getting the best quality for the lowest prices at their optimum convenience. A quick Internet search can help them come to that conclusion within minutes. If they don’t like what they see after a brief glance at your website, you may have just lost a potential patient.

Just like with any other business, you have plenty of competition vying for the attention of anyone looking for dental work. Your website is a very important marketing tool, so make sure it accurately represents your practice. Invest in some quality page design – no one wants to visit a dentist who has a shady website. For all they know, your office might be just as shady. Make sure your website looks just as polished as your actual office – you don’t want your website to look like spam!

Beware of making it so high-tech that users get lost just trying to find your contact information, however. Information should be clear and easy to find. It’s often a good idea to include a biography page for the dentist, and sometimes even for the hygienists and office assistants as well. Let the web visitor get to know you. Relationships matter when developing/sustaining a practice, and the first steps to build them can often start on your website. A good first impression can make the difference for a potential patient to pick up the phone and make that first appointment.

Valuable Information

Your website should not be solely self-promotional. Of course you’re promoting your own practice, but it’s important to provide something of value to prospective patients before they even step foot in your office. This might include:

• Fact sheet on dental statistics
• What to do in a dental emergency
• A blog page with updates on your practice or dental news
• Fun games to teach children about dental health
• Charts and graphics on tooth development or oral disease symptoms
• A list of dental terms with definitions

You don’t want to overwhelm visitors with additional information or they might forget that your website is primarily about your dental practice, but you should help visitors feel like their trip to your site was worthwhile. Take advantage of the opportunity!

Consider your website to be a useful marketing tool rather than a requisite contact page, and you can start connecting with future patients before they even walk into your office.

"Likeable" Lucky

I am sure that you have been touched by the many stores of struggle and survival that have been reported over the past two weeks in regards to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan. One story that captured my attention took place thousands of miles from Japan. Last week the South by Southwest conference concluded in Austin, Texas. While the purpose of the conference is to highlight entertainment, a dog received much of the attention in the early days of the conference. Lucky, a 14-year-old retired fire and avalanche rescue dog and constant companion of philanthropist and film maker Charles Weingarten, made a surprise appearance Saturday morning, two days after the earthquake. Five former canine team members were flying to Japan later that day. The Annenberg Foundation had made a pledge of donating $100,000 to the relief efforts if 100,000 people “Like” the “Dog Bless You” Facebook fan page in the next 10 days. If the number was reached by the following Sunday, the donation would double to $200,000 Weingarten and Lucky attended the film portion of SXSW to promote “Explore.org”, a series that documents and aids humanitarian causes across the globe. Both Explore.org and the service animals non-profit, “Dog Bless You” are projects of the Annenberg Foundation. "I got the call this morning," Weingarten explained.

"They said, 'Charlie, we’re shipping five dogs to Japan and we need your help’….I want to build some community around these animals," so Weingarten headed over to the Interactive side of things to get the word out.

"This is a historic call to action," Weingarten announced to pretty much everyone who stopped to admire Lucky. "We’re about to launch this on Facebook right now. You don’t need to give any money. You don’t need to buy anything. We’re just asking for your hearts and your time to help. You just have to like the page."

(http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/12/6256126-sxsw-100k-facebook-likes-for-dogs-sends-100k-to-japan)

Once again the power of Facebook was demonstrated in a creative, heartwarming way. The last I check the “Dog Bless You” Facebook fan page had 173, 940 fans. Various social media sites have played pivot roles in recent days in historical political change, the rescue efforts in Japan and also in philanthropic efforts. Social media can play an integral part in marketing for today’s dental practices. Additionally many practices use social media to educate and empower their patients to make wise dental decisions.

For help in creating an effective social media strategy for your practice, contact DentistCEO, dental practice management for Vancouver, Portland and the surrounding area. And find DentistCEO on Facebook.

Empower Your Patients with Knowledge; They’ll Keep Coming Back!

Success in dentistry is up to your patients. After new patients find you, what keeps them coming back? Will they accept your treatment recommendations? Though it may sometimes feel like the dentist and team have little control over patient retention and treatment plan acceptance, the truth is, you and your staff can influence your patients in a positive way by empowering them with knowledge!

After years in dentistry and providing dental practice management in the Portland area, I’ve had the chance to witness many fine dental teams. The ones who serve their patients best and see success in retention and treatment acceptance are taking the time to educate their patients. From the information you post in your office, your online blog, social media outlets, and most importantly what your hygienists, assistants, and you yourself say to patients, the impact can be great! If you focus on using your media outlets, wall postings, and what brief time you spend with each person who visits your office helping them see the value of maintaining fine oral health, your practice can benefit.

Empowering your patients with the knowledge that their dental health is a real priority (and can have long term effects on their systemic health), allows them to make good dental decisions. Taking the time to think carefully about the information you present to patients while they are with you can affect whether or not they come back to see you at regular intervals and follow through with suggested treatments!

For more information about improving your dental practice, contact DentistCEO, dental practice management for Portland and the surrounding area.

And find DentistCEO on Facebook here.

Dogs & Dentistry Part 4

Here is another installment on the topic of creating your dream team. Even though Scooter has grown and matured the need for my wife and I to be the pack leaders has not changed. So it is with your dental team. As the executive of your practice, your role as the leader can’t be delegated. A friend of mine often reminds me that “the pace of the pack is set by the pace of the leader.” While you may delegate different tasks in the office the team will still look to you as the leader to set the pace. As pointed out in previous posts, the creation of a dream teams begins with the executive determining who he/she is and what his/her mission is and where his/her vision will lead. The mission, vision and goals of the practice need to be clear in the minds of the team members. All successful sports teams have a game plan in place before the game begins and use the half time to make necessary adjustments. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if all of the team members were not clear on the game plan. Many times I have worked with clients who are frustrated by their team’s lack of direction. Often the root of the problem is that the team members haven’t been informed or reminded of the mission, vision and goals of the practice.

In his book, “Don’t Step on the Rope” author Walter Wright gives the following suggestions for executives as they lead their teams and honor the relationships in the organization.

Keep the purpose and goals before the team always and make sure they shared by all members and perceived as meaningful.
Build commitment and confidence within and among members, making sure that everyone is tied into the rope and belayed.
Strengthen the mix of technical and relational skills. Make sure everyone understands the skills needed and keep honing their abilities. Encourage the continual social interactions that build community.
Manage outside relationships with the larger organization or expedition and secure the support services required by the team.
Create opportunities for other to lead by delegating leadership back to the team members for specific area of responsibility.
Do real work. The leader is one member of the team roped up like everyone else – not “the leader,” but one member with leadership responsibility for this particular objective.

For more information on how DentistCEO provides expert dental consulting in Vancouver, WA to help you create your dream team, contact Dr. Brad Larsen of DentistCEO today!

Facebook Surpasses Google

Facebook Surpasses Google

This is a very interesting post by my friends at Roadside Multimedia regarding Facebook. For years Google has dominated the Internet. Looks like there is a new kid on the block. The opportunities for our profession are phenomenal. I am sure you will find this article as enlightening as I did.

A Golden Rule Office

In the past thirty years as a practicing dentist and now as a consultant, I have been fortunate to develop many meaningful relationships which have enriched my life in innumerable ways. The cardinal rule for relationship building was taught to me as a child, “The Golden Rule.” I am sure it is familiar to most of us, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

As dentists, it is easy to get caught up in the pressure of private practice. Not only do we feel the pressure treating our patients, we have the added pressure of being an executive of a small business. At times it becomes easy to forget that the MOD on #30 is attached to a real live person. One of my favorite movies is “The Doctor”, starring William Hurt. William Hurt is cast as an arrogant surgeon, Dr. Jack, who treats patients like interchangeable cogs in the machinery of his medical practice. Dr. Jack has been ignoring a raspy throat and cough until he coughs up blood. Soon, he is diagnosed with a tumor on one of his vocal cords. He becomes the patient of Dr. Leslie Abbott who is even colder than him, she is talented but sees only problems to fix, and the person exists to her only as something to bring her the illness to cure. The doctors in the film are largely, all of the same stripe. They are supreme problem solvers who avoid any involvement with the people they are treating. The one who actually treats patients with humanity is ridiculed by his fellow doctors. As a patient, the inhuman sterility of the hospital and its policies become clear to Dr. Jack as he is treated as a container for the problem the doctors are to fix. One of the things all patients do is wait, and then wait, and then wait some more. Dr. Jack’s personal transformation during the course of the movie is compelling to watch as a health care provider.

I have watched “The Doctor” several times and each time I resolve to treat my patients and fellow team members with more humanity. Indeed a caring relationship between the doctor and patient is good medicine. I continue to enjoy the relationships that I formed during my years in private practice. I often think of the lessons of Dr. Jack. Every once in a while it is a good idea to stop, step back and have a look at the way our patients are being treated and perhaps focus a little more on relating rather than just simply curing. I highly recommend spending some time with “The Doctor” as a way of initiating the process of transforming your office into a “golden rule office” where patients are treated with the same dignity and respect we are desire.

For more information on building patient loyalty by promoting strong relationships, contact DentistCEO today for all of your questions regarding dental consulting in Portland and the surrounding area.

Find DentistCEO on Facebook here.