ACT Dental Practice Coaching

Personal interest stories have always been a fascination of ours. We love to see great things happen to great people. We see many of these personal interest stories as emotional windows to possibilities that may exist for us. This month we take a look at marketing to patients in the same manner with Marketing Tip #25: The Patient of the Month.

The Key to a Successful Cosmetic or Esthetically Driven Dental Practice

Before we continue with our marketing tip for this month, it is very important to understand the big picture of what a successful marketing philosophy for dental practice is all about. I think Dr. John Cranham said it best when he said, “The future of successful esthetically driven practices has to do with improving the quality of people’s lives.” In short, to truly transform people’s lives, you have to sell “hope” ...not procedures. Enough said.

The "Patient of the Month" Concept

The best marketing is Patient-Focused & Visual. It is very important to utilize the power of emotion in all of your efforts. Marketing is most effective when it is about patients completely….and not about you.

Spend the next few months focusing on these 10 steps:

Get clear about what you believe in and how you want to serve people. Don’t be shy about strongly pursuing your passion….it will only cause discontent (and increase self-doubt) in long run if you don’t pursue your dreams. If you struggle with this, read this month's recommended reading…..THE SECRET. You will love it.
Make sure your team GETS IT. If they don’t, do everything in your power to make this happen. Hire a consultant if you get stuck on this one.
Make sure the surroundings in your office reflect your answer to Step #1 on this list. Trust me, it looks very incongruent when an exquisite photo is featured in a cluttered and dated setting.
Make a commitment to become a master of digital photography. There are a lot of fantastic resources out there to help you do this. See Marketing Tip #20.
Start with one Patient of the Month. Have a professional photographer take an exquisite portrait of one of your favorite patients and most beautiful cases. Eventually, train yourself to get good at taking your own patient portraits. Some of our highest performing practices have a photo studio set up in their offices.
Have the patient write a short testimonial to the answer to this question: “How has this process changed your life?” Make sure you edit the finished version to include a lot of powerful words of emotion. Keep it to 3-5 sentences.
Frame the picture along with the patient quote. Spend some good money to make it look very impressive. Put it into a fantastic frame. Put a recessed spot light on it. Make sure it grabs people attention. Feel free to put a "before" picture on it if you choose. That is your call.
Put a sign above it (if you want) that says “Patient of the Month.” Resist using the words “Case of the Month.” Remember, people love human interest stories. Do this tastefully, be consistent about it, and patients will ask you “When do I get to be Patient of the Month?” I promise.
Feature your Patient of the Month in a regular column in a local newspaper.
Rotate your photos. I have a fantastic cosmetic dentist in Omaha (Dr. Steve Wegner), who consistently rotates his featured patients throughout his office to give it a fresh new look. Patients will often notice photos they have never seen before when they are placed in different areas.

The Patient of the Month Concept is a great way to market what you love to do to your patient base. It helps sharpen the picture that patients have in their emotional windows when they come to you for the “hope” of a better future. It is a very powerful tool if used elegantly.

The real value to this marketing tip comes down the road; when you turn off the lights of your practice (after everyone is gone). You look at the walls of your practice, and they are filled with some really special people whose lives were all touched by one incredible dentist.

Feels pretty good, doesn’t it.

Here is to enjoying a significant journey in your work.

Sincerely,