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This great profession of ours has made huge advancements in recent years, but no one more noticeable and more valuable than digital photography.
We live in an attention deficit society. We are visually stimulated by images. Talking to people is becoming less and less effective. Nowadays, people want to see things instead of being told about them. With the technological advancements in visual stimulus and its accessibility, people can usually acquire images; see every angle and color before they make the decision to purchase something.
Dentistry has lagged behind this trend. But now the gap is closing. Some dentists have realized the importance of digital photography and taken their practices to new heights while others are still sleeping. One thing has become very clear; the future of extraordinary esthetic and restorative dentistry will be driven by those who have mastered one important discipline…digital photography.
Here are 5 incredible practice builders when it comes to digital photography:
- Don’t Be Good at Digital Photography…Be a Master. If I had a young dentist that wanted to see a master at work in this department, could I send them to your practice? If the answer is “NO,” then change it. This is an important goal for many reasons. Most importantly, it will elevate the level of your dentistry and confidence when you approach photography with a “Mastery” mentality. Taking digital photos allows for fantastic case documentation over time. The human condition (especially with visual documentation) won’t allow for complacency in your work. Let that magical process work for you. Everyone likes to get better at their profession as they progress through life. It is a crucial process in realizing any level of fulfillment. Visual documentation is the tool for this. You can evaluate your own dentistry over time and make huge improvements in your diagnostic and delivery capabilities.
So don't be good, be a master.
- Have Your Assistants Take the Photos and Prepare Them. Your dental assistant can do it as good (if not better) than you can. The problem is that we don’t take the time to train them. Most extraordinary dentists that I work with have their assistant take a series of 10-24 shots. The assistant then loads them into the computer and prints the 4 critical shot (face, smile, upper occlusal, lower occlusal) on a piece of high quality photo paper for the preclinical interview. It usually takes them less than 10 minutes to do all of this.
This is a great practice builder because it frees up some of your time to do the other things that only you are licensed to do. In addition, this system is executed with great consistency without you having to do it. You will find that many assistants will take major pride in how great their photos are.
You don’t take x-rays do you? Same applies for photos. If this seems impossible for you, I highly recommend you order a training DVD by Dr. John Cranham to teach your assistants how to do this. The DVD is entitled “Records for Success, Part I.” You can order it online at http://www.cranhamseminars.com/practiceaids.shtml.
Watch it once a week with your assistants for 4 weeks until you get it down.
- Help Patients to See Everything, And Then Let Them Talk. You have seen this, but many times patients have no idea what their mouth looks like (most dentists don’t even know what the inside of their mouth looks like). It is amazing what a picture reveals. It truly is worth a thousand words. Everyone needs a picture as a frame of reference when it comes to their health. Patients will use these pictures to create the picture of their dental health that is important to them.
We all think in pictures. And, it is important that you try to see the picture your patient has. Your entire process should be about seeing your patient’s picture. Try not to talk at all. This may be hard, but getting them to talk and having you listen is one of the most important transitions you will ever make in dentistry. Crossing that bridge from single tooth dentistry to "lifetime" or "complete" dentistry requires a different thought process. Sometimes you can put up the pictures on your flat screen or hand them to your patient on the photo paper and not have to say a word. They will do all the talking. If you do have to talk, ask questions like, “Tell me what you see?” or (use John Cranham’s Million Dollar Question) “Mrs. Jones, if I am going to develop a treatment plan that represents most of the dental work you may receive in your lifetime, it is important that I am in tune with what you would like from your dental care. When we complete your treatment, how would you like your teeth to be?”
Then shut up and listen to their picture.
The same principle applies to the treatment planning and consult phases. Have patients show you their picture of what they want. Cranham has patients bring in pictures of teeth they like to get a really good feel for shape and color. He says, ““Never begin a case before you can visualize it in your minds eye! Dentists are PROCEDURAL by nature so this becomes problematic. We like fixing instead of co-visualization. Preoperative Visualization on both parts is critical. 95% of all mistakes on big cases are made in this phase.” Photography is one of the ways to reduce errors and increase enthusiasm in this department.
This may not seem like marketing at first, but the more you do it, the more you will realize that this is the genesis of most of your marketing efforts. In later articles we will discuss: Before and After Shots, Patient Portraits, Presentations, Web Design, Internal and External Image Pieces, Etc. It is important to build a portfolio of high quality photos, and you will be limited without mastering the discipline of digital photography.
- Get Your Photos Circulating in Your Professional Network. One of the biggest referral sources in a complex restorative practice is from specialists. We just don’t have time to meet with other dentists like we used to. On top of that, everyone thinks they are an extraordinary dentist. Specialists don’t want to hear about it, they just want to SEE it. The greatest way for you to differentiate yourself as a truly unique, extraordinary, brilliant, cosmetic-restorative dentist that has a reputation for doing “complex-type” stuff is by not talking, but SHOWING others what you do.
Any time you get a referral from a specialist, that is what we call a “moment of truth.” This is your time to shine and say to yourself, “Not only am I going to do a fabulous job, but I am going to do a great job of documenting this case for you and let you know where the patient is in my practice and treatment process.” I see too many dentists not utilize this resource in the way they should. Highly qualified referrals from your specialists are some of the most rewarding and productive cases you will ever get. Reward the behavior of your referring specialist by setting yourself apart from everyone else in your area. Get so good that your specialist says, “No one does it as well as he/she does?” Send your specialist tons of emails that SHOW them you know what you are doing.
Don’t use the excuse that most of the other dentists in your professional network don’t use email. You can’t worry about that. You have to show your specialists that you are on the cutting edge first, and then you have to encourage them to get up to speed with you.
Raise the stakes for your practice and everyone around you. It is fun.
Same goes for your lab technician. There are tons of reasons to enclose a disk with the patient’s photos in the lab box. It improves quality and predictability all the way around. Make sure you send them finished photos too. Rarely, do lab techs ever see the final result. I used to work in a lab. Whether you believe it or not, you have a reputation and word does get out. Become a treasured advocate for your lab and give them a reason to prioritize and enjoy working on your cases.
- Help Patients Remember What They Looked Like. Some restorative cases can take a very long time to complete. Many patients become so absorbed in the current picture that they see that they seem to forget where they started. A wonderful way to market your practice is with an incredible post-treatment consultation that includes the before and after photos. That also becomes the perfect opportunity to ask your patients to share this great gift with their friends. Everyone wins, and we do it on a visually stimulating and emotional moment.
Executing these 5 benchmarks in your practice will serve as a prerequisite to some of the more advanced efforts of internal and external marketing. Without fantastic photos of beautiful work, a dentist is limited to how much of a practice image he or she can project. In marketing, confidence in the truth of your message is extremely important. You can’t fool consumers today, especially ones that reach deep in their pockets to purchase discretionary items. You have to be as good as you say you are. The instant you are not, they smell a rat.
Becoming a master in the discipline of digital photography will serve many great purposes for you. You will force yourself to become a better dentist, a confidence will radiate from it, your team will pick up on it, and eventually your patients and specialists will create your brand of being the “Very Best!” And that is the goal with any marketing effort.
So, stop talking and start SHOWING!
See you soon,
Kirk
Kirk Behrendt is the Director of ACT Dental Practice Coaching. He has lectured all over the United States to major meetings and study clubs. He has extensive experience on practice profitability, team building, leadership and dental practice marketing/branding, Kirk and his team are primarily focused to positively impact the future of dentistry one practice at a time.. You can reach him at 800-851-8186 or email him at kirk@actdental.com.
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