How Can I Make My Practice Stand Out?

Every dental practice communicates something to patients, and when that message is the same as every other practice in town, the deciding factor becomes convenience and insurance. Your practice must reflect who you are and what you stand for, and that means learning to differentiate yourself. True differentiation doesn’t mean a new logo, website, or technology, but is instead an answer to the question “Why would someone choose me instead of the dentist down the street?”

You must be intentional about your differentiation strategy, so use these three steps to help you attract patients who value what you provide and are willing to choose you for reasons beyond price:

Identify your Core Customer

It’s a huge mistake to believe you can appeal to everyone; after all, if you’re everything to everyone, you’re memorable to no one. Instead, think about who you want to serve — who are your favorite patients that you wish you had more of? You can identify these patients with a simple four step system:

1. As a team, pick 5-10 of your best patients and write down the characteristics that you like about them.
2. Combine common themes to filter down the list, and then compare them with your core values.
3. Remove the characteristics that are not in line with your Core Values, until you have a list of 3-7 qualities.
4. Use the list to write a description of exactly who your Avatar Patient is.

Identify your Core Competencies

Every practice has things it naturally does exceptionally well, and understanding what they are is the key to building a strategy that amplifies your strengths. Your Core Competencies go beyond the technology you use or the fact that you do quality crowns; in fact, in order to be considered a Core Competency, it must answer three questions:

• Is it easy for others to imitate?
• Is it sought after by most of your patients and future patients?
• Does it contribute to the customer experience?

With your Core Competencies identified, you can start building systems around them.

Identify your Weaknesses

Everyone has weaknesses, and you must identify them so you can strategically address them. It’s also how you know if you’re spending your energy in the right way and in the correct area. Some common examples of weaknesses are:

• The doctor sometimes lacks empathy, which makes patients feel unheard at times.
• Our assisting team lacks clinical experience, which slows down the schedule and makes us late.
• We don’t have the systems in place or the skills to provide comprehensive care, so we mostly present cases on a few teeth at a time.
• Our treatment presentation skills and processes are not good, which frustrates patients.

Everyone has weaknesses, so you don’t need to feel bad, but becoming self-aware of those weaknesses is how you begin to address them.

Remember, it starts with being intentional about who you want to serve; from there, you must plan strategically on how to market yourself to those patients. The challenge is setting apart your practice as a whole, so you must focus on both your clinical and interpersonal aspects. Differentiate yourself from the other practices around you by being a step above them, and then ensure that your marketing reflects that!

To learn more about building your own Better Practice and Better Life, visit us at www.actdental.com!