About Fred
Fred Joyal co-founded 1-800-DENTIST in 1986 to provide screened patients to member dentists while encouraging millions to visit the dentist regularly. As the company spokesman, Joyal has written and produced over 200 television and radio commercials for 1-800-DENTIST, which air more than 5,000 times a month on network television, making 1-800-DENTIST one of the top consumer brands in the nation.
Fred also hosts a blog for consumers at DentistLove.com, further promoting the importance of oral health.
Recently, he authored his first book, Everything is Marketing: The Ultimate Strategy for Dental Practice Growth, which is available for purchase on GoAskFred.com.
Monthly Archives
February 15, 2010 Setting the Right Atmosphere
I want you to try a little exercise. The next time you walk into your practice, pretend you’re walking into it for the very first time. You’re not a dentist, office manager, hygienist or receptionist; you’re a patient visiting the office for their initial appointment. Look around your waiting room. Does it feel homey, like a family living room, or does it feel clinical? Are your floors swept or vacuumed? Are there toys for young children to play with? Take a look at your operatories. How are your hygienists dressed? What color are their scrubs? Do they match, or is each dressed uniquely? Is your office quiet and serene or is everyone talking and laughing? What sort of music are you playing?
Make note of details like these because collectively they communicate a powerful message. Understanding this message is a crucial part of marketing, but it’s even more important to decide whether it’s appropriate for the practice you want to run.
Atmosphere is integral to any business. It’s one of the clearest identifiers of who you are and what you do there, and it can directly affect what sort of patients you draw. Like it or not, appearance matters in our society, and just as you take care of your personal appearance, you also need to take care of your practice appearance.
If you want to be seen as a cosmetic practice that caters to discriminating patients who want only the best, then your practice had better look like the best practice in the area. Invest in an interior designer and spend some money on attractive modern art. On the other hand, if you’re a pediatric practice, you want your waiting area to feel kid-friendly. Your walls and carpet should be warm and colorful, there should be cartoons on your waiting room TVs and plenty of toys for children to play with while they’re waiting (as well as magazines that will appeal to parents). Family practices should feel comfortable and relaxed. They should be clean, but the waiting room shouldn’t feel sterile. Remember, clean doesn’t always equal comfortable. If the place feels too clean, it could make families feel like they need to watch where they step and can’t relax.
Also, keep in mind that the atmosphere isn’t just the waiting room and operatories. Every member of your team is part of it as well. If you prefer that your staff conduct themselves like medical professionals and keep things serious while at work, you’re going to draw a much different clientele than if you tell them to relax, make jokes and engage your patients.
Think about the atmosphere around your practice and what it’s saying about your business, and if it’s the wrong message — change it. Your atmosphere frames the way your patients see your practice, and I don’t have to tell you how an awful frame can ruin a great picture.
January 15, 2010 How to Handle Price Shoppers
I’m sure you know the drill. A patient calls your practice and asks how much it would cost for an examination. Knowing that this patient probably needs some restorative care if he or she hasn’t seen a dentist in a while, you’re faced with a choice. You can quote the patient the price for an exam, fully aware that the cost for treatment will probably be much more than that, or you can refuse to quote a price and risk upsetting the patient.
Price shoppers are always going to be a tricky issue in dentistry. Whenever you find yourself on the phone with a shopper, try to see things from his or her point of view. If you can do that, it becomes clear that shopping for prices is a very natural thing to do. Most patients have very little information to distinguish potential dentists from each other, so they’re basing their decision on the one factor they do understand — price. You need to get them in for an appointment, but doing that without offering them a price quote can be a challenge.
The one thing you want to avoid doing is diagnosing over the phone. There’s no accurate way to do that and you may give the patient the price for a procedure that they don’t need, scaring them off in the process. You also don’t want to quote too low by giving the patient the cost of a simple exam. If you do that, you may get the patient to come in, but when additional treatment is needed and the fees end up being more than you quoted, I doubt you’ll get that patient to return. As a rule, it’s better to avoid quoting prices to price shoppers.
Instead, emphasize the quality of the practice and the concern the dentist would have over the condition of the patient’s mouth. Reassure patients that they made the right decision in calling you and that the doctor will definitely want to take a look at what’s going on in their mouths. However, without coming in, there’s no way for you to offer them a fully accurate price quote. I suggest offer them a free initial exam and making absolutely sure they understand that you’ll go over the cost of any treatment with them before you get started.
The best strategy to win over shoppers is explaining why the dentistry you offer is the best for the price in an inviting, non-threatening manner. Give them a reason to choose your practice other than low prices while also making it clear that they will never feel trapped or pressured when it comes to the cost of treatment. If you can reassure price shoppers that it’s not financially scary for them to come in and be seen, don’t be surprised when they decide they’re done shopping and are ready to make an investment in what you have to offer.
December 15, 2009 Social Media: The New Web
You may have noticed that I’ve been talking a lot about social media lately. I just released a new edition of Everything is Marketing that includes strategies for using social media in your marketing and recently uploaded a new whitepaper on the subject here on GoAskFred.com. It may seem like a lot of attention for one topic, but it’s for a very good reason: I believe social media is one of the most important marketing tools to emerge since the creation of the World Wide Web.
Social media lets you interact with your patients on a level never before possible through the Web. It allows you to informally educate them about dentistry while keeping them up to date on what’s happening in your practice. It enables you to build a collection of patient testimonials and foster networks of supporters and friends. All of these work to keep you in your patients’ minds and to build long-term loyalty. Plus, every new profile you set up on a social networking site can help your practice show up in a natural Web search, which means that in addition to helping with your internal marketing, social media can also be a great source of new patients.
Admittedly, using this medium to its full advantage takes time. There are thousands of social networks out there, and even if you only create profiles on the really popular ones (such as Facebook®, Twitter®, Yelp®, LinkedIn® and YouTube®), keeping them current and maintained isn’t easy, particularly for a busy dental practice. But don’t let that deter you. I recommend having one or two staff members whose responsibilities include keeping all of your sites up to date, and that they post new content to your Facebook page or Twitter feed at least every other day. The key is doing it regularly. It really shouldn’t take very long to update your profiles if they’re checked consistently.
Decide on what messages you’re going to communicate each week beforehand, and make sure you set an appropriate tone for your posts early on and stay consistent about it. Are you a fun and quirky practice? Or do you feel a more conservative, professional voice is the better way for you to go? One approach isn’t better than the other, but whichever tone you decide on should remain consistent with each new post.
I go into a much more detailed strategy on using social media in my book and in the whitepaper, so rather than repeating that information here, let me just say that in addition to being smart when it comes to using social networks, it’s also important that you’re quick. Facebook doubled its size from 100 million users to 200 million in less than eight months. Twitter is growing at a rate of 1,382% a year. That’s the very definition of the word “explosive.” We’re about to enter into 2010. I still can’t look at that year without smiling. We’re finally entering the future we used to read about as kids. And I’m telling you, the future of marketing, including dental marketing, is social media.
October 15, 2009 The Future of Dentistry — Today
In my last blog, we discussed how to change the commonly held perception of dentistry, but this time around, I’d like to talk about how modern technology is changing the reality of what dentistry can be. Our world is becoming a far different place than it was even 10 years ago. The tools used for performing dentistry are changing, and now’s the time to make certain that your practice is changing with them.
As you know, all of us in the industry need to help spread the word about how dentistry has changed to the public, but that’s only the first step. To really demonstrate your commitment to providing the best experience available to patients, you need to invest in the technology that’s available to you.
Frankly, I think just about every practice out there should invest in a laser if they haven’t already. The drill has such a negative association to so many patients that even the most successful dentists could benefit from using it less. Keep in mind that you don’t even need to use the drill on a patient to make them uncomfortable. The mere sound of it is enough. Why would you want to put your patients through something that you know is disturbing to so many of them if there’s no longer any need to?
I feel much the same way about The WandTM, a device that controls the flow of anesthetic and reduces the discomfort of injections. I know there are many, many dentists out there who “give a great shot”…but it’s still a shot. Even if a patient can’t actually feel the needle, simply knowing that it’s there and in use causes a lot of discomfort to so many people. More importantly, the pain patients feel is primarily caused by the pressure of the anesthesia. The Wand can make a huge difference in their overall comfort.
I know that there are costs associated with new technology (and I haven’t even touched on some of the big things, like CEREC® or cone beam technology), but there are also benefits that may not be readily apparent. One of the most valuable benefits is the marketing advantage new technology gives your practice. If you invest in a CEREC machine, The Wand or any other new equipment, start promoting it in your advertising. Write about it in your newsletter or on your website. Point it out to new patients the first time they come to your office, taking care to explain exactly what it does and how it benefits them. Even if the patient isn’t in need of the technology, the fact that you have it will create a great impression and will help reassure your patients that they’ve selected a first-class dentist.
Dentistry is becoming more comfort-conscious, and soon the general public is going to realize it. When that happens, you’re not going to want to be behind the curve. Investing in new, modern equipment not only provides your patients with a more comfortable experience, but it allows you to easily market your reputation as a practice that puts your patients first. You’re not just offering a promise, you’re offering solid proof. And nothing resonates with your patients more than that.
September 15, 2009 The Changing Face of Dentistry
Dentistry, like most industries today, is in a state of change. While this isn’t unusual or surprising, what I’ve found does catch dentists off guard is how few consumers realize this. When most people think of going to the dentist, they still think of painful shots and endless drilling. They don’t realize that there are less intrusive and gentler options available today that could eliminate both of them. For many people, this knowledge alone could be enough to convert them from a dental avoider to a regular dental patient.
Of course, I realize that not every practice out there has a dental laser or a Single Tooth Anesthesia (STATM) system like The WandTM, and that’s part of the problem. (I’ll address that particular issue in my next blog.) However, to really capitalize on the changing face of dentistry and use it to our advantage, we need to do a much better job of showing the general public how much our industry has changed.
It would be nice if the big companies on the forefront of the changes would take a cue from the drug companies and buy television ad space to promote CEREC®, The Wand, Waterlase® and all of the other great products making dentistry more efficient and comfortable. However, that’s not likely to happen. And while the Dental Trade Alliance’s “Oral Healthcare Can’t Wait” campaign is a good start at educating consumers about the importance of regular checkups, we also need to assure uneasy patients that dentistry has gotten more efficient and comfortable. That’s a message that’s best spread on the individual level, by dentists who can speak directly to patients and assure them that their unique fears and anxieties about going to the dentist can be laid to rest. In short, if we want to spread the message about how dentistry’s changed, we really need to pick up the torch ourselves.
There are lots of ways to do this at your practice. You can write about new breakthroughs in dentistry in your newsletter, mention the benefits of modern technology in your ads and on your website and most important — talk to your patients about all of this when they’re in your office. It may take a little effort, but if we can help inform our friends and neighbors of how much dentistry has changed, more of our friends and neighbors will stop feeling so anxious about going to the dentist…and wouldn’t that be a change!