Go Ask Fred.com

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 100 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.

Monthly Archives

November 03, 2008

Track Down Your Marketing Results

Here’s how most dentists track the results of their advertising. They ask the receptionist, “How’s that ad campaign going?”  And she will say one of two things: “It’s great — got a new patient yesterday.” Or, “It stinks — nothing but losers and shoppers.” And based on that response, the dentist makes a decision to continue or abandon the advertising. 

Unfortunately, this decision is being made based on anecdotes, not facts. These questions generate a response that is more reflective of the mood of your front desk person at that moment than on actual results. Or they are based on the most recent patient that either came in or “no-showed.” Anecdotes are not statistics. You need to track your results to know what’s working.

 

Tracking is done with your software. But it starts with your staff. They have to input where every single patient comes from, whether it was from an ad, your Web site, a walk-in, or from another patient. This last one is critical, and you’ll understand why when I explain what your reports should tell you.

 

When you have the proper data in your software, look at three things: First, what is the total number of patients who came from each source? (Unless you have an enormous ad budget, then word of mouth should always come in first.) Do this monthly, quarterly and annually. Next, calculate the cost per patient for each source. Third, look at the production for each source. Not just in the month that the patient came in, but over time. The true value of a patient is what they spend in the next five years, not in the first visit.

 

The final step is to track the production for patients who came from other patients — and track that back to the ad source. This is a trickier report, but most software can do it. This will tell you truly what is working and what isn’t. You very often will get a patient through advertising who didn’t spend very much, but their relative or friend came in and did a full-mouth restoration. You don’t want to stop advertising that paid for itself through secondary referrals.

 

This is my final point: In dentistry it’s hard to track the return on investment (ROI) because of the time lag in spending and the potential for word-of-mouth patients. So my rule of thumb is, if you get one case that pays for the whole ad campaign, stick with it, because the rest is gravy.

 

In short, the only way to know your ROI on any advertising is tracking. Otherwise you are just guessing. The data should be right there. Use it to guide your choices, and you’ll be much more efficient with your ad dollars.

 

October 01, 2008

"Sell" is not a Dirty Word

Most dentists hate the idea of selling.

I hear it all the time: “I don’t want to have to sell;” “I didn’t get into this profession to sell;” “I didn’t go to dental school to become some kind of carnival barker.” Believe me, I understand. 
 
But today I’d like to challenge you to put aside the negative connotations you associate with selling. Selling is merely communication with a purpose — and we all do it all the time. We’re selling when we’re convincing our spouse we should go to Scotland instead of Gettysburg for vacation (because we want to try golfing where it was invented). And is there anyone who sells harder than a teenage boy trying to get the car keys? He’s going to wash it, fill the gas tank, run your errands. Sell, sell, sell. And is it not a sell job to convince that same teenager that he needs to go to college instead of taking that construction job? He wants to jump into the workforce, but you know that he needs college if he’s going to realize his dreams. So you sell. Is that a bad thing? Not at all.
 
The truth is, selling bad things is bad. Selling something good is…well, good. And I think we can all agree that dentistry is a good thing.
 
I’ve had sales jobs all my life, and the times when I was the least happy — the times when I’ve invariably quit — were when I didn’t believe in what I had to offer. In a dental practice, you don’t have that problem. You have something great to sell.
 
Now if you just can’t stand the word selling, call it something else. Call it facilitating treatment acceptance. It’s a nice way of saying the same thing — and when you think about it, that’s what you’re really doing. You’re helping a patient who has no understanding of the value of dentistry to accept the treatment that you know is the best care for them.
 
In fact, what you do so significantly benefits your patients, I’m going to suggest that selling is not just something you need to do to succeed; it’s your professional responsibility. 
 
Think about it: most patients have not been properly educated about the value of dental care. Not in school, not at home, not at work. You have the chance to help them understand how to get to their optimum oral health and make the decision to do so. You can guide them from where they are in their minds (wanting as little dentistry as possible at the cheapest possible price) to accepting your ideal standard of care.
 
Dentistry involves selling. Plain and simple and unavoidable.There’s nothing wrong or evil or deceptive about it. And at the end of the day, the better you and your team are at selling, the more your practice can grow, and the happier and healthier your patients will be.

September 01, 2008
How much should you spend? It depends.

Most dentists wonder what they should spend on advertising relative to their gross revenue. First of all, recognize that advertising is the fuel for your practice, not just now but in the future. Advertising gets you patients who hopefully will continue to spend with the practice for many years, and who also will refer their friends and family.

To me, ad spending breaks down into three tiers:

When you are starting up, you should probably set aside a significant amount of money to build a patient base (since you can’t build word of mouth from nobody). For a new practice, I would say this is in the range of $75,000 to $100,000 in the first 18-24 months.

Once you have established a flow of new patients, my rule of thumb for a mid-range practice is to spend 5% of the gross revenue on advertising. This would include Yellow Pages, newsletters, Web sites and keywords, referral services, direct mail and other ads. The mix really depends on the area you operate in and what works best for you. I would keep this rate up until you reach a point where you are booked out a month or longer and can’t fit new patients in. Then it’s time to find an associate or back off some of the advertising.

Once you break past the $1 million mark, most practices I know spend around 10% of their income on advertising. The reasons for this are twofold: First, you are obviously cranking along in your practice, and presenting very well (and need new patients because once you’ve restored the mouths of all your existing patients, eventually all you will be doing is prophys). And second, your profitability is higher at this level because you’ve covered your fixed costs so you can afford to put more money into practice growth.

No matter what you do, track the results of all your advertising. Be assiduous in gathering a source for every single patient, and run reports that tell you what’s working. Many dentists misjudge their advertising because their benchmark for what a new patient should cost them is the cheapest cost per referral they ever paid. That’s not realistic. Expect to pay $100 to $200 in advertising to get a new patient. More than that’s a bit too pricey, but remember — it’s not what that new patient spends on the first visit that’s important, it’s what he or she will spend over the life of the practice.

August 01, 2008
New Technology — Keeping up with the (Doctor) Joneses

When I hear dentists say that they don’t have a Web site (or even use e-mail!), I cringe. In these modern times, patients are more Web-savvy than ever — especially the new patients you want to bring into your practice. In fact, studies indicate that 80% of Internet users go online to find health-related information; this, of course, includes dentistry! Practices that don’t have a Web site look less professional than their competitors. Like it or not, these days, it’s hard for would-be patients to trust service providers who don’t incorporate newer technology into their marketing communications.

So first, get a Web site. Just because you need a Web site, though, does not mean you should build one yourself. In fact, I highly discourage this. Instead, hire a professional to design your site and keep it current by updating it every 18-24 months. Not only will a professional Web developer design your site better, but they’ll optimize it to make sure that your site shows up when patients search for dentists in your area.
 
Web site development is handled by highly skilled individuals who use a variety of very technical “tricks” to ensure that your site is relevant and that it’s listed prominently in the results section of major search engines (think Google). The most decked-out site in the world doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t show up at or very near the top of the list when potential patients attempt to find you.
 
It’s important that you don’t lose touch with what’s going on in our technologically-advanced society, but when you leave Web site design and optimization to the professionals, you’re left with more time to practice dentistry, rather than marketing.
 
Don’t forget to promote your Web site, though — you should ensure that your staff understands that the purpose of the site is to grow your practice. And with this in mind, you should make sure that your staff is recommending that potential (and existing) patients visit your site and that they’re handing out your business card — with your Web site and e-mail address —  to everyone they meet.
 
The bottom line is this: You don’t need to be scared of newer technology. It can be a great friend. Better yet, used correctly, it can be one of your best sources of attracting new patients, while keeping and informing the ones you have.  

July 03, 2008
Marketing through the recession

A dentist came up to me at a trade show recently and said, “I need more new patients than ever because my existing patients are spending a lot less than usual. Can you help?”

Welcome to the recession. 

 

I expect most dentists are feeling the slowdown, either in recall or case acceptance — or both. They probably are feeling that their advertising, if they’re doing it, is generating less new patient flow. This is to be expected. With gas and food prices jumping up every month, money is getting tight for some people, and something like dentistry is easy to put off.

 

I’ll tell you what I told him: First off, make sure that your front desk is firing on all cylinders. You can’t afford to lose a single new patient over the phone. (A recent study showed that as many as 50% of new patients are lost in the first phone call — don’t let that be you!) Answer the phone, answer it nicely, and make sure you get new patients in as quickly as possible — before gas goes up again.

 

Go for some extended hours, like Saturday, early morning or late evening. Some people can’t get the time off work or don’t want to miss the hours. Make it easy for them to visit your office.

 

Expect people to spend less. Times are a little tight, but you are in it for the long haul (for what they will spend over the next 10 years). Be there for them now and know that if you communicate who you are and what you do effectively, they will eventually accept comprehensive care when they do have money.

 

See all emergencies. Same principle as above. Start the relationship, help them with what they need, and do everything to keep expanding your patient base. Which also means…

 

Don’t stop advertising! You need new patients now more than ever. Gas may be expensive, but you’re not going to stop putting it in your car, right? The same goes for your advertising. You need fuel (new patients) for your practice even if they are more expensive.

 

The recession will end. The important thing is to be ready for that moment with a practice full of patients.