For a Heavy Gal, You Don’t Sweat Much!

OK – before you hit your keyboard to tell me what a sexist remark this is – let me make a point.  This was the punchline in an old television show called the ‘Andy Griffith Show’ about inappropriate compliments. A little red headed kid named Ronnie Howard was the child star, and the comment was attributed to ‘Guber’ the Mechanic. Ring any bells?  It’s not meant to be serious, but it is an example of how to get your face slapped – and justifiably hard too!  What if your front desk team was saying the dental equivalent to your prospective patients?

Yesterday, our team made a follow-up visit to a high end practice we have worked with previously. The practitioner is one of the best, and everything is top drawer in this facility. We did run our Prosales Dental Team Sales Training…

How Is a Dental Practice Like a Bank?

This is not a ‘trick’ question.  The answer is disarmingly simple. 

Who is the least experienced person in a bank?  The teller — of course!  She (or he) is the most junior person in the building – with the job requiring the most physical contact with their target market (you)!  This person sometimes bear a badge that says they are in training, but more often than not they putz through the transactions – frequently calling a more senior teller (someone who has been there at least 6 months) for assistance.  They get to practice on you – both in learning that particular bank’s system or in simple communication with the waiting and often impatient public. 

Will they improve?  Yes – and as soon as they have mastered that task they will be whisked off to another part of the office to do…

Why Can’t I Show My Corvette Collection On My Website?

As absurd as it may seem – this was an actual question from a dentist.  More on this below.

When was the last time your website was updated?  With the web responsible for the majority of new patients in many practices, your site should be reviewed at a minimum annually and updated. 

Video is now ‘King’. The reasons for this are many.  The search engine ‘spiders’ go out every 14 days and rank every site in existence.  They like video, and particularly enjoy seeing fresh video. This can come in the form of patient testimonials, mission statements, or even supplier video.  Never turn down the chance to obtain permission to link video or better yet – get hard copy of your own from your suppliers.

Ensure that your photo gallery is complete. If you and your team don’t take good pictures, you are…

Height of Lunacy

On a recent campaign for a dental practice – we sent all instructions for handling traffic from the lead generator to the front desk via email. This was done several days in advance of the launch date.  When the campaign hit – the phones lit up like a Christmas tree.  We got a frantic call from the dentist – saying his receptionist was going into ‘overload’ because the phone wouldn’t stop ringing and she didn’t know how to handle it. She apparently had no clue what was going on, and claimed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I called her – and asked what questions she had about the instructions we had emailed to her. She shrieked – ‘You sent them by email?  I never check my email!  In the future, print all emails off and fax them…