Parenting and Business Leadership Parallels Business Leadership Dental Marketing and Parenting More than 5 years ago when I first became a parent, I remember feeling a great deal of pressure to choose between business and family. I chose both and I’m so glad I did. As my family was growing, so was my business and I found that all too often the lessons learned at home actually made me a much stronger leader at work, and vice versa. When my eldest daughter needs to get dressed for school, get ready for bed, clean up toys, or do just about anything, I have to convince her. Sometimes she even says, “okay” and then goes back to playing. It can be frustrating, however, convincing my stubborn daughter to do what she needs to do has made my verbal persuasion skills strong. I’ve learned that if I don’t share a compelling reason as to why she needs to get something done, she won’t take action. This is very similar to interactions with employees. Once a person understands on a strong level why a (sometimes seemingly insignificant) step must be completed fully, they begin to deem it as important. Sharing your “why” can be enough for some children and employees. However, thanks to my first daughter, I’ve also learned that others may need more. Hearing what would happen if the given task is not completed turned out to be that “more”. Now, in business and at home I don’t like utilizing fear tactics. With my daughter, however, I would have never been able to get her to brush her teeth without showing her photos of rotten teeth. She had to see for herself what would happen if her teeth were not brushed. This holds true for some employees too. As leaders, both at home and at the office, we must share not only why a task or responsibility is important, but also that the consequences of neglecting that responsibility go far beyond a simple “time-out”, or professional disciplinary action. Even the smallest of oversights can have a monumental impact on the business I look back at feeding my firstborn when she was 1-3 and remember begging and pleading for her to eat. I remember bribing, making “fun” looking snacks and food, and implementing countless sales tactics that just didn’t work. It wasn’t until I let her become a part of the process that she would eat. I let her stir the pot of oatmeal or crack the egg. Whatever food she made naturally tasted better to her. She took pride in her work. When I sit down to recreate systems at the office or re-delegate responsibilities, I understand the importance of having each team member take an active role in the decision-making process. A similar idea comes into play when training employees in a new skill. Just like teaching my children to ride a bike, writing business manuals for seemingly simple tasks must include clear step by step instruction. I know that to truly learn a skill, the trainee must actually take the steps themselves, not just watch others. Everything we learn in life can be reapplied to everything else, and business is no exception. The next time someone questions how you’ll be able to run your business as a parent or involved grandparent, tell them it’ll only make you better, more compassionate, more loving, more forgiving and more supportive. From experience, I can tell you that these skills are much more important to the success of your business than some may think.
It’s Time to Try New Things A lot of people consider marketing to be something that is set up and then forgotten about. You’ve designed your website, you’ve got SEO up and running, and maybe you even have a few ads put in place. You’re done with your marketing now, right? Wrong. Marketing is always changing and adapting to better target changing audiences. Using Instagram to promote a brand was unheard of 10 years ago, remember? Often times, the people that are brave enough to try new things before everyone else is on board tend to get better results. As these new spaces fill up, competition becomes much higher. This ultimately means that you have to pay more for exposure. You can play it safe, and still get great results for your practice. But if you’re looking to get more from your marketing, it pays to be brave. By trying new techniques and new platforms, you have the opportunity to dominate a space with creative, high-quality products. For example, relatively new to the scene are Facebook Stories. These are a fast-paced, punchy version of facebook that’s more fun and more engaging. But nearly no one is taking advantage of this update to advertise their services. If you’re interested in trying something new, we have even more ideas. We can help take what you already have and leverage it in a new way, on a new platform, or make something brand new together. Contact Identity Dental Marketing today to get started on something new.
Crippling Self-Doubt Embraced as Perfectionism In the past 5 years, I’ve made a regular effort to let go of perfectionism. Perfectionism at some level is alive and well in all of us, no matter how much we’ve retrained our brains. Some of our primal instincts have us hardwired to seek approval from others. We’re built to desire inclusion and praise. From the time of early childhood, we have had teachers and parents teaching us how to survive and exist in society. If we didn’t learn to listen to parents, running in the street or playing with power outlets could have threatened our survival. By realizing how our perfectionism is triggered, we become much stronger in moving past it as quickly as possible. This is how rapid growth occurs, both personally and professionally. If you’re a recovering perfectionist like me, you may want to consider the following phrases and how they set you back. Perfectionism can appear as a feeling. It can be the crippling anxiety that leads you into a quick meeting with your supervisor or an interview. It can be the reason you don’t finish a project or goal. Perfectionism is often sitting on your lap when you’re about to push the “live” button on Facebook. It can be difficult to overcome the feelings associated with perfectionism, however, it’s not impossible. When you recognize that you’re being held back by the “P-word”, replace it with another P-word. Progress. Every single day I remind myself that progress is most important. The next time I find myself experiencing self-doubt, I simply say, “Progress over Perfectionism,” and it gets me moving. Here are examples of the thoughts you may think that actually stunt your progress and keep you in a place of self-doubt. “I’ll start doing public speaking once I have 10 years of experience in consulting.” “I’ve learned to place implants but I’m not ready to offer this to patients until I have more experience. I don’t have time to get experience because I’m busy treating patients.” “I’ll go live on Facebook later when my makeup looks better.” “I can’t just switch careers now.” “I’ll start dating when the time is right. Of course, I want to be with someone special, but I’m not ready (for potential rejection).” “I’ll refund all your money because I’m afraid of someone not liking me.” When you experience perfectionism in your day to day life, remember it’s not a positive attribute. In order to experience progress, we all must recondition ourselves to overcome this part of human nature. If you’re wearing your perfectionism as a badge of honor, it’s time to let it go and get going. If you’ve ever been hesitant to put yourself out there through marketing because you’re afraid of what your colleagues will think, let it go. You deserve to experience life without the shackles of being perfect.
Scaling with Integrity As a small business owner who has grown her business slowly and intentionally in the past decade, I’ve realized a few things that can be powerful to the first time business owner. The first is that it’s crucial to never outgrow what you can accommodate. I’ve seen companies come and go in the dental world with one goal alone: to scale and sell as quickly as possible. You’ve seen them too. They’re typically backed by investors with deep pockets. Early on in my career, I must admit that I related “big” with “bad”. After all, in order to feed dozens of hungry salespeople and affiliates, there must be an insane markup, leaving the customer to pay. I’ve personally suffered the pain of being locked into a contract for a service or product that was no longer needed or producing a positive return on investment. It was upsetting every day and I found myself counting down to freedom, with more excitement than the countdown to my next vacation. Now, as I look back as a more seasoned (very small) business owner, I realize that I’ve been doing it wrong. My perspective of big business has been jaded by my own personal experiences. I’m embarrassed to admit instead of seeking out the big businesses doing it right and studying those, I categorized them all as bad. I’ve taken pride in slow growth and personalized attention, but expansion and excellent service can happen in tandem. Before I jump into sharing all of the amazing things I’ve seen being done by big(ger) dental businesses, I want to start by saying this on the record: Any business, no matter the size, is going to experience growing pains. Some more damaging than others. With higher risk tolerance, comes bigger mistakes. It also seems that those who fail the most and recover the strongest grow the fastest. You may still share my sentiment that bigger isn’t better, but I want to challenge you to think differently on this for a few reasons. Firstly, I want you to be able to experience the joy that comes with ethical, accelerated growth. It can be very fun. Secondly, I want you to be able to serve more people while leading with integrity. Lastly, you deserve to escape the daily nitty-gritty and operate as a true CEO, which can only happen when you grow to the level of having multiple levels of leadership. If you’re like me and have been doing similar work for 10+ years (or perhaps you just came to this realization sooner than me), that last point is exciting. Here are a few characteristics of those who scale with integrity: They know their brand and make sure their team embraces and shares their message, values, and processes. Have you ever met a team and thought to yourself, ” They’re all so (fill in the blank). I can distinctly remember meeting 3-4 people on a team thinking, “They’re all so complimentary.” It was as if they’d been trained in compliment giving and ego-boosting. I say this and it sounds like I was turned off to it or that it seemed insincere, but it didn’t. It was actually quite the opposite. The small compliments, high energy, and professionalism shared by every single employee on this particular team made me want to do business with them. They evolve. The companies that grow quickly and maintain their integrity have to be investing in improvements. I see some marketing agencies still pushing direct mail and the same templated websites they sold 8 years ago and wonder how they’ve managed to stay in business. If you’re going to grow at a pace that can qualify as “scaling”, you’ll have to be critically evaluating your service offerings, methods, and marketing to ensure you’re the best option for your target market. They have guts. They don’t sweat the small stuff. They know that part of being in business means they’ll encounter the following: a legal issue, a bad review, two timing employees, unethical competition, and so much more. However, they know each obstacle is just a part of the game. They won’t wallow in the negativity and will focus immediately on how to turn each situation into an opportunity. They’re willing to invest. I know many business people operating around the 1m-2m in revenue mark who are unwilling to take a risk and grow. Their marketing is minimal and safe. They’ll always remain very small business owners and that’s ok. It can be challenging to change if you’ve operated in this space for many years. After all, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. If you’re happy, that’s ok. They realize growth and integrity are not mutually exclusive. The theory that bigger is not better may resonate with many of us small business owners. Let’s face it though, that’s something small business owners say because they didn’t like the growing pains listed in number 3. There’s nothing wrong with intentionally staying small if you are happier with a small business. Let’s not chalk it up to big is bad, just because we know of some big, bad entities we’d prefer to avoid. I fought an internal struggle for a long time about whether or not I’d represent group practices. I knew that 98% of my business is made up of small dental business owners looking to grow, but remain a single doctor, privately owned entity. I also know that many of my amazing clients see DSOs as the enemy. This is because many DSO owned and operated businesses are not integrity focused. When this happens on a large scale, it becomes very obvious to communities and dentists. They see unnecessary dentistry, high-pressure sales tactics, and advertising at a level they feel they could never afford. Unfortunately, what many don’t realize is this: No matter the size of your organization, you can operate with integrity or without integrity. Currently, I work with a few doctor-owned group practices and a couple of true DSOs. So far, I do see a very different need from the group practices. Communication, delivery of service, and solutions offered all change when you reach about six locations. It’s pretty obvious if a business is not patient-centric and employee-centric. In these instances, I will choose not to represent a business. This stands for any size organization. If you’re like me and growth excites and motivates you, you’ll want to consider how you can grow with integrity. Look for the examples of companies that have scaled and maintain an amazing culture, innovative solutions and help many people. Set your goals as you go and don’t be afraid to choose small or choose big. In life, we have to choose what makes us happy. If integrity is at the core of your every move, you’ll build something beautiful that will benefit many deserving people. If you’re at a point in your career where you’d like to experience growth that would make an impact on your team and family, contact me at grace@identitydental.com. If you’d like to grow slowly and intentionally, I can help you with that too.
Do You Allow Yourself to Grow? https://identitydental.com/wp-content/uploads/14-Do-you-allow-for-growth.mp4 We’re pretty open here at Identity Dental Marketing. But one thing we can’t stand is the phrase, “I’ll do it when”. “I’ll do it when I have the right team behind me” “I’ll do it when there are better opportunities” And our personal favorite, “I’ll do it when I have more time.” The truth is, you’re never going to get more time. The 24 hours we have today are the same 24 hours you’ll have five years from now. In that five years you could sit and wait, wondering when. Or, you could spend that five years working hard to reach your biggest dreams. We firmly believe that it is never a bad time to grow your practice or your business. Too often, people prevent themselves from growing by thinking they don’t have what they need to succeed. It’s not a matter of not having what you need, but instead is entirely about thinking it has to be perfect to get started. That’s right. Perfectionism is the number one dream killer we see for our clients, our friends, and even ourselves. The good news is, you don’t have to let perfectionism prevent you from growing. In fact, it’s easier than you might think. It’s all about learning to get smarter with your time. Plan, Create, and Delegate Often times we hold ourselves back because we think that we have to do everything. “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself” or so the adage goes. But, if you adhere to this like a stubborn bulldog, you can only get so far. You shouldn’t be your entire team. Find the people that support your business as much as you do, and understand that with the right training, they are capable of doing excellent work. If finding those kinds of people is proving to be difficult, don’t let this stop you either. Your hiring process isn’t working? Don’t hesitate to rip it up and start again. Action is better than inaction at any level. Even if it’s not perfect, you can get the ball rolling (see our blog about building momentum in your practice). Whether it’s social media marketing, expanding your team, or growing your practice to multiple locations or doctors, you have everything you need to get started today. For help with implementation, training and growing, we’re here to help you. Contact us today and change that “I’ll do it when” to “I’ll do it now”.
Determining Your Worth It can be challenging to figure out what you’re going to charge for all the different services you offer. While fee setting can be a determining factor in the success of your business, many of us don’t know where to begin. If the process of determining and then setting your fees is causing you anxiety, fear not. We can help with that by sharing some of the ways that we determine our own. When the fee setting process begins, there are two main techniques that you can choose to consider. First, perform a competitive analysis. Determining where you fall on the spectrum of the quality of your services compared to others in the field can be a great way to judge how your fees should compare. We would all like to think we are the best at everything we do, but if you’re being honest with yourself, you have strengths and weaknesses. Set your fees accordingly. Something to keep in mind when comparing your fees to others in the field is that, in certain industries, your fee is how people judge your value. If you are under valuing your services, you may start attracting the wrong kind of client or patient. Conversely, increasing your fees can mean an increase in business as well. The second method you can use to help you set the proper fees is by considering how much time and energy is involved in a service. When you determine how much your time is worth, you can begin to set fees that appreciate who you are and what you do. By undervaluing yourself, you create a situation where you no longer enjoy your work. It is no longer worth your time. By creating a fee that accurately reflects your personal investment, you can count on maintaining your quality of work and job satisfaction. Contact us for help with determining you practice’s worth.
How Your Business Should Take Advantage of Instagram Instagram- even people living under rocks have heard of it. The social media platform’s popularity has skyrocketed to the point where animals have accounts that can rack up millions of followers and likes, not to mention a whole lot of money. If a cat with a grumpy face can use Instagram to become a household name, so can your business. But if you’re not yet convinced, here are a few reasons why your business and Instagram should get to know each other. We know people use social media. “Duh”, you say. But do you know just how many people use social media? In other words, how many potential patients are you missing out on by not having an account? Hold on to your socks, and maybe the rest of your clothing as well. Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users. 1 BILLION. That’s second only to Facebook, but far outweighs Twitter which comes in just above 320 million. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram was literally born to be a mobile app, not a desktop website. Smartphone users turn to Instagram because it’s cleaner than other social media sites. In fact, engagement with Instagram is 10 times higher than on Facebook. And while that’s all great information, the best news for you is that over 80% of Instagram accounts follow a business account – one of which could be your business. You don’t have to be a big name brand company to find success on Instagram either. It may not come overnight, but if you’re posting the right content, you could widen your reach significantly with that large audience we mentioned earlier. A few of the small businesses that have gained a huge following are boutique florists, camping brands, and veterinarians. The market is ready for great dentists with amazing messages. Not only is Instagram a great place to engage with your patients daily, but it also allows you to do so in relatable and creative ways. Instagram allows your marketing team to have fun with pictures, videos, contests, and other great content to show the public that your practice not only has great services, but also has a great personality. If only you knew of a great marketing company that completely understands your brand. Oh, you do? We’re flattered you thought of us! We’d love to get started building an Instagram presence with you right away. Contact Identity Dental Marketing today to learn more about how we can help you access the power of this incredible social media.
Are You Utilizing Inside Out Marketing? Putting your shirt on inside out can be embarrassing. But when you consider your marketing from an inside-out perspective, it can do a world of good for your business, it’s persona, and ultimately, your success. Too often, we see other marketing companies trying to position your brand in a way that they “know” works. By this, they mean that it’s worked for someone else. They want you to market in the same way they market most of their other clients. While this may work for some people at first, when you decide to make changes to your campaign, you won’t be able to effectively communicate who you are and what you do best. At IDM, we like to practice what we call “inside out” marketing. We take the time to discover your core values and who you are. This helps you attract the right kind of patient for your practice. With dentistry, and everything else you do for that matter, it’s important to find something that differentiates you. What do you stand for and what do you value? By picking a differentiation that’s personal and true to you, you set yourself up for a long future of successful marketing. Remember, put something out into the universe that is uniquely you. Don’t pick something that isn’t true to your identity, and don’t choose something that you know you won’t be able to live by every single day. If you want to attract new patients, but aren’t quite sure how to position yourself for maximum benefit, contact us. We love having those conversations and getting to truly know who you are. We’ll give you honest feedback on your current campaigns and tell you how they could be improved. We look forward to hearing from you. Contact us today!
Big Case Marketing Tips Every practice is interested in getting large, profitable cases. But how do you go about attaining them? Up until now, you’ve probably been blindly casting a large net with the hopes of pulling up a great white along with all the guppies. But we’re here to tell you there are smarter, more precise ways. Instead of simply hoping, carefully consider your approach. Ask yourself key questions that can shape the way you market. For example, ● What’s being done by others in this same marketing space? ● How do I develop the best strategies for my specific practice? ● How do we do dentistry differently? Potential patients are bombarded with ads constantly. When you are creating a campaign, you want to focus on patient psyche. Concentrate on how your ad is going to make people feel. Too often, we see ads that use animated videos of procedures to demonstrate what patients can expect. Nothing frightens a patient away faster than watching drills go in mouths, even if they are animated. Inform patients of what they can expect through other methods. Show them how you are going to ensure their comfort through the process. Discuss the long lasting benefits of the procedure. You can even include information on how you’ll help your patients with financing. Above all, focus on creating an identity for yourself through your materials. Inspire patients to say “I need to schedule an appointment with THIS doctor”, not just any dentist. At Identity Dental Marketing we know you have a unique practice that offers unique solutions to patients. If you’re looking for an expert guide to help in your big case marketing, set up a call with us today.
How to Protect Yourself from Unethical Salespeople Smooth talking, and with a confidence that would put Kanye West to shame, unethical salespeople can make almost anything seem like a good idea. They’re paid to do so. But more often than not, these are not the same people who will be doing your marketing work, and they’re not the people you’ll be talking to when things go wrong over the life of your campaign. Before you make a marketing decision you’ll regret, protect yourself by considering these tell tale signs that the group you’re working with isn’t as great as they want you to believe. Just Say No to Over-Automation You meet a representative that is offering “free audits” for your business with something called “PowerListings”. Realize that at the end of the day, their goal is to get a sale, not to help you at no charge. The problem with powerlisting platforms is that they use one single platform to automatically push out all of your information to as many places as possible. That may seem like a good thing. After all, a wider net means more patients right? Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. If you ever decide to make any changes to your marketing material, these systems will create what are known in the internet marketing world as “duplicates”. Duplicates mean that sites like Google and Yelp will have multiple listings for the same business. Rather than increase your traffic, this will cause your rankings to sink like a rock, no matter how shiny it may have first seemed. Instead, merging duplicates takes a nearly forgotten form of technology: phone calls. In order to fix situations like this, our team must speak to these companies directly. There’s a time and place for smart automation, but if you want your marketing done right you’ll need our hands on approach. Shock and Awe A good indicator of someone not saying what they mean is that it’s incredibly difficult to understand. Despite the bill of goods some companies may try to sell you, you shouldn’t need a genius level IQ to understand your marketing strategy. To create a false sense of competency, salespeople will talk over your head in an effort to scare you into making a purchase. That isn’t the level of integrity you should expect from someone trying to help you succeed. If you’ve been the victim of threats such as being blacklisted by google, or having all of the marketing you’ve paid for removed from your possession, you know that it’s time to find someone with a different way of doing business. With Identity Dental Marketing, you’ll understand exactly what we’re saying about your campaign and you’ll get a true return on your investment. Contact us today for a complimentary strategy session and learn why we understand that your success is our success.
