OK, I know this is a politically
based message, and these are politically contentious
times.  But the THEME of this message is NOT political.
Plus I’ve never been one to shy away from perceived
“risk” of offending someone.  Sorry if it’s you.

Please don’t miss the HUGE lesson here!  And if you
like it, FORWARD this message to your colleagues.  I
appreciate it!
********************************************************
<Saturday Special>

The GAPING hole in Barack Obama’s “armor” as a Presidential
candidate made itself abundantly apparent during the
Democratic National Convention this week.  It’s been there
all along, but when surrounded by his biggest supporters,
fans, and groupies, I took the biggest notice of what was
MISSING.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.

This gash in Obama’s entire campaign is one that cannot
go away.  And it’s so big that I predict “it” will be the
major force that prevents him from being elected in November.

Why am I writing you about “it”.  Because “it” is one of
THE most important elements of your ability to build your
own “campaign” (dental practice), and attract people to
you that want what you’ve got.  Without “it”, the prospects
of building others’ confidence in you are not good.

The air of TENSION this week at the Democratic National
Convention had to do with much more than what the Clintons
were up to.  The obvious anxiety I noticed had even
more to do with the “it” that I’m revealing here.  The “it”
that Barack Obama doesn’t have, can’t have at this time.

What is “it” that is lacking, causing even Obama’s own
political party to be so uncertain about his ability to
lead?  What “it” was glaringly ABSENT from the very convention
where we would expect “it” to be everywhere?  What lack of
“it” will be the #1 reason why most Americans will NOT be
able to pull the lever for Obama come November 4th?

Are you ready?

The “it” is…TESTIMONIALS…PROOF!  And Obama has NONE of
any significant meaning.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.

No question, Barack Obama is one heckuva speaker, a true
natural orator.  He’s extremely talented at what he does,
which so far has consisted of building an image and a big
following.  BUT…

Nowhere to be found were the “witnesses to his ability”
(see Krauthammer, IBD, today’s column), and absent were
the testimonials that vouch for his true ability to lead
our nation.  Sure, there were many who proclaimed that
Obama “is ready to be President”, including President
Clinton himself.  But there were no SPECIFIC testimonials
that addressed any influential individual’s experiences
in working with the Illinois senator.  Without PROOF, the
multitude of vague endorsements rang HOLLOW as nothing more
than “party line accommodation”.

Obama’s problem of no testimonials is certainly derived
from his lack of “time in the saddle”.  But whatever the
reason, the lack of prominent people that can speak up for
him, as a result of their experiences with him, is what
will do him in.  My own political leanings have NOTHING
to do with this stubborn fact.

The bottom line:  Without a substantial collection of
compelling, experience-based TESTIMONIALS, it’s extremely
difficult to acquire the TRUST of your prospects, and
impossible to have EARNED it by association!  That’s why
Obama’s most compelling argument for President is “I’m
the NEW agent of CHANGE”.  “New” in this case is meant to
offset “no testimonials”.

This year the Democrats are in the unenviable position of
relying on a very charismatic man who has no compelling
testimonials about his ability to lead to his credit.
They’re hoping that “hope” will carry him all the way to
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  That’s all they’ve got.  That’s
why they’re nervous, deep down.  If they can only make it to
November 4th!

While they may actually pull it off, due in part to big
holes in the Republican armor as well, I personally don’t
think they will.  When it gets down to the nitty gritty,
it’s going to be all about the MEN…and WOMAN!  For
Obama, the absence of real, tangible social proof will
seal his fate.

Now, about YOU…are you collecting testimonials?  Do you
see how CRITICAL they are in bringing people to understand
that you are the CHOICE for them?  Testimonials are THE
biggest influencing force you can ever use in your
marketing.  To add my variation of a line from American
Express:

Don’t “leave home” (market your practice) without them!

All my best,
Chris

www.DentalInsiders.com/testdrive

I just had to send you this quick note about Olivia, my sweet little fireball 19-month-old.

For the past month or so, Elizabeth and I have been “warning” little Livy that her pacifier is going to go bye bye.  She has only ever used it when sleeping, but she really likes it…it’s part of her nite nite routine.

“Passie bye bye!” she started to say herself, about 2 weeks ago.  Pretty cool, I thought.  She’ll drop the habit no problem, because she understands it, right?

Well, kind of.  Even though we’re now successfully getting her to sleep quickly without the passie, it still took us several nights of:

“WAAAAHH…PASSIE BYE BYE…WAAAAHH…PASSIE BYE BYE!”

It would’ve been so easy to just plug it back in to keep her “happy” for the short term.  But that would’ve made it much worse later to kick the habit.  So we fought through, and she would calm down and sleep great.  No thumb sucking either…yeah!

Actually it took us a little less time and was easier than I thought.  So it got me thinking.

How many old habits am I hanging onto in my practice?
How many old habits are my team holding onto?
How many old habits are YOU holding onto?

When you get right down to it, it’s not THAT bad to get rid of old habits and develop new ones…but it does take some effort and discipline, as well as PERSISTENCE.

But the payoff is often HUGE, and worth the trouble.

So…when you’re considering implementing positive changes in your practice, but you’re uncomfortable in letting go of the false security of the old way of doing things, just say to yourself:

“Passie Bye Bye!”

All my best,
Chris

Dr Chris Bowman - Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com/testdrive

How To Profit When You Least Expect It!

Well, it’s that time of year again…the “back to school, back to work” RUSH.  Last Thursday we all took Reid to his bus stop for his FIRST bus ride ever!  He started Transitional Kindergarten at his new school, and we were all so excited. Even Kenan and Olivia, still in their pajamas, came with Elizabeth and I to see him off.

On Monday it’s Labor Day, and most American adults will be mentally thrust back into their working world.  Summer’s over. “Time to make the doughnuts!” (from Dunkin Donuts)

Chances are that many of your patients WON’T be thinking about you and your dental practice during the next month or so…UNLESS you REACH OUT to them and let them know that YOU are thinking about THEM.

How do you do that?  SEND them a card that says “Happy Labor Day”! Think about it…how many times have you gotten a Labor Day card? Your patients will certainly take notice, and they’ll appreciate the fact that you thought of them, “just because”.

The above is what I call a “no pitch” approach. It’s important when staying in touch with your patients to only promote your services overtly about 50% of the time.  You want to build the relationship with them, and one of the best ways to do this is by using the “just because” approach.

If you’re looking to fill your chairs a little more in September, you could indeed MAKE AN OFFER.  That’s fine too, as long as you stick to that 50% rule.  A good rule of thumb is to promote more BEFORE it gets slower in your practice, and use the “just because” approach when it’s busier.  That way you’ll maintain a more consistent patient flow…and GROW your practice to even higher levels!

Back to sending the cards.  Can you do it quickly?  Absolutely!  Use Send Out Cards.

Send Out Cards is a web-based company that sends REAL, physical postcards, greeting cards, trifold cards, and even gifts and gift cards to any person or group of people you choose.  You can use SOC to send cards to your patients, or to prospects, or to your family and friends.  All without having to go to the store and pick out stale but expensive cards from their limited supply.

There are THOUSANDS of cards available, and you can also create your own cards.  Use photos or images to create custom cards. And you can even use your own handwriting as a font! 

What’s best is that you can set up automated CAMPAIGNS to send to your patients at predetermined intervals!  All from one sitting, and it takes just a few minutes to set it up. 

You can have targeted, effective, attractive cards sent to your own patients within just 24-48 hours if you were to start today.  No kidding.  Best of all, it’s VERY reasonably priced.

NOTE:  There IS a business here too, if you’re interested in that.  If you are, you’ll want to look into it.  As a disclosure, I am involved with growing a Send Out Cards business, but only through ADDING VALUE by showing you how best to use it.

Even if you have no intentions of ever building a Send Out Cards business, the service alone is a stunning deal.  The Wholesale account allows you to send top quality, personalized cards for as little as $0.62 each.  And you never have to touch the cards! Imagine how much it would cost you to order cards, print them out yourself, address, and stamp them (don’t forget the labor). It’s the biggest no-brainer in the history of direct mail.

To learn more about Send Out Cards, go here:
www.SendOutCards.com/fordentists

All my best,
Chris

PS:  I have over a dozen CUSTOM CARDS that I can share with you when you join Send Out Cards!  Many were created with the sole purpose of building REFERRALS…and I didn’t even talk about that! Join today.  It’s inexpensive, but SO valuable.

Well, the Olympics are almost over, and whether you’ve been watching or not, I’m sure you’ve heard many of the great stories about the athletes and teams…and also some not so great.

While taking in all the action over the past 2 weeks, I decided to compile a list of lessons that we can all take away from the Beijing games.  No way is this a complete list…but a good one to draw from nevertheless.

Lesson #1: “Never give up.  Don’t EVER give up!”  These words were originally spoken by legendary college basketball coach Jim Valvano, shortly before he died of cancer.  They rang true during these Olympics.

Countless examples of not giving up abound, but my favorite occurred in the swimming “Cube”, where Michael Phelps won a record 8 gold medals.  Twice during his quest his back was against the wall, and he faced an almost certain defeat.

In the 100m butterfly, Phelps dug deep in the final 20 meters, behind the Serbian challenger.  Even his stroke rhythm was off a bit, but he somehow got his hands to the wall 0.01 seconds earlier than his challenger!  That’s the slimmest margin possible.

During the 4 x 100 freestyle relay, it was Phelps’ teammate Jason Lezak who pulled off the best relay split EVER to save gold for the USA by only 0.08 seconds, beating the trash-talking French team.  HAH!

It would’ve been so easy to give up and accept silver, but the Americans refused, and it paid off big!

Lesson #2: When team is involved, it’s ALL about TEAM.  The above story is a great example of the good that comes from great teamwork.  Here’s what can happen if the team doesn’t pull together.

On Wednesday night in Beijing, the men’s AND women’s 4 x 100 sprint track relay team were favored with the Jamaican teams to compete for gold.  But, in the semifinal heats, BOTH the men’s and women’s USA teams did the unthinkable: they DROPPED THE BATON!

It doesn’t matter that the Americans had some of the fastest sprinters in the world, and a great chance at gold.  They had no chance to win because they didn’t work TOGETHER.  Maybe they needed more practice, more repetitions, to get the baton pass “down”.  Whatever the reason, they didn’t do it, and they were disqualified.

The same thing has happened to our men’s basketball team during the past 2 Olympics.  No question they had the best talent…they just didn’t play together well enough to beat outmatched teams that did. Luckily they got the message this year and are playing very well under COLLEGE coach Mike Krzyzewski (coach of my rival Dookies…I’m a Tar Heel you know).  Bottom line is they’ve swallowed their egos in the name of TEAM…and they’re winning big as it should be.

Aside: Think about how you can apply these principles in your dental practice.  How can you get your TEAM to work together better, to perform like champions?  When things are not going as well as you want, do you DIG DEEP or settle?

Lesson #3: Rethink your paradigms.  Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, monstrous ego aside, has dominated the 100m and 200m events, setting world records in BOTH…and even after “shutting down” at 90 meters in the 100!  Man, if he had only kept going…

Bolt is 6′5″, and about 5-8 inches taller than ALL the other world class sprinters.  Previously, guys his size would never have been considered for the 100m or 200m.  But Bolt’s coaches saw something magical in him, and he has changed the way people think about the physique of a sprinter.

Lesson #4:  Be honest.  Sure, push the limits.  Take advantage of every opportunity to stack the odds in your favor.  Even go against “the norm” or generally accepted “conventions”.  But don’t be dishonest, because you’ll lose any temporary gains you got by cheating.

I predict that within the next 30 days, the Chinese gymnastics team will have to forfeit at least 3 gold medals, and perhaps several more, because they competed with gymnasts who are under the age limits for the Olympics.  The Americans will win most if not all of those medals after the Chinese are DQ’ed, adding to our own haul.  It’s a shame, although sadly not surprising.

China has made several questionable moves involving these games. They originally had made numerous promises to clean up their air pollution, but have done very little.  Their human rights record is atrocious, and reminds me of the days of “Mother Russia” during the Cold War era.  And now they suit up a bunch of 12-13 year olds, falsify their passports, and pass them off as 16…crazy.

Ironically, this was done in the interest of “looking good” on the international stage.  Although I think the Beijing Olympics have overall been beautifully done, there will always be this dominant stigma that they won’t be able to shake.

OK, that’s it for now.  Please share YOUR “Olympic lessons” with me, and I’ll post them for all to see.  The contributor who posts the BEST Olympic lesson will get a valuable surprise gift from me! Simply post your reply to DrChrisBowman@DentalInsiders.com

All my best,
Chris

I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to wish you a Happy 08-08-08-08! That’s 08:00 on August 8, 2008 if you’re still rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

We’re back from the mountains, and the last weekend in Georgia. Our whole family went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, then I took Reid and Kenan to their first Major League baseball game. We had a blast…then we spent 5 days in the cool NC mountains. All I have to say is “Man, is it HOT down here in Charlotte!”

Even though I’m still technically on vacation, I wanted to share with you the thought to ALWAYS BE LOOKING for reasons to connect with your patient base. Without a reason to stay in touch, your
communications with them can get boring over time…and that’s the kiss of death when staying in touch. The only thing worse than that is NOT staying in touch!

But it’s not too late to utilize the 08/08/08/08 theme. Think about what else is going on right now in the world — The OLYMPICS!

Yes, the 2008 Summer Olympics just got underway in smog drenched Beijing. This is a once in every 4 years opportunity to leverage another world event in your practice.

Be creative about certain promotions you could offer to your patients if they call during the two weeks of the Olympics. Those of you who still do GOLD restorations can do a “Go For The Gold” promotion! Heck, you can even use the term if you don’t do gold.

Give out GOLD MEDALS to your top patients, photograph them, and highlight them in your newsletter. Have a contest for patients who can list the names of 8 gold medalists, and offer them an $80.00 Savings Certificate, or 8% off their dentistry. There is truly no limit to what you can do.

Gotta go…the kids are calling me. Have an outstanding 08-08-08!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Need to act fast? Use Send Out Cards to get postcards and
greeting cards sent to your patients within ONE DAY! Here’s where
you can find more information:

www.TheReferralMovie.com/fordentists
(From there you can sign up and be sending cards TODAY!)