This morning I’m going to give you a really quick but powerful
strategy to acquire more new patients in your area…and it’s
almost free!

Ready?

Look at your bills this month, and sort them according to local
vs. non-local vendors.  For this strategy it’s the LOCAL vendors
you want…anyone within 20 miles of your practice, give or take.

You’ve likely been doing business with most of these vendors for
several years, right?  Well, have you ever thought of asking THEM
to do business with YOU?

Here’s what you can do.  First, every time you send a payment or
correspondence to a local vendor, be sure to include new patient
offers from your practice.  Just stuff an offer right in the same
envelope you send to them.  Use a DIFFERENT envelope than the one
they send you so your offer will stand out.  On the outside of
the envelope write “Payment and Offers Enclosed”.  That should
peak their curiosity.

On the offer, make sure you indicate that it’s “exclusively” for
all the employees at that business.  Make it personal for them!

About 3-5 days after sending, call the businesses to make sure they
received the payment and the offers.  Get a contact’s name, and
also remind them about the DEADLINE for the offers.  If you can,
try to “climb the ladder” and reach someone with more influence
at that business…like a general manager or owner.

Lastly, be sure to let them know about your “Referral Rewards”
program, and how you reward your patients for referring other
patients/co-workers to the practice!  By foreshadowing your
expectation and rewarding of referrals, you’ll plant an important
seed in their brains.

That’s it…plain and simple.  Take advantage of the built in
relationship you have with your local vendors to stimulate
business FROM them.  Of course, if you know someone at that
business, approach them too.  But don’t waste the opportunity
that comes with promoting your practice to those with whom you’re
already working.

All my best,
Chris

PS: DIA members…I’m going to have even more detail about this
very strategy in the upcoming February newsletter!

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction

Quick note:
Well, I was going to send you this on Wednesday, but I made a
really “nit wit” move and chose Friday’s (today’s) date instead of
Wednesday for the message delivery.  Oops…sorry about that.  If
you’ve been holding your breath for this sequel to Monday’s message,
you can exhale now!

“Follow that car”, Part 2: External strategy

If you remember, last time I introduced you to the “follow that car”
strategy of finding more DESIRED new patients for your practice.

While I focused on the internal implementation of this powerful
strategy last time, today I want to share the equally powerful
EXTERNAL application of “follow that car”.  It takes a little
homework, but you can do it…and again, it’s worth it.

In your market area you’ll first want to identify COMPLIMENTARY
businesses that are successful.  These can include other medical
and professional practices, upscale small businesses, and any
other local company that has clients/patients/customers that are
like the ones you’d love to have in your practice.

Here’s a small list of examples to get your creative juices going:

- Plastic surgeons                        - Upscale restaurants
- Massage therapists                     - Dermatologists
- Chiropractors                            - Lasik centers
- Upscale car dealers                    - Vein surgery centers
- High-end clothing boutiques       - Personal trainers

You’ll then want to examine your local print publications, including
newspapers, magazines, etc…also radio and TV stations…look
closely at your direct mail…and find out where those businesses
are currently marketing.  Be sure to pick the successful places
first, so you can only track them instead of everyone that has an
ad.  Otherwise you’ll go crazy and get distracted.

OK, now here’s the most important part.  You must then CALL at least
5 or 6 of these leading businesses in your area and ask to speak
to the office manager or whomever is in charge of marketing.  You
may need to call 12 businesses to speak with someone at 5 of them.
That’s fine, but don’t give up.

Once you get someone on the phone, tell them you want to compliment
them on their marketing…that you’re impressed by their efforts.
Be up front and explain that you’re analyzing local media for your
own marketing, and you’d appreciate it if they could share which
marketing sources are their “top 3-5″ that get the best returns.
You’re looking for Return On Investment (ROI) numbers, not number
of new customers!

One thing you’ll likely find is that very few are tracking their
marketing like they should.  However, when you find the 2 or 3
businesses that ARE tracking their results…AND you confirm that
their clients are the kind you’d like to have…now you’ve got
some great clues as to where you’ll want to start testing and
investing your marketing dollars!

Now…Follow that Car!

Keep in mind that you’re not looking for one answer.  You’ll want
3-5 top ROI marketing sources from the businesses that are doing
it right.  The worst number in business is “1″, and that includes
“1″ way to get new patients.

You could try to shortcut this and simply place ads where other
businesses are doing so…but this is a big mistake.  You need to
KNOW what their results are from each source first.  You’d never
follow another car if you didn’t know where it was going!

Now…you’ll still have no guarantees of success yourself without
proper testing, tracking, and following of proper direct response
marketing principles.  However, knowing what’s working well for
other complimentary businesses gives you great guidance and makes
successful investment of your marketing dollars more predictable.

All my best,
Chris

PS: My “Patient Attraction Collection” offer is ending soon.  This
is the final time I’ll be giving out as much stuff as I have been.
Why?  Because my own coaches and mentors have been telling me I’m
giving away too much! So take advantage while you can, because this
offer will be gone one day in the near future:
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance

Happy Monday to you.  We’re all getting over almost 2 weeks of
one-kid-after-the-other illness, which Elizabeth just caught
Sunday night…ugh!  Am I next?

We also had an awful but beautiful ice/snow storm this past
weekend, and we’re still digging out from it.  We’ve got pretty
wimpy shovels down here in North Carolina.

At least we all got to go on a rare Charlotte sledding outing
yesterday.  We hardly ever get “sledding snow”, and this was
a first for the kids.  We all had a blast, which brings me to
today’s message for you:

“Follow that car!”

The hill where we were sledding was packed with kids and parents,
almost all of whom were taking their turns zooming along on the
hard packed snow.

Reid (6) looked at me and said, “Daddy, where’s the FASTEST way
down?”  Pretty cool I thought.  He didn’t want to ‘just’ go
sledding.  He wanted the BEST sledding experience he could get!

I looked across the hill for the sleds going the fastest and/or
the longest, along the same path.  Then I said to Reid,
“Follow that car!”

Call me crazy, but that moment immediately reminded me of one
of the most savvy marketing strategies you can employ to find
the best quality new patients for your practice.  It’s actually
called “follow that car”.  Dan Kennedy speaks of this approach
often.  Here’s how it works, internally, today.  On Wednesday I’ll
cover an external approach.

Internally, you’ll want to first identify your absolute best
patients…perhaps your “Top 50″ or so.  Then analyze that small
list for any similarities they may have, either demographically
or behaviorally.

Once you’ve found several commonalities among this small sample
group, now you can “follow that car” to find more people just
like them.  Besides asking for referrals from this group, you
can literally select an ultra-targeted mailing list including
many of the desired traits as filters.  This list will cost more,
but it’ll be WORTH IT.

Then you can send direct mail to this smaller group with a more
targeted message that matches their characteristics and
preferences.  Not sure exactly what those preferences are?
Well, ask your “Top 50″!

What are their likes?  Their dislikes?  What’s most important to
them?  What caused them to choose you in the first place?  The
answers to these questions becomes the language of your marketing
messages to this group, as you seek to attract more of your
“ideal” patients.

When you can zoom in on a specific group of people and speak
their language, you’ll likely connect with a higher percentage
of that smaller group.  More importantly, you won’t have the
“waste” involved in shotgunning your marketing message out to
the masses and connecting with very few.

The more you can focus your message on one market segment…
IF you can match the message with that market…the more
successful your marketing campaigns will be, period.  And
you’ll get the types of patients you want too.

Yes, there’s some work involved, but it sure is worth it!

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction

PS: I’m pulling the “Patient Attraction” Collection offer off
the table very soon.  If you haven’t joined Dental Insiders
Alliance but you’ve been thinking about it, now is the time to
go to the above link and test drive your Preferred Membership!

Hey,

Thought I’d say “hey” this time.  I hope you had a great weekend.

Today I’m going to cover the third of three phenomenal pieces of
advice from marketing and business building legend Dan Kennedy.
This series is designed to help you weather the current economic
conditions with confidence at the very least, and generate a
truckload of more moolah.

Just as I did with Strategy #1 (sell something different) and
Strategy #2 (sell to someone different), I’ll directly tie-in
Dan’s suggestions with how you can apply them to the business of
dentistry, and more specifically your practice.  (If you missed
the last two messages, go to www.DentalInsiders.com/diablog
to find them so you can get caught up.)

Remember, what worked well “then” with regard to “successful sales”
in your practice most likely is either working less, or not at
all “now”.  Spending is down, and people are being much more cautious
with their discretionary income.  To achieve better results than
you got last year, you’re gonna have to make some changes…but
you’re a nimble small business.  You’ve got a great team to help
you carry out the necessary steps, so go for it!

Strategy #3: “Sell DIFFERENTLY”

This concept is a “big whammy”, because it forces you to rethink
your current systems and processes, looking for ways to improve
and grow.

How exactly do your “sales systems” work?  What’s working and
what’s not working?  Where are the holes that allow patients to
slip through the cracks?

How can you alter your processes to increase your conversion
rates…from prospect to new patient…from new patient to
fully committed, long-term referring patient…from “not right
now” to “when can we start”?  That’s what I’m talking about.

Example #1: Although I do a fair amount of external marketing,
it’s not all done the way you may think.  For the past year I’ve
had a part-time “Public Relations Coordinator”, who is actually
also a patient.  She visits the offices of many physicians,
professionals, and other small businesses here in Charlotte.

Her goal of course is to drive more referrals to my practice
through the development of stronger relationships with these
other businesses.  By identifying how we can help their patients
and clients, we’ve become a “trusted resource” for many of them.
As a reciprocal gesture, we also look for opportunities to refer
TO them as well.

We’re “selling” the practice to these businesses differently
than we have before, and differently than anyone else!

Example #2: Several months ago I was noticing that more of my
patients were commenting that they “can’t afford to” move
forward with treatment (at this time).  In most practices, and
during most times, there could be a whole host of reasons why…
and very few actually have anything to do with money!  But
although we’re certainly not immune to problems in our treatment
acceptance protocols, I really felt that “affordability” was
the true issue here (for obvious reasons).

So I had my team simply alter the ORDER of financial options
they present to each patient.  Instead of presenting the whole
fee first, they began with the lowest possible monthly payment
(Springstone, Chase Health Advance, DocPay, etc).  Then they
presented higher payment amounts for shorter terms, and
ultimately the entire case fee, with prepayment savings of course.

The result: an almost immediate increase in acceptance by our
patients!  Once they understood that they could make affordable
payments, they were more open to the full fee, and even payment
in full in advance.  The gradual “step up” in payment options
has been working better for us lately than opening the financial
arrangements with the full fee and going down from there.

Again, what can you do DIFFERENTLY to get better results?  This
is perhaps the most difficult strategy to implement, because
it requires accurate, objective, unemotional thinking and analysis
of your practice systems.  However, when you do arrive at the
right changes, they can make a BIG difference!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Dental Insiders Alliance Members, please NOTE: your NEW
copy of Dental Insider Secrets newsletter is now posted at the
member’s website for your convenience!  You’ll be getting the
physical copy mailed to you within about 10 days, but you can
download and print it now if you wish.  Enjoy!

PPS: If you’re not a DIA member, but you’d like to “kick the
tires” a bit, you should take advantage of my “Patient Attraction
Collection” offer, which includes a bunch of great content on CD’s
as well as 2 ~FREE~ months of Preferred Membership.  This offer
is being pulled within a couple weeks, so you may want to jump
on this now.  Go to www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction
for all the details!

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com

Today, the 2nd of 3 BIG ways to adapt to this economic climate.

Yesterday I covered the first of these brilliant strategies,
“sell (or offer) something different”.  The concepts were
first presented to me by marketing and business building icon
Dan Kennedy.  If you remember, I mentioned that, with regard to
growing your business, what may have worked well in the boom of
2003-2008 is likely either significantly less effective or
completely ineffective now.  Bottom line is you’ve got to do
things differently to propel your business forward when things
are tougher.

Here’s Strategy #2:  “Sell to someone DIFFERENT”

This idea can be broken down a few ways.  First, let’s look at
the obvious thought of finding more new patients.  But let’s
also take it a step further and find new patients in NEW places.

To paraphrase Captain Kirk (loosely): “to go where you’ve never
gone before.”  What have you done and where have you gone to find
your current pool of patients?  OK, now ask yourself where ELSE
you can go to find more new patients?

If you’ve marketed to certain areas of town, try new areas.
For your unique niche services, you can certainly test the
expansion of your marketing reach.  Proximity to the dentist is
NOT as important to most people as it used to be…they just
want to be in the right office with the right dentist and team.

If you belong to local civic groups or organizations, join new
ones.  Reach out to new groups of people and establish new
connections.  Those new circles of associations, if nurtured,
will bear fruit in the form of new patients.

If you’ve focused on getting referrals from your patients, have
you considered getting referrals from other businesses?  Other
professionals?  Other physicians?  Granted, this takes time and
effort…but hey, I never said it would all be laid out for you
on a silver platter!  And EFFORT is what will be the difference
between those practices that excel and those that struggle in
this economic climate.  You gotta go get it!

What are the characteristics of your “ideal” patients?  You need
to know the answer to this.  Grab 30-50 charts of your best
patients and look for similarities in them all.  Then ask
yourself where people like that are…and go there.

Stemming off yesterday’s post…when you offer new services, you
open yourself up to an entirely new patient pool.  These too
are “someone different”.

Using the information and clues above, compile a list of potential
new sources of more new patients.  Then do what it takes to
attract and convert them into your practice.  Enjoy!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Here’s a clue for Monday: the 3rd strategy involves the HOW!

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance