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’m SO glad today’s Friday!  Elizabeth and I are taking the kids down to Athens, GA to visit her mother for the weekend.  On Saturday morning we’re all going to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, and I’m taking Reid (almost 5) and Kenan (3 1/2) to their first Atlanta Braves game in the afternoon!  Big day!  Then it’s a week in the mountains to unwind…but I still plan to keep in touch.

OK…back to business.  Last time I mentioned that I was “not working” so I could “go to work” ON my business.  It was a great 2 days, and I got a TON of stuff done.

I made one comment about “break even” marketing that I promised I’d elaborate on, which I’ll do here.  I said that you want to keep all marketing campaigns going that are “break even” or better.  Does that surprise you?  I’ll bet it does.

Almost all “gurus” I read or hear of proclaim that all your marketing should generate a 3:1 return or better to be worth it.  They’re almost always WRONG.  Here’s why.

First, let’s talk about the actual calculation of “Return on Investment”, or ROI.  Almost all docs I know calculate their ROI the wrong way, limiting their calculation to only the amount generated at the patient’s first visit.  (That’s if they calculate it at all!)

Problem is, it doesn’t take into account the FUTURE business and income generated by keeping that patient for the long term.  What you should be most interested in is the “Lifetime Value” of your
patients…that’s where the big growth comes from.

Let’s say you place an effective print ad in a local “city” magazine.  The ad cost is $1000, and you get 5 new patients.  That’s $200 per new patient.  First visit income generated from those patients is $1200 total, leaving an INITIAL profit of “only” $200.  Is the campaign successful?  IF you have good systems of communications, follow-up, and referral generation, I say it’s a SMASHING SUCCESS.  Here’s why.

Assume that 4 of the 5 patients stay in the practice, and one just doesn’t stick for some reason.  Total treatment plan value for the remaining 4 patients may be well over $18,000 or even much more.  (MY “average” treatment plan value is around $4500…WIDE range).  Even if they all move rather slowly with their treatment, can you see how this proposition becomes wildly profitable over time?

Now let’s take it another level deeper.  Two of those four patients REFER others to the practice!  You may note them in your dental software as “referrals”…but they’re really a second-level product of your MARKETING.  Three referrals from one patient and one from the other, so now you’ve got 8 new patients as a result of the initial marketing.  Your new patient acquisition cost has now DROPPED to $125 per new patient!

Future treatment plans on these 4 new patients averages out to be another $18,000 in my practice.  These averages take into account the less frequent huge cases and the more frequent small cases.

So, from the initial $1000 ad you now have a (hypothetical BUT realistic) $36,000 earnings potential!  Now, knowing that, do you think it’s a good idea to run that ad again?

And again?

And again?

And then look for ADDITIONAL places to market and test?

The key BREAKTHROUGH in thinking here is the reversal of thought that Dan Kennedy so eloquently stated:

“It’s NOT that you want to acquire customers in order to make a sale.  You want to make a sale in order to acquire the customer!”

That’s why “letting go” a little and Giving To Get is so crucial to wildly successful growth.

“Tomahawk CHOP!” (Go Braves…from a true Red Sawx fan)

All my best,
Chris

I wanted to share with you the preliminary results from my “Freedom Promotion” that we tied in with the 4th of July.

Here’s what we did.  Using Send Out Cards — which is THE coolest marketing tool I’ve ever used — we sent our “Top 500″ patients a 4th of July greeting card.  Send Out Cards allows you to send postcards, greeting cards, and even tri-fold cards, plus various other things with the cards.  I chose the greeting card here because I wanted to use two inside panels for my text.

On the left, I recognized that our patients have the “freedom to choose” their dentist…and I thanked them for choosing us to care for their dental needs.  This ties in beautifully with July 4th, our US Independence Day.

On the right, I made them an offer to call us by July 17 to schedule any treatment they need…and we’ll give them a savings of about 10%, depending on the amount of dentistry.  All the %’s are spelled out on the card.

Before I reveal early results, let me explain one of the biggest marketing principles at work in this promotion.  It’s called “Reason Why”. 

When there is a specific, defined REASON WHY you are contacting your clients or patients or customers, your response will likely be significantly higher than if you simply send a promotion for seemingly no reason other than to promote your services.  The reason connects an event or date with the promotion, and thus makes the promotion somewhat of a celebration instead of a sales pitch.

Any time you notice a chance to provide a reason why, you should take advantage of it without hesitation.  Holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, news events, milestones, you name it.  If your patients can identify with it, it’s a reason why.

Always be on the lookout for opportunities to use “reason why” marketing.  If implemented properly, it’ll virtually always boost reponse, and sometimes double or triple the results of your marketing efforts.

OK, now about my “Freedom Promotion”.  We spent only $1.04 per card sent, to 506 households…or $526.24.  By the way, the entire promotion took only 35 minutes to create and send the cards to my list from start to finish!  It’s still 2 days before the deadline to call, and we’ve already scheduled over $7200 worth of dentistry for patients who responded…so far!

That’s a 1368% return…so far!

So, when’s the next event or holiday that you can use as a reason why in your marketing to your own mpatients?  Be creative, and DO IT!

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance

PS:  If you haven’t checked out Send Out Cards, you really need to.  Go to
www.thereferralmovie.com/fordentists for more info.

PPS:  Here’s a copy of the front of the card:

Hi,

[Note: You may have noticed that I haven't been around in a while.
I was on an extended vacation with my family, and we had a great
time.  I'll get some photos out sometime soon.  But I'm back in
the practice and at the keyboard now...ready to help you gear up
for the rest of the year and beyond!  I'll be ramping up my messages
to you over the next few weeks for this very purpose.]

Can you believe it?  It’s “halftime”, or the halfway point in 2008.
How are you doing with regard to your practice goals for the year?
This is a great time to pause and examine your progress.

If there’s only one certainty in life, it’s that time does NOT
slow down for anyone’s convenience!  However, time is the one
“commodity” (and must be viewed as such) that is distributed
equally to everyone.  What are you doing with your time…in your
life, and in your practice?

Go ahead and gather your statistics for January through June, sit
down and review them, and begin to chart the next six months for
your business.  As you hurtle through the remainder of the year,
you’ll be glad you invested the time to shape your outcomes.

And of course, I’ll be here to help guide you through your planning
process…that is, if you’re willing to listen and implement. Here’s
what I’ll be focusing on:

1- Building a mile-high WALL around your existing patients…
   aka RETENTION…through memorable communications with them

2- Multiplying the REFERRALS you get from them…and others too

3- Attracting tons of NEW PATIENTS with specific, niched wants
   and needs, through innovative marketing strategies

4- Honing your and your team’s skills to maximize your effectiveness
   with each and every one of your patients…so they’ll get stuff
   done and pay you handsomely for it

5- Maximizing your PROFITABILITY…period!

That’s a pretty good list, wouldn’t you agree? 

With that I’ll let you get back to what you’re doing.  But keep your
eyes peeled for my next message, in 2-3 days.

All my best,
Chris

PS: If you’re not already a member of Dental Insiders Alliance, you
should consider joining now.  I’ll soon be releasing several great
resources that will help you grow your practice like never before.

As a Preferred or Elite member, not only will you get more in depth
information than can be gotten via these messages…you’ll also
SAVE BIG on anything that I release as a resource for dentists!

Plus, you can test drive your DIA Preferred membership with no
membership fees for two full months.  This “Test Drive” includes
bonuses worth about $2173.00, but who’s counting?  hack it out here:
www.DentalInsiders.com/testdrive

Here’s the EASIEST way to stay in touch with your patients!

If you remember from my recent “outburst” of 40 Ideas In 40 Days,
I shared in Idea #40 what I believe to be THE best method of
maintaining continuous contact with your patients, the
Send Out Cards system.  I’ve since gotten a TON of feedback
about this cool program, so I thought I’d focus on it solely
today.

Let me start by saying that you should be CONSTANTLY communicating
with your patient base, so you can stay “top of mind” with them.
Further, there should NEVER be just one way that you do that.  I
wholeheartedly recommend Send Out Cards (SOC) as a primary tool
you can use frequently throughout each year, with minimal effort
and maximum impact!

Let’s face it, the main reason we don’t contact our patients
frequently is because it takes time and energy and resources that
we may not have.  That’s why using a simple, often automatic
system is so important.  SOC allows you to preprogram “campaigns”
that are sent out on auto-pilot.  Once you set it up, it runs
itself and sends targeted cards to your patients at the intervals
and dates you select.

Now, let me mention two more HUGE BENEFITS you’ll get from
using SOC among your other means of communication.

1. More business.  With more frequent “touches” to your patients,
they’ll be thinking about you more often.  Many patients intend
to complete the dentistry they need or want, but people are so
busy now that they simply forget about you if you don’t keep in
touch.  Don’t take it personally…it’s just the way it is.

By skillfully mixing in some limited promotions with your frequent
touches, you’ll motivate patients to move forward with their care
sooner.  Everyone wins, including you.

2. More REFERRALS.  I didn’t elaborate last time on how you can use
SOC as a referral multiplier in your practice, but that’s one of
the best benefits of all.  With minimal cost, you can literally
compel your patients to send you their friends, family, neighbors
and coworkers.

There are already custom cards in my own SOC account that were
created solely for the purpose of generating referrals.  These
cards can be TRANSFERRED to you when you join Send Out Cards
using my special promotional link.  The transfer is automatic!

I’ve arranged access to a very informative (and cool) video that
explains exactly how you can multiply your referrals using SOC.
Just click on this link and it’ll take you there:
www.TheReferralMovie.com/fordentists.

Soon I’ll even be launching more custom DENTAL cards that are
“For Dentists Only”!  SOC members who join under me will again
receive these designs automatically.

You should really take a good look at this system…it’s cheap,
it’s easy…and it WORKS!

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.TheReferralMovie.com/fordentists