How to maintain a grin when the economy caves in

Editor's note: Richard Geller's column, Marketing Madness, appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

What does it take today to thrive in hard times?

We're finding out, aren't we?

A recession or depression isn't good for very many folks. But you can do better than your competitors in tough times. You can even thrive.

I am not going to give you any psychological rot about "not letting the recession get you down." Those are just words.

Fact is, your office production may be down. Most dentists have found that it started falling anywhere from six to nine months ago. Or at least, their gains in production stopped around that point.

So the key to tough times is not to pretend they don't exist or that it's all in your mind. The key is to do some things that might seem a bit unusual but that set you apart from your colleagues next door and across town.

1. Step up your continuing education (CE) big time.
Address those procedures you don't like -- say, molar root canals, for example. Now's the time to go back to school and get some additional clinical training on molar root canals. Your endo is going to be mad, but he has to take care of himself.

What you want is to have a goal of doing a lot more dentistry in your office rather than sending it out. We all know when you send patients out, they often do not come back. And it's a terrible inconvenience and trauma to the patients, don't you know? They have to drive somewhere else, deal with someone they do not know, with whom they have no relationship, and who often is expensive.

Aim to do as much as possible in your office, and aim to build on your weak points so you can do so safely and responsibly. This will make your patients happier, and will get more dentistry done with your existing patients.

2. Increase your advertising, especially what you do on the Web.
Advertising should be stepped up in tough times, in order to acquire new patients. This is the time to get market share, to increase your flow of new patients.

You have to buy new patients one way or another. Get more sales and marketing training. Teach your front desk to get referrals more effectively by attending a good case-acceptance course with your team and implementing the training in your daily operations.

3. Aim to build your list of prospective patients.
Work your list. Make it a goal of your marketing to build your own list of prospective new patients. This should become your religion. Once you have a list of several thousand prospective people, and you work that list correctly, you will have so many new patients every month that you will truly thrive in tough times.

And to get you started, visit www.Cases4Dentists.com and get a copy of my $59.95 best-selling underground classic on case acceptance and dental marketing. I have countless testimonials over the years from dentists who say this book transformed their practice. I hope it helps yours.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.

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