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Navigating Dental Branding: Challenges and Strategies for New Practices
15 Plays1 day ago
About the Hosts:
Dr. Savanah Craig is a practicing dentist deeply engaged in conversations about the practicalities of running a dental practice post-graduation. With a focus on carving out a successful career in dentistry, Dr. Craig emphasizes patient relationships and practice management. Dr. Ronnetta Sartor is also a dedicated dentist and a semi-new practice owner facing the challenges of practice branding and marketing. Known for her enthusiasm in connecting with patients, she explores innovative strategies to enhance dental practice visibility and patient relations.
Episode Summary:
In this engaging episode of "Beyond Graduation," Dr. Savanah Craig and Dr. Ronnetta Sartor delve into the intricacies of dental practice branding and the evolving landscape of patient engagement. Understanding the power of marketing in dentistry, they discuss the blend of traditional in-person community involvement and modern digital strategies necessary to thrive in this competitive field.
Navigating through personal experiences and industry insights, Dr. Craig and Dr. Sartor shed light on the importance of building a strong presence both in the local community and online. They touch upon the significance of leveraging tools like SEO and social media, while also highlighting the challenges independent practices face compared to corporate dental entities. Their conversation evolves into a discussion about internal mottos such as "unreasonable hospitality," keeping patients informed, and weaving teamwork into the practice's fabric to deliver exceptional patient experiences.
Key Takeaways:
- Marketing and patient relations are crucial for growing a dental practice, especially in today's digital world.
- Building a recognizable brand involves both strong community ties and an online presence.
- There is a disparity in marketing power between independent practices and corporate dental firms.
- SEO is a double-edged sword, bringing both opportunities and challenges in patient expectations.
- Leadership in a dental practice involves embracing roles that push comfort zones and promote visibility.
Connect with Us:
- Savanah Craig, DDS: @savanahcraigdds
- Ronnetta Sartor, DMD: @dr_sartor
- FutureDentists Beyond Graduation: @futuredentistsbeyondgraduation
- FutureDentists: @futuredentists
- IgniteDDS: @ignitedds and @ignitedds_coaching
- A-dec: @adecdental and https://www.a-dec.com/find-a-dealer
Tune in to the full episode to explore the dynamic conversation on effectively managing dental practice branding and embracing innovative patient engagement strategies. Stay connected for more insightful episodes from "Beyond Graduation," where practical discussions forge a path for success in the dental field post-graduation.
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Transcript
Introduction to ADEC's Smart Start Program
00:00:00
Speaker
ADEC's Smart Start program offers first-time practice owners their deepest discounts on equipment and furniture for two years, plus other savings and complimentary services. Ask your ADEC rep for details and start smart with ADEC.
00:00:13
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Join Drs. Savannah Craig and Renetta Sartor as we navigate life beyond graduation. Real conversations about forging our own paths in our early years in our careers.
00:00:24
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There's a reason it's called practicing dentistry. Welcome back to another episode of Beyond Graduation. I'm Savannah Craig and with me as always... I'm Renetta Sartor.
Navigating Life and Career After Graduation
00:00:34
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And so today we're going to talk about something that has been a pain point for me being semi-new practice owner, but just...
00:00:44
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in general with my personality and that sort of thing. and so Savannah and I have been talking about marketing and branding in how in dentistry now patients want to to kind of know you, know your team and feel like you all are people that they want to build a relationship with before they schedule their appointment sometimes.
00:01:09
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And so for a person that's not really into social media or really into like putting themselves out there you know, having team members that don't really want to put themselves out there.
00:01:25
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it can, it can be interesting, you know, branding yourself. What are your thoughts, Savannah? What's, what extent have you had to, I guess, think about these things so far in your career? Thankfully, not a ton.
00:01:39
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It's coming. It's coming, girl. I think, yeah, I guess in some way, like in not not so much social media or website stuff, but I guess like inpatient interaction, there's some of that. I think you and I laugh about like the good old days of dentistry where they just show up and they trust you and they believe you and you do the thing and hang your little sign outside and you're the only dentist for 20 miles and you just keep rolling.
00:02:08
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Right, right. But...
Lessons from 'Unreasonable Hospitality'
00:02:10
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Yeah, my boss just had us all read Unreasonable Hospitality. Have you read that? It's on my my list. Okay, you should read it. It's great. But the whole idea behind it is it's talking about like the restaurant industry and like the ways that this manager and then this company like go above and beyond for their people. and I go back and forth every day on like...
00:02:32
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buying into that so hardcore of like, yes, I want to like, like the one, the like famous example from the book is like this, these people, you know, and it's this like three-star Michelin restaurant or blah, blah, blah.
00:02:45
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And these people are at the table and they're talking about how they've eaten at all of these amazing places in New York city, but have not had like a street hot dog. And the culture of this team in this restaurant is like, if you overhear things like that, like going,
00:02:59
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to go get them a street hot dog or like if they're talking about a movie they love like show up with the dvd when you hand them their check or like just these like ritz call ritz calton yeah do you ever read any of their books on like how they train their teams it's very similar Yeah, so it's like all about creating these like magical moments and like that that ends up being like the culture and the brand because when they do these things, then their team gets excited and like, you know, it's...
00:03:35
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keeps going. And so on on some days, I'm like, yes, let's do this. Let's make the dentist the best experience. Let's do this thing. And then other days, I am tired and I'm like, you want your teeth fixed or no? Like, I really...
00:03:50
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I don't care. Like, not that I don't care, but like your mouth, your choice. Like, and and so I don't know. And I'm sure like that, that's probably how you're feeling about branding is you're like, I don't know. do you want to come get your teeth fixed or not?
00:04:04
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But also i need patients to run this business. So yeah completely understand. is that how you're feeling? Well, think one of the good things for us is that we have a lot of internal marketing that's happening.
Internal Marketing and Patient Referrals
00:04:17
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Yeah. So oh I don't feel as much that I have to do a lot of the like social media and, you know, that sort of stuff, even though it's still important to do. Right.
00:04:28
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But I think we've gotten to a point in our practice where we have a lot of our patients that are referring patients to us. And so it's been nice to have a like existing patients that are referring their friends and family, if that makes sense.
00:04:43
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So it's been nice to have a program to like thank those patients. And every time they come in, thank them for, you know, the patient that referred them, thanking them, but also thanking the patient to like take the step to actually take a chance to come to our office and welcome them into our family.
00:05:04
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But like, I do see how, yeah, patients, patients love to be able to like look online and like see who you are and that sort of thing. So I think the the delivering wow service and excellence stuff, we that's something that we try to do internally.
00:05:23
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But I think the part that I could be better at personally is the stuff that's not inside our- The external. Right, the external, like making sure that like,
00:05:37
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When someone Googles us, they find us, which that's a whole other conversation like SEO and
SEO: Benefits and Drawbacks
00:05:45
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all that kind of stuff. Listen, it is a blessing and a curse.
00:05:48
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my My boss has insane marketing and we are the first thing that pops up when you type in anything dental related. All of our offices show up, which is awesome.
00:06:00
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But that also doesn't – it's also not selective. So you can type in like – and we just talked about this. Like being a general dentist that does a lot of specialty procedures gets confusing.
00:06:14
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so people will type in like oral surgery or tooth extraction and we come up first and they just automatically assume – You're the specialist. We're the specialist.
00:06:25
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And a handful of times a month patients come in and and sometimes it's a thing that we can take care of, but sometimes it's a thing we can't. And then you have to be like, we are general dentists.
00:06:38
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blah, blah, blah. And like our, it's really hard for our business team because we don't want them to tell patients we can't do your extraction because honestly, we don't know until you get in here and we see the x-rays and we understand everything. And there are times where Their general dentist has sent them to an oral surgeon and we can do the thing. And then they end up staying because they like that we offer everything we can in-house.
00:07:03
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But then you have the one-off patients who do need an oral surgeon and they find out we are not an oral surgeon. And now they're frustrated because they came here for an exam. That seems a waste of time.
00:07:15
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I think. So SEOs are good and bad. Yeah, it's tough. yeah It is really good. It's good because it can make sure that you're at the top of the list, but it can be frustrating for patients to like to kind of know you know who's doing what and who's a specialist and who isn't.
00:07:36
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Or we've had a couple of times where, and I also think part of this is like media literacy and internet literacy in older generations. So you can Google like blah, blah, blah, whatever. And Google these days, the top like five things are sponsored and they might not actually have anything to do with what you're trying to search.
00:07:56
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And so we've had some people call our office looking for their dental office Oh. And they're like, is this blah, blah, blah? And we're like, no.
00:08:08
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I don't know. It always makes me think of SpongeBob where they're like but and they're like, no, it's Patrick. That's us. and were And they're like, but i I Googled and this number came we're like, yes, but you didn't click on the right office and you just called the first number you saw and that's us and we're not your office.
00:08:27
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But we can be. Right. Right. we right But we can be. Right. Let's talk more about that. What do you need done? Yes. Yes. So again, can be good, can be bad.
00:08:38
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Yeah. The good part is they called you. Correct. So it's working from that perspective. ah Yeah, it's all about perspective. But then sometimes people get mad and confused. And you're like, especially not especially, but like sometimes they're causing calling because they have a post-op complication from another office. That's true. Yep, that's true. You need them to go back from where they came from. Yeah, maybe go back there first.
00:09:04
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But we'll still be here. yeah Yeah. Later if you need us. Or if you want a second opinion, right so we can be your guy and gal. So who or I guess from where do you feel like this pressure for branding is coming? Do you do you think it's just like the environment we're in?
00:09:25
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Is it somebody on your team? no I think... Is it just the world we live in I've been doing a lot of research on it, right? Okay. And so for me, it's just more so, okay.
00:09:37
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some and in it was I was at a conference maybe a few weeks ago, and what the guy said was the person that markets the best wins in the space.
00:09:50
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And by that, he meant like you can be the best dentist clinically, but patients don't know that if they can't find
The Importance of Effective Marketing
00:10:00
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you. Yes. And I guess for me, that kind of just struck home because I'm like, I'm great.
00:10:06
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Like, I'm a nice person. like Yeah, yeah. I love all of my patients. Like, yeah I can't wait for them to come in for their appointments so that we could chat and catch up on what's going on. Yeah.
00:10:18
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But that's for the patients that are already in my fault four walls, you know, yeah the office. But if I'm doing a disservice to the community by not letting people know, like, how awesome my team is and how we really just want to help them.
00:10:32
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If I'm not, you know, kind of pushing the brain and it's not to do it in like a bad way or anything like that, but just doing it in a way to say, Hey, we're here. Hey, like you said, these are the things that we offer.
00:10:46
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you know, we'd be happy to welcome you into our family, that sort of thing. And so I do have one person on my team that's like, doc, you need to do this, this, this net. You need to come in on a Friday and I'll record everything. And I'm like, okay, I don't want to, but I will yeah Yeah. And I think part of it is like, I'm really good, like one-on-one, but I'm really bashful about like talking about myself.
00:11:14
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And that's one of the things that I ah will say has like, has changed in almost three years that I've been a practice owner. Like I've learned that I have to be able to like talk about myself and talk about the business in order to be able to grow.
00:11:30
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Yeah. Pushing that comfort zone. And so some of the things that have helped is this podcast. That's one thing. um But in addition to that, like initially I joined like some business networking groups and like the Chamber of Commerce in my area and that sort of thing. So just going out and meeting people in the community and just talking about it because everyone's there networking. And you'd be surprised how much you can learn from other small business owners about the community or just like what's worked for them in terms of like, you know, if it's a magazine that everyone gets that they really like.
00:12:08
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Or if there's an event coming up in the community that will be really good if you showed your face and let people like know and see who you are. Interesting. Has, i don't know if you've talked to like Don and David at all, but like has coaching come with any of these like tips and tricks and pointers or are that are most of that so far has just been like internal systems?
00:12:33
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Well, I think coaching has helped. create a lot of the internal systems, but it has also, I think collectively as a team, like me as a doctor and a leader in a team, it's helped me to be more confident.
00:12:48
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Yeah. And like holding, Everyone accountable, including myself. Myself first, you know. Yeah. But I think coaching has also allowed my team to individually put on leadership their own leadership and take responsibility for the tasks that they are assigned and to know it inside out and to excel at it.
00:13:18
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So I think, yeah, coaching has helped from that room for like everyone feeling like, okay, this is this is what I'm going to do and this is how I'm going to own it. in And in doing so, this is how together we create those systems that help boost the practice, but also let patients know like, hey, we're all on the same page, which yeah that's really nice because you, you know, if I'm going to any place and one person tells me one thing and then the person at checkout tells me something different, but I heard something different on a phone, it gets frustrating.
00:13:54
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yeah You know? No, I totally get that. Yeah, it's there are so many pieces to it. But I also think so. Would you say most of this like building the brand thing as far as like external external things is mostly just like being out in your community and being present that way? Or are you coming more from like a website, social media side of things or both?
00:14:21
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I think in today's society, it's all of the above. Yeah, I think you kind of have to do a little bit of everything to try to break through the noise. Right. And I do know that there are going to be some people out there just like, hey, listen, I'm the only dentist for like 120 miles.
00:14:37
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Yeah, your situation is completely different. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But i think, yeah, to some extent, it's like all of the above. You kind of have to do all of the above.
00:14:49
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I don't know if any if if you have any insight on this, but like I got to assume that marketing in an out-of-network practice looks a little bit differently
Marketing Budgets in Dentistry
00:15:03
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than marketing in an in network. And I've heard some thoughts about like when you're in network, obviously you're going to have more write-offs, but like if you consider that part of like a marketing budget where like insurance is helping you market...
00:15:18
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Do you have any thoughts on like how how that might look from like a brand perspective and like where you got to put yourself? Yeah, from from I've heard completely different things, right? But one of the most recent things I've heard is that in dentistry in general, whether you're in network or out network, what our budget is for marketing is really low compared to a lot of other industries.
00:15:43
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Interesting. And so in that, pretty much, I think in my scenario, I probably should market more, but I think it should, I have to be more so specific in our marketing, if that makes sense.
00:15:59
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So totally, when you say our budget for marketing is very low, do you mean or do you know, is dentistry in general, we don't spend a ton on marketing or we don't have as much in our budget to give to marketing because of like overhead and other things?
00:16:17
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I think it may be a little bit both. Always, yes and. Yeah, I think it may be a little bit of both. So I'm not going to call any names out, but think think about corporate dentistry and think about how much they market. You mentioned when you go to Google and you put their name in, a lot of time they're sponsored and they're top thing that pops up, right? yeah Can you imagine how much more they're spending on marketing compared to me?
00:16:47
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Right. And so, you know, I think The little guys have to figure out how to navigate that. Yeah. How to hit a harder punch with less resources.
00:17:02
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Right. And some so my my patient pool loves Facebook. So right now I'm trying to do things on Facebook. Like we get our most engagement on Facebook. But for your office, it might be that Instagram.
00:17:15
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Yeah. Or YouTube is what's doing it for you, you know? So i think part of it is just finding... what it is that's working for your patient and your patient population and doing it as much as you can. and But also realizing that the ties change very frequently and being willing to move and pivot to whatever's next.
00:17:39
Speaker
And that's, I think, the the thing that makes it really hard in dentistry is think of, like, big corporations that have, like, marketing departments who can, like, run those report and run those numbers. And, like, yes, you can outsource to a marketing firm, blah, blah, blah, but, like,
00:17:57
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at the end of the day, I'm sure it's you running a lot of those reports and knowing that knowing that your engagement is higher on Facebook. And not only is that time, but that's like mental energy that you're spending.
00:18:08
Speaker
And so I just like want to acknowledge that piece of another hat you must wear as a dentist. It's your marketing team. This is a great, great
Sharing Marketing Strategies with AI
00:18:16
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topic. i would love to hear what our listeners are doing.
00:18:21
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it's many new things coming out, like using AI to help generate some of this stuff too. So whatever you guys are doing that you love, that's working and getting patients to see you and we would love to hear it all. So definitely reach out to us and let us know.
00:18:39
Speaker
Totally. All right. We'll catch you back
Conclusion and Acknowledgments
00:18:42
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next time. you for joining us for this episode of Beyond Graduation. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to share it with a friend, connect with us,
00:18:51
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on social media at Savannah Craig DBS and at Dr. Sartor. And remember, you are not alone on this journey. ADEC certified pre-owned equipment is a sustainable, affordable choice that makes genuine ADEC equipment available to every doctor.
00:19:07
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Each package is sold on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you see one you like, contact your dealer. For more information, go to www.adec.com backslash findadealer. Thank you for listening to Beyond Graduation brought to you by Ignite DDS and Future Dentists. This episode was sponsored by Ignite DDS Coaching. We build self-determined futures. For more information, please reach out to the Ignite DDS team.