About a year or so ago, we communicated two
more initiatives that made it through our testing gauntlet with positive
results. Many initiatives start out as great ideas, few make it through
testing. These two did provide consistent/positive results market to market.
The reason we are bringing this up again is because this is the time to
prepare.
For many of you, the months of July,
September, and December are low production points of your year. What would your
end of year production look like if those months were just average, instead of
being low? For many/most of you, it would add about 10% to your end of year top
line.
Pedo/Ortho
in July & September
Pedo and ortho focused advertising in July
and August will respond in greater numbers and frequency than promoting general
dentistry (all of it) in July. It makes sense. The kiddies are at home. Mom
doesn't have to pull them from school to get them to your practice. So, if you
reach out in July and August to attract children to your practice - you will be
ahead in those months.
This is especially effective if you do ortho.
You can get through the initial exams in the summer and start the cases in
September (which will make September better). Talk to almost any orthodontist,
they will tell you September is one of their best months of the year -
consistently.
With this advertising push, you are
leveraging weather, convenience, urgency. Mom knows the weather is better in
the summer than the winter, she knows it is MUCH more convenient for her to get
her children to you when they are off from school, and she certainly knows that
eventually - school will begin again. She has a known deadline if she wants to
make things easy for herself.
Typically a series of three very specifically
targeted rounds of post cards will do the trick. If you hit the streets with
them the 2nd week of July, the first week of August, and the 3rd week of August
(consult your school calendar and adjust drops accordingly), you have a very
good chance of inexpensively capturing a very important segment of the dental
market.
We understand many of you who have practiced
for a while, aren't necessarily jumping at the idea of bringing a bunch of kids
into your practice. But, the kids come first, mom comes second, and dad comes
kicking and screaming - 6 months later. You know how it works. If this is
something you simply cannot do, or do not want to deal with - don't do it! Just
be realistic with your adult new patient numbers if you purposely cut off this
proven way of getting more adult new patients.
Insured -
between Nov 15th and December 31st
The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's
Day requires a time sensitive incentive. Mom has a billion distractions during
the holiday time period. She needs an added incentive to respond. Many/most of
you already send some sort of "use it or lose it" insurance email or
letter to your existing patients. Many/most of you have added production to
your schedules by doing so. The same can be done with the general public! You
don't have to limit your exposure to just your own patients. Everyone in town
is going to have their insurance benefits renew on Jan 1. The general public
responds to that sense of urgency as well, especially if you are already
promoting to the same targets throughout the year. Many of you are already
mailing. For you, we already have a properly targeted mail list, so you won't
have to buy another one.
Who at NPI
should I reach out to if I want to smooth out my rough spots?
Your advisors are responsible for analyzing
your marketing opportunities then setting up the best strategy for your
particular situation/market.
Advisors:
All of the advisors can be reached by calling
866.336.8237
If you are a client of NPI already, your
client services/campaign managers can also help you. They work hand in hand
with the advisors.
Campaign Managers:
The whole team at NPI would like to wish you and
yours a wonderful holiday weekend!
Do you have a topic you would like covered in
an upcoming newsletter? Ask here.
Just email either Howie Horrocks
(whh@newpatientsinc.com) or Mark Dilatush (markd@newpatientsinc.com) with your
topic. We will get them into the newsletter.
If any of
you need us, just call 866.336.8237. We will be here for you.
Got questions? Want to learn more?
You can reach Mark & Howie at:
