Dental Marketing - 4: How Marketable is My Dental Practice? - Marketing ...

New Patients, Inc.  
5935 Edmond Street Suite 105 
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Telephone: 866-336-8237    
Email:  info@newpatientsinc.com
Website:  www.NewPatientsInc.com

Dental Marekting - 3: What Does the Dental Consumer Think of Dentistry? ...

New Patients, Inc.  
5935 Edmond Street Suite 105 
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Telephone: 866-336-8237    
Email:  info@newpatientsinc.com
Website:  NewPatientsInc.com

Dental Marketing - 2: What Does New Patients Inc Do? - Dental Marketing ...

New Patients, Inc.  
5935 Edmond Street Suite 105 
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Telephone: 866-336-8237    
Email:  info@newpatientsinc.com
Website:  NewPatientsInc.com 

Dental Marketing FAQ Video Series

We are pleased to announce that we are recording a series of FAQ videos which will answer many of the most common questions that we hear from our clients.  This is our unique way of providing you with answers to your questions as well as a chance to meet Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush.



New Patients, Inc.  
5935 Edmond Street Suite 105 
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Telephone: 866-336-8237    
Email:  info@newpatientsinc.com
Website:  NewPatientsInc.com 

CONGRATULATIONS from New Patients, Inc! - December 2012

CONGRATULATIONS from New Patients, Inc!

In this edition of the newsletter, we want to take a moment to give every one of our 

clients and prospective clients, a huge HIGH FIVE!

You probably have no idea what you've done. Read on.......

As most of you are aware, we (Howie and Mark) have been trying to convince every 

dentist in the world that you DO NOT need to use price as a primary motivator, to effectively promote dental practices. If you've ever read any article we've written, 

attended any of our seminars, read any book we've published, or watched our online 

CE series - you KNOW how we feel about the pros and cons of using price as a 

primary motivator when promoting dental practices.

So why are we giving you all high fives?

Hint: It has to do with the recession we are in.

You may also be aware that New Patients, Inc. has been doing what we do for 23 

years now. This current recession isn't our first rodeo (so to speak). We have been 

through 3 economic recessions with the country, with dentistry, with our clients, 

and with dental consumers - this current recession being the worst of the bunch 

(important distinction later in this newsletter).

What you may not know, is how dentists as industry providers have historically 

behaved when faced with economic recession. In the past, dentists would immediately retract (no pun intended) during the prior recessions. For the most part, nearly all  dentists would slash non-vital spending, sign up with multiple insurance plans to keep the patient flow (and the lights on), and simply try to tread water until the overall  economy improved. Basically, dentists used to believe, they had no control over their  own business future during a recession - and there were no viable options. Just hunker down and hope.  This is/was hardly a winning business strategy.

It was like watching 11 year old kids playing baseball when all of a sudden, the skies opened up and it started raining. Everyone ran off the field and sat in the dugout, under cover - until the rain stopped!

What was the result/net impact of that behavioral reaction to prior recessions? More dentists were working harder, earning less, with fewer promotion dollars to dig them-selves out when the recession ended. All of that created a rebound lag when the economy turned better.

NPI would shrink too!

In prior recessions, NPI would shrink right along with the dwindling number of dentists willing to take their practice promotion seriously. Makes sense right?

Flash forward to THIS recession. A recession that saw NPI grow every year for 

the past four years.

This recession, dentistry reacted differently (some dentists did anyway). A portion of dentists fought back. They stayed the course. They stayed consistent. They kept 

promoting the benefits of the dentistry they provide. And boy did it pay off!

On average, our clients are +24% against the dental industry as a whole since 

Jan 2008 -an industry that (according to the ADA) has lost about 18% over the past 4 years. So, now you know why we are anxious to give you high fives!

You are an elite group, a new generation of dentist, pioneers even! 

Congratulations!  HIGH FIVES!

It gives us joy to see the client numbers we are seeing.

We've been telling all of dentistry for years what to do during recessionary times, but  not everyone listened. Dentists have to promote the basics of dentistry (family dentistry, conveniences, technologies, public relations assets, emergencies, pedo, pedo/ortho,  etc.) during a recession.

We've been railing about the two halves of the dental market for years. Yes, sure there  are moms who will choose a dentist based primarily on price. Everyone knows that!  But there is this other half of the dental market that would never choose a dentist (or  any  other healthcare provider for that matter) based primarily on price. Dentists that promote primarily on price are alienating the other half of the market completely.  We affectionately call that "other half" - YOUR HALF!

For some reason, the majority of dentists find that unbelievable.

But you believed this time.

It is one thing to believe. It is quite another thing to believe it so much that you are 

willing  to fully fund a marketing budget during a recession. It takes guts to pay someone like NPI to strategize, design, produce & deploy for you. That takes belief and guts!

But you had guts. What does that say about you?

151,000 other dentists in the US did not believe. They did not get through this recession  as well as you are getting through it.

Whether you know it or not, whether you feel it or not, you are undoubtedly 

an elite group of dentists among your colleagues.

Everyone here at NPI wants you to know how proud we are of all of you and how thrilled we are to work with you.

We know it wasn't easy. We know it is/was a leap of faith. Thanks for having faith, 

believing in us, believing the in the value of dentistry, believing in yourselves, and being  a trail blazer for the rest of your colleagues!

The entire staff at NPI would like to wish everyone the very best of the holiday seasons.

Howie Horrocks & Mark Dilatush

Got questions? Want to learn more? 

You can reach Mark & Howie at:

Howie: whh@newpatientsinc.com

Mark: markd@newpatientsinc.com

Famous Marketing Quotes!

Famous Marketing Quotes!

"Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising."
Mark Twain

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Thomas A. Edison

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."
Robert Collier

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."
Albert Einstein

"Without passion, you don't have energy; without energy, you have nothing. Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion."
Donald Trump

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
Peter Drucker

Preparing your practice promotion for the first quarter of 2013

Preparing your practice promotion for the first quarter of 2013

In the previous edition of this newsletter, we explained what to do from the middle of November through January 01, 2013.

In this installment of the newsletter, we will explain how to get everything set up to hit the ground running in 2013.

If you listened to what we wrote in the last edition, you completely shut down your external promotion between today and January 1, 2013. Hopefully, you used very few marketing funds during the end of year holiday seasons and focused almost entirely on internal promotions to see you through to December 31st.

Now what?
Hit 'em hard in January (and February, and March)! Whether it's the internet, mail, print, radio, TV, or almost any other media choice, best case scenario is to get your impressions on the street between the end of the first week of January to the third week in January. Stay consistent from that point forward, each month, well into next year. There are several reasons why this makes statistical sense. Historical data tells us so. The first reason is pent up demand from consumers NOT making choices on a new dental practice from November 15th through New Year's Day. That is just pure math. Add to that the social pressure of wanting to improve something about yourself at the turn of every new year. For some people it is about losing weight. For some people it might be a new wardrobe. For some people it might mean working less and taking more time for themselves. And yes, a certain number of people are going to finally give their smile the attention it deserves. We don't know how many people feel that way, we just know the number is greater than zero. This coming year, you also have to add on the end of the consumer election malaise that hits all markets. Yes, consumer spending slows in the quarter leading up to a presidential election. It's been happening for decades. This last election was no exception. In January, the election drama will fade in consumers' minds and more people will get back to paying attention to what has always mattered most - themselves! Another reason 2013 looks very much like a rebound year, is the pent up demand from the last four years! Sure the recession has hit dentistry. Of course it did. But what happens to neglected teeth after four years? Sooner or later, people that put dentistry off, are going to need a bunch of dentistry! For all of these reasons, January, February, and March 2013 are stacking up to be pretty good bets! So is the rest of 2013.

If you are trying a new medium in 2013 - start it in January
Some of you don't need to expand into alternate media to generate more new patient flow. You are at or exceeding your capacity now and your promotions are working well. But, for those of you who are expanding your promotion in 2013 - don't wait to pull the trigger! Deploy starting in January! For all of the reasons stated above, start with a new promotion project in the first quarter of 2013. You (statistically) will have the best chance of that new media paying off during this time frame. Using a new promotion medium can be scary. It can be scary because you don't know if it is going to work or not. Start it and track it when it has the best chance of being successful. We have seen many promotions lag in response during the first two to three months, only to build momentum further down the road and become wonderfully consistent producers of new patients. The 1st quarter of 2013 is going to be a great time to test a new promotion medium in your marketplace.

If you haven't already - commit to using tracking numbers in 2013
If you open and actually read these newsletters, you might be getting a bit tired of us talking about the use of remote call forwarding telephone numbers embedded into your promotions. If you are a client and already use them, well, you already know how beneficial they are.

For those of you not familiar with call tracking numbers, now is definitely the time to attach them to your 2013 external promotions. Use them on any promotion that consumes more than 10% of your annual budget.

Your promotion generates the call, your team interacts with a potential new patient, and the caller either becomes a new patient - or not. As the CEO of your dental practice, the remote call forwarding website (where all of your calls are recorded and reported) becomes a CEO Control Center. We have been working with dentists for 25 years now. We know how demanding being a dentist is or can be at times. We know you just want to go home and forget about the office for a while. We know you don't want to sift through piles and piles of reports to figure out how your promotions are doing. We also know the last thing you want is more stress. Stress is caused by uncertainty. Uncertainty stinks! But that's the beauty of remote call forwarding/tracking - it easily removes uncertainty!

Go home after a long day at the practice. After you relax and unwind a bit, go ahead and log into your online call tracking account. See how many calls came from each of your promotions. Listen to a few phone call interactions between potential new patients and your staff. Look at how many potential new patients called during hours with no human phone coverage. Just simply being aware of what is going on with all of your promotion and the interaction between prospective new patient and your team give you (the CEO) complete control. Awareness destroys uncertainty. Awareness allows you to make properly informed decisions. Being aware reduces stress. Marketing isn't supposed to be stressful. It is supposed to be fun!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!
From all of us here at New Patients, Inc. we want to wish everyone, a healthy, happy, and warm holiday season.

If any of you need us between now and 2013, just call 866.336.8237. We will be here for you.

As always, if we (NPI) don't handle your promotion for you, you can learn the most effective ways in our latest book. We also have 7 hours of online CE for you to learn from. Of course, if you'd like us to build you a marketing plan for your practice, at no cost or obligation to you, we can do that as well. Just click this link and share information about your dental practice. You will get your marketing plan emailed to you in 4 to 5 work days.

Got questions? Want to learn more?

You can reach Mark & Howie at:
Howie: whh@newpatientsinc.com
Mark: markd@newpatientsinc.com