Pride Institute

Experts abound across the Internet in the modern digital culture. It seems as though anyone and everyone can set up a website and proclaim to be the latest and greatest authority around.

What is often missing from these so-called experts is that invaluable commodity that cannot be bought-trust.

For dental technicians and lab owners, building trust in the community and the industry as an expert, whether online or outside the lab’s front door, is a hard-won battle, and never has this been truer than in today’s world, where online marketing-and online reputation management-dominate.

If anyone can purchase a domain name and create a blog or website, how do consumers filter through the “experts” to find what they are actually looking for? As customers-and prospective customers-increasingly turn to the Internet when searching for laboratory information, how can you enhance your online presence and come across as true, genuine, knowledgeable oral health care experts? The answer is putting maximum efforts into building trust online, and garnering positive online reviews to provide a solid foundation.

Consumer review websites, such as Yelp!, Google+ Local, and Healthgrades.com, among countless others, play a dominant role in the research that dentists might  conduct online when searching for a lab. According to a 2012 survey by SearchEngineLand, almost three-quarters of consumers trust online reviews as much as they do personal recommendations.

As a result, these online review sites present an essential opportunity for labs today to reach clients before they ever pick up the phone to contact a lab, and to reinforce word of mouth referrals as well.

Sites such as Yelp! and Google+ Local automatically create a profile for most businesses based on information gathered from online directories, and the data listed may or may not be accurate, so lab owners/technicians must claim their existing profiles and update them with the current contact information, your logo, as well as hours, a website link and photos and videos of the staff and its services. Typically, there is a link labeled “Is this your business?” or “Claim this profile” that can be used to log into the site and verify ownership of the business to make these key edits and upgrades.

When potential customers are able to find accurate information about your lab and read a history of reviews, (whether those reviews are truly representative of the lab or not) they feel as if they are getting a real sense of the overall experience.

With these positive online reviews in place, you don’t have to figure out how to communicate to prospective customers why your lab is their best option-your existing customers are doing it for you via social media.

It’s important to note that authenticity is paramount when it comes to online reviews. Internet users are savvy, and while they may rely on the opinion of complete strangers in researching a dental laboratory on websites like Yelp!, they are also on the lookout for anything disingenuous.

The websites that host these reviews also work hard to maintain their own credibility by using algorithms that analyze user data, studying unique identifiers like IP addresses and flagging accounts created for the purpose of writing a single review to ensure “fake” reviews get filtered out. In fact, nothing destroys trust online faster than the laboratory creating multiple accounts to try to post reviews, even if they contain legitimate testimonials from real clients.

Client reviews and online marketing strategy

There is truly no higher seal of approval than a public testimonial from a satisfied client. As online reviews become more and more pervasive-and more trusted-building a reputation through this medium will become a make or break proposition for many dental labs when it comes to attracting new clients.

Building trust online is not an easy process, and it certainly doesn’t happen overnight, but the optimal time for dental lab owners to start cultivating a positive online reputation-and positioning themselves as experts-is now. Those of you who make the commitment today to foster a strong history of online reviews will create unstoppable momentum for your lab’s online marketing efforts for years to come.  

Naomi Cooper is President & Founder of Minoa Marketing and serves as Chief Marketing Consultant for Pride Institute. She is a respected dental marketing consultant, author, speaker and industry opinion leader who co-teaches Pride’s groundbreaking marketing course, “The New Rules of Dental Marketing.” Naomi can be reached via email at 

Articles

How to get better online reviews for your lab

It’s January, and everyone knows what that means: New Year’s resolutions. To be sure, it’s a good time for dentists to assess the status quo, evaluate both successes and failures and set specific objectives to work toward in the dental practice during the coming months. This time of year also presents an opportunity to recommit to those strategic goals that may have been pushed to the back burner as more pressing needs arose.

If you’ve given any thought to New Year’s resolutions for the practice, chances are marketing is somehow involved. Whether the primary goal for the practice is enhancing clinical skills, increasing practice profitability or preparing for transition, marketing is certain to be an elemental part of the game plan.

Unfortunately, the dearth of business training, let alone specific practice marketing courses, offered in dental school is coupled with the proliferation of new and modern marketing methods-ranging from traditional mediums like yellow pages, magazines and direct mail to “new” online tactics including 

As a result, dentists who are marketing novices are often overwhelmed by the wide scope of marketing mediums and vendors who call the practice ready with five-figure proposals. Confusion, information overload and paralysis by analysis have become a natural state of affairs when it comes to practice marketing. Some dentists may have tried a host of different marketing tactics over the years-at great expense- without any perceptible return on investment. Others may have great ideas, but can’t seem to find the time to put their plans into action.

So where is the best place to start? The first step is to determine your practice’s annual marketing budget-nothing else can be done until you know how much money you have to allocate toward marketing efforts.

In a typical year, when a practice is able to generate 70-80% of its desired new patient flow from internal marketing and word of mouth referrals, its website is up to date and marketing materials are current and fresh, 3-5% of gross production is a good starting point.

However, for a practice that has done little to no marketing in recent years, or if the practice’s website is more than three years old, a good rule of thumb would be expect to spend closer to 6-8% of production. This is what is sometimes referred to as a “building year”-a time where the focus is on creating infrastructure. In a building year, the practice will have forward-looking expenditures that may not have a short-term payback, but in the long run will fuel the practice’s future success in attracting new patients and growing revenue.

If marketing is part of your professional New Year’s resolution, be sure to come back to this column each month. Over the course of the next twelve issues, I will provide professional insight and fresh ideas on the varied topics under the dental marketing umbrella.

The goal is to put dental marketing tactics, products and services under a microscope and provide a level of analysis that approaches that given to clinical products. We will discuss the full range of marketing mediums, evaluate which marketing opportunities are appropriate for a given practice based on its unique characteristics and share the means of measuring success. 

 It’s not just about having an attractive, professionally designed logo that is carried through all of the practice’s marketing materials; it’s also what differentiates one practice from the other one down the street, and accurately communicating the practice’s vision and philosophy to patients, prospective patients and referring doctors.

. Who are your existing customers? What is the profile of your ideal target customer? What modes of communication will best reach your target?

. Do you have an updated, professionally designed website? Does it have all of the features and functionality available while providing maximum appeal to customers and prospective customers?

Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing

. Is your lab easily found online? These “new” mediums have taken over as dentists and the patients they serve are increasingly turning to the Internet when making decisions.

. What are people saying about your lab on sites like Google+ Local and Yelp? What can you do to protect your online reputation and ensure the positive voices drown out any negative noise?

. Are you engaging with your community through social media? Labs that don’t have a robust social media presence are missing out on an almost limitless number of opportunities to reach new customers. Social Media uses the power of the Internet to magnify the most important marketing: word of mouth.

. A practice’s marketing plan cannot be effective without someone who can keep the ball in motion. Who is responsible for the day-to-day execution of individual tactics? Who sets goals, benchmarks, budgets and timelines? Who holds the dentist accountable?

Check back for marketing advice that will help you grow your practice-in the New Year and beyond. 

Naomi Cooper is President and Founder of Minoa Marketing and serves as Chief Marketing Consultant for Pride Institute. Naomi is a respected dental marketing consultant, author, speaker and industry opinion leader who co-teaches Pride’s groundbreaking marketing course, The New Rules of Dental Marketing. She also works with individual dentists and dental companies looking to develop a cohesive marketing approach and momentum for their marketing strategy. For information about Naomi’s upcoming course dates, call Pride Institute at 800-925-2600 or visit 

. Naomi also can be reached via email at 

. For regular updates from Naomi on social media and online marketing, follow her on 

or “Like” Minoa Marketing on Facebook at 

Your prescription for smarter marketing

It’s January, and everyone knows what that means: New Year’s resolutions. To be sure, it’s a good time for lab owners to assess the status quo, evaluate both successes and failures and set specific objectives to work toward in the lab during the coming months. This time of year also presents an opportunity to recommit to those strategic goals that may have been pushed to the back burner as more pressing needs arose.

If you’ve given any thought to New Year’s resolutions for your lab, chances are marketing is somehow involved. Whether the primary goal for the lab is enhancing a particular skill set, increasing practice profitability or preparing for transition, 

 is certain to be an elemental part of the game plan.

Unfortunately, the dearth of business training, let alone specific marketing courses, is coupled with the proliferation of new and modern marketing methods-ranging from traditional mediums like yellow pages, magazines and direct mail to “new” online tactics including 

As a result, lab owners who are marketing novices are often overwhelmed by the wide scope of marketing mediums and vendors who call the practice ready with five-figure proposals. Confusion, information overload and paralysis by analysis have become a natural state of affairs when it comes to lab marketing. Some technicians may have tried a host of different marketing tactics over the years-at great expense- without any perceptible return on investment. Others may have great ideas, but can’t seem to find the time to put their plans into action.
	So where is the best place to start? The first step is to determine your lab’s annual marketing budget-nothing else can be done until you know how much money you have to allocate toward marketing efforts.

For a lab that has done little to no marketing in recent years, or if the lab’s website is more than three years old, a good rule of thumb would be to expect to spend closer to 6-8% of production. This is what is sometimes referred to as a “building year”-a time where the focus is on creating infrastructure. In a building year, the lab will have forward-looking expenditures that may not have a short-term payback, but in the long run will fuel the lab’s future success in attracting new customers and growing revenue.

If marketing is part of your professional New Year’s resolution, be sure to come back to this column each month. Over the course of the next 12 issues, I will provide professional insight and fresh ideas on the varied topics under the dental industry marketing umbrella.

The goal is to put dental marketing tactics, products and services under a microscope and provide a level of analysis that approaches that given to clinical products. We will discuss the full range of marketing mediums, evaluate which marketing opportunities are appropriate for a given lab based on its unique characteristics and share the means of measuring success. 

. It’s not just about having an attractive, professionally designed logo that is carried through all of the lab’s marketing materials; it’s also what differentiates one lab from the other one down the street, and accurately communicating the lab’s vision and philosophy to current and prospective customers.

. A lab’s marketing plan cannot be effective without someone who can keep the ball in motion. Who is responsible for the day-to-day execution of individual tactics? Who sets goals, benchmarks, budgets and timelines? Who holds the lab owner accountable?

Check back for marketing advice that will help you grow your lab-in the New Year and beyond.

Your prescription for smarter lab marketing

	What’s the biggest threat of disease in a healthy continuing care department? The dreaded no-show or cancellation, which is a symptom of the bigger issue known as lack of commitment and value. The RX? Inoculate your patients before they are exposed to the germs of discontent.

	To avoid the pain and itch of excessive cancelling…take the 3 Ws after every hygiene appointment-What, When and Why.

	What needs to be the clinical focus for the next appointment?

	When is the timing for the next appointment and how does that interval tie into a health benefit that is important to the patient?

	Why the next appointment is important based on the patient’s needs and desires so he/she will be motivated to show up and participate.

 What’s the biggest threat of disease in a healthy continuing care department? The dreaded no-show or cancellation, which is a symptom of the bigger issue known as lack of commitment and value. The RX? Inoculate your patients before they are exposed to the germs of discontent.

The Rx for patient commitment

	Wayne Gretsky once said, “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you do not take.” Rather than avoid new technology altogether, it is critical to think strategically about costs and benefits so that when you do purchase that next piece of equipment, you’re sure to score on at least some of your ROI goals.

 expect a return of three to 10 times the cost of my purchase?

 be more efficient or balanced in our work?

reduce stress for me, my team or our patients?

 Wayne Gretsky once said, “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you do not take.” Rather than avoid new technology altogether, it is critical to think strategically about costs and benefits so that when you do purchase that next piece of equipment, you’re sure to score on at least some of your ROI goals.  Can I expect a return of three to 10 times the cost of my purchase?  Will me and my team be more efficient or balanced in our work?

Take the shot?

	Even if you have the best relationship with a committed patient, sometimes in the “real world” you will get an objection. The good news is, there are tools to navigate around the stop sign.

	Here are five we recommend and what you can say when a patient tells you
	"If my insurance won't cover it, I can't afford to see the hygienist every three months":

“Sounds like you have some concerns regarding affordability?”

“I can understand how you feel, many of our patients have felt the same way. What we found was, by working with them to make the financial commitment as stress free as possible, we didn’t have to compromise their care.”

 “If there was a way we could minimize the financial impact for you, would you be willing to explore options so we don’t have to compromise your oral health?”

“That’s the very reason why we need to help you find the resources for three-month intervals, so we can avoid the cost of even more expensive procedures that go beyond your insurance.”

 “Can you help me? What do we need to address, so you can rise above your financial concerns and go ahead with this very necessary treatment?”

	Rather than just tell you how these tools can help, we applied them to a very real-and these days, very common-objection you may hear in your practice.

 Even if you have the best relationship with a committed patient, sometimes in the “real world” you will get an objection. The good news is, there are tools to navigate around the stop sign.  Here are five we recommend and what you can say when a patient tells you "If my insurance won't cover it, I can't afford to see the hygienist every three months":  Active listening: “Sounds like you have some concerns regarding affordability?”