The Secret to More New Patients and Financial Security
Orthodontists Are Under Attack
YOU are under the gun as no other specialty group is. It seems that everyone is after your patients. Businesses, like Invisalign and Smile Direct Club are competing with YOU. Every other dentist is doing orthodontics. Invisalign, Clear Correct, 6-month smiles, Fastbraces and others are giving general dentists ways to boost their productivity AT YOUR EXPENSE.
Some say that these companies aren’t competing because they’re just creating more demand. While some of that might be true, I know for sure that I’ve had patients go to Smile Direct Club’s office in Manhattan for a consult. So indeed, these do pose a Clear And Present Danger to your practice, your income and your survival.
Face it; all the aforementioned companies are YOUR ENEMY. Just look at your referrals. Where are they coming from? Not many from other dentists, I bet.
And, if you DO get referrals from other dentists NOW, that will change. Just look at all the CE courses being offered to GP’s and Pediatric Dentists on HOW TO do ortho and compete with YOU.
And, what happens when that Baby Boomer, GP-referrer sells or gets bought out by a corporate entity? DO you think Heartland, Gentle Dental or Aspen are going to refer to YOU?
Do you think that Millennials with $500K of student debt are going to pass up an “easy” orthodontic case?
And, there is NO SHORTAGE of young eager and hungry orthodontists, being churned out at increasing numbers by PG programs, willing to work for the local general dental, corporate or pediatric dental groups on a per diem basis so they can pay back the exorbitant debt they have.
But wait…it gets worse!
Is your Practice’s Value Shrinking?
Without a reliable and steady source of New Patients, the VALUE of your practice will shrink like a cheap cotton tee shirt. Chances are, it already has!
The business you’ve worked so hard to build could become valueless unless you do something to solidify a constant, reliable source of new patients.
No one is going to invest their money in a business that is shrinking unless they have a way of turning it around.
Just look at what’s happened to our physician colleagues. Insurance has resulted in their practices being worth ZILCH, NADA, ZERO! And, it caught most of them with their proverbial pants down!
Don’t let this happen to YOU.
The program that I will present below is not only of value to YOU, the business owner, its of extreme value to potential practice purchasers.
Face it, YOUR REFERRAL SOURCES ARE DRYNG UP. And, I’m going to show YOU how to change that.
Traditional Marketing has failed.
Even unique and well-designed marketing programs are getting more expensive and harder to do. One that I know uses social media to market to “Soccer Moms.” It gets amazing results. But, this group has a marketing person and team on board that helps fuel their 5 practices. Yet, even that is getting harder as the word gets out.
Besides, do YOU have a full-time social media person on staff? Do YOU want to do it yourself?
I don’t know about you but I didn’t go into dentistry to be a marketing person. I want to do what I’m trained to do…help people.
How can YOU get more new patients, develop UNIQUE and solid referral sources without spending a fortune or handing your business over to some marketing fellow or spending extraordinary amounts of time on the internet?
Or, YOU can hire a fancy schmancy Consulting Group and spend 6 figures. Most of these guys have never or have long stopped practicing. They’re not living in the trenches with you as I am. I know because I’ve been and am still there.
The problem is that these supposed “gurus” don’t get the big picture. Healthcare is changing. The same old stuff that worked just a few years ago won’t work any longer.
My mother of blessed memory taught me NEVER to raise a problem without suggesting a solution. That lesson has made me wildly successful in practice and in life. I am a solutions person. And, I have the solution to YOUR problem and the threats you are about to face. It’s a solution that I’ve used to build and sell 2 group practices.
I have a soft spot for Orthodontists. I learned nothing about ortho in dental school other than to refer it. When I got into practice however, I started seeing failures in my patients who were in their late 20’s and 30’s. It prompted me to seek an answer and learn orthodontics.
I learned Dento-Facial Orthopaedics during a 3-year, one weekend a month course. I incorporated it into my practice in the late 1980’s, doing functional appliances, Roth FEA and TMJ. I started doing Invisalign in 2004 and have taken hundreds of hours of related CE.
I was YOUR worst nightmare, as I rarely referred cases. And when I did…they were the ones you would have lost money on. You know the type; Poor compliance, Cross bites, class 3, crazy occlusion and facial deformities. Even if YOU like those challenging cases, they do take a lot more of your time and cut into your profit, which comes from the simple, bread and butter cases (which I was keeping and doing myself).
My understanding of Orthodontics, Growth and Development, Orthopaedics, being the Director of a GPR Program at Columbia Presbyterian in the 90’s, my attending a mini residency in Dental Sleep Medicine at Tufts (my alma mater), working in the same office as Michael Gelb (TMJ and Sleep Doc), being a founding member of AAOSH (American academy for Oral Systemic Health) and learning from people like Bill Hang and Barry Raphael (Airway Orthodontist), has given me a unique insight into the specific, ORTHODONTIC-focused solutions I will discuss below.
Plus, I lecture for Schein on The Business of Dentistry and was the Course Director for Practice Management at Columbia, where I was on faculty for 30 years.
YOU couldn’t get this from a non-practicing management consultant. They just haven’t live the life and haven’t walked in YOUR shoes. I have.
I have brought my unique set of experiences, skills and knowledge to bear on the challenges YOU as an Orthodontist face.
I SUGGEST A SIMPLE, LESS EXPENSIVE AND MORE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE PATH TO SUCCESS, SECURITY AND PEACE OF MIND.
