The CEO and co-founder of DentMa came to St. George and spoke in every class, and all three courses serving their company as students at DSU. There will be several BLOG posts covering his material, I’m sure. Immediately after his final presentation I drove the 7 hours to Chandler Arizona, arriving at 2 a.m. – in plenty of time for my appointment with Dr. Michael Margolis, DDS – to cement on the final CROWN. Great experience!
Brief Details: On a trip to Arizona to visit our grandkids Thanksgiving holiday a few months ago I cracked a tooth (I’ll see if Dr. Margolis can provide some pictures!) Considering our family dentist in St. George left his practice without our knowing (remember: The value of follow up!), and considering this was an emergency, I contacted Dr. Margolis Thanksgiving day. He and his staff were generous and remarkably compassionate … getting me in on the Thanksgiving weekend to service the painful experience. Today represented the follow up visit to cement on the final crown.
DentMa:At the end of the procedure, I asked Dr. Margolis about the “follow up” processes within his practice. This is to say, how he managed contacting patients that were given a treatment, but did not show up. I shared the “filing cabinet” example from class the previous day (from Brandon Janis’ presentation to our students). Bottom line, he agreed that follow-up is a BIG concern, and an oft-neglected responsibility.
Further, Dr. Margolis shared the fact that his staff is highly trained and highly motivated in giving each and every patient scheduled the best dental experience of their lives, the minute they walk into his office. His team of employees are remarkable (yes, from personal experience). They are educated, trained, and very skilled in dental treatment. In addition, I would classify his rather rich-looking office as being a cut-above-the-norm, … a “gold star” look and feel, and top-rated customer service.
A General Disposition of a Dentist and his/her Staff: I suspect in dental practices, staff are not English majors, not trained copywriters, not degreed psychologists (remember, marketing can be viewed as “applied psychology), not professional telemarketers; nor are they formally educated in the principles of marketing, sales, and marketing research.
Key point:Why then does the function list (job description) for staff members include taking patients from some generated call list coming off their practice management software (PMS) and handle all the nuances of people that either forget to reschedule, or don’t reschedule for whatever reason. I say this because optimally this function should be coupled with professional training in these skills? Some practices hire this out to a management team that are well versed in the art and science of … applied psycology. Some practices that I have had experience with, don’t have a clue – and simply divide that function (the call-list ideal) to be handled throughout the day during … spare time by any staff member that may have the time.
I agree with DentMa, that when you take a professional treatment coordinator that works for a dentist (or the dentist him/herself) and push them into (1) making phone calls, (2) sending text messages, (3) writing letters or (4) sending out personal emails, it is often akin to … cleaning he bathrooms! ESPECIALLY when there is a better way! Remember: 1-4 just mentioned are handled in a remarkable “DONE-FOR-YOU fashion, WITH reporting and accountability to boot!
This is where DentMa came into the discussion with Dr. Margolis. All I did was presumptuously invite myself to turn to my left after getting off the treatment chair, ask to use his web browser (yes, the actual computer that rendered the x-rays and treatment of my tooth in his PMS system), pull up this Blog post (www.dentalmarketingsoftware.com) in one window and DentMa (www.dentma.com) on another tab in the browser, and show him what my stduents are doing! I told him that students at DSU are reaching out within a selected city to invite dentists to take a survey and ultimately consider a FREE TRIAL of the product by DentMa called Lifeline.
On the academic side, and as a principle of marketing straight from the AMA definition of marketing, I define the “exchange of value” as powerfully coming from ones personal and human sphere of influence. These students first select a city in America where they know someone, then invite that connection to assist them in support of the objectives of the REAL WORLD experiential opportunity to be interning with DentMa. Students are not just learning key principles in marketing, but also (among so many other entrepreneurial and business processes), the power of automation in the coveted “follow-up” loops that exist in nearly every business cycle. The automation with Lifeline guarantees that follow-up is getting done, without any additional software login (BIG ug!), and validating the interaction right in their inbox (you know, the very place we all hang out!).
Dr. Margolis, generously letting me give him a 3 minute pitch and view of these two websites, enthusiastically said, “have the student assigned to Chandler make contact with me as soon as possible.”
I left his office with the DentMa website and the blog site open on that operatory computer screen on his request. A few hours later, I get a text message from Dr. Margolis saying that he read the blog, viewed the DentMa site and wants to support the student effort and DentMa.
Marketing Lesson Learned:Don’t be shy to share a good thing! Learn a few features/attributes and benefits (FABs) of the DentMa product so that you feel confident enough, and can be spontaneous in the dialog and be capable of addressing some questions. It is easy to invite the dentist and/or their staff to participate in using a product that could have a profound effect on the way they “market” and reach out to the “million-dollar filing cabinet”, and patients that need (or could benefit from) their professional services and treatment.
Make sense?
-Professor Geddes