Marketing, Management, and Mission: A Roadmap to Dental Practice Growth

Real-World Insights from Estela Go, MAADOM.

 

A dental office must be managed like any other business to ensure that the patient’s customer experience builds trust in the patient-doctor relationship, which, in turn, grows the business and patient loyalty to the dental practice.

Like any business, a dental office needs a strong management team for daily operations, growth, and attaining objectives. An ideal dental office should have an accountant giving daily reports to the management on their financial standing, such as the profit and loss of the business.

With this report, the administrator must ensure that all team members work efficiently with the schedule to attain the target goal of that day. Dentists could also utilize finance and marketing firms to free them from the nitty-gritty details of dental office operations.

Building a Brand

Branding is crucial for any business to stand out in the market. According to Ulli Appelbaum, the author of “The Brand Positioning Workbook,” Seth Godin defines a brand as “the set of expectations, memories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

Creating a brand that resonates with the target audience sets a business apart from competitors.

It’s always a good idea to let patients tell their stories and share their “before and after” photos. Doing so makes them feel proud of their actions and become the center of attention. After all, our world revolves around them.

As healthcare providers, we are only as good as our patients feel about us. As a part of our branding, we can include reactions from their experiences with our team daily. Sometimes, a patient’s story could even turn dramatic, and that’s when our brand can grow organically.

We can create a powerful brand that resonates with our target audience by showcasing stories highlighting our services’ success.

Enhancing Patient Experience

Truth in Advertising

One of the most critical aspects of branding in healthcare is ensuring truth in advertising. Ensuring that the branding message aligns with the services provided is crucial. This way, patients can trust the brand, and the branding efforts will build a positive reputation for the dental office.

Creating a Comfortable Environment

Patients may feel apprehensive when they enter a dental office, especially if they do not know anyone. Therefore, providing a welcoming atmosphere supporting a comfortable patient feeling is essential.

The patient’s mental questions are affirmed by the actual presence of what they may be looking for, and this is where our brand identity comes in. If we can provide an environment that aligns with our brand identity, we can win over the patient and capture their attention.

We must remember that we tell our story from our patients’ perspective.

Personalized Care

Personalized care is critical to building a brand identity that resonates with patients. We must put ourselves in the patient’s shoes to provide customized care. We must ask ourselves how we would want to be welcomed, accommodated, and served if we were in their position.

Each patient is unique with their own preferences and needs; therefore, there can be no one-size-fits-all approach to dentistry.

A dental office manager working on a marketing strategy for her practice.

Effective Marketing Strategies

A good marketing plan is essential for success but can only be created by effectively scanning the environment. Scanning the environment means that basic demographic information about current patients, including ZIP codes, should be collected.

You must actively understand your environment, identify your strengths and opportunities, and address your weaknesses to turn them into strengths. It’s also crucial to identify and manage potential risks through practical measures.

Consider all these factors to ensure your plan is comprehensive and effective. Remember, a solid plan is the result of proactive and assertive planning.

Learn How AADOM Can Help

Creating a Business Plan

Creating a business plan that drives the practice’s success is crucial.

To accomplish this objective, the plan should be based on performance metrics that align with the needs and desires of our patients. By prioritizing excellent dental care, cost-effective measures, and building our brand, we can ensure that our business thrives and our patients receive the highest standard of care.

Our success will be determined by our ability to meet our mission. Create a business plan that meets and exceeds our patients’ expectations.

No matter how technologically advanced our dental offices might be, no matter how fabulous our websites might be, and no matter how beautiful our dental offices might be, if we fall short of responding to what our patients need, then that piece of equipment and tons of investment may be a waste down the drain. If the patient comes first, and our action responds to the patient’s needs, that is good marketing.

Collaboration is Key

In today’s world, collaboration is critical. The era of viewing industries as adversaries is long gone. Instead, we must link arms and support each other with mutual support.

With too many patients in need, there is no need for cutthroat competition. We can rise together and achieve success as a team to educate patients about oral health. While competition can be healthy, working together is the ultimate way to achieve our goals. So, let’s come together and collaborate to make a difference.

Improving Process and Strategy

We must track and monitor our strategic plans, goals, and measures to continuously improve our processes. This enables us to determine the extent to which our plans successfully achieve our objectives.

The most reliable measure of our success is the feedback we receive from our patients. That’s why conducting random surveys of patients is essential, allowing them to provide honest feedback about their experiences.

Making data-driven decisions can make or break a dental office’s success. It’s not enough to guess and follow the crowd. Strategic planning is a must to drive growth.

But it’s not just about numbers. To provide the best care to our patients, we need to put ourselves in their shoes and be empathetic and responsive to their needs.

We can stand out from the competition by building our brand identity and answering our patient’s concerns. So, take a proactive approach to business growth and ensure you provide the best possible care to your patients.

 

Elevate Your Job to Your Career with AADOM's Dental Management Training.

 


About the Author

Profile of Estela Go, MAADOM.
Estela Go, MAADOM

Estela L. Go is a Chemical Engineer from the Philippines. After taking all the major accounting courses at UCLA, she worked as a general accounting manager in mortgage corporations for 15 years.

Dr. Robert Y. Go and Estela founded Go Family Dental in 2007 after decades of experience in dentistry, accounting, and operational excellence in Anaheim, CA. This led her to her simple guiding principle: “Patients First.”

Estela has been an AADOM member since 2022, when she joined AADOM’s Dental Spouse Business Network. She received her AADOM Fellowship (FAADOM) in 2023 and her Mastership (MAADOM) in 2024.

 

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*