Having spent a lot of time in Canada and the United States, interact-ing with dentists of both countries, it is clear that there has been a slowdown in dental office production in both countries. This has been obvious, more so over the last six months than we have previously experienced. Rest assured you are not in this boat by yourself; it is affecting every industry, every profession, including ours.
One of the main principles in marketing is that a business should spend more money in advertising when the economy is slow. This is based on the fact that there are limited dollars being spent in the market and that your brand should be the one that captures that dollar when it is spent. This has always been the case, but it is less so this time than in the past. The reason being is that there has been almost a stop in the movement of money. When there is very little money people have to spend, even with all the advertising, they may want to spend it with you, but can’t. Hence, the key in today’s economic condition is to hold tight and weather the storm.
During this slow period, I believe the best thing to do is work on your website, search engine optimization, and build your social media sites.
However, many still believe that they should spend more money to advertise and over the last few months I have seen some very creative internet advertising -Zoom Whitening for $99, Light Acti-vated Whitening for $25, and a Complete Exam, Two Bitewings, and one hour of Cleaning for $39.
While these dentists have meant well with these creative internet promotions, I can tell you that there are serious problems with the approach.
First, you are not a restaurant where you have something unique to offer and want people to try your food and hopefully keep coming back to your restaurant. Your service is like everyone else, and as such, there is only so far a person will travel and pass so many other dental offices to see you. You will however, drive to the other side of town to eat a good meal and you will recommend the place to others if you like the food.
You may think that you and your staff will provide such good service you will win their loyalty from the patients’ current dentist. Do you really think you and your staff are that good and better than the other thousands of dental teams out there? I believe that each has their unique offerings.
Have you ever wondered why these internet ‘fans’ are coming to your office?
It’s not because of your service, but because you are offering your service at a discount. So, by attracting this price conscious client, do you not think they will ask you for a deal on every service you provide? If you gave an 80% discount on the cleaning, why can’t you discount their restora-tion, denture, or implant? Is this the patient you really want?
Do you actually think you are going to get good patients and that these promotions will help build your business? You have to understand that many people outside your backyard subscribe to these emails. When I mean outside, I mean, Stephenville, Newfoundland and Detroit, Michigan. Remember, when you advertise a deal, many peo-ple will subscribe/purchase it to use when they visit. Hence, you will not get any follow up business other than the one-time loss you experienced.
A loss leader works for milk and water, hoping consumers will buy other lower ticket, high margin items, but even these stores are finding themselves having to set limits, something you cannot do in dentistry.
Those are my thoughts on why you should not waste your time and money on this type of internet advertising. However, you may think I’m wrong and want to take the advice of those who advocate the use of these channels. Remember, these guys have an incentive for you to use these channels. You buy product from them at full cost and sell it to recoup half your cost in the hope of getting patients. Who wins? The patient and the supplier!
Regardless, if you don’t want me to help save you some money, at least let me help save your dental licence. That’s right; the rules in Ontario regarding these advertising channels are much different than those of the United States.
First, you cannot split your fees with anyone other than a Dentist and under certain situations, a Dental Hygienist. The terms of most of these Email Marketing companies is that they take 50% of the revenue received for these services. By you signing a contact with one of these many Email Marketing com-panies, you are splitting your fees for a particular service and hence subject to professional misconduct and the potential discipline which may include fines and/or suspension from the Royal College of Dental Surgeons.
A second violation is in regards to Referral Fees. A dentist in Ontario can-not pay anyone a fee for the referring of patients to their office. By virtue of these companies charging 50% for referral of patients to your office, this could put you in jeopardy for another area of professional misconduct.
Finally, if reductions of fees are advertised, those reduced fees must be charged to everyone, whether they have third-party coverage or not. Furthermore, by offering reductions to only new patients, you may upset patients who have been loyal to you. If you choose to offer light whitening with no expiry for $99 or consults, radiographs and cleanings for $39 to the members of the website, than be ready to do it for anyone for the rest of your life or find yourself with complaints resulting from patient dissatisfaction.
I hope that helps with your marketing decisions, saves you some money, and keeps your Certificate of Registration on your wall.
Dr. Neil J. Gajjar has written numerous articles and lectured on practice management, marketing, and advertising. In addition to being involved in industries outside of Dentistry, he has served on the Marketing Committees of both the Ontario Dental Asso ciation and the Academy of General Dentistry. He has also acted and con-tinues to act as a marketing consultant to numerous dental drug, suppliers, and device manufactures. Dr. Gajjar can be reached at: info@drgajjar.com or visit
