Dentistry is Changing

Here’s what I believe –  there is a quiet revolution happening and it is building momentum. It is my intention to make that revolution loud and powerful! I believe that the dental industry must change how it positions itself in the health based market place.

I am an educator and a strategic practice growth coach.  I help dental practice owners out market their competition!

I am tenacious and sometimes too blunt!

Today’s progressive practice is about more than a “healthy smile”.

The reality is that the epidemiology of dental care is changing. The need for remedial care is declining — and this decline eats at the clinical and profitable foundations of most practices.

In populated areas the oversupply of dentists is a growing issue that often results in practices competing on price and not on the value and the quality of their patient care.

I believe that to be competitive and attract patients you MUST position yourself as one of the critical front line health care services that identify and impact life altering health problems. You must develop a market dominating position that sets your practice apart from your competitors.

You are about so much more than a healthy smile.

If your patients only see your practice as being about:

• beautiful smiles,
• healthy smiles,
• dream smile,
• picture perfect smiles

… then you are doing them, your staff and yourself a disservice. And you limit how profitable your practice can and must be. You under use your resources. You limit how quickly you can grow and you will lose market share to practices who implement strategies that go beyond healthy smiles.

Problems in Dental Practice Growth

I have a low tolerance for dental practices that recommend unnecessary procedures because they face increased competition and are desperate to maintain their incomes. This compromises the integrity of the dental industry. And quite frankly it will not help you maintain your patient base or your income.

I get furious when I hear about practices with patients with oral health issues that may compromise their health – but those practices do very little to educate and impact that outcome.

I empathize with practices that offer discounts as incentives to attract patients – discounting might grow your patient base but it will also eat into your profits. There is a better way!

Growing Your Practice

There are only 3 ways to grow your practice:

1. More New Patients (easy!)
2. More Transactions per patient (easy!)
3. More revenue per transaction (not so easy!)

Bringing in more new patients is about having a market dominating position in your market place.

So now ask yourself what, if anything, makes your practice different from your competitors as perceived by your targeted prospect patients?

Be honest! If I were looking for a new dentist in your community could I make an informed decision? You and I both know that all practices are NOT the same.

Let’s figure out your purpose and brainstorm practice growth strategies.

Request your FREE 60 minutes Dental Practice  Growth Session. Let’s put a “practice growth plan” in place for you!

Kathy D. Harris