Dental Marketing Mastery: Recent Episodes
William Horrocks
Dental Marketing Mastery is brought to you by New Patients Inc.com. In this podcast, Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush share their 30 years of experience in bringing quality new patients to thousands of dental practices across the world.
In this podcast, Mark and Sal help unravel the secrets to optimizing your dental practice's success! You will be introduced to NPI's Call Management & Training coach, Linda McNeil. Join us as Linda delves into the crucial aspects of handling calls effectively, addressing challenges faced by dental practices, and sharing invaluable strategies to ensure you not only convert leads but also maximize your return on investment from marketing efforts. Linda brings years of expertise to the table, guiding you through the art of communication and transforming potential patients into loyal clients. Don't miss out on this episode if you're ready to elevate your practice to new heights!
In this episode, Mark and Sal share tips to navigate the exciting world of launching and growing a startup dental practice. Learn how to create the right strategy to ensure you can accomplish your marketing goals. Most importantly, how to avoid the pitfalls that some experience launching a new practice.
In our latest episode, we delve deep into the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence in dentistry, a topic that's been creating quite a buzz in the dental community and beyond. Join us as we demystify the current landscape of AI-driven advancements for dental practices, from practice management to marketing solutions.
In this podcast episode, join Mark and Sal as they delve into a common concern among dentists: the slowdown in their practices. Unpacking the reasons behind this phenomenon, they offer valuable insights and helpful tips to fuel sustained growth for dental practices.
In this podcast episode, we'll delve into the critical differences between Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) and Targeted Direct Mail for dental marketing. We'll break down the pros and cons of each method, providing valuable insights to help you make informed decisions.
In today's employment environment, there is even more emphasis on efficiencies and effectiveness of the people you employ and the hours they work. Samad Rafe from mConsent and Mark Dilatush discuss existing patient re-engagement.
The hamster wheel: On this podcast Mark Dilatush and Vivek Kinra with PPO Profits share how dentists inadvertently build their own version of a hamster wheel and end up feeling stuck there. You are not stuck. Listen to this podcast to start your journey off the hamster wheel.
Chat GPT and Dentistry: On this podcast Mark Dilatush and Rita Zamora update dentists and their teams on current social media strategies and how AI (artificial intelligence) will impact the process.
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The hamster wheel: On this podcast Mark Dilatush and Sal Khan share how dentists inadvertently build their own version of a hamster wheel and end up feeling stuck there. You are not stuck. Listen to this podcast to start your journey off the hamster wheel.
Our most popular podcast every year is the current year recap/review and our forecast for what dentists can expect next year. This year, we brought in NPI Education Instructors Dr. Andrew Roman and Laci Phillips into the discussion.
In this episode Mark describes the genesis of the Fee for Service Journey series of courses and how together (instructors and dentists), we can disrupt the dental insurance industry. Visit NPI Education and start the revolution today!
In this podcast Mark and Howie discuss how to set up your dental marketing plan for success in 2023.
A LOT has happened at NPI Education since the last time we discussed it in one of our podcasts. If you have forgotten or have no idea what NPI Education is, you'll want to listen to this podcast.
Learn how to evolve your marketing with different targeting and messaging during recession years, to keep your dental practice growing even though the dental market as a whole is shrinking. Learn how to NOT participate in the next recession.
Sit down with Mark Dilatush and listen to some of the new and exciting things happening at New Patients Inc.
As we dive into the last quarter of 2021, NOW is the time to start planing your 2022 marketing. Listen in as Mark Dilatush and Howie Horrocks discuss how planning your marketing for next year will be different than years past. They will discuss the Covid recovery changes the way you should plan and prepare your 2022 marketing.
Podcast Highlights:
- Should budgeting be the same?
- Should I just keep marketing?
- Should I temporarily stop marketing?
- How to make sure you have room in your schedule for new patients
In this podcast, Mark Dilatush and Sal Khan discuss how certain keywords or phrases can be more expensive due to your location and competition. They go over some of the work arounds to this and how the Google Ads bidding environment can drive up the price.
Podcast Highlights:
- Learn what overbought even means
- Learn how Google Ads might become overbought
- Learn some leading indicators which might signal an overbought situation
- What to do with your Google Ad campaign to keep from participating in an overbought situation
If you've never advertised your practice on Google, or you do it yourself, or are paying someone else to do it - these courses are perfect! Listen in as Mark Dilatush, Marci Voigt & Aaron Bartos discuss what to expect from our up coming courses!
Podcast Highlights:
- Small Learning Groups (no more than 10 dentists).
- Short Courses - Typically 45 minutes of learning - 15 min of specific help.
- Hands on - Via Zoom screen share, you will be able to watch your instructors implement their suggestions in a real Google Ad Account
In this podcast, Mark Dilatush and Lee Buzard discuss the marketing pieces you need to consider when buying or selling a dental practice. When purchasing or selling your dental practice you not only have to consider your physical assets (building, equipment, etc), but your online assets as well.
Podcast Highlights:
- Who owns the website?
- Who owns the social media properties?
- Who owns the Google business page and reviews?
- What information your marketing firm needs, to help guide you through the transition
Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush discuss what you might think is a boring topic - forms management. Your business team cares and your patients DEFINITELY care, so we explain everything in this podcast.
Podcast Highlights:
- What it was like 30 years ago to manage paper forms
- What it is like now managing paper forms
- Why patients (especially new ones) care about how you process forms
- How you can be the high tech hero to your patients and your business team for $169 bucks
Mark and Howie discuss where, when, and how to use offers as a call to action in their marketing.
Listeners will learn:
- Choosing the right half of the dental market
- Opportunity Costs
- Give them more than one reason to choose you
- How offers can be damaging
- Use offers to drive volume. Delete offers to drive revenues
- It’s all about “which moms?”
- There’s an opening for you!
Howie and Mark break down source attribution, it's history, and how technology and listening to dentists has evolved into the Practice Control Center.
Listeners will learn:
- What source/attribution is
- What outcome classification is
- What interaction rating is
- Why they all matter a great deal
- How they give the practice owner full visibility
Now is the time to start preparing for April, May 2021 and beyond. Listen in as Howie & Mark divulge what's coming and how to turn a slowdown into a fantastic opportunity.
- Your hygiene schedule will be empty. Now what do you do?
- Where are you going to put new patients?
- How to grow your way out of the Covid downturn.
- Turning the looming dip, into a wonderful opportunity.
Now is the time to start preparing for October - failure to do so will leave you caught off guard and scrambling. Many of you know that when it comes to dental practice management it is vital that you continuously look ahead. Listen in as Howie & Mark discuss what you need to do now to be ready.
Podcast Highlights:
- A Chasm Looms Ahead
- Where Should I Send Your Charts?
- Pre-Paint Your Schedule
- Now is Your Chance
- The 8 Day Rule
In our latest podcast, Mark & Howie dive into the data around web presence optimization and why a website built about this data is more effective than your average website. They will explain how to keep your website on the forefront of consumer demands without breaking your marketing budget. Finally, they talk about a call tracking dashboard that allows you to see which marketing campaigns are producing new patient calls.
Podcast Highlights:
- Web Presence Optimization
- Building websites based upon consumer demand
- Call tracking on steroids!
- A website that is updated every 6 months
We are pleased to announce the release of our audiobook: New Patients Unlimited – Volume 3!
You have heard the sultry voice of Howie Horrocks conveying marketing advice and wisdom based upon over 30 years in the business. Now you can listen to the third book in our Unlimited New Patients series, which is now available on Audible.
In this podcast, Mark & Howie talk about the making of our audiobook, supplementary marketing guides and where you can find a copy of your own to listen too.
Podcast Highlights:
- History of the Unlimited New Patients Series
- Dental Marketing Guides
- The Two Halves of the Dental Market
- Unlimited New Patients – Volume 3 on Audible
Today, Mark & Howie discuss how best to manage your marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic. They will talk about which marketing campaigns should be paused and which ones to move into maintenance mode. Finally, they cover setting reasonable expectations for when you can resume work.
Podcast Highlights:
- How to set reasonable expectations for when work resumes
- How to manage your marketing campaign in the midst of this pandemic
- Know which marketing to pause and which to move to maintenance mode
- Exactly what it takes to rebuild marketing momentum
In this podcast, Mark & Howie discuss what you can do NOW to help increase your new patient capacity when you practice reopens. Taking the time now to adjust how your calendar looks, will allow you to bring on new patients and leave room to re-book appointments that had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
Podcast Highlights:
- How to set your schedule to create room for new patients
- Paint “new patients only” blocks in your calendar now
- Zero Cost Marketing Guide
In this guide, we dive head on into our dental consumer research findings. We combine those with over 30 years of real world marketing result data. What we have found will most definitely surprise you! The first question you may often hear from a prospective patient is ‘How much will it cost?’. This is because they don’t know how to ask the question they really want answered. This guide outlines how to answer the right questions, before they even ask! Know the questions. Answer the questions. More high quality new patients!
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2Qvj8Hk
An All Inclusive Implementation Plan
Our sleep apnea guide provides advice on marketing to internal patients, attracting new external patients and who should be your targeted audience. As well, we offer tips on Google Ad Campaigns, social media promotions and more.
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2Qvj8Hk
An All Inclusive Implementation Plan
Our implant guide outlines how to reach your targeted audience through tested and proven online/offline marketing techniques. We include advice on internal promotions, mailers, Google Ads, and more!
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2Qvj8Hk
An All Inclusive Implementation Plan
In this guide, we discuss a tried and tested method to consistently gain new, high quality patients. In the 6 steps, we outline why you need to include this traditional method of marketing to attract new patients, the benefits of following a winning design layout (hint: you might not agree with it – but trust us!) and how to send the right message!
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2Qvj8Hk
In this guide, we discuss how to increase your new patient volume and grow your practice in 4 steps. These steps can be completed without re-allocating any of your marketing budget. Many practices fail to keep growing due to an all too common bottleneck. Our guide will help you to determine where your bottleneck is occurring, the corrective actions you need to take to clear out the bottleneck and how to prevent further bottlenecks from occurring.
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2Qvj8Hk
A Top Down All Inclusive Step by Step Implementation Plan
Our Google Ad campaign guide provides basic information on a Google Ad campaign and what is required for the setup & initial management. We also discuss when to use technology to help monitor your ad campaign, how to measure if the campaign is effective and understanding of what are reasonable expectations from your campaign.
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2wl6hk4
An All Inclusive Implementation Plan
In this guide, we discuss how to effectively transition your practice to operating as a Fee For Service practice. We outline how using insurance is actually a form of marketing, how to properly transition away from insurance and how to expand your FFS practice.
Download your copy of the e-guide here: http://bit.ly/2xcqgBn
In this chapter we show you how promoting your business on social media will improve your search engine rankings. In addition to websites, social media postings are also ranked and indexed by search engines. These postings are then displayed alongside webpages when a consumer utilizes a search engine.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we discuss the importance of building your online community with your patients. We will show you how most of your postings should be human interest stories and designed to build a human connection between your office and your patients.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we cover pay-per-click advertising in depth. You will learn how to test which keywords are most beneficial to use, how to monitor your campaign and the importance of utilizing artificial intelligence to help with AdWords.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we cover the basics of Facebook advertising. We will review the key definitions you need to know, the limitations that were evident in the early years of Facebook advertising and an appropriate budget to be spending on Facebook ads.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we will tell you about the latest advances in call tracking. With these advances you are now able to see which marketing campaigns produced which results, listen to recorded calls for training purposes, call the missed call backs and use the conversations to source the new patient properly in your practice management software.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter you will learn about benefits of real-time online scheduling. Online scheduling allows a patient to book an appointment with a dental office at their convenience – at 5am, 7pm or midnight! You will learn how this technology allows you to dictate which time slots are available based upon the information provided by the patient.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we show you how to monitor your online reputation. The importance of generating online reviews from patients and the beneficial impact this can have your practice. We discuss what you should look for when signing up for an online review service.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we discuss the ever-evolving technology behind websites. We will show you how websites need to be user-friendly, mobile-friendly and kept up to date.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter you will learn about the major shift in advertising. How many dental practices have (mostly) shifted over to online marketing and the potential errors of doing this. You will discover there is a balance to be struck between online and offline marketing if you wish to maintain a competitive advantage.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In this chapter we discuss how dentistry has evolved since the Unlimited New Patients Volume 3 was released. We review the lessons learned during the recession and how dental practices started thriving during the recovery. We will show you how specialist advertising has changed and the impact DSOs can have on independent dental practices.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3b5odhm
In Chapter 13, we recap the highlights of the 12 previous chapters. We will review with you how to set a budget, how to identify the marketability of your practice, how to understand the consumers’ minds, sure-fire marketing mediums to use and much more!
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 12, we will show you how smart marketing and management strategies can help smooth some of the most common practice transitions and ensure that when you emerge from a period of transition, you’re where you want to be. We will outline marketing strategies and provide management insights that will help you anticipate and troubleshoot potential issues allowing you to make the most of the opportunities that these practice transitions offer.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 11, we are going to show you how to calculate the success rates and financial returns on your marketing activities. We’ll show you the importance of collecting high-quality marketing data to accurately calculate your ROI. You will learn how your own misconceptions and the effects of human and computer error can play havoc on the quality of your marketing data.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 10, you will learn how to determine an appropriate marketing budget for your practice and how to adjust it as your practice grows. We will show you which low-risk marketing mediums to start with. Then, as your marketing activities mature over the years, you can move into moderate and higher risk activities safely.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 9, you will learn the basic areas of internet marketing that you need to pay attention to and engage in. We will explain why you need a user-friendly, fully SEO optimized website to attract new patients. You will also receive an introduction to pay-per-click advertising.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 8, you will learn why direct mail needs to be an integral, fundamental part of your marketing plan – no matter what kind of practice you have, who your target market is or what your goals are! We will educate you on the design style and formula that has proven successful for our clients for nearly 30 years. This is one marketing tactic has proven successful in over 96% of North American markets!
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 7, we will cover a wide range of marketing channels, and cover the advantages and disadvantages of each type to help you make an informed decision on where to spend your marketing dollars.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 6, we will introduce you to the four mass mediums of marketing – billboards, the yellow pages, radio and television. We will cover the advantages and disadvantages of each type to help you make an informed decision on where to spend your marketing dollars.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 5, we will show you how location can affect your ability to build your business and grow your market share. You will learn how to recognize the opportunities and limitations your area presents. We will show you how to beef up your marketing when the doctor to patient ratio is less advantageous.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 4, we will share tips on finding a practice name that’s memorable, descriptive, and that sets up positive associations in the public’s mind. First impressions count for a lot in every business, and the business of dentistry is no different. That’s why choosing a name for your practice is such an important part of your overall brand.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 3, you will learn the difference between the dentist’s perception and the dental consumer’s reality. We will show you how to use the dental consumers’ perceptions to your advantage in your marketing materials. Also, we will show you how damaging a different kind of consumer perception can have on your business.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aaG2va
In Chapter 2, you will learn how important it is to step outside your own specialized mindset and learn to think like a dental consumer. We’ll show you how to put yourself in their shoes and understand what really matters to ordinary people faced with making a decision about who to entrust with their dental care.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/2QpoTpY
In Chapter 1, we discuss how the word ‘invasive’ has two different meanings that are entirely dependent on whether you are in the dental chair or not. We will discuss the business of dentistry, particularly, how to market dentistry to a nervous and recoiling public. Understanding your customer’s needs, wants, fears and concerns is a basic marketing principle.
You can download our free e-book here: http://bit.ly/3aVZrQK
Is the competition around your dental practice too thick? Is it difficult to consistently attract the type of patients you want?
If you’ve answered yes to either of those questions –our latest podcast will be valuable to you!
In our podcast, Mark and I discuss how to compete in a market that is already saturated with dentists. We discuss the importance of watching the marketing bell curve, consistency and which marketing tactics to focus on. After 30 years of exclusively marketing for dentists, we have seen the practices of many clients flourish while competing in saturated markets. Yes, even fee for service practices.
Podcast Highlights:
- How Can You Compete in a Market That is Already Saturated with Dentists?
- It’s not just about money
- Don’t continually re-start the bell curve
- Measure, adjust expectations, then what?
- You must have online AND offline promotions
- Result tracking is a must
Do you know if your marketing efforts are paying off?
Can you accurately track which phone call is the result of which marketing effort?
If the answer to either of these questions is ‘No’, then you are flying blind!
In this podcast, Mark & Howie discuss how to accurately find your digital marketing metrics. This will allow you to hold yourself, your staff and, most importantly, your marketing company accountable to ensure your marketing spend is working for you.
Podcast Topics:
- Stop Flying Blind
- It’s all about tracking where your business is coming from
- Who is accountable? Anyone?
- A good marketing company wants to know if something isn’t working
- You want certainty!
In this podcast, Mark & Howie discuss what separates the most wildly, successful dentists from the dentists who are just…there. The more successful dentists have put certain routines into place that allow them to monitor the correct data, ensure that all phone calls are responded to and have set reasonable expectations for themselves.
The top habits of these successful dentists include:
- Having reasonable expectations especially for your specific marketplace
- To accept that all marketing ideas you try will not work – that’s ok
- Knowledge that all marketing tactics do work together
- Data – know what data to watch
- Pay attention to the details
- Covering the phone consistently and training your staff
It may be hard to believe, but three out of five dental practices will experience some form of dental fraud or embezzlement. Dealing with theft, especially from a trusted employee, can be a shocking experience. There are steps that you can take to help prevent this or catch it early on, there by limiting your loss. In this podcast, Mark interviews Dental Practice Fraud Examiner Susan Gunn and they discuss how to protect your dental practice.
Podcast Highlights:
- Embezzlement, if it’s happening, won’t just go away on its own
- Three out of five practices will experience embezzlement
- Average embezzlement case - $125,000
- Three ways to protect your practice
- It’s not what you do. It’s what you give the appearance that you’re doing.
- Lock’em up!
- Pay attention! Especially during busy times
Howie and Mark discuss dental insurance and what it really means to a dental practice. There are times when insurance participation makes sense. And there are times when it makes much more sense to transition away from insurance dependence.
Over the course of a career it’s possible for a dentist to move back and forth between the two, depending on their overall business goals.
Podcast Highlights:
- Dental Insurance. What is it Really?
- It’s a Highly Charged Subject
- It’s Just a Marketing Medium
- You Get to Capacity. Then What?
- Using Insurance to Fill Volume
- Boiling it Down
In today’s podcast, Mark Dilatush hosts a special guest, Dr. Marvin Berlin. The topic they discuss is increasing case acceptance. Dr. Berlin has fine-tuned the process of utilizing dental photography with each of his patients. By being able to show them their teeth, he has found a way to better educate his patients on why a specific procedure is required.
You might want to listen to this guy. His practice does 8 figures each year!
If you would like to learn more about dental photography, Dr. Berlin will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday, December 10 at 6pm (CST). Visit DentalPics.com to learn more!
Podcast Highlights:
- It’s All About the Patient Understanding Their Dental Condition
- In the Beginning
- Online Learning
- This is Our System
- Establishing Trust is a Must
- A Seven Minute Process
- Other Uses for Photography
In our latest podcast, Mark and Howie discuss how to achieve a fee-for-service dental practice. If you listen to insurance companies, you’ll be led to believe you cannot survive without them. Of course, this is pure bunk. Not only can you survive, but you can THRIVE. With a little planning and guidance, you can transition to a fee-for-service practice. We lay out the exact steps that will get you there.
Podcast Highlights:
- Defining "Fee-for-Service"
- Getting Out of the Insurance Trap
- It's a Process
- Replacing Your Insurance Patients
- Never Go Cold Turkey
It is incredibly important that you spend a small percentage of your annual marketing budget on maintaining your local optimization. Whether you focus on organic/paid marketing, online/offline marketing or a combination of all of the above, this one piece is incredibly important. You do NOT want to overlook this piece!
Podcast Highlights:
- Local SEO - What is it?
- Driving Traffic to Your Website
- How Do Other Dentists Get Listed?
- The Importance in Monitoring Your Google My Business Listing
- It's a War for the Consumer's Mind
- The Value of a Review
- Passive and Aggressive Marketing
In this episode, Mark & Howie discuss the importance of getting a jump on your 2020 marketing. They discuss how over capacity restricts new patient growth, upgrading your website, where and how to allocate your marketing budget and much more.
Podcast Highlights:
- The Over Capacity Trap
- Upgrading Your Website
- Line Up Your Marketing Assets and Liabilities
- We’re Bullish on Dentistry
- Budget Allocation
In this podcast, Howie Horrocks & Mark Dilatush discuss how to attract larger cases through promotion of niche services. Listen as they discuss who promote to first (hint: you already know them) and what type of marketing tactics to use.
Podcast Highlights:
- In Search of Bigger Cases
- It’s About the Niches
- Passive and Aggressive Marketing
- Do Both
In this podcast, Howie Horrocks & Mark Dilatush answer the question "Can your marketing impact your administrative costs?" Yes - it can! Learn how half of the market will ignore you if you are offering deals and why that is the half of the market you do not want to lose!
Podcast Highlights:
- Two Halves of the Dental Consumer Market
- Seeking Immediate Results Will Cost You in the Long Run
- Hidden Costs Can Kill Profits
- Top Market Half Will Ignore You
- What Happens if Treatment Plan Acceptance Goes Down?
- Someone Has to Chase Them Down
- You Create the Problem
- Race to the Bottom
In this podcast, Howie Horrocks & Mark Dilatush discuss the benefits of regular maintenance and upgrading of your website.
Podcast Highlights
- Love Your Website Again
- What to Own, What to Delegate
- Regular Maintenance and Upgrading
- Delegate Minutiae
- Knowing What You Get from Your Website
- Be the Dentist
After listening to this podcast, visit us online to learn how New Patients Inc and npiClick.com can help you with your website!
What is Fusion MarketingTM from npiClick?
In this podcast, Howie Horrocks & Mark Dilatush discuss the benefits of merging traditional (offline) marketing with digital (online) marketing.
Podcast Highlights
- Fusion Dental MarketingTM
- Merging Digital Marketing with Traditional Marketing
- Reducing Advertising Waste While Increasing Impact
- Reaching the High Quality New Patient
- It's Never Just One Thing
After listening to this podcast, visit us online to learn more about Fusion Dental MarketingTM.
New Patient Calls with Sandy Pardue & Dana Salisbury
In this podcast, Mark Dilatush, Sandy Pardue & Dana Salisbury discuss how poor handling of patient calls can have a huge effect on patient bookings. They discuss some of the topics that will be covered in-depth during any of the Academy of Scheduling Excellence seminars that Sandy will be hosting.
Some of the highlights of attending one of these seminars:
- How to effectively handle incoming calls that produce favorable results
- Essential verbal skills required to increase treatment acceptance
- How to retain more patients
- How to double your new patient average
- How to answer difficult patient questions that put your staff on the spot
- Processes to eliminate no-shows and to control broken appointments
Unique to these seminars
Each practice that attends will receive one of the Classic Practice Resource flip charts, where the proper protocols are outlined for confirmation, recall and re-activation phone calls. Normally, the only way to attain one of these flip charts is by participating in the one-year consulting program.
Here is a list of the upcoming dates for these one day seminars:
- Baton Rouge, LA on June 20th
- Los Alamitos, CA on July 26th
- Raleigh, NC on August 23rd
- Natick, MA on September 27
To register and view the full seminar description, please visit: ClassicPractice.com
Capacity Restrictions. The Silent Practice Killer
This podcast highlights the following topics:
- Your capacity is killing you
- We keep hearing this theme
- A full schedule is cool. Right?
- Who to pre-appoint and who not to pre-appoint
- All you have to be is open and available
- Online scheduling will help
- So that's the fire alarm
To book a one-on-one consult with a dental marketing expert, please visit us at https://www.newpatientsinc.com/
This podcast covers the following topics
- The marriage of offline and online dental marketing
- A bit about the history of how we got here
- How this all benefits dentistry as a whole
- How it impacts clients
- How artificial intelligence is used
You can learn even more at https://npiclick.com
In our most recent podcast, Howie and Mark set your Dental Marketing New Year's resolutions, so you don't have to!
Podcast Highlights
- Balance your marketing budget properly.
- Do not allow your practice to be held hostage (we will explain).
- Manage your practice's capacity...Monthly.
- Pre-appointing hygiene - End the madness.
2019 - Your marketing budget allocation...
In our most recent podcast, Howie and Mark discuss budget allocation, and where it should be in 2019.
Podcast Highlights:
- Internal Marketing
- Online (aggressive)
- Offline (passive)
- The 60/40 - 40/60 balance. (Part of the Secret Sauce)
In our most recent podcast, Howie and Mark discuss fixing the dreaded revenue plateau (or drop). The reasons behind the revenue plateaus are not uncommon, but not always so easily identifiable.
Podcast highlights:
- Patient capacity
-
Patient quality vs patient quantity
-
Revenue per patient
-
Patient scheduling optimization
In our most recent podcast, Mark and Howie explain SEO in layperson terms. They explain the what, where, and why involved with search engine optimization.
- Realistic cost and ROI expectations in an average dental market
- How Social Media is leveraged to boost your exposure
- On page changes vs off page changes
- When Google makes a change, you better change with them
- And more...
This podcast ties together the topics of multiple past podcasts. Listen as Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush connect the dots between overcapacity, pre-appointing, and promoting your practice on price.
Podcast Highlights:
- Scenario: start with a price deal and pre-appoint everyone, filling the schedule
- The illusion of security based on that full schedule
- The issue of what type of patients takes up all the appointments
- What happens to your growth when you reach overcapacity
- Two big problems this situation creates
- How to avoid this slippery slope
- How to reverse the slide if you’ve already started
- What about if you don’t promote on price but do pre-appoint hygiene?
In our latest podcast, Mark Dilatush and Howie Horrocks talk about dental implants and how to entice new potential dental implant patients, without focusing on the implant itself.
Podcast Highlights:
- Educating patients on the benefits of dental implants
- Using Google Adwords, Facebook, and direct mail to inform
- Understanding passive vs. aggressive marketing
- The challenges of online search engines for implant patients and price shopping
- Implementing alternate, less-costly search terms to reduce online advertising costs
- Tapping into the anger of denture patients who might be prime for dental implants
- The benefits of targeting by age
- Patients of record as a valuable source of referrals for implant patients
In this episode, Howie and Mark discuss hitting dental practice plateaus. Is your practice growth stalled? Learn more about how to handle and anticipate future patient plateaus.
Podcast Highlights:
- Discussion of the various career plateau points for a dental practice
- When to add a hygienist to a starter solo practice
- Stalling at $800–850,000 gross revenue—and how to break through
- Referrals and insurance participation plateaus
- Aging patient base plateaus
- Relying less on insurance plans and more on marketing
- Transitioning into promoting your practice
- The always-increasing costs of business, combined with reimbursements going down—leading to plateaus
- Pre-appointment plateaus
- Recognizing when your team is too busy and overwhelmed, leading to practice stagnation, poor customer service, and less time for collections and booking future appointments
Join Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush of New Patients, Inc., as they discuss dental insurance participation, the pros and cons, and how to make it work for your dental practice.
Podcast Highlights:
- When insurance companies cut reimbursements, should you take it or leave it?
- Transitioning away from insurance dependence.
- Not feeling cornered or helpless—there is hope.
- How to fight back and take action.
- Finding patients who value you and your team more than an insurance plan.
- Using Membership Plans to ease the transition.
- How long does it take?
- Unifying and motivating your team for success.
- Preparing, executing, and budgeting for a marketing plan as a way to replace insurance-dependent patients.
- Calculating how many new patients you need to replace insurance patients.
- Consciously targeting higher-quality new patients.
This week, Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush discuss the upcoming update to their bestselling book, Unlimited New Patients, Volume 3.
Podcast Highlights:
- Is Unlimited New Patients, Volume 3 still valuable? (Spoiler alert: YES!)
- How dentistry has evolved over the past several years
- Sneak peek at topics:
- The Business of Dentistry
- Data Tracking
- Websites
- Social Media
- Search Engine Marketing
- Reputation Management
- Online Scheduling
- Online Advertising
- Call Management
- Original book and update both free!
This week, join Mark Dilatush with special guest Lee Buzard, NPI’s VP of Professional Relations, as they explain how they develop marketing plans for the upcoming year.
Podcast Highlights:
- What questions to ask/answer
- Determining goals for growth
- What’s your current capacity?
- Taking stock of current marketing assets
- websites
- internal marketing
- positioning
- external marketing
- reviews
- online scheduling
- Prioritization
- What’s not working?
- What needs the most help?
- Budget allocation
- Online versus offline marketing
- The influence of your location
- Monitoring results
In this episode, Howie and Mark talk about your competition. Who are they? How are they promoting their practices? Why does it matter? You can either ignore it, or exploit it to your advantage! Learn how to set yourself apart.
Podcast Highlights:
- Niche vs. price
- Positioning in the local market
- What sets you apart?
- Financing
- Convenience
- Public relations assets
- Technologies
- Competitors too focused on low prices?
- NOT using price in marketing to set yourself apart
Are your new patient numbers staying the same each month? What can you do to fix it without a big investment in time or money? What could be the issue? In this episode, Mark and Howie discuss how your schedule and capacity could be to blame and how to use block scheduling to increase your new patient numbers.
Podcast Highlights:
- What issues contribute to stagnation?
- Taking away availability
- Fixing capacity
- “I’m stuck at X new patients/month!”
- Taking away barriers to creating appointments
- Apply this strategy that will work immediately
- How to do block scheduling correctly
- How long until you see results?
In this episode, we continue our discussion of Google Adwords and PPC in general. We discuss high volume vs. quality searches, effective landing pages, the economy of language, and more!
Podcast Highlights:
- Website optimization
- SEO specialists
- The foundations of PPC
- Keywords for high volume patients
- Keywords for high quality patients
- Effective landing pages
- Understanding the searcher's mentality
- Economy of language
- Analyzing your PPC budget before diving in
Which marketing efforts are generating a return? How can you tell? In this episode, Howie discusses ROI, short term vs. long term returns, tracking, the marketing bell curve, and more!
Podcast Highlights:
- Finding out which marketing efforts created patients
- ROI can be difficult to track
- Offline Marketing ROI
- First-Level ROI
- New Patient Lifetime ROI
- The Radio?
- Offline traffic drives online traffic
- Referral sources
- Call tracking
- Referral chains
- First-level ROI is short-sighted!
- The marketing bell curve
- Mail list cross referencing
- Getting staff to accurately track source fields
How do you get your money's worth? How do you know? How do you analyze your Adwords market before even even starting? How do you track your data after the click? When do you turn off certain ads? We discuss all of this and more!
Podcast Highlights:
- When adwords slow down
- The “try this, try that” mentality
- The knowledge lacked by the dental consumer
- Geotargeting and inexpensive clicks
- The surprising keywords that are searched for and how to find them
- Adwords tracking with analytics
- Measuring analytics after the click
- Landing page design for conversions
- Getting ghosted by web visitors
- Call tracking
- The importance of an analytics dashboard
- What are you getting for your money?
- Receiving wrong-number phone calls
- Cutting off bad ads
- Getting your market analyzed
- Knowing when to do Adwords
In this episode, we discuss Google Adwords and other forms of SEM. How much should you spend? How does it work? Should you do adwords yourself? Who are your main competitors? All of this and more! PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS: * What's the deal with Google Adwords? * What's a "moderate" spend with Google Ads? * Passive vs. aggressive marketing * The basics of search engine marketing * Why are the obvious things easy mistakes? * Doing Adwords yourself? * The realities of Adword management * The bidding process * When search terms get overbid * What is NPI Command? * Popular search terms vs. terms that will work * Adwords competition
How do you continue to claim your local market? How is your competition promoting? What markets have opened up? How do these markets respond to dental advertising? We discuss all of this and more in part 3 of claiming your market.
- Main competition
- Recovering from the recession
- How much did dentistry lose during the recession?
- How did our clients beat the main dental market by 25%?
- The market that opened up after the recession
- What your competition will NOT be promoting
- Budget allocation… again!
- Being too busy
- Fixing capacity for new patients
- Different business models for dentistry
- The impact of marketing and non-marketing
- DSO practice ownership
- DSO practice scaling
- Which half of the market are you marketing to?
- How will these markets respond to different advertising
- How to avoid alienating the top half of the market
- Acquiring your competition
- Competing with specialists
What is your core market? How do you build this foundation of patients? We explore this concept and more in our latest episode of Dental Marketing Mastery.
Podcast Highlights:
- Understanding your core market
- Getting to this market before your competitors
- Patient families
- How your core market produces 11x more ROI than any other market
- Finding the marketing mediums to reach this core
- The folly of doing online-only marketing
- How your online reviews affect you
Managing your online reviews - Online scheduling now mandatory
- How online scheduling affects new and existing patients
- The five channels you need to invest in
- The staples of dentistry
- Promoting staples before the fancy stuff
- Where to put your budget while claiming your market
- How long does it take to claim your core market?
- Building a niche practice from a family practice
You don't want to be the annoying guy from Wyoming taking a little bit of gold from everyone. You need to make a choice and then stake your claim! In this episode, we discuss the finding your local market and making it yours.
Podcast Highlights: * "I'm disappointed with what I did previously and want the 1 thing that will help me next" * Is there ONE trick that will get you new patients? * Staking your claim on the patients around you * The multiple front approach required * What worked in the old days vs. now * What's your "marketing universe?" * Building the biggest, nicest, funnest practice * Why do so many dentists use price incentives? * Patients who pick price incentives vs. patients who pick quality of dental care * "The cheap dentist in town" * The bell curve on patients * How long until pricing-based promotions have diminishing returns? * How long until quality promotions have diminishing returns? * How far will patients drive to get to your practice?
Questions? Give us a call at 866-718-4278 or visit www.newpatientsinc.com
Google is changing, and we're here to keep you updated! In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we talk about review gating, the new SSL changes, updating your website, and more.
Podcast Highlights:
- What is review gating?
- Google’s changes to review gating
- NPI Crusader™
- Companies that have their own review sites
- SSL security change
- What is SSL security?
- What happens if you don’t have it?
- When is the deadline?
- How do you get your certificate?
- Updating your website
- How often should you update your website?
- What if you have multiple locations?
In this episode, we interview Norm Gelfand of Dental Real Estate Experts! We discuss expanding your practice, the ins and outs of leasing, landlord agreements, and more.
Podcast Highlights:
- Expanding your practice with real estate
- The ins and outs of leasing
- What do attorneys overlook?
- Real-estate horror stories!
- The 61 vital points in a dental lease
- Agreements between owner, landlord, lender
- When buildings go into foreclosure
- What’s a latent defect?
- Protecting yourself as a tenant
- Reaching out to Norm:
- dentalrealestateexperts.com
- ngelfand@dentalrxp.com
- 512.833.5300
- Get your lease looked at!
It's not you, doc! In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we discuss how to increase case acceptance, what the underlying problems with low case acceptance may be, and how to fix it.
Podcast Highlights:
- The assistant, front desk, and hygienist
- Why is case acceptance not where it needs to be?
- Purchasing a practice – how long does it take existing patients to accept you?
- Cancelled appointments
- Is it you, or patient quality?
- Attracting the right patients
- “Do you take my insurance?” vs real dental questions
- Do you want patients who choose you because you are cheap or because of your dentistry?
- Promoting to the right half of the dental market
Is insurance the mob? Do you have to take their deal? And if you do, how do you get the most out of it? How do you get out? We discuss all of this and more in this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery!
Podcast Highlights:
- Insurance as a marketing medium
- Up front costs
- Transitioning away from insurance
- Existing patients
- Dealing with getting rid of insurance
- New technologies
- Online scheduling
- Adding convenience and value
In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we talk about leads. What is a valuable lead? How do you get leads into the chair? How do you avoid missed opportunities, and more.
Podcast Highlights:
- Leads vs. patients in the chair
- Defining a lead
- Missed appointments
- Converting leads into patients
- Why creating leads isn’t the end all be all
- Avoiding missed opportunities
- Why aren’t you following up?
- How to work your lead funnels
- Generating appointments and phone calls
- Cost per lead vs. cost per patient
- Knowing your marketing numbers
- Understanding the value of a lead
Our 100th podcast! In this episode, we go over an important question: when should you focus on niche dentistry, and when should you not? Is it possible to over-niche? How does the state of dentistry, your budget, and your capacity affect this decision?
Podcast Highlights:
- How to keep marketing momentum
- Over-niching
- Budget allocation
- Handling capacity
- Operatories
- Review gating
In our final installment of "Top 10 Ways To Destroy Your Advertising Results," we go over the issues with dictating your own strategy, not recognizing your own marketable attributes, not fully utilizing all marketing channels, and letting personal taste dictate your marketing.
#7: Dictating Your Own Strategy
- Ancillary information vs. statistics
- Consumer research, testing, and strategy
#8: Not Recognizing Marketable Attributes
- Prioritizing services
- Conveniences!
- Technologies
- Public relations assets
#9: Believing Offline Promotion is Dead
- Offline drives online
- Mail: the dark horse
#10: Personal Taste
- What works vs. what you like
- Looks vs. results
We continue our discussion of the top 10 ways to destroy your advertising results in part 2! In this episode, we discuss treating your practice like a business, budgeting, allocating marketing responsibilities, and market demographics.
#4 Not Treating the Practice Like A Business
- Not having a budget
- What percentage of your practice revenue should go into marketing?
- Budgets: spending limitation, NOT a promissory note
- Not being consistent with marketing
#5 Having Multiple Companies Handle Your Marketing
- Which assets belong to who?
- Having 5 companies for your marketing?
- Online scheduling, reputation management
- Driving yourself crazy!
- Not working thematically
#6 Promoting to the Wrong Half of the Market
- Defining the right half of the market
- Short-term patients vs. long term patients
- The difference between a shopper and good quality
- Getting caught in the volume game
- Kissing a lot of frogs to find a prince
- Becoming the “cheap dentist” in town
- Competing with corporate offices
A top 10? From us? Yep! In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we answer the question, "what tanks your marketing?" We then discuss understanding data can help you set realistic expectations with your marketing and produce great results.
Podcast Highlights:
- Hello to our listeners from Australia!
- How do dentists get in the way of their own advertising results?
-
1: Expecting everything... TODAY (time)
- Market penetration
- "A 27 year overnight success!"
- Understanding the marketing bell curve
- How many impressions do you need to make?
-
2: Transparency with what works and what doesn't
-
Feelings vs. statistics
- The start and stop mentality
- Result tracking, call tracking
-
3: Having unrealistic expectations
-
How to set realistic expectations with data
- Understanding market penetration
- Quality of patients vs. quantity of patients
Continuing our series on promoting niche dentistry, we go over Invisalign® and Six Month Smiles®. What message do you send? Who is your target market? Why? In this episode, we show you how to communicate these services and give tips on executing these campaigns.
Podcast Highlights
- Invisalign® – a different beast
- Email josh@newpatientsinc.com if you have questions
- Convincing the public why you’re the right Invisalign® provider
- Which crowd wants Invisalign®?
- How do you promote Invisalign®?
- Making first impressions
- Making appointments convenient for patients
- Veneers
- Making instant orthodontics easy to explain
- Good dental marketing makes patients ask more than “do you take my insurance?”
- Communicating 6 month smiles
- Starting with existing patients
- When patients don’t know what you don’t tell them
- Search Engine Marketing
- Landing Pages
- Complimentary Offers
Promoting sleep apnea treatment means sending the right message and tailoring that message to your audience. In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we discuss how to do so, and we go over a few marketing mediums you can utilize to create sleep apnea patients.
Podcast Highlights:
- What is the conversation starter?
- Getting the right partnerships
- Post cards?
- Sending the right message
- Google Adwords
- Humanizing the connection between dentist and potential new patient
We continue our discussion of promoting dental implants with part 2! In part 2, we go a little deeper into sending the right message, using Google Adwords, doing market research, and managing your campaigns.
Podcast Highlights:
- Sending the right message to consumers
- Avoiding before/after photos
- The challenges of promoting dental implants
- Correctly using pictures and testimonials
- Google AdWords for dental implants
- Knowing whether or not you are in a competitive market
- Utilizing the correct media types
- Who should manage these campaigns?
- Combining your practice’s marketable attributes with implants
How do you promote dental implants? Where do you start? What demographics do you go after? How do you frame your message? All this and more in our newest episode of Dental Marketing Mastery.
Podcast Highlights:
- Where to start
- Educational vignettes
- Benefit-based marketing
- Who are my captive audiences?
- Which statistics to measure before creating your campaign
- Combining implant niche with other niches
- Managing patient conceptions
- Managing the flow of new cases
- Organic growth from existing patient base
- Practice marketable attributes that help promote implants
- Marketing channels based on area
- The amount to spend on niche marketing
What is the difference between a request for an appointment, and an actual appointment? How has scheduling evolved over the years? How do you turn visitors into patients while avoiding common pitfalls?
In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we interview Lee Buzard, an NPI advisor and former practice owner, about his experiences.
Podcast Highlights:
- The old way appointments were scheduled
- Where do patients go if they cannot schedule?
- The percent of requests that end up in a chair
- The risks of taking shortcuts
- Real appointments vs. requests for appointments
- Onboarding new patients effectively
- Avoiding fake appointment requests
- Online scheduling done wrong
- The importance of email verification
- Appointment-creation redundancies
- Emergency patients
Have you found yourself in a great market? Well, you might not be alone! In this podcast, we explain what you should do if you're in a great market area, how to approach it, and how to get a hold of it before your competitors do.
Podcast Highlights:
- Are you really in an untapped market?
- Understanding your doctor to patient ratio
- What to do the first 2 years of dental advertising
- Capturing the market before others do
- Setting your marketing foundation
- Delivering the right message
- Building marketing like a home
- Picking the right marketing firm the first time
- Avoiding the “try this, try that” mentality
In this episode, we discuss how to make a good first impression on who matters most -- moms! Review management, showing the benefits of dentistry, and properly educating the consumer all work towards this goal. So how do you go about it?
Podcast Highlights
- Looking at your office objectively
- Seeing from the point of view as a consumer
- How to make a good impression, PERIOD
- What can you do for THEM
- Do new patients really know the benefits of dentistry?
- How do you impress today’s mom?
- Managing reviews
- The phone: the most important first impression
- Working the front desk
- Informed patients that ask the right questions
We interview Jason Siruchek of Dental Elevated to discuss technology, teamwork, and direction.
Podcast Highlights
- A new way for dental offices and staff to get what they need in an efficient manner!
- What is dental elevated?
- Systems, training, implementation of practices
- Application of information
- Utilizing technology in your practice
- The wealth of information about dentistry
- Where do you start? Where do you go next?
- The benefits of a coaching company
- Moving your team in the same direction
- Facebook groups
- Navigating the information available today
- Dental Peer Groups and accountability
- Staying modern with teaching
- Cross training vs. Cross-experience
- Coupon Code: NPI2018 to receive discount on dentalelevated.com
In this episode, Mark and Howie answer some questions we've been receiving about dental marketing:
- How do I get my associate to take insurance when I don't?
- What's the deal with duplicate content?
- When should I redo my website?
Podcast Highlights:
- Preventing dentistry becoming a commodity
- How to get my associate to take insurance… when I don’t!
- Insurance steps and attention to detail
- What if you have separate offices?
- Duplicate content – really as bad as you think?
- Who got penalized? No one!
- Updating your website
- Keeping up to date
- How much should hosting really cost?
In this episode, Mark and Howie go over Direct Mail marketing, what results you can expect, how to get the most out of mail, and why it is still the best medium for dental advertising.
Podcast Highlights:
- Old is cool again
- Direct mail never stopped being the lowest risk ad medium
- What results should you expect from direct marketing?
- The mail return for the average dentist
- The mail return for dentists in competitive areas
- Steady stream of higher-than average customers in the market you serve
- The marketing foundations you need
- Finding your mail results
- Patients per address
- Dentistry rebound
- Making decisions on poor, incomplete, or missing information
- Improperly targeting mail
Speaking to website visitors, converting them into patients, and more! In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, Mark interviews Scott Hansen of professionalchats.com about radical convenience, removing sales friction, and more.
Podcast Highlights:
- Practice management and dental experience
- Turning website visitors into conversions
- Utilizing online conversion tools
- Online chat services
- Outsourcing your online chat
- Answering service vs. a Concierge
- Managing positive patient experiences
- Paying to get the phone to ring… then not converting calls into patients!
- Patient follow ups
- Reaching out to patients using professionalchats.com
- The Age of Radical Convenience
- Reducing sales friction
- Learn more: scott@professionalchats.com
Emergency! In this episode of Dental Marketing Mastery, we discuss emergency patients and how you can get them to find you. We also go over some updates on Call Tracking and Google PPC.
Podcast Highlights:
- Emergency patients
- Online scheduling in Canada
- What’s a bad click source?
- Too many light switches
- Turning off the bad light switches
- Embracing emergency patients
- The influx of emergency patients
- How do you get emergency patients with Adwords?
- Utilizing new platforms