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Time to market successfully - Tim Caudrelier

Time to market successfully - Tim Caudrelier

You may think that advertising and marketing takes a substantial amount of time and effort and in most cases you’d be right – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Through the help of professionals, an effective system can be implemented to efficiently increase patient retention, acquisition, satisfaction and loyalty, as well as differentiating customer value, developing customers via up-sell and cross-sell opportunities and decreasing costs associated with low response rates[i].

 

Automated systems have become one of the main trends in modern marketing, proven successful across a wide range of industries. With developments in information and communication technology, businesses both large and small are able to build up substantial customer databases with real-time data. Strong software packages can then be utilised to analyse the findings to the advantage of the company.

 

Many of these marketing solutions are based on customer relationship management (CRM) or customer value management (CVM). These focus on the analysis of individual data to acquire and retain consumers and to drive behaviour with developed marketing strategies in such a way that the value of all current and future customers is optimised[ii]. The main objective is to better understand individuals by collecting relevant information and then making the most of this data to manage customer value and firm profitabilityi. With patients interacting through a number of channels, information can be collated from various touch points, such as face-to-face, telephone conversations or online. The information can then be used to better understand, monitor and influence customer behaviour through targeted emails. This shift in perspective in recent years from a product orientation to customer orientation brings marketing back to where it should be – about the patient experience.

 

As a service sector, dentistry should always be about providing the patient with the best experience possible. From the first time individuals access your website to the treatment provided and beyond, the way you and your team interact with the patient affects their overall opinion of the practice. This in turn impacts on future loyalty and whether they recommend your practice to family, friends and colleagues.

 

Implementing an effective system, such as AIM – Automated Intelligent Marketing –from 7connections can help you achieve outstanding results with minimum time and effort. The experts at 7connections can work with you and take care of virtually every aspect, so you don’t have to worry about setting up the technology, writing emails or sending them. Information can be targeted successfully to increase product and treatment sales in an economic and effective manner.

 

For your chance to find out more and claim your free three-month trial of AIM, contact 7connections today.

 

For more information about 7connections and the three-month free trial with AIM, please call 01647 478145, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

or visit www.7connections.com



[i] Aksoy, L., Keiningham, T. L., & Bejou, D. (2008). Objectives of customer centric approaches in relationship marketing. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 6, 1-8.

[ii] Morgan, R. M., et al. (2015). Handbook on Research in Relationship Marketing. Available online: http://bit.ly/1gtVhTy [Accessed 11th August 2015].

 

 

  3264 Hits
3264 Hits
JAN
14
0

The 7 Pain Points - Tim Caudrelier

The 7 Pain Points - Tim Caudrelier

Running a successful dental practice, like any small business takes time, effort, perseverance and a little luck. It can be a mammoth step-change going from practising as an associate dentist to owning and operating your own dental practice, and without the essential support and guidance of experts, clinicians will be relying on more than just a little luck.

 

For instance, there can be many reasons why a particular strategy or business approach doesn't garner the results you desire, but without the experienced know-how of business specialists, dentists may find they lack the commercial insight needed for their practice to be a success.

 

Naturally, such insights are gathered over a long period of experience – lots of trial and error – and are based on seeing first hand what works and what doesn't. Having worked with dental practices for many years, at 7connections we have established the following 7 pain points that at some time every practice will have to overcome in order to succeed.

 

1. Lack of Balance

In a recent survey that asked what factors are most important to the UK population, 53.7% said work-life balance was the top concern.[i] And yet according to data from the office of national statistics, almost one in two adults report low satisfaction with their work life balance.[ii]

 

As a practice owner, you can spend 28-35 hours a week performing clinical activity, and then still have to run your business; this can be at least another 10 hours! Achieving a balance therefore requires reducing the time spent working, which means either getting a better team or utilising better systems.

 

2. Lack of Profitability

When you work hard, you naturally want to see your business making money. However, most practices will suffer at some point from a lack of profitability. In short, if your practice costs more to operate than the amount of revenue generated, then it will soon face real problems. But if you employ the correct model and well-established systems this can easily be avoided.

 

3. Lack of Growth

Business growth is essential, you should aim for growth to be at least in line with inflation, and more if you want to eventually sell for a profit. Therefore if you experience a drop in turnover or a lack of progress across your business, it’s time to consider a change.

 

4. Lack of New Patients

A dental practice will always need new patients. To achieve a steady flow, all you need is 20 leads per full time dental surgery per month. Ideally these patients will spend between £1,500 and £1,700 in their first year with you. This will help deliver the sustainable growth required. But bear in mind that every aspect of your practice affects how new patients invest in your services. From your marketing to your systems, to the way your reception looks, it is essential the patient journey reflect the demographic you want to attract.

 

5. Lack of Team Trust

For any successful business, you need a motivated team who all perform and behave according to your exacting brand standards. However, developing and maintaining a dedicated workforce can be one of the biggest challenges you’ll face. Remember any system you create is only as good as the people you have implementing it.

 

6. Lack of Systems

We talk a lot about systems, and for any business to be a success it needs well thought out systems that underline everything you do. Every part of your business should have a system that exists in a manual that your team can refer to and implement. To begin with this requires a lot of hard work, but will ensure that later down the line, your business is ready for the future growth and expansion you desire.

 

7. Lack of Productivity

A key component of success for any dental practice comes down to the individual profitability of every fee-earner in the business. It’s vital to analyse the productivity and profitability of each clinician, and to ensure they are always kept busy – and in order to do that you need leads and conversions.

 

The Solution

If these pain points are sounding familiar there are solutions that will help to address them all. In order to fix these points and build your business you will need to optimise every part of your practice – both through the right use of human resources, and through implementing efficient systems and protocols.

 

The best place to start this is in reviewing your Patient Journey and evaluating how you attract and retain new patients. The much discussed seven-step principle known as ‘lifecycle marketing’, can help you to optimise this process, as it effectively encapsulates the process of attracting new patients and retaining them by building and developing long-term relationships.

 

For more information about 7connections, please call 01647 478145 or email pThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Alternatively, please visit the new website www.7connections.com.

 



[ii] 48.4% of UK adults reported relatively low satisfaction with their work-life balance. Office for national statistics, http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/mro/news-release/measuring-well-being-initiative-highlights-work-life-balance/whatwedonr0312.html [accessed 13.3.15]

 

  4291 Hits
4291 Hits
JAN
12
0

When traffic is a good thing - Tim Caudrelier

When traffic is a good thing - Tim Caudrelier

Gone are the days when a website that simply listed your products or services was adequate. Now, with rapidly developing technology, digital advertising and social media you can create an online interactive presence to connect with your existing patients, while also attracting new people to your practice. But what is the best way to boost traffic to your website and convert leads into customers?
 

Until recently, patient use of the internet involved the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. However, now Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have become search engines in their own right[1]. Competition for website surfers looking for information has therefore increased and consumers now have choices they did not have a few years ago. As the online arena becomes more flooded with commerce, buyers have the desire and ability to become familiar with a brand before they purchase. This is changing online buying behaviour and people are opting for two, three or four lead magnets before buying.
 

Traffic platforms are also changing and becoming overcrowded. Take Facebook as an example – previously you could send Facebook traffic to a squeeze page with just a headline and an opt in box, but now it is becoming increasingly strict with what kind of landing pages it allows traffic to be directed to.
 

This crowding of traffic has also caused people to become highly adept at ignoring advertising in all its forms – TV commercials are skipped and emails from unknown senders are left unopened. So although there are various options available to buy advertising, this alone is no longer an effective option for driving traffic to your website. Instead you have to earn traffic by creating valuable content that attracts visitors. Through the development of informative content, you can encourage leads to your site. Reports or webinars, for example, on the latest treatments and oral healthcare advice will engage patients and create interest. More importantly, this information will also allow you to develop a trusted relationship with individuals.
 

Building your content library one piece at a time is an ideal way to start, as this will ensure you have new and interesting topics for patients and potential patients to read and engage with regularly. These could include blog posts, videos, case studies, reports and webinars, and before you know it, you will have a substantial source of work that will help raise the profile of your practice and generate new leads.
 

Having a well-thought-out marketing system in place, such as AIM – Automated Intelligent Marketing – will then allow you to target the information to the correct patients successfully. Developed by 7connections, AIM utilises the lifecycle marketing concept to effectively target communication and create smarter lead management, resulting in enhanced lead conversion rates, increased sales and greater profits.
 

There are many ways to enhance traffic to your website, however just investing time and money on advertising without a clear and structured plan will result in a number of missed opportunities. Developing quality content and then marketing it through an effective proven system will ensure leads are created and converted and patients retained.

 

For more information about 7connections, please call 01647 478145 or email pThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Alternatively, please visit the new website www.7connections.com.

 



[1] Romano, R., & Baum, N. (2015). The business side of developing a social media presence into your medical practice. The Complete Business Guide for a Successful Medial Practice, 239-248. Available online: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-11095-0_20 [Accessed 20th August 2015].

 

  3688 Hits
3688 Hits
NOV
30
0

Optimising your practice - Tim Caudrelier

Optimising your practice - Tim Caudrelier

As with any business, it is essential to have a well-thought-out marketing plan that will allow you to attract, capture and retain patients. Customer value optimisation (CVO) is one system that can be applied to dental practices to aid success. Consisting of seven steps, it can significantly simplify the process and help your practice to grow and prosper.

 

Step 1: Determine product/ market fit

Dentistry is a well-established sector that will continually be required by patients of all ages. However, it is important to choose the correct product or service for the market. If, for example, you are looking to offer a new orthodontic product or service in your practice, it is worth researching whether the market for the product will be sustainable.

 

Step 2: Choose a traffic source

Attracting interest from potential patients online will greatly optimise your chances of acquiring new clients, selling more products and services and increasing the frequency of sales.

 

With a number of options to choose from, it is best to focus on one traffic source, then once mastered add a second and third. The goal throughout is to drive prospects into the CVO funnel. This begins with the lead magnet.

 

Step 3: Offer a lead magnet

The lead magnet prompts a transaction of information by offering an irresistible bribe that gives a specific chunk of value to a prospect patient in exchange for their contact information. With the lead magnet at the very top of the CVO funnel, increasing opt-ins here will pay dividends throughout the rest of the system and allow you to provide more tripwire offers.

 

Step 4: Offer a tripwire

Tripwire offers are made to potential patients that have displayed interest through the lead magnet. The main aim of a tripwire is to change the relationship from prospect to customer through offers that individuals are unable to resist.

 

Step 5: Offer a core product

The core offer relates to your flagship product or service, perhaps implants, orthodontic or whitening treatment. In some cases, the core offer will be profitable, but it does not have to be. If you follow through on the CVO process, you could take everything you make from the core offer and reinvest it to acquire more patients.

 

Step 6: Offer a profit maximiser

The profit maximiser increases the average transaction value per customer. Through an upsell or cross-sell, patients will spend more during one transaction.

 

Step 7: Create the return path

The final way to grow your practice is to increase the number of transactions per customer. Having gained their contact information through the initial lead magnet, you will have the ability to continue marketing, offering them new lead magnets, tripwires, core offers and profit maximisers.

 

Effective email marketing is one way to maintain communication with patients and increase transaction frequency. The experts at 7connections have recently developed AIM – Automated Intelligent Marketing – specifically for small dental practices. Based on proven strategies, such as CVO, AIM can help your practice to reap the rewards of a clear and well-thought-out marketing plan.

 

Successful marketing systems can enhance a business and allow you to make the most of opportunities. Increase patient numbers, enhance the average transaction value per client and raise the number of transactions per patient with a well-thought-out marketing solution.

 

For more information about 7connections, please call 01647 478145 or email pThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Alternatively, please visit the new website www.7connections.com.

 

  3019 Hits
3019 Hits
NOV
05
0

Search Engine Optimisation For Dummies

Search Engine Optimisation (part one)

Using search engine optimisation
search engine optimisation

NEIL SANDERSON DENTAL MARKETING EXPERT

You are probably aware that Google now gives the top three search results to it’s paid advertising e.g. pay per click or Google Adwords. This is without doubt the most effective and quickest way to get your website to the top of Google’s rankings.

However there is also a case to be made for being near the top of the rankings organically or free listings. Some people just prefer to click on the free area rather than clicking on an advert. So whilst I would always advocate using Google Adwords as your first choice, I’d like to talk a little about search engine optimisation.

Search engine optimisation is effectively trying to make your website rank towards the top of Google’s listings. You must remember that fourth place is probably the best you will ever get because of the pay per click.

But if you can get yourself to position four of five it’s certainly better than being on page two. So  what do you need to do?

Search Engine Optimisation must do’s
  1. Video You must have video on your website, this is now crucial. Not only does video move you up the rankings but it also is a brilliant tool for keeping people on your page and remember to make your video autoplay. Ideally the video should be on either YouTube or Vimeo with a link to you website rather than being embedded in your site.
  2. Blog Write a regular blog, between 300-500 words. A blog is also extremely effective in influencing Google, make sure you put lots of links back to your website into the blog and also have outbound links. you also need to optimise any images you put into your blog. You also need to think of the keywords you are trying to influence Google with.
  3. Google local business. This is an area often overlooked by most practices but is highly effective at getting you up the local rankings. Put as much content into this area including video, images, your opening times, any special offers, in fact as much as possible. Then get as many reviews from your patients as possible.
  4. Metatags These are the short descriptions you see when you search for something and are presented with the listings, ensure that these are relevant and have your key words in them.
  5. Links. If you have any links in you page ensure that they still work, Google will check for broken links, if you have lots they will mark your site down.
  6. Navigation Analysis ensure that your site has good navigation and all links within the site work.
  7. URL names ensure that your URL (the name of the page) is relevant and has your key words in it.
  8. Content Change you need to make sure that your content changes regularly, Google doesn’t like static sites, it wants to see things changing regularly, just as you update your Social Media ensure that you regularly update your website too.

I’ll go through some of the other SEO tactics in later posts, but if you start to adopt these you should see your rankings improve, although this isn’t guaranteed and you are at the mercy of Google. As I said earlier, the only tried and tested way to get your site to the top of the listings is to advertise with Google.
 

If you would like help with your digital marketing, call me on 01767 626 398 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit my website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk Facebook page

  5481 Hits
5481 Hits
NOV
04
0

Mobilegeddon & Your Website

Mobilegeddon & Your Website
 

Mobilegeddon

From the 21st April Mobilegeddon happens, you need to act now
 

For some time now I’ve been banging on about how your website should be mobile ready because 60% of all search is now carried out on mobile devices and you should have your website ready for these visitors.

Well things are just about the heat up even more. Google have announced major changes to their algorithms, (the industry is calling this Mobilegeddon that will do two things.

  1. They are going to tag all websites in the search listing that are mobile ready.
  2. They will lower your ranking if your site isn’t mobile ready.

The marketing press have been full of this, Read This Article. So just what does this mean to you as a dental practice? Well basically everything. As I have mentioned on many occasions 60% of all search is not done on mobile devices. This means that if your site isn’t mobile ready, people searching for you will probably never see your site listed.

But and it’s a big but, if your site is actually found by someone who is searching for you, your listing will not have the Google mobile stamp of approval so they may well decide not to bother with your site.

This Google update is not some small thing that they will roll out as they have been doing over the last two years with most people not noticing, this is a major deal for Google, (Mobilegeddon), this is why they have been flagging this up for some time.

So what do you need to do to ensure that your website is mobile friendly and you won’t fall foul of Mobilegeddon?

  1. Ensure the mobile version of your site is active and functional. Responsive designs are the most popular, these are the one’s that we supply, but you can also have a separate hosted mobile version of your site. Google doesn’t have a preference, as long as mobile users’ experience isn’t interrupted.
  2. Ensure Google’s mobile bots can crawl your site. If Google can’t see it, it may as well not even be there.
  3. Check each individual page of your site on a mobile device to ensure navigability. Just because your home page is mobile friendly doesn’t mean the rest of your site is.

In addition Google are offering you a new tool to test your website, click here to check your website and ensure that it is mobile ready, this tool is completely free and safe, it will give you all the information you need to ensure your site is mobile ready.

Incidentally Google are also checking to see if you have a mobile app too, and again if you pass this test they will rank you higher than if you don’t so you might want to think about getting yourself a mobile for the practice (we sell these too) click here to see how our Mobile App can build your practice, it’s been designed specifically for dental practices.

We are now very busy converting many websites to make them mobile ready, if you would like us to give you a quote on making your website mobile ready, call us today on 01767 626 398 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk or check out our Facebook page.

  6597 Hits
6597 Hits
SEP
28
0

Why Would A Dental Practice Want A Mobile App?

Why Would Your Patients Want Your Mobile App?
 

mobile appWhen the developers of the dental mobile app first approached me this was the first thing I said to them. Let’s face it why on earth would anyone want to to got the trouble of downloading your mobile app?

First let me explain what a mobile app is. If you have a smart phone either Apple or Android, you will almost certainly have lots of apps on it. For instance to access the iTunes store, Google maps, etc. etc.

Apps are now the best way for all companies to communicate to their customers, but why would anyone want a dental mobile app?

The answer is you make it worth their while to download and use your mobile app!

Firstly you have to advertise the app, particularly in your practice. Patients can download the app simply by pointing their mobile phone at a QR code in your reception. But they need a reason to download it in the first place.

So here’s why they will not only download the app but use it.

Mobile app Loyalty Scheme

There is a built in loyalty facility on the app. Each time your patient comes into the practice they scan a QR code in reception and this puts a tick in a box for them. When they have a certain number of ticks on their app they get a reward from you, maybe an electric tooth brush or a free hygiene session of a bottle of wine, it can be anything. This feature not only guarantees that your patients continue to come and see you but they use the app every time they come to the practice. The app does all this for you automatically.

Mobile app Referral Feature
There is the most amazing referral feature on the mobile app. Did you know that the average Facebook user has between 50 and 100 friends on it? The apps referral feature will send a message to every one of their friends urging them to download the app. If just 100 of your patients do this for you, you’ll reach between 5,000 and 10,000 new potential patients.

But why  would the do this for you? Because you reward not only the referrer but also the person being referred and the app does all this for you. When one of your patients gets let’s say five of their friends to download your app, they are rewarded by you, when a person is referred, they get something off their first appointment, you win, your patient wins, the new patient wins.

You can’t buy advertising like the mobile app

Why because just think of this, if you advertise with Google or Facebook, the press or any other media it is just that “an advert”. Whereby when your patients send a referral to their friends this is a thousand times more powerful. Because it’s word of mouth advertising, but on an industrial scale.

It’s estimated that 50 of your patients sending our a referral to all their friends is worth £1,000 of Google advertising, and that app costs just £50.00 per month. A fraction of the cost.

So don’t hesitate you need to call me on 01767 626 398 or email me at enquiries[at]dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk  or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk or visit our Facebook page

  4902 Hits
4902 Hits
AUG
02
0

Advertising

Dental Advertising - Seeing through the gloss

  14012 Hits
14012 Hits
JUL
19
0

Enhancing our clinic - Mr Jonathan Bell Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Wimbledon Clinics

Enhancing our clinic Mr Jonathan Bell Wimbledon Clinics

The Company

At Wimbledon Clinics we were the first multidisciplinary clinic providing sports medicine and othopaedics in London and the South of England. Our team of orthopaedic consultants specialise in back and neck, foot and ankle, hip and groin, knee, and shoulder pain and we offer a range of solutions and options for treatment. Our goal is to provide exceptional care that focuses on the patient’s need by providing a strong non-operative care pathway alongside surgical excellence when required. Our patients know that they will not be over-treated or operated upon without appropriate trial of non-operatvie care.

 

The Challenge

We initially approached 7Connections as we were looking to attract new patients, and improve efficiency across the clinic. Our biggest challenge was that the principles were generating 60% of the turnover and we wanted to attract increased numbers of patients for the other specialties to even out the figures. Therefore the focus was on establishing a plan to generate direct referrals from marketing, additional revenue streams and recruitment of further associates.

 

The Solution

To do this first required restructuring our front of house and back office management processes. We started working with 7Connections, specifically with Tim Caudrelier, who has helped us immensely with the restructure of the team. This has delivered great results as the productivity and culture in the office has been significantly enriched. This has in turn had a positive impact upon the engagement of associates and the benefits can been seen across the clinic.


We also switched the vehicle from a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) to a Limited company to better allow us to offer minority shares as part of our succession plan. Our finance reporting was then adapted to include monthly EBITDA and forecasting in addition to monthly budgeting, this has allowed a far greater perspective on our continuing progress.


We have also implemented a range of new internal systems, have out sourced our finances (bar day-to-day invoicing and debt collection), and are now in a position to measure and track our new marketing programme, which we have just begun rolling out. The service we received from 7Connections has facilitated the smooth nature of these transitions, and we have found that Tim has been available for calls, emails and meetings and has really gone above and beyond our expectations in the asistance he provided. What’s more, we have now also just completed our first marketing sequences with Jon Barrow and hope to see results from that very soon too.

 

Results

Having made the changes and followed the advice given, we have managed to get to within a few thousand of our end of year forecast, which proves how robust the changes have been. We have also vastly improved our ‘referrer nurture’ program which has seen an increase in referrals from those we engaged with.

Overall, the restructure has allowed us to trim costs and we have seen a 35% growth over the last year, the vast majority of this was for the associates not the two principle shareholders.

 

For more information about 7connections, please call 01647 478145 or email pThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Alternatively, please visit www.7connections.com.

 

  3514 Hits
3514 Hits
JUL
19
0

Maximising Your Marketing - Munroe Sutton

Maximising Your Marketing - Munroe Sutton

The marketing options available to the dental practice vary widely, with differing target audiences, messaging opportunities and costs. Private practices in particular strive to attract new patients and maintain the existing patient-base to ensure a high chair occupancy, which will help the business to thrive. Importantly, a practice wishes to minimise the limited resource that they have on marketing activities in order to maximise investment in materials and equipment and improve the clinical care that they provide to patients. Careful consideration must be given to the allocation of budget, meaning that innovative marketing solutions need to be created.


The digital age has delivered a new, more cost-effective marketing channel to the general dental practice, but it can be resource draining in other ways. Search engine optimisation (SEO), social media platform updates and advertisements on complimentary web sites have their obvious benefits, but to truly optimize the practice’s presence takes commitment. Websites and social media platforms need to be updated frequently to improve SEO and so sporadic participation will not help achieve the end goal. To put the dedication that is required in perspective, most mid-sized to larger businesses have one employee dedicated solely to the digital role.


Other popular and more traditional marketing strategies include direct mail (both paper and electronic) and print advertising. The majority of practices would not have the tools, skill or time to create these activities in-house and so would need to seek external help. A professional and thorough service would be provided, but with a fee attached and also time commitment for a briefing, alterations and sign off on the final collateral. Also, the amount spent on the activity can sometimes outweigh the results, meaning it can be a costly exercise for a smaller dental practice to pursue.


A Complimentary Innovative Solution

Principals and practice managers responsible for the marketing functions need to find innovative, economical and time-friendly solutions that are less of a drain on resources whilst still being reliable and robust. Becoming a Munroe Sutton dental practice provides a solution. With over 30 years experience of designing, organising and managing affordable dental plans, Munroe Sutton works with some of the largest and most influential companies such as CIGNA and Allianz. Listed as a preferred supplier, Munroe Sutton provides unique dental plans that save customers money. The thousands of members that seek financial savings on dental treatment are directed to Munroe Sutton’s network of high quality dental practices, offering your business free promotion to encourage new patients. What’s more, to become listed on the Munroe Sutton network costs the practice absolutely nothing. 


Rather than spending considerable time, effort and expense on trying to attract new patients, Munroe Sutton does the hard work for you and will direct patients straight to your door.

 

For more information please call 0808 234 3558 or visit www.munroesutton.co.uk

  4011 Hits
4011 Hits
JUN
13
0

Clear the hurdles in dental marketing

Clear the hurdles in dental marketing - 7Connections

At 7connections, we create collateral and systems to ensure you clear your dental marketing hurdles and win the race.

The bespoke services we offer to enhance your marketing activities and maximise your return on marketing on investment include:

  • Artisan Lifecycle Marketing – an innovative, automated email marketing solution that combines exceptional software from InfusionSoft with the expertise of 7connections. Focusing on the seven key phases of lifecycle marketing, the comprehensive package could help you increase new business enquiry conversation rates from an average of 18% to 80%!
  • MagicBox™ – delivers a box of pre-designed and branded marketing tools to your practice door including posters, referral cards, TV loops, social media banners and patient smile evaluations. These physical and digital solutions will help drive sales, boost referrals and increase revenue with minimal cost and hassle for you, and the 12-month planner and tracker will ensure you head in the right direction.
  • Ultimate Marketing Academy – a one-year programme involving quarterly meetings and 24/7 access to the 7connections library of knowledge. You’ll receive a personalised dental marketing strategy, alongside all the skills and support you need to implement it successfully – there’s also a 100% money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the results!*

 

For more information about 7connections please call 01647 478145,

email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or

visit www.7connections.com

 

* The 100% money-back guarantee is available if you implement the knowledge and ideas that you gain and your are not satisfied with the results at the end of the Academic year.

  3642 Hits
3642 Hits
MAY
31
0

Moving with the times - get your dental marketing right! | Tim Caudrelier

Moving With The Times - Get Your Dental Marketing Right!

There is no doubt that the dental practice landscape has evolved dramatically over the last 20 years, and we are seeing this shift continue as changes to contracts, authorities and organisations affect the way we perceive and run practices. Parallel to the developments in the way dentistry is governed and managed there has been a dramatic increase in competition between surgeries, both locally and nationally. This has caused the emphasis to move more towards viewing a practice as a business, with attention given to its profitability and commerciality.

As such, the business model for a dental practice is wholly unrecognisable from that which we would have been accustomed 3 years ago, let alone to 20. Not only that, but the dentistry on offer is entirely different too. Technology has moved forward at such a pace that complex procedures that would have been either prohibitively expensive or logistically impossible are now a part of the everyday provision. As well as this the demands on a practitioner, from maintaining levels of CPD to managing staff, and the increased amount of paperwork, have snowballed, leaving very little time to consider the well-being and direction of a business.

Dentists are therefore finding themselves pushed and pulled in many directions, with their focus spread increasingly thinly over an array of equally significant issues. In such circumstances it is all too easy for one issue to take a backseat or be neglected altogether and unfortunately, more often than not, it is the marketing of a practice that suffers. This will of course have disastrous repercussions, as the reality is that marketing is just as relevant to dentistry as it is to any other business. Every practice needs to promote itself and the services it provides to ensure a steady stream of new patients. But knowing you need to make a change with your marketing and actually understanding how to do so can be two entirely different problems.

The knee-jerk reaction can be to adopt a scattergun approach, aiming everything at everyone. However, this can be an expensive and potentially pointless exercise. Closely considered and targeted tactics are much more effective in ensuring the right messages are sent to the right people. To create a successful marketing strategy for your practice, it helps to follow a tried and tested formula. The much discussed seven-step principle known as ‘lifecycle marketing’, effectively encapsulates the process of attracting new patients and retaining them by building and developing long-term relationships.

A customer centric strategy, founded on the idea of sending the right message at exactly the right time, lifecycle marketing combines CRM, e-commerce, social media and email marketing into an online system for converting leads into customers and growing sales. It utilises sophisticated email campaigns that treat each recipient individually, taking into account their level of interest in a product or service on offer. For instance, a simple exercise of splitting email recipients into three categories such as interested prospects, current patients and lapsed patients, will allow you to approach your interactions in three distinct ways, tailoring your communication to suit.

Four Main Practice Types

Across the profession, in line with the developments discussed earlier, we now see four distinct practice types emerge, each with its own identifiable set of challenges and opportunities. But whatever your practice type, adopting lifecycle marketing will help you to develop and grow your business and there are specific benefits for each category.

NHS - The primary benefit for an NHS dentist will be in the automation of the patient system and the improved efficiency of the business model – this will lead to fewer missed appointments, less time spent chasing customers and more repeat appointments.

Private - For a private practice it will revolutionise the way the dental team works, enhancing practice turnover and profitability by growing the amount of time spent performing the right treatments and increasing the uptake of elective procedures.

Mixed NHS and Private – A mixed practice will see all the benefits the purely private dentist will see, but most importantly, adopting lifecycle marketing will help to accelerate the acquisition of more private clients.

Dentist Entrepreneur (multiple practices) – The benefits for a dentist running multiple practices is the ability to automatically scale their lead generation, conversion and upsell, whilst also generating a greater consistency of service between practices AND much more efficient use of the team’s time.

No matter your practice type, the aim of your marketing will always be to increase sales and profitability. By adopting the techniques of lifecycle marketing this mission will be made far more achievable thanks to the provision of clear structures and methods for meeting new patients and expanding your clinical reach. By embracing solutions designed, customised and put together for you by the experts, you can save precious time and money without compromising the results. Working with 7connections and software giant Infusionsoft, for example, you can implement effective strategies and fresh ideas with ease.

Dentistry has certainly changed over the last two decades, but that doesn't mean your practice has to be left behind. Make sure you are able to remain competitive by ensuring your marketing is up to scratch. If your practice is feeling its age and in need of greater profitability, client retention, and lead conversions, then you need lifecycle marketing in your business.

 

For more information about 7connections and the Ultimate Marketing Academy, please call 01647 478145, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.7connections.com

  4050 Hits
4050 Hits
MAR
24
0

Why You Need A Landing Page For Your Website

Your Landing Page

landing page

Neil Sanderson

Most people think of a website as an entity in its self, this is not the case. A website is a series of pages of which you need to think about landing pages.

What is a landing page? Well the description is in the name really, it’s where people land when they first come to your website.

Most people think that the place people should first see when they arrive at your site is the home page, this again is not the case, ideally you need people to land on the correct landing page, let me explain.

I’m sure that all of you have at one time or another gone to Amazon. Can you ever think of a time when you arrived on a home page which had menu options across the top for you to find what you are looking for?

No of course you haven’t. You always land on the page that you wanted. For instance if you are looking for a camera. I typed in the search “Canon EOS 70D” and below is the search I got.

landing page

Camer search screen

All the search items are about the EOS 70D which is what you would expect, some are reviews and technical pages others are sales pages, but effectively all of them are about this particular camera.

So whenI click on the search item which takes me to the “landing page”. It comes as no surprise that the page I land on is about the Canon EOS 70D.

Because Amazon is so good at this you are presented with everything you need to purchase this camera, there are reviews, things that people also bought when they buy this camera etc. In fact just about everything you need to make a purchase, this is a typical Amazon landing page and they are very good at it.

landing page

Amazon Canon landing page

So what has this got to do with your website and the landing page that your prospective patients land on?

Well it’s about this, we have all been tought by the likes of Amazon that we want to land on exactly the page we are interested in. We don’t want to land on the “home” landing page, we know what we want and we want it right now.

People are not prepared to come to a “home” landing page and navigate around the website until they find the item they are looking for, this is why you have to promote your landing pages all the time, so that your visitors get exactly what they are looking for immediately.

If someone is looking for teeth whitening, most dental websites are set up so they will come to the “Home” landing page, they will then click on the treatment tab, then they will find the whiting link and click on that, do you see the issue?

If you want people to visit your teeth whitening page you need to start optimising this page so that Google can pick it up and display it, this needs to become your whitening landing page.

The same goes for all your other treatment, such as facial aesthetics, implants, straightening etc. etc.

Writing a blog is a great help but having the right key words on the page is also crucial, along with the correct meta description. Get ahead of your competition and ensure that your treatment pages are optimised to be your landing pages.

However you can bypass all this an just use Google Adwords, which will always send people to exactly the page you require, this is one of the huge benefits of Adwords.

If you would like more information on your website, call me on 01767 626  398 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our Facebook page.

www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk

  5309 Hits
5309 Hits
FEB
27
0

How To Get Free Traffic To Your Website

Website Traffic, How Facebook Can Increase Yours Completely Free Of Charge

website traffic

Neil Sanderson

We all know that saying thank you is a great courtesy and makes the person who is receiving, feel much better don’t we. Well here’s a tip to make those two little words “Thank You” increase your website traffic too.

As I’ve said on many occasions before, there are two things you need to concentrate on with your website, (1) you need to maximise your website traffic. (2) you need to converts as much of that website traffic as possible into paying patients.

So here’s a little tip that will cost you absolutely nothing, it may endear you to your patients and you’ll get more traffic to your website and if your website has the right things on there when they land you’ll start to get more new patients too.

70% of the population now owns a smart phone, which is quite staggering, and just about every person who has a smart phone knows how to use an app. Additionally 50% of the population use Facebook for at least half hour per day every day.

So when you have done a great job for one of your patients and they say “thank you”, why don’t you ask them to put a link onto their Facebook page and just say thank you, it’s as simple as that.

They can even do this whilst you are with them on their Facebook app!

Let me elaborate on how powerful this little “thank you” can be to increase your website traffic. Let’s say you see fifty patients per day and one in five of them post this link to your website on their Facebook page.

The average person has 500 friends and likes on their Facebook account, this means that the link to your website could potentially be seen by 5,000 people every day.

Now I know that not everyone is going to do this for you, however much you try and persuade them. So we’ll scale this down (a lot). Let’s say that only 50 people per day get to see a link posted by one of your patients. This means that upwards of 1,000 people will see the link every month (12,000 per year).

Even if only 10% of them actually click through to your website, this means that 1,200 new patients will visit your site, simply because you asked your patients to say “thank you” on their Facebook page with a link to your site.

The best thing about this is that all this new website traffic is completely free, you’re not spending a penny on advertising anywhere.

But you also need to remember that you have the right wording, graphics, video etc. on your site to convert them from website traffic to paying patients and that is a whole different subject and incidentally even more important.

If you would like to know how I can help you grow your dental practice, call me on 01767 626 398 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk, or you can visit our FACEBOOK page too.

  4771 Hits
4771 Hits
OCT
13
0

Measuring Success

Measuring Success

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” (Peter Drucker)

On a number of blogs I have written over the last few years, I have mentioned one huge benefit of advertising online and that is accountability and the fact that transparency can be seen as a huge advantage to the marketing team.

Having the ability to track or getting feedback from your ads is critical. Other advertising forms can be hard to track; using display ads means you can receive weekly or even daily updates. This kind of information tells you whether your advertising/marketing effort is succeeding or you need to tweak it. Feedback reports can guide you to better strategies and more successful marketing.

Experienced marketers say that one of the greatest benefits of online advertising is its measurability and the information it provides about your audience. It is a win-win situation, you can learn about your visitors while they are getting to know you. This means you are getting instant input about the effectiveness of your campaigns which can then be quickly modified to increase conversions and sales.

Online marketing is wildly more measurable than offline marketing but it is still marketing, as we are all aware humans are complicated and unpredictable, I just think it appeals to the marketer’s brain and budget constraints that there is a huge benefit to receiving reports and statistics to show for their marketing spend.

We have just returned from the BDIA Dental Showcase, it was great to catch up and chat with a range of people in the Dental family. When it came to the subject of online marketing, they kept coming back to accountability and the fact that since they had embraced digital advertising; they were increasingly getting a better idea of which campaigns worked and which media platforms to use.

It is still too early to make a final judgement but I believe the appeal of greater measurability and accountability in online marketing is beginning to pick up further support from the dental marketing community. What do you think? Is it true that you cant manage what you can't measure? Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

  5122 Hits
5122 Hits
SEP
09
0

Your Dental Website, What's Important?

Your Dental Website, What’s Important?

The answer to this question “Dental Website, What’s Important?” is incredibly simple really and it’s this: (1) You need to attract as much traffic to your site as possible (2) You need to convert as much of that traffic as possible.

Most businesses view their website as something that they have to tick the box and can say, yes we now have a website. The fact that the only people who know it exists is themselves, friends and family never seems to come into the equation.

Having a dental website built can cost many thousands of pounds and take up a great deal of your time and effort, only for it to lurk in the shadows never being seen by anyone. It’s a little like setting up a new dental practice in the middle of a field and wondering why nobody is coming!

The best and most reliable way to drive traffic to your website is to use Google Adwords. This will take you to the top of page one of Google in most instances or at worst you’ll be over on the right hand side of the first page see below.

Dental Website

When someone looks for your site on a mobile device this is even more important as normally you’ll only ever see the websites that are using Google Adwords advertising or pay per click (PPC).

Google normally allocates the top three slots for paid advertising which means that if you don’t advertise your website with them the best you can ever hope for is position number four and to get to this position you have to be very, very, very good at optimising your dental website.

So let’s assume you’ve decided to pay Google an amount each day to display your dental website and people are landing on the particular page you want them to land on. You now have to convert them from browsers to buyers.

Take a look at the two websites below:

dental website

Dental Website

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sure you’ll think that the page on the right is much prettier than my page and you’d probably be right, but my page will outrank the other page in Google rankings and also out convert the one on the right by a factor of 1000% here’s why.

On the left of my page is a video which automatically starts running when someone lands on the page, this immediately gets and keeps their attention. On the page on the right is a nice photograph.

On the right hand side of my page is a picture of my book, and a line saying click here to download my book or have one sent in the post for free. However to actually get the book you have to give me your email address and name and this is key.

If you are selling anything that is of a higher value such as an implant on your dental website, invariably people will not just pick up the phone and book an appointment now, simply because whenever we buy things of a higher value we want more information and this is where the email comes into play.

When someone gives you their email address it is placed in what we call an auto responder, this does exactly what the name implies, it automatically responds. So you can have a series of emails spaced out over the next three or four months that will automatically be sent to your subscriber.

This means that when they do eventually decide to have that implant or have their teeth straightened or have a smile makeover, invariably they will choose you because you have been sending them information for that last three months.

That’s how we convert browsers into paying patients on your dental website.

If you would like to know more about our website service, with video and auto responders built in, call me on 01767 626 398 or email me a This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk

  5770 Hits
5770 Hits
JUL
29
0

How To Use Facebook For Research

Start Using Facebook For Research

Facebook for research

Neil Sanderson

It wasn’t so long ago whenever you took to the high street or went to the supermarket that there was a nice lady or gentleman with a clip board who would ask you if you had a few minutes spare to answer a few questions was it?

It seemed that they were everywhere asking you questions on every subject from which biscuits you prefer to where you go on holiday or what car you drive etc. etc.

But now you barely ever see one of these people, because the smart corporations have started to use Social Media or more particularly Facebook for Research.

Using Facebook for research is not only a lot cheaper but it is much more accurate too. So what do you need to do to use Facebook for research in your dental practice?

Once you have a couple of hundred fans of your page you can start to see patterns. The best tool for this is the insight tool under people, which gives you just about every bit of information you can think of about the people who “like” your page.

You can see the split between gender, how many people fit into particular age groups, when people are online and looking at what you do, the information is invaluable to build your audience and communicate with them, Facebook for research purposes really has no rivals at all.

If you are thinking of launching some sort of promotion or launch a new product or service, you can test this out on Facebook before you invest your time and effort into it.

There are several aps you can run on Facebook that will let you run surveys. So for instance one of my clients was thinking of changing his opening hours and offering late opening or weekends. We ran a survey for him on Facebook and it turned out that most people didn’t actually want late evenings they wanted to come to the dentist before work e.g. early mornings.

Facebook for research

A section of Facebook insights

You might think of going on a course for straightening or offer a new type of whitening, so run a survey with your likes and find out if there is a ready market waiting to take your new products or services.

But you don’t really have to go to the time and effort of running a survey if you don’t want to, simply ask your fans what they would like to have on your page.

Facebook is a very interactive medium and is ideal for simply asking your audience questions. So once you have decided that you are going to launch a particular service or you are going to make a special offer Facebook is also great for telling you how large your market is too.

First you create an advert for something like teeth whitening, you can then target it at exactly the audience you want and Facebook will tell you how many people fit that profile. Let’s say you are going to launch straightening and your Facebook research told you that the best age group for this would be 30-40 year olds.

You can specify that you want to just target this age group in your area and Facebook will tell you exactly how many people your advert will reach. As far as I know there is nothing that comes close to this type of market information and how this can give you laser focus with your advertising.

If you would like more information on Facebook for research or any other type of Dental marketing information, call me on 01767626398 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk

  4961 Hits
4961 Hits
JUL
15
0

How To Promote Private Dentistry In Your Practice

To Promote Private Dental Treatment You Have To Tell People What You Do!

promote private dental treatment

Neil Sanderson

Just how do you promote private dental treatment? Your private dental treatment may just be one of the best kept secrets in your practice! I don’t think I have been to a dental practice yet where the private treatments offered are being promoted.

If you don’t believe me just have a look around your practice! What information are you currently offering your patients on the services you offer, I suspect if you are like just about every dental practice you aren’t.

Let’s face it dental implants, veneers, bridges, invisible braces are not cheap are they? A couple of implants may well set your patient back many thousands of pounds, a course of Invisalign runs into thousands, these aren’t easy decisions for your patients to make.

When you are thinking of buying a car, holiday, TV etc. you don’t normally make a snap decision, you gather as much information as you can get and hopefully make an informed decision.

This normally means visiting websites, getting brochures, going into a showroom and gathering as much material as possible, which means that you have to do the same to promote private dental treatment in your practice.

Car manufacturers, holiday providers know that they have to promote their products both online and in the showrooms or travel agents, they provide brochures, sales people, downloads etc. and you are no different, people have to have information to make a decision.

So just how do you promote your private dental treatment? Incidentally you have an even more difficult task than a car manufacturer or a holiday company because a large number of your patients and prospective patients don’t even know that your private dental treatment exists.

Many don’t know what an implant is or that they can straighten their teeth without metal braces and if they do they don’t know that it may apply to them. If you take nothing else from this article remember this statement.

It’s not your patients job to find out what you do, it’s your job to tell them!

So just how do your promote private dental treatment in your practice?

Well if you want to do it really well you buy my Practice Information System, but you can do this yourself too if you have the time and can find a good graphic designer, printer, video production company etc., here’s what we provide you and what you need.

  1. Get rid of Sky or BBC news on your reception TV and start to show patients what you do. We provide you with a bespoke video which is branded to you. It has testimonials from your patients, it has you explaining what you can do and it has incredible animations which really grab your patients attention.
  2. You need a brochure and I don’t mean a little tri-fold thing which one of your suppliers has provided I mean a high quality A4 brochure that is produced by you and promotes your treatment, explaining what you can offer and how it can benefit your patients.
  3. We provide you with banners which draw your patients attention to your video and your brochures, but at its simplest just highlights what you can do for them.

We call this our Practice Information System and is designed specifically to promote private dental treatment in your practice.

But it gets better, standing out from your competition is crucial and not only will the video run on the TV in your reception from a standard DVD player, it will run on your website, you can email it (or parts of it) to your patients, it will run on an iPad in your surgery, in fact just about anywhere.

Dental Marketing Expert’s Practice Information System is your one stop shop to promote private dental treatment in your practice.

If you would like more information on Practice Information System, call us now on 01767 626 398 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk

  6920 Hits
6920 Hits
JUL
09
0

How To Grow Your NHS Dental Practice (part II)

How To Grow Your NHS Dental Practice

Grow your nhs dental practice
Neil Sanderson

I wrote part one of How To Grow Your NHS Dental Practice a few weeks ago, the reason that there has been a little delay is that I have been putting into place a new product to help solve this problem.

So let's have a look at the issues for most NHS dental practices. Unless you can get the local PCT to give you some more UDA's you simply can't grow your NHS dental practice revenues and because staff costs, and inflation continue to grow this in effect means your revenues fall every year.

Add to that the growing uncertainty about the new contract, it puts practices that are wholly or mainly dependent on an NHS contract in a difficult position.

So what is the solution? Well of course there really only is one solution to grow your NHS dental practice and that is to sell private treatment, which I assume doesn't come as any surprise whatsoever, in fact it is blindingly obvious.

But here's the catch, just how do you grow your NHS dental practice with private work, because there are some very difficult obstacles to overcome when trying to sell private treatment when you depend on your NHS patients and that contract.

Let me put one myth to bed straight away, it doesn't matter where your practice is or what the demographics are, there are people out there who will find the money for private treatment, however deprived your area is, please believe me on this one. despite what your associates may tell you.

However there is one practical problem to growing your NHS dental practice you will have to overcome and that is this. Can you actually deliver the private treatment e.g. straightening, whitening, implants, smile makeovers. If you can't deliver then you need to find a way to do this. But I am going to assume that you can deliver private treatment in some form or other.

So we know what the problems of how to grow your NHS dental practice are, how are you going to overcome them. The biggest problem you have to solve is letting your patients know what you can offer them.

If you take nothing else from this article remember this statement... It is not your patients job to find out what you can do for them. It is your job to tell them what you can do for them!!!

So how are you going to sell private treatment, let's just remind ourselves of the issues again:

  1. You don't have time to discuss with your patients the various private options you offer.
  2. Your patients subsequently don't know what you do.
  3. There is now an information block, your patients don't know what you can do for them and you don't have time to tell them.

It's not often I plug my products or services in these blogs but I now have the perfect solution, it is our  "Reception Information Centre", this comprises of three elements.

  1. The first is a bespoke video which will run on your TV from a DVD, computer, iPad, YouTube etc. etc. It tells your patients exactly what you can offer them in a 5-10 minute video. This video can either be an animated type of video or a professionally shot video where we bring in a film crew, not only can it run in reception but also on your website, via email or on a tablet.
  2. The second element is a practice brochure which matches the video EXACTLY it is designed specifically for your patients to take away and remind them exactly what they saw when they were waiting to see you.
  3. The third element are pull up exhibition stands which will have the bullet points of what you can offer and again matches exactly the style of the video and the brochure. It will guide them to watch the TV and pick up a brochure.

In order to grow your NHS Dental Practice you need time to tell your story and you simply don't have it in an NHS practice so this system does exactly that for you, it will encourage your patients to ask what you can do because they are now informed, even asking for a white filling rather than a standard one. All the above is bespoke to you with your logo, colours and even YOU in it. It is the perfect solution to the age long problem of how do you sell private treatment to NHS patients.

I will have examples of the above in a couple of weeks with pricing to match.

There are other options for informing your patients what you can do and I'll cover these in a couple of weeks, but they all involve much more expense and time and effort on your part.

So if you would like more information on the "Reception Information Centre" or how to grow your NHS dental practice or any other dental marketing issues, call me on 01767626398 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk

 
  5144 Hits
5144 Hits

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