It may be premature to mention, but…
I’ve spent some time running logistics and tossing an idea around today – an idea that may very well impact your practice.
When I write things down, it memorializes them, but, also allows my subconscious to work ‘em over, too. So, that’s what this really is all about. I wanted my subconscious to filter the idea before I jumped on it. (One thing I’ve learned the last 12 months is to be more patient and considerate of the ideas I have before I run off and do them. Failure on a large scale tends to do that!)
Here’s the cause/challenge that made me think of it – my next big idea: The Dental Assisting School needs to be more top-of-mind for and with local, Salem, Oregon area dentists. When they have a need for an intern, extra help, or a new hire, they should first think of the Dental Assisting School I’m involved with, then of any other options, if they ever even get to that point.
What I realized was…
If I want the school to be the first thing that pops into their mind, the school needs to be positioned somehow, quickly and very, very obviously, at a cost of near-zero (I decided last night, my budget for this was going to be zero – more of a challenge to me to see if I could do it than out of 100% necessity.), as a problem-solving resource local dentists can look to.
What I concluded and have always really known is that most dentists will respond very positively and with open checkbooks if given the opportunity to enhance their clinical skills. Note I did not mention management skills, advertising and marketing skills, or people skills, all of which are paramount to a successful practice.
My conclusion? Offer local dentists a course(s) on clinical dentistry they can’t get anywhere else or have never heard of that generates the, “I must have that!” response.
Is that market manipulation? Some might think so. My thinking is it’s giving the market what they want and in exchange, I get what I want. Sounds like capitalism to me.
The end result of giving local dentists what they want? The school achieves their goal by creating a “back-of-mind” obligation – an advanced step beyond mere awareness.
What’s meant by that is the ability for the school to provide “x” to the local dentists that solves “y” without a way for them to easily show their appreciation. In other words, a moral scoreboard gets updated so that the Dental School has 1 point and the dentist, zero. So, to even the scoreboard, they’d have to reciprocate in some fashion by giving the school a chance to show the high-quality students they turn out.
Robert Cialdini, the author of several noted, and very, very excellent books on Psychology and Marketing, calls this one of the six “Weapons of Influence.” And, it’s number one on the list.
If I can somehow create this back-of-mind obligation, it automatically skyrockets the overall reputation of the school.
And, since this is a private career school, the owners are not some nameless, faceless non-profit entity. They’re real people with a real interest in helping students get involved in a great career and helping local dentists meet the ongoing challenge of staffing in their high-stress practices.
I’ll explain more on this the next blog post. But surely, you’ll be able to use/adapt this same reason/rationalization, etc. in your business, so stay tuned.