How to Add $5000+ Per Month to Your Bottom Line
While a lot of folks are running around trying to figure out the Internet’s next “holy grail,” social media, smart energy/money is being invested in traditional, now often looked-down-on media such as… (If there’s truly a dentist that can show me a REAL, not “might be” ROI on social media, I’ll send you a $100 American Express gift card. Why so strict? I live and die and eat very well, because results from my campaigns can be scientifically tracked. Should the expectation for Social Media be any different?)
…good ol’ direct mail, for instance.
My most successful clients at Butts In Ops are “in the mail” every other week or once a month with a significant number of postcards – anywhere from 2,500 to 25,000 postcards every month.
The new patients are calling. Scheduling. Getting prescribed treatment completed. Money is flowing…even in places like Detroit!
The guys that are really, to quote social media star, Gary Vaynerchuck, “…crushing it,” are also engaged in 2 other marketing/advertising strategies regularly:
1) They’re keeping their names in front of their best, referring, high-dollar patients, each month with a done-for-’em patient newsletter from Butts In Ops; and, finally,
2) They’re using a media that’s dying by the day, but oh, so successful…still, even given it’s problems (in most cities, not all) – they’re using newspapers to distribute what are referred to as FSIs, of free standing inserts. Never before have prices been as reasonable as they are right now for targeted distribution to people that READ and, research shows, have an education…just the kinds of folks dentists tell me they like to treat!
At SofTouch Dental, I’ve used FSIs, postcards and newsletters very, very successfully for well over 6 years. I’ve mailed millions of postcards and patient newsletters for not just my long-term clients (many have been clients for well over a decade), but my own use, too.
I’ve cracked the new patient code.
Once you identify key human psychological factors that trigger the response you want, the most challenging point then is just getting your message in front of the right crowd – a starving crowd (they want what you have), as the legendary Gary Halbert called it, or raving fans (your existing patients).
Now, back to my headline: Adding $5k a month to your bottom line. It’s about…
- doing more on every patient you see. Math: 16 pts/day x 16 (days worked in month) = 256 patients each month. Add $20 PROFIT to each one and you’ve eclipsed your $5k net addition. Or, do 2 Invisalign cases. 3 or 4 implants. If you net $500 per crown, just 10 extra crowns. This requires no additional overhead. Your expenses are fixed. Doing more dentistry is the FASTEST way to see big changes on your bottom line. If you just improve your selling skills (case presentation) 10% or 20%, you’ll quickly sell more dentistry than you could ever complete! What a problem that’d be, eh?
- seeing more new patients – If each new pt were $100 profit (for easy math) = 50 new pts
- seeing existing pts more often (Time to go to 3x per year for hygiene?) – If each extra visit was worth $50 to your bottom line, just 100 patients seen each month 1 more time per year (1200 extra visits annually) = $5000.
- improving your operational efficiencies. Do 2 crowns in 60 minutes vs. 90 mins or 2 hours.
- keeping overhead creep at a minimum as the economy improves. As money starts flowing in, it’s an easy trap to fall into; keep costs under control. Don’t let the illusion of greater cash flow suck you in. Keep your bills low, your monthly commitments down and increase your savings once debt is gone.
Why is your staff not selling whitening on every 5th patient? 10th patient? Hell, 20th?
Why are you not doing sealants at every chance?
Are you maximizing your insurance billings? What’s your A/R like? Too staff heavy? Can you negotiate your lease down? (I did on two separate buildings and saved over $800 per month by ASKING!) Can you increase your fees?
Next post, I’ll talk some more about that – I like flying in the face of conventional wisdom.
Until then…