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Dan Kennedy, my long-time mentor, often reminds his members/subscribers of a very important concept in business. It’s called “Accurate Thinking.” Bottom line, entrepreneurs absent this concept, friends, it’s a slippery slope to the bottom.

About two years ago, on a routine dental hygiene appointment/visit, the very experienced RDH of about 25 years or so (maybe more) was asking me a series of questions and making some statements about my oral health…Stuff like; “I can tell when you’ve had significant stress – the cleanings are always more difficult.” Or something to that effect. This comment led her to ask if I had ever used or heard of a water pick. (Yes, I know I spelled it wrong.) In my mind, I’m thinking of a pick that I would use to loosen up clay or very dense soil.

I said, “No.”

She began, in very technical dental language, to explain what this device was and how it would benefit me and that recently, it was getting the press it deserved.

After she got done I said, “So, this water pick, is it like a water-powered vacuum cleaner flusher device?”

“Yeah.”

Hmm.

So I asked, “Why not just tell me that it flushes out the gaps in between teeth like a power washer and the water pressure kinda vacuums it out?”

Hmm…

“Good idea. I’ll use an explanation like that next time.”

As a patient, I was completely confused (takes very little to achieve that in reality). Although, the entire time, I knew what a WaterPik really was, I just wanted to make a point with her, in an amusing way, that the average Joe or Jolleen on the street has no clue idea what a water pick, or Waterpik, is!

Two “take-aways” from this short post:

1) Use words that EVERYONE understands, like CAVITY vs. Decay.

2) EDUCATE your patients every month about dental health and how it relates to them and their long-term health. SEND a newsletter to them each and every month, no matter what time of year or time of month it is. That way, the next time you need to have someone understand what a bridge is (not the one they cross on the way to work), they UNDERSTAND and can get in-synch with you – or at the very least, they will recognize and perhaps remember seeing it somewhere, versus the current problem of thinking it’s like the Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Books have been written about it (even dentist, Dr. Jason Lipsomb, has penned one), there are websites that are nothing but ‘it,’ professional social media “experts” crawling out of the woodwork, and I gotta wonder: Is there an end in sight to it all?

I’m betting…YES. MySpace is gone. Facebook’s next. Twitter – Honestly, do you really, REALLY care what the hell I’m doing on a Saturday with my kids? I’m bettin’ not, especially if you’re a potential customer considering giving me money in exchange for Butts In Your Ops.

I will say Gary Vaynerchuck’s book is good (Crush It) on business sans the social media part.

Dentists are now even reading and writing about it in their trade magazines. 2 whole pages were dedicated to it in the February 2010 issue of Dental Economics. Worse still, the author heavily mis-quoted information from a source cited in his article. Those mistakes can happen, but I’m willing to bet no one will “notice” and no retraction/correction reported. Lesson: BE CAREFUL what you believe and VERIFY.

Look, I LOVE advertising, I LOVE marketing. But, my love falls short if there’s not anyone able to step forward and say, “Hey, here’s what’s happened to my business and these are the short-term/long-term benefits of relying on social media as a plausible, long-term strategy, and, THIS IS THE MONEY IT’S BROUGHT IN.” Full-on, detailed stats.

I want proof it all works. ANY of it. I want someone tracking the TIME invested into all this “free” social media so we can get a true reading on the cost of it all. (No one seems to believe sitting down and writing fifty, 140 character posts “hey, I’m changing a diaper on the kid right now. phew, it’s stinky,” has a cost to it.)

Vaynerchuck, in his book, “Crush It,” outlines one campaign where Twitter, at a cost of “zero,” brought in 1700 customers. Other “media” brought in less. He argues, “no cost” to Twitter, so a better deal, right?

Sounds great. But, until I know the economics of repeat-ability of that campaign (how likely he could do it all again and generate another 1700 customers), & how long they stayed as a customer (vs. customers acquired via other means).

In business, there are certain customers that arrive to your door from certain media that last longer, spend more, spend more often than others and my entire career, I’ve noted those referred to me by a human (not a 140 character Tweet yet, or a Facebook posting yet) and those that come to me from books I’ve written or events I’ve created and they’ve attended, are the far most valuable customers I can get.

Of those 1700 customers, there may be no depth to them at all…all one-shot wonders. Or, perhaps you’ll get a hundred or 200 out of 1700 that might stick. When compared with the other media, how does that factor stack up? I’m willing to bet, not nearly as good.

What about ROI – nothing in his book mentions ROI?! What was the total order volume for each media used – billboard, twitter and direct mail?

How many of each media are now repeat customers, 14 months later (he did this in December 2008)?

All that matters in business. Long-term customer value far more important than initial. Equity vs. income. More often than not, when my immediate needs are met, I’m chasing and storing equity with my clients to use later. YOU should be too, and I question whether social media will allow you that ability?!

People talk about building “relationships” and customer loyalty when you engage in social media.

If you could build a relationship posting pictures and living via electronical tweets and posts with customers, then you oughta be able to pull it off with your wife and kids, eh?

Then, there’s education – you can “educate” your customers or prospects via social media. How do you do that in 140 characters without directing them offsite to another website? That’s the same damn thing as a banner ad, a google ad, a postcard, etc. SOMEONE is paying for Twitter, somehow. SOMEONE is for Facebook, too. It’s called a TIME investment.

Do the patients you need to drop big duckets in your practice hang around reading “tweets” and posts on Facebook all day long? Doubtful. Really, really, doubtful. The last person I want as a client is someone so grossly engaged in virtual reality (Internet socializing, not real, noes-to-noes, sweaty-palms stuff) that when they DO get results from what I do (putting Butts In Ops), they’re so weird and fragmented no one will do business with them because they are not digitally enhanced.

Successful people, people with drive, determination, something going on in their lives, are not living on or in “social media.” I don’t care what the stats say. I spent a few months engaged in it all, but really, I had enough of high school in high school and to me, that’s all Facebook was and remains to be…that and goofy people trying to direct me to their videos and join their groups and tell me how high of a score they got on some game. It was like “greeters” day at the local Chamber of Commerce. Not my cup of tea. But I’m sure it’s gotta be good for someone?

[See my previous post about Brian Tracy's thoughts on all this crap...He said, "There's not a penny in it to be had."]

What’s the missing link and why WON’T social media ever really work?

I’ll tell you: Social Media is wholly inadequate for building a meaningful relationship with a real client or prospective client. It’s attention-deficit to the extreme.

But, right now, it’s hot, it’s selling and everyone wants this “FREE” media to work. News for ya bub, it’s light years away, I think, if ever.

…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…

To do this, first and foremost, you must separate out your top patients – those who refer to you already, love your staff (and you), always keep their appointments and in general, the folks that keep you interested in being a dentist and excited to come into your practice every day. In a practice of 1000 or so, you’ll expect to have 300 to 500 patients on that list. You’ll want to plan to mail to that list of patients – and any you add to it on a regular monthly basis – every single month. Don’t miss that important point. Every month is NOT too much. 4 times a month MIGHT be too much. Once isn’t.

I would create 4 or 5 “sections” which you’ll include every month in your newsletter. Staff Gossip, Recipes (yes, cheesy recipes!), a favorite dental procedure, a cartoon is nice, and also be sure to include any patients who referred to you as well as any patients you want to recognize. Welcome new patients, also. The point of the above is to give them reward and recognition. That’s what all of us crave. This is a great way to do it.

Next, include a special, monthly, patient only offer. I have our 12 months all lined out for January-December. I like sealants, whitening, cosmetic consults, etc. as patient-only specials. Even implant consults or complimentary whitening for referrals works well. Your newsletter doesn’t have to be pretty or professionally done.

However, if you have a certain image your office is trying to portray, and if you hire an outside firm to do your newsletter (like mine – a shameless plug), be sure they are able to include personal information like I’ve suggested above. It’s all important. Be sure you mail consistent, and on-time.

The real key to making your newsletter continue to pay for itself (your newsletter should NEVER cost you $ to mail!) is to be sure you include a special, patient-only offer in each issue so patients will visit you more often. And, be sure you provide the two ‘Rs.’ Reward and Recognition. If you follow this above formula, you’ll have excellent success with your own newsletter.

If your staff is already in hyper-drive like my dental staff are, give ‘em a break. Outsource your newsletter mailing. Info available online @ www.ButtsInOps.com or by calling my office at 503-339-6000. A free information kit is available, here.