Think Inside Out, Not Outside In

Dentists often view marketing from an outside-in perspective ... you place an ad, send a letter, run a radio spot, mail off a press release, or a patient refers a friend ... and from that outside activity you draw in new patients.

While the outside-in approach is important and helps a practice grow, it's not where your dental marketing should start. Instead, think inside-out.

Dental marketing should start with you and your staff and how you interact with prospects and patients.

It's a nice fantasy to believe that people choose you as their dentist because of your skill and education. We've always been told that if we do something better than someone else we will be rewarded for it. But that really only applies if people are able to readily recognize and understand what *better* is.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people can't begin to recognize a great dentist from a not-so-good one. To most people a crown is a crown ... regardless of which dentist and lab are responsible for it.

Thus, in people's minds, most dentists are pretty much lumped together ... all capable of providing the dental services needed or wanted without any real difference in quality. So, they choose their dentist primarily on how they like him or her and the staff.

If your practice is not patient-focused, patient-oriented, relationship-centered, that's where you need to start the marketing process.

For more, see: Dental Marketing -- Think Inside Out, Not Outside In