Wouldn't it be terrific if you could inspire instant patient confidence, particularly from new patients.
You can.
How?
Offer your patients a Guarantee Of Satisfaction.
A guarantee demonstrates to your patient that you are confident in your skills and that you do quality work. It also creates a comfort level for the patient, confident that if they have you (versus another dentist) do their dental work there is less chance of a problem. But, they also reason, if there happens to be a problem, they won't have to pay again to have it corrected.
Thus, a guarantee can help improve the success of your new patient case presentations and the loyalty of your patients.
Of course, the more comprehensive -- and less restrictive -- the guarantee, the greater the patient confidence and comfort level it inspires.
Not sure what your guarantee should say? Email me for a couple of samples.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
Thursday
Embrace & Massage Those First Fifty
Research has shown that readership falls off dramatically during the first fifty words of an advertisement. However, from words 51 to 500, readership falls very little.
What does that mean for you?
It means you need to spend far more time tweaking those first fifty words of your dental ad to ensure that they are likely to capture the attention/imagination of the reader, build interest, and virtual compel the reader to read on. Of course, if you simply run minimal copy image ads, this doesn't apply.
When it comes to ad copy, the headline is most important ... but the first fifty words aren't far behind. Embrace them. Massage them. And you're likely to get more of the response you want.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
What does that mean for you?
It means you need to spend far more time tweaking those first fifty words of your dental ad to ensure that they are likely to capture the attention/imagination of the reader, build interest, and virtual compel the reader to read on. Of course, if you simply run minimal copy image ads, this doesn't apply.
When it comes to ad copy, the headline is most important ... but the first fifty words aren't far behind. Embrace them. Massage them. And you're likely to get more of the response you want.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
Saturday
Nix The Negative
It's virtually always more response-effective to build your marketing message around positive benefit appeals than to focus primarily on the negative ... fear.
For example, the ad headline ... "Untreated Gum Disease Can Kill You!" ... is a negative approach, using fear to try to persuade prospects to take action. It very often causes mental discomfort for the reader which may cause him to avoid thinking about it. Or s/he might remember the "Kill You" part of the headline in association with your name and forget the "Gum Disease" part.
The headline ... "Eliminate Your Gum Disease ... Feel Better, Live Longer." ... is a positive benefits approach to the same problem.
If you're disappointed with the response to your ads, direct mail, radio spots, etc., analyze carefully to see if you're using a more negative, rather than positive, message. If so, try the positive approach.
Does positive always outpull negative? Not always ... but typically it does (probably 9 out of ten times).
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
For example, the ad headline ... "Untreated Gum Disease Can Kill You!" ... is a negative approach, using fear to try to persuade prospects to take action. It very often causes mental discomfort for the reader which may cause him to avoid thinking about it. Or s/he might remember the "Kill You" part of the headline in association with your name and forget the "Gum Disease" part.
The headline ... "Eliminate Your Gum Disease ... Feel Better, Live Longer." ... is a positive benefits approach to the same problem.
If you're disappointed with the response to your ads, direct mail, radio spots, etc., analyze carefully to see if you're using a more negative, rather than positive, message. If so, try the positive approach.
Does positive always outpull negative? Not always ... but typically it does (probably 9 out of ten times).
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
Cheese Is Just Cheese ... Right?
Perception is reality ... even when it comes to cheese.
You may have heard the story about the man who was dining in an exclusive Italian restaurant in New York City. This man went out of his way to convey to the owner of the restaurant that ...
To which the restaurant owner replied ...
Same cheese. Different perception.
It pays to remember that a person's perception is his reality. If a patient perceives you to be unfriendly ... or often late for appointments ... it won't matter if you have a 99.9% on-time rate or that virtually everyone else thinks your a friendly sweetheart of a person. To that person you aren't friendly and you're often late, and that's exactly what he'll convey to others.
That's why it's so important for you and your staff to be on top of your game consistently --- day after day after day --- so that you can minimize those misperceptions.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
You may have heard the story about the man who was dining in an exclusive Italian restaurant in New York City. This man went out of his way to convey to the owner of the restaurant that ...
Your veal parmigiana is better
than the one I had in Italy last week!
than the one I had in Italy last week!
To which the restaurant owner replied ...
Of course it is. You see, they use
domestic cheese and ours is imported."
domestic cheese and ours is imported."
Same cheese. Different perception.
It pays to remember that a person's perception is his reality. If a patient perceives you to be unfriendly ... or often late for appointments ... it won't matter if you have a 99.9% on-time rate or that virtually everyone else thinks your a friendly sweetheart of a person. To that person you aren't friendly and you're often late, and that's exactly what he'll convey to others.
That's why it's so important for you and your staff to be on top of your game consistently --- day after day after day --- so that you can minimize those misperceptions.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
Monday
Losing $80 Million In Six Months Confirms It
Much of the external dental marketing/advertising I see focuses the attention and appeal on the dentist, not the prospect or patient. In effect the message says ...
Here's what the prospect is really thinking whenever she reads or listens to or watches an ad or marketing pitch ...
"But, what about when I buy a gift for someone else," you may be thinking. "I'm not asking 'what's in it for me.'"
"Or what about when I give to charity. I do that ONLY to benefit those less fortunate than me. I'm not wondering how it will benefit me."
For example: There are any number of personal-benefit reasons why you buy and give gifts ... to be appreciated, to avoid embarrassment, to gain an advantage, to avoid guilt, to name a few. And when you give to charity you do so because it makes you feel good, or keeps you from feeling guilty.
A few days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans I sent a check to the Red Cross. Was it to help the unfortunate? Sure it was ... but it was just as much to shake my feelings of sadness and guilt (here I was living and enjoying the comforts of my home while those poor people were living in hell). As always happens when I give to charity, it just made me feel better to do so.
Here's further proof that people (even the best of the good-hearted people) are always asking "what's in it for me." When the state of Florida changed their lottery advertising appeal from greed (Win Millions ... Live Like A King) to helping others (Help Improve The Education System, Buy Lottery Tickets), lottery ticket sales dropped by $80 million in just six months.
When you are trying to persuade prospects to come to your practice, be sure to initially talk about them and the benefits they'll enjoy ... not about yourself.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
Unfortunately, dental prospect's are seldom interested in reading about you. All of that *me, me, me* information is not what normally influences a prospect to pick up the phone and make an appointment with you.
- This is who I am.
- This is what I do.
- This is where I got my training.
- These are the organizations I belong to.
- Here's a list of procedures I do.
- Impressive, isn't it!
Here's what the prospect is really thinking whenever she reads or listens to or watches an ad or marketing pitch ...
What's in it for me?
How will I benefit?
How can you help me?
That's universally true.
At all times.
At all times.
"But, what about when I buy a gift for someone else," you may be thinking. "I'm not asking 'what's in it for me.'"
"Or what about when I give to charity. I do that ONLY to benefit those less fortunate than me. I'm not wondering how it will benefit me."
Bull doo-doo.
Those might not be your conscious thoughts,
but if you look very carefully, you'll find the
"what's in it for me" lurking in the background
Those might not be your conscious thoughts,
but if you look very carefully, you'll find the
"what's in it for me" lurking in the background
For example: There are any number of personal-benefit reasons why you buy and give gifts ... to be appreciated, to avoid embarrassment, to gain an advantage, to avoid guilt, to name a few. And when you give to charity you do so because it makes you feel good, or keeps you from feeling guilty.
A few days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans I sent a check to the Red Cross. Was it to help the unfortunate? Sure it was ... but it was just as much to shake my feelings of sadness and guilt (here I was living and enjoying the comforts of my home while those poor people were living in hell). As always happens when I give to charity, it just made me feel better to do so.
Here's further proof that people (even the best of the good-hearted people) are always asking "what's in it for me." When the state of Florida changed their lottery advertising appeal from greed (Win Millions ... Live Like A King) to helping others (Help Improve The Education System, Buy Lottery Tickets), lottery ticket sales dropped by $80 million in just six months.
When you are trying to persuade prospects to come to your practice, be sure to initially talk about them and the benefits they'll enjoy ... not about yourself.
Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson
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