If you’re a dentist who’s been in practice for more than 15 years, you have first-hand experience in how the profession has changed. It’s fair to say that many of those changes haven’t been for the better.
Dentists’ incomes took a substantial hit during the Great Recession of 2008. It took until about 2015 for incomes to begin rising again. But today, those incomes aren’t what they should be. That’s true for dentists and for the majority of the American public. Wages haven’t kept pace with the rising cost of providing dental care.
Dental insurance companies have been a driving force in driving down what dentists can reasonably charge for dental procedure. The fairly recent move toward shifting the more of the cost of care to patients means that those patients, employed but with limited discretionary funds, are looking for dental care at the lowest cost.
And with a higher level of competition than ever before, dentists are in a “race to the bottom” on price. This is a game that no one really wins because it keeps dentists working too hard for too long for too little.
You Can Do Better Than This
Put simply, you’re setting your sights too low if you persist in low-price marketing. The people who respond to that approach aren’t the best choice if you hope to grow your practice and eventually retire as you wish.
There are many dental prospects in your market who aren’t price-driven, insurance-driven, or looking for the lowest-cost dentistry. They’ll actually pay more for elective dental procedures from the dentist they consider to be relatable, likeable, trustworthy and the expert to solve their dental problems.
Pro Tip: You CAN’T Be The Discount Dental Expert
The better prospects in your market can afford to take their time and to be choosy about the dentist they select. Quick-hit advertising, like what most dentists rely on, does little to convince these patients that you’re the right dentist for them.
Attracting patients who represent much higher average case value to your practice have to be nurtured along your new patient funnel. That requires a strategic, fully integrated online and offline marketing approach including your website and SEO, your doctor videos and patient testimonial videos, blog, social media, paid media, direct mail campaigns, and emails campaigns.
That’s a lot of coordination of messaging that’s frankly beyond the reach of most dental practices. Fortunately, you can get more of the better patients in your market without having to spend untold hours revamping your marketing.
SmartBox provides a steady stream of better dental patients to dentists on three continents. Our doctors can focus on actually doing the dentistry without having to worry about their marketing month after month. And, they’re able to work less while earning as much or more.
Get started on the path to practicing the dentistry you’ve always wanted. All it takes is a free, no-obligation 25-minute phone call. Following the call, we’ll send your free Patient Attraction Roadmap
that’s yours to use however you wish.
Dentistry is too good a profession to be reduced to a high-volume, low case-value proposition. It’s time to change that model… and now you can.
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