Archive for July, 2010
Dynamics of a PROACTIVE Practice
July 29th, 2010 at 6:56 pm by Livvie
Do you find yourself being Reactive to whatever comes along? Never quite knowing what to expect or what your response would be when something out of the ordinary happens? Or are you Proactive and have tried to anticipate what’s needed BEFORE it’s needed?
Proactive -vs- Reactive makes all the difference when it comes to your practice and as an added benefit, it greatly reduces frustrations!
Being PROACTIVE involves nine specific areas:
P PERSISTENCE
Persistence is the key to success in your practice and in social media networking! Sticking with it almost to the point of being stubborn. You keep at it. If it doesn’t work the first time, you don’t quit, you try it again and again. It may need to be rearranged, tried a different way, “tweaked” a little or revised, but the point is….you keep trying, you keep working it. Be persistent!
R RELATIONSHIPS
Trust is the basis for any lasting relationship. Get to know who your patients are. Listen and understand their perceived needs and wants. Use their names often, pick up conversations where they left off at their last visit. Use social media to interact with your patients and build relationships. Your patient may not be able to explain the in-’s and out’s of the procedure or how you did it, but, your patient knows how he/she was treated and what type of experience they had while visiting your office, your social networking site, or purchasing your product. Build relationships!
O OPPORTUNITIES
New services, options and availability can create tremendous opportunities for revenue and profit from existing (as well as new) patients. Seek to provide so many services and benefits that your patients choose to keep returning, even if their insurance changes or they move and the drive is a little further away. Every patient is an opportunity looking for a place to happen. Look for opportunities!
A ACCOUNTABILITY
Any contact with a patient~ office visit, e-mail, social network site, web site, or ezine ~reflects on your practice. Each staff member should “own” the patient and be held accountable by their interactions for patient satisfaction. It’s all about service! Your “absolutely outstanding service”! Be accountable!
C CONSISTENCY
You must be consistent with patients at each contact. Relationships are building with patients or possible new patients each time contact is made. The worst impression you can make is to meet your patients needs and expectations on one visit and then fall short during subsequent visits. Patients need to know what they can expect. Be consistent!
T TENACITY
Along with persistence and consistency comes tenacity. Holding firm and strong. Stay focused. Create a daily, weekly and monthly schedule and stick to it. Set your goals and stick to them. Develop your policies and procedures and stick to them. Be tenacious!
I IDENTIFY
20% of your patients are providing 80% of your profits! Identify your patients who are in this 20% category to find the “core” of your business. What can be done for the other 80%? Identify your patients!
V VALUE
Your services must be perceived with value by your patients. Value = Quality and the patient defines “Quality”. The “quality” appearance of your office or social site. “Quality” of patient interaction. “Quality” of your service. Market the value of your service!
E ENTHUSIASM
Enthusiasm is exciting and contagious! Patients can distinguish your enthusiasm, or the lack of it, over the telephone, in your e-mail, or in person… within seconds. It is crucial the atmosphere of the practice, whether over the telephone, e-mail, ezine, online or offline be one of enthusiasm: A love or passion about what you are doing!! Be enthusiastic!
Remember: Every patient-viewer is an Opportunity looking for a place to happen! By being PROACTIVE you will be ready for those Opportunities because you can leverage the….Dynamics Of A PROACTIVE Practice!
Posted in General, Patient Relations, Services, Social Media | 
Tags: caring dentists, Dental Marketing, Draw patients, Livvie Matthews, Patient Relations, Proactive practice | 
2 Comments »
Social Media: Putting All The Pieces Together
July 14th, 2010 at 8:37 am by Livvie
Twitter and Facebook and Blogs..oh my! YouTube and LinkedIn and Amplify…oh my! Are you wondering how to fit all the pieces of the social media puzzle together? Are you feeling overwhelmed before you even get started?
Social media doesn’t have to be overwhelming, you can keep it simple…yes, simple. There’s all the talk about social network sites, all the technical programs available, all the tools, all the applications, and there’s video…it goes on and on. Where do you start and where does it all go? How does it all fit together?
Putting jigsaw puzzles together is a great past time and if you’ve ever put one together you know you start out with putting your outside pieces, your frame, together first. This becomes your “template” and your guide for where the rest of the pieces fit in the puzzle.
When starting with social media think of it as your jigsaw puzzle. You’ll need to define your objectives, define your target market, and create your strategy. In other words, define what it is you want to accomplish by using social media (your objectives), who do you want to reach (your target market), and how you are going to accomplish those objectives (your strategy).
Do you want to become the “go to” dentist in your area? Are you wanting to grow your “family” dental practice? Maybe you want to become “The” cosmetic dentist in your area or want to grow your practice’s email list. Just what is it you want to accomplish?
Your objectives, target market, and strategy become your plan of action and your plan of action becomes your frame…your puzzle template.
Once these pieces are together you’re ready to start filling in the rest of your puzzle…choosing your social networks. To do this, you’ll need to be clear on your target market and familiar with which social networks they prefer to use the most.
Let’s put this in perspective: If you work out of 3 treatment rooms in your practice and your patient is seated in TR 3 and you’re seated in TR 2 waiting for that patient, you aren’t going to accomplish anything…you’re not where your patient is. In other words, if you are on Twitter and your target is on Facebook…see the importance? You want to go where the “eyeballs” are…be known and be seen where your target market is.
Just like your regular puzzle, you add one or two pieces at a time. When choosing your social networks, start slow with one, possibly two, of the network pieces. Many like to start with Facebook or Twitter and a blog. As you get comfortable with these pieces, you have the option to add more pieces to your social network. But the key is finding and working within your comfort level.
Whether you’re putting together a 500 piece puzzle (a couple of networks) or a 2000 piece puzzle (most of the networks) keep working and soon your social media puzzle will all be together in one good fit!
Posted in Dental Marketing, General, Mktg-Internet, Patient Relations, Services, Social Media |
Tags: Dental Marketing, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, overwhelming social media, social media plan of action, social media puzzle, social media puzzle pieces, social media strategies |
2 Comments »
4 Social Media Myths
July 12th, 2010 at 8:15 am by Livvie
Social media is the buzz word in marketing. You can be watching TV, eating in a restaurant, or on your computer and you will see or hear some mention of a social networking site. It may be Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogs, or another of the many social networks.
Whether you are on the social networks or not, you’ve even come to recognize their logos. Social media has become a way of life and a powerful marketing avenue for businesses.
But as powerful a source as social media presents, there are some business owners who still aren’t utilizing this incredible opportunity to grow their business sighting one or more of these 4 myths:
Myth #1: It’s Just A Fad
Social media is still in its infant stages, however, it’s already proven its value and is definitely here to stay! Facebook has over 400 million active viewers who spend over 500 million minutes per day on Facebook alone.
Traditional advertising, newspaper ads, telephone ads, and direct mailers are static in nature. They are usually advertisements about your services. Once the printed piece is presented there is no opportunity for connecting with and engaging the viewer and answering their concerns.
Social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs allow you to connect and engage your viewers with one on one conversation or group conversations.
What does this mean for you: More potential new patients and more treatment acceptance.
Posted in Mktg-Internet, Social Media |
Tags: Livvie Matthews, myths about social media, Social media and Internet marketing, social media myths, social media truth or myth, Time investment for Social Media |
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Facebook Trumps Twitter for Business
July 6th, 2010 at 7:18 pm by Livvie
Ever wondered about privacy issues with Facebook? Or maybe you’re a Twitter fan and question Facebook’s credentials for doing business. Have you tried Facebook only to say “I don’t get it”, or “This isn’t working for my business”. Then this information might be just what you need.
This article from Mike Stelzner of Social Media Examiner gives 3 Reasons Facebook Trumps Twitter for Business. In it Mike demonstrates, step by step, how to create lists on Facebook and how to set your privacy settings for who sees what posts.
How about you, have you set your privacy settings or created lists on Facebook?
Posted in Blogging, Mktg-Internet, Social Media |
Tags: Creating Lists on Facebook, Facebook for business, Facebook for Lists, Facebook privacy, Facebook settings, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, Mike Stelzner, Using Facebook Lists |
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