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Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Think of all the expense, not to mention the time, involved with getting the phone to ring…only to loose the caller.   Staggering fact:  As many as 50% of New Patient calls are lost at the front desk due to poor telephone skills! 

Verbal skills, over the phone or in person, dictate:

• First impressions
• Treatment acceptance
• Over the counter collections
• Scheduling
• Quality of service
• Referrals

There isn’t an area in your practice that’s untouched by verbal skills and it all starts with that first telephone call. 

We’ve all heard the saying ” You only get one chance to make a good first impression”.   In real estate it is all about Location, Location, Location!

In Dentistry – it is all about Impressions, Impressions, Impressions!  No, We are not talking  Alganates or Rubber Base Impression here! We’re talking about Mental Impressions ….Your service, service, service! 

Today’s patient is:

• More  Demanding
• More Intelligent

 And more importantly, they have more choice about:

•  Who they will see
•  Who they will spend their money with

Positive verbal skills  make sure it’s with your practice and NOT your competitors!

It’s also been shown the new caller will actually  judge the quality of the Dr’s care, buy how well the phone is answered !

So, lets see….. Doctor, you spent years in college studying dentistry and many more hours of Continuing Ed.  (CE).  Now it can take just a moment to make or break the practice by how well we…. answer the phone!

Does that mean pressure for the Front Office?   You bet it does!

It is crucial the atmosphere of the practice over the telephone and in person, be one of enthusiasm….that means…a Love or Passion about what you are doing!!

Closing thought:  Handle all calls, especially New Patient calls as if that call is the most important call you will receive all day…..it is!

Technorati Tags: Building Business, building telephone skills, Dental Marketing, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing, Telephone skill

Blogs, short for web logs, are very easy to start, they generally don’t require a great deal of technical knowledge, and should be updated frequently. Blogs can also increase traffic to your site. Search engines love blogs due to the constant change in content!

There are many free blog sites for starting your blog. You can also do a Google search for free blog sites. Here are three to get you started:

• http://www.Wordpress.com 

• http://www.Wordpress.org (used by Write Business Blog)

• http://www.Blogger.com

• http://www.Movabletype.org/ (for movable type blogs)

Take some time to research some existing blogs to get a feel for how you would like your blog to look and what you would like your blog to do. Contact the blogger on some sites you like and ask them the likes and dislikes of how their blog program works. Also post the same question on a few message boards for their responses.

Some features on the blog sites are different and knowing the differences will help you make the choice that will best work with what you want your blog to do.

In designing your site, take time in choosing your colors and theme. There are predesigned templates and many different themes to choose from or you can create your own.

When creating and writing your content, make it interesting by adding your own personality and enthusiasm to your posts. Write like you’re talking to a person who’s right beside you.

Once started, be sure to promote and market your blog. Do a search for Blog Directories for places/sites to promote/list your blog.

One of the big blog search sites is http://www.blogsearch.google.com. This site lists most any type blog for any interest…business, industry, personal blog, etc.

Here are two more to get you started:

• http://www.bloglisting.net/

• http://www.blogtoplist.com/

You can also post your blog in groups and on message boards…be sure to include your blog link in your e-mail sig (signature).

Marketing your blog will take some time, but updating your blog frequently and being persistent will put you on the blogging road to success.

Remember: You are unique. There’s only one you, so share your information written in your unique personality!

Technorati Tags: Blogging, blogging for starters, Building Business, Livvie Matthews, start blogging

With all the buzz about social media, social networking, and other social sites, it can get very frustrating not to mention distracting. 

Social media is a great marketing tool, but be careful. It is about being social yes…but you must keep your focus.

 Facebook has many distractions. Applications, games, surveys, sending cards and flowers, joining different groups…etc. Twitter can be distracting as well with all the tweets coming through, applications, responses, direct messages… etc

 I’ve witnessed this first hand. There can be so many things to try to do, applications to try, posting on Facebook and Twitter, creating a profile for LinkedIn and just the day to day “to dos” in addition to so much to learn. 

This is one of the main questions asked, “How much time will I have to put into social media”? The answer depends on what you want to accomplish and yes, you will have to spend some time with update, responses, and blog postings.

How focused you are can determine if it’s a lot of time or just the right amount of time needed.  

Here are a few tips:

 1. Determine your focus: Always stick to your core messages and values. Make sure your posts reflect those messages and values. The general rule is 80%-90% business and 10%-20% personal. 

2. Make a list: Write down what you want to accomplish today, this week, this month. Break it down into “do-able” sizes and cross them off as you complete them. There’s something about seeing a list with accomplishments marked off that keeps the energy flowing.

 3. Set your timer: Allow specific items a specific amount of time to get accomplished. When the timer goes off, wrap it up and move to the next item. If you’ve time it right, hopefully the item is complete, but if it’s not, it’s well on it way to completion when addressed the next time.

4. Allow times for breaks: This can be one of the most look over items. Stop what you are doing, walk away from your desk and on to your porch or deck. Take a few deep breaths of fresh air. If you can’t go out at the moment, if there is a window near your desk, just turn away from your desk and enjoy the view outside your window.

 All through the summer I’ve enjoyed watching several humming birds flying around the hanging basket near my computer room window.

Following through on the suggestions mention above will help with your time.  As your blog and your social sites grow, more responsibilities may come into play.  You can always outsource to a third party as few or as many of those responsibilities as needed for you to be able to concentrate on getting your content out.  

These are just a few things to help you keep your focus. What can you add to the list?

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Dental Marketing, engaging social media, focus your time, how not to be distracted with social media, Internet Marketing, Keeping your focus using social media, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing

Many people on Facebook use their PROFILE page in some way associated as their business page.  When “Friending” some people recently,  I’d noticed once on their page, there was no “What’s on you mind?” status bar to type in a message to them. 

This had actually happened to me awhile back, and thankfully one of my online friends emailed me to let me know she couldn’t post a message on my Profile Wall.

As the owner of the page, you can view the “What’s on you mind” status bar, but your viewers cannot.  To make sure this isn’t a problem for your Profile page, here’s how to check or change it to make sure it’s viewable on your Profile wall and others can post to your Wall:

On your Profile under your picture:

• Click “Edit Profile”
• Look in the left column for Basic Information
• On the left column, in the little paragraph Click Privacy Settings link
• On the next page in the middle of the large column near the bottom Click Customized Settings
• Scroll down to the 2nd paragraph area  titled Things others can share
• 3rd item down in the list it reads Friends can post on my Wall
• Scroll to the right of that and put in a check so it reads Enable
• Then go back to your Profile

If Enable was already checked your Wall status bar was already viewable, however if you had to check Enable it was not enabled.  To make sure your viewers can see  your “What’s on your mind?” status bar, have a follower of yours  come to your profile page and type you a message. 

If you would like to view how to do the steps above, here’s a quick video with step x step how to’s:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXO3BJspA60

What Facebook tip have you used that helped you? 

Technorati Tags: Dental Marketing, enable Facebook profile status bar, engaging social media, Facebook, Facebook for business, Facebook Profile Status Bar, Facebook settings, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing, writing Facebook messages

Do you know what your patients are saying about you? How about past employees- what are they saying about you, your practice, or other team members?  Are you aware what your competitors are saying? Do you have someone actively “listening” to what’s being said about your practice? 

 A concern often voiced when discussing creating online communities or social media marketing is “What if someone makes a negative comment” or Aren’t we opening ourselves to criticism?”  Their concern is if someone makes negative comments it will harm their business and their reputation. 

Like building your practice, building relationships and a good reputation through credibility and trust takes work, commitment, and time.  As we know, this brings in more new patients and opportunities (through referrals), more treatment acceptance, and ultimately more revenue. 

News, especially bad news, has always traveled fast.  Add to that the Internet, cell phones, instant messaging, and texting and news is now traveling at the speed of light and the news is, geographically, all over the place. 

First, we have to remember, there’s a good possibility negative comments have already been made at one time or another.  In the community, to a neighbor, to a friend or family member, or even a call back to the office after a procedure.  But unless it was a call back to the office, you usually weren’t even aware anything negative had even been said and never had the opportunity to address the issue.  

Negative comments not addressed can grow and can lead to damaging the practice’s reputation, lost opportunities, and less revenue. 

A simple way to initiate and monitor your Online Reputation Management:

• Set up Google and Yahoo alerts for your brand – your name, your practice name, and the names of key employees 
• You can also set up alerts for your competitors
• Use Technorati for tracking your brand in case the post was in someone’s blog 

Note:  The above items mentioned are for simple monitoring for practices without a major or ongoing problem with negative comments and issues. There are companies that specifically monitor businesses brands and go much deeper into Online Reputation Management.  

For the most part, people give very good reviews.  Of course there are always the exceptions to the rule.  Often times complaints can show a practice an area that needs to be improved resulting in better patient services and better patient relations. 

Online Reputation Management allows you to watch your brand, follow what’s being said about you, and allows you to address any negative as it happens.  

This is not to be confrontational, argumentative, or offensive, but rather seen as an opportunity to resolve a negative situation in a positive manner.  It’s not really a question of “What if there’s a negative comment”, but rather the real question is “How will we address negative comments and issues”.

Social media platforms allow you the unique opportunity to address the negative and turn the negative around into a positive.  Even if you aren’t able to resolve the situation (and sometimes you can’t) your online viewers will see you didn’t try to avoid the situation.  Instead the viewers will see you value your patients experience in your office and the positive manner in which you tried to resolve the situation.  Oh, and don’t be surprised if your viewers also come to your defense! 

Online Reputation Management, when used correctly, is just another positive element of social media.

Have you had any negative comments that you were made aware of with social media?  What steps did you take to resolve the situation?

Technorati Tags: Blogging, engaging social media, Google alerts, Livvie Matthews, managing your reputation online, monitoring online reputation, Online Reputation Management, Patient Relations