You know the question I hate more than any other: “Does it work in FILL IN THE BLANK” … big cities, small towns, poor neighborhoods, rich suburbs, with old people, with families, in seasonal areas or transient regions.
Does it work? Answer: anything that works – works.
The problem is not the “it” it is the “does”. Every single practice in North America has its own challenges. Every city, town, patient base has pros and cons. It is just a matter of what you do with it.
Doctors love to brag or complain (depending on which side of success they are on), about how competitive it is ‘these days’, how many more dentists there are, and then you bundle with that the evil forces of corporate dentistry and the corruption of insurance and you have the perfect storm for a difficult fight to get patients and to grow your practice profitability.
Why then do certain dentists thrive, not void these circumstances but in spite of any and all challenges?
Because they choose to.
They do not try being all things to all people, instead they have an identity. They know who they are and they know who they want to serve by knowing how they want to practice dentistry.
In business terms, they have a plan, an approach, a strategy, what I call a custom profit blueprint (which ties all of these things together into something that is individualized for all of the specific variables that must be considered and factored in).
Here’s my point in a more provocative way than just telling you…
I love going to Vegas because of the energy, the lights, the mystic, the money, the entertaining human circus of all the people and especially the palpable ambition.
There is no place more competitive than Las Vegas. Imagine being a restaurant, a casino, a show, a shop, an attraction, heck any business that is vying for the attention and interest of customers.
You could think to yourself, gosh, I don’t want to compete with all of these things so I’ll just go deeper into the desert and open something where no one else exists and then there will be no competition.
Bad idea. Because with no competition, you get no customers. The opportunity that exists, the more others will be ‘there’ fighting for it.
The only time when competition will ruin you and beat you down is when you try to join them instead conquering them. You will never avoid “options” that your patients get to choose from but you can put yourself into a category of one so that the choice becomes much more apparent.
The most successful aspects of Vegas do not need advertising, you won’t find them anywhere, they live by strategic exclusivity. They breed their success through experiential engagement with their customers.
This is exactly the way great practices are made. Whether big or small, rural or urban, general or specialty; it is the experience, the human element, the wow factor, the relationship, the engagement that will differentiate you and propel you forward to your ultimate success.
Just like Vegas with millions and millions of visitors, there is competition and you would wonder how on earth are every one of these casinos, shows, restaurants, shows, streets filled up and busting at the seams.
Because it’s all relative. And in your city or town there are plenty of people to go around. No good dentist and team really needs that many patients to do extremely well.
It is more about your mindset and staying focused on creating what you want and attracting the patients who will appreciate your unique practice experience. Then by controlling and engineering your practice to keep repeating that level of engagement, you multiply results.
As we move into the end of the year and begin preparing for 2017, now is when you must really hone in on your skills and take a good hard look at what you are doing to win; to keep growing; to accelerate your profitability without selling out on your integrity, patient relationship, fees and service.
Later this month, I will be inviting you to participate in the most advanced online training session I have ever put together and conducted.
It will show you in great detail the 7 factors of rising above all competitors in your area, truly creating something unique and experiential for your patients, and at the same time ensuring your are well positioned for profitable, healthy and sustainable growth.
This presentation will single-handedly take your operations, execution, patient care and differentiation to a level you have only dreamed about.
I’m excited. And that’s all you get this week…a little mystery, in honor of Vegas I suppose.
