Tough Financial Times? Control Costs and Get Marketing!
Dentists Reporting Difficult Financial Conditions
Many dentists are reporting tough financial times as austere economic measures continue to hit home. Nothing too surprising if we’re honest; no-one is immune even with the fairly inelastic demand of healthcare. The cash-strapped public are delaying routine dental treatments and “luxury” cosmetic treatments are being parked until better times. The only areas that are currently thriving are NHS providers and niche areas like implant retained dentures for the elderly.
This is all down to lower footfall at dental practices. Fewer patients = lower revenues, no rocket science needed there.
So what can be done to counteract this down-turn? Like any business, the same sorts of measures need to be introduced quickly and driven through to ensure the desired results. For an increasing number, this is critical for survival, not just for growing their business.
How to counteract the dental down-turn?
Cost control:
Like any business, this is a balance of reducing costs and increasing revenues. On the cost side, all variable costs including staff salaries, associate fees, consultancy fees, consumable costs etc must be examined and reviewed in detail. Difficult decisions may be needed but better a considered staff reduction than a failed dental practice. Do you have an aggresive purchasing policy or has the relationship with your suppliers become a little too cosy? Examine the cost base, identify the “big wins”, allocate responsibility for driving the costs out and see it through.
Increasing the revenues by increasing the patient footfall:
It is tempting to rein-in all marketing activity in difficult times but this is rapidly self-defeating. The clever play is to increase the dental marketing activity, if necessary allocating some of the cash saved from the cost control measures to fund it. This does not mean a “blanket-bombing” effort, much more a considered increase in marketing activity that you know pays dividends. Look at ROI – for many, web marketing is more cost effective than traditional advertising so maybe consider upgrading there? This is not an exhaustive list but may help you to re-position your current marketing programme for difficult economic times:
- your dental website – are you well ranked in Google or languishing on page two or below? Does your search engine optimisation (SEO) need a boost?
- is your website up-to-date, engaging and representative of your services, or does you competitor’s website steal the lead?
- Adwords – if you’re using Adwords, is the campaign optimised and delivering the best click rate for your investment (most aren’t!)
- are you making use of blogging and social media (Facebook, Twitter) to engage with you existing clients and potential new patients? Word-of-mouth referral is critical and powerful – social media is a great way to achieve this.
- do you ask your patients to help you by referring friends and family to the practice? Use a simple “referral and reward” scheme to drive this
- are your patients leaving positive reviews on your Google “Places” listing? How do you encourage them to do this?
- new media – dental practice videos, uploaded to YouTube and embedded in your website and blog are proven to drive traffic and new patient opportunities.
- visual marketing – new practice signs and more innovative methods like advertsing on practice vehicles will keep you prominent. Keep you practice literature sharp and professional.
- engage with your existing clients using regular email campaigns – easy and cheap to do. Send regular special offers and news updates to maintain interest
Finally and perhaps most important of all is to ensure that your staff are smart, fully briefed and “on message” – they are your front-line ambassadors.
Need help with any of the above? Please contact us for friendly advice.
Dental Media