I sat down a few weeks ago with a highly respected dentist, Dr. Christopher Baer. Dr. Baer owns Baer Dental Designs and has developed several methods of successfully attracting patients over the years. Feel free to find out more about Dr. Baer by browsing his website, or you can read this highly informative interview to glean some of his marketing strategies.
Dr. Baer, give us a little bit of your background. How long have you been practicing, when did you decide that you wanted to be a dentist, etc.?
I knew that I wanted to be a dentist from the time that I was a little boy. My grandfather was a very well respected dentist, but I never had the chance to meet him because he passed away before I was born. My grandmother told stories of how amazing my grandfather was, and how much people loved and respected the work that he did as a dentist. She would show me pictures and newspaper pieces about the things that he did in dentistry and the advances that he helped the dental industry make. He was a pioneer of ultrasonics in dentistry, and actually conducted some really cool research about how it worked. Those stories sparked my interest at a young age.
Even though I was interested in becoming a dentist from a young age, I still did not enjoy going to the dentist. The fluoride gel that they used made me sick. However, I was fascinated by how the orthodontist could move my teeth to be perfectly straight by using only wires.
After being in dental school for only a few weeks, and starting to work with the drill, I knew I was going to love being a dentist. Some dentists just suffer through dental school, but I loved it. After dental school, I applied for an extremely competitive residency in San Antonio, TX and fortunately, I was selected as one of their residents. In the year that I worked there, I gained experience that probably would have taken me ten years to gain running a private practice.
I have always loved furthering my knowledge and education, so I joined the Kois Center in Seattle, WA. In 2015 I graduated from the program and am extremely happy with what I was able to learn from it. Iterating what has happened to get me to where I am today makes me realize just how much of a journey it has been.
Your answers show why your dentistry is so respected! So you own your own practice, how long have you owned it?
I do own my own practice now, but I worked for a number of different offices prior to that. I always found a clash between the way I wanted to practice and the way that they wanted me to practice. I opened my practice in 2009 and decided to focus on custom-tailored, high-end treatment. It is called Baer Dental Designs.
So that was 8 years ago, how many years did you practice before opening your own practice?
I have been practicing dentistry for 14 years total now, so I practiced in other dental offices for 6 years.
So you have had the opportunity to see how a lot of different practices work, probably with different technology levels, this means you have probably been a part of a number of different changes over the 14 years that you have been practicing. Tell us some of the things that you learned and how you have used that to help your practice.
I have seen so many different levels of offices and experienced so many changes in the last 14 years that it is hard to decide where to start.
Digital dentistry has definitely been huge. I have worked in practices that still used paper charts, and I have worked in practices that were high end fully digital practices. I have always loved technology, so I have definitely embraced digital dentistry and technology.
Dental practice ownership has become more difficult with so many corporate chains coming in. From my experience, many corporate chains seem to focus on profit and not necessarily the amazing results that I am trying to accomplish. I think there is still a place for the solo practitioner, as long as you are not trying to beat them at their game.
So now we know a lot about your background and your practice. Can you give us some insights into some of the marketing strategies that have worked well for you?
Internal marketing is by far our best referral source! We live and die by one rule in our office. If we would not do this on a family member, we do not do it on a patient. Patients recognize this, and you don't end up having to try to remember what you told someone and why. People can recognize integrity. Many people are already hesitant to come to the dentist, so we try to help them have an awesome experience.
So what kind of NP flow are you getting from referrals?
30-50
Wow, that is awesome! That is definitely a great way to grow a dental practice. So now that you have been doing this for 14 years and had a lot of your own experiences. What advice would you give to a first-time practice owner who is just starting out?
Start with your patients in mind. What do they want? What do they like? Where do they shop? Where do they work? Really get to know them! This will not only help with your marketing strategies, it will also help you to get to know your patients better which allows you to create a great experience for them. Analyze possible marketing efforts based on your answers to these questions. Even ask patients if they would pay attention to a specific marketing piece that you are considering implementing. This will help you avoid unnecessary spending.
Dr. Baer, thank you for your time today!