The Dental Marketer

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The Dental Marketer

I just interviewed Dr. Cindy Rask of Bespoke Dental (a startup practice approaching its first anniversary).

From the outside: steady growth, a clear brand, and nearly 100 reviews in year one.

But the more interesting part was what happened behind the scenes

Here’s what I learned:

“A slow month is a mirror, not a mystery.”
When September dipped, it wasn’t random. It exposed recall gaps and system assumptions that hadn’t been stress-tested.

“Control is expensive but chaos costs more.”
The desire for same-day crowns wasn’t about technology. It was about control, convenience, and reducing lab dependency. The real hesitation? Cash flow timing.

“If patients can’t find you, design doesn’t matter.”
A polished website means nothing without SEO performance. Visibility beats beauty in year one.

“Volume hiring creates volume problems.”
Broad job boards bring applicants. Niche boards bring alignment. Filtering fatigue is real for small teams.

“Patients feel tension faster than teams admit it.”
Flow didn’t improve because the team moved faster.
It improved when roles were clear, values were enforced, and “that’s not my job” disappeared. Speed hides tension. Alignment removes it.

“Core values matter when they cost you something.”
Letting someone go sooner would have protected culture and patient retention. Delaying culture decisions compounds damage.

“Unmonitored systems fail quietly.”
Assuming recall was being handled led to empty columns months later. What isn’t inspected eventually surfaces.

“Clarity beats good intentions.”
A great patient experience can’t live in the owner’s head. Expectations must be verbalized, written, and trained.

“Transparency builds urgency.”
When October numbers were shared with the team, behavior changed. Vulnerability created alignment, not fear.

Ownership rarely collapses from one dramatic failure. It erodes from small assumptions left unexamined.

Listen to the full episode here: https://thedentalmarketer.site/podcast/594

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