Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Howard Speaks Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, MAGD

More by this author (315)
When Times Get Tough

Howard Farran, DDS
MBA, MAGD
Publisher,
Dentaltown Magazine
 I have read several message board threads on Dentaltown.com regarding the tough economy. Dentists from all across the U.S. are asking if anyone else's practice is seeing slower times or lower production. Many are responding with a resounding YES! When I earned my MBA from Arizona State University, I was taught that in an economic downturn, or recession, you must do three things:
  1. Freeze or reduce payroll.
  2. Lower your prices.
  3. Double or triple your marketing efforts.
Remember when the stock market crashed in 2000? Every Internet or high technology stock tanked. What did the genius Michael Dell do? He froze payroll, slashed his prices, and then he tripled his marketing budget with the advertising campaign "Dude, you're getting a Dell." His stock price and profits rose all throughout the downturn.

I have lectured for years on how to handle slower times – you have to cut costs where you can, which includes payroll if at all possible. Run as lean and mean as you can until your schedule is full again. You also have to increase your marketing efforts in order to gain new business and fill that schedule as much as possible.

Front of our direct mail flyer



Back of our direct mail flyer		 During the current recession we have adjusted our practice in a couple of ways. We have cut back on staff; we no longer have a floating assistant who handles the sterile duties, emergencies and fills in for staff who are out. We also sent out a direct mail flyer to increase our new patients as well as bring in existing patients with a coupon offer. At the left is an example of the flyer we sent out last May.

We have also changed the allocation of our marketing dollars. In the past we have always placed several ads in the local Yellow Pages books, which is quite costly. The Internet has changed things dramatically, so we decided to move most of our Yellow Pages advertising dollars to online Yellow Pages listings, which is less expensive than running large ads in the Yellow Pages books each year. We've placed the savings from this change into search optimization for our Web site and online advertising with Google AdWords. In order to attract new patients through the Internet you need to have search optimization done for your site so patients will find your Web site through search engines like Google or Yahoo. That is the most important component of a good Web site. Ease of navigation and an appealing look are good, but not as important as making sure your patients find your Web site. You might have the best looking Web site on the Internet, but it won't matter if your patients can't find you when doing a keyword search through a search engine.

Our Today's Dental Web site has good search optimization but we had not updated the site in quite a few years. So, we started looking at companies within the dental profession that offered patient interactive Web sites along with the ability to update the template when changes in the practice occur. Our practice also wanted the ability to confirm appointments via e-mail along with sending quarterly newsletters without adding more work load at the front desk. We decided to go with a company called Dental Sesame to build our new Web site. Sesame not only designs Web sites but also has integrated software for the patients to login to from our Web site. Our front office is very pleased with Sesame for many reasons – mainly because it has made their jobs easier!

The system automatically confirms patients with e-mail addresses two days prior to their appointment time and has an option available to send a text to their cell phones. Patients can automatically add the appointment to their Outlook calendar and confirm the appointment with the office via e-mail. On a daily basis the system automatically sends out routine check-up reminders, post-appointment feedback, no-show alert reminders, flex spending reminders, birthday greetings and holiday greetings. The system is totally customizable which enables our office to decide when and what we choose to send to our patients. Another great feature with Sesame is the ability for patients to login and see their information such as account balances, scheduled appointments and insurance information. They can also print a financial report, which is great for tax purposes, and make payments online. Patients also have the ability to update our office with current information such as address, phone numbers and insurance changes. When patients update their information, we receive an e-mail prompting us to update our information in Softdent. After we have seen patients, they are sent an automatic appointment survey, which they can fill out and e-mail back to us. We have had a great response from our patients. Our office manager shares the feedback from the surveys with the staff in the morning huddles. The challenge when implementing this type of interactive Web site is obtaining e-mail addresses from all of your patients. I recommend if you are not doing it now, start! Add it to your new patient forms or create a form at your front desk for patients to fill out with their current email address.

There are many companies that provide similar services for your dental practice. Dental Sesame is the company we felt offered the most options for our office needs and for the best value. If you would like more information on Dental Sesame you can visit www.sesamecommunications.com or call 866-592-7572.

As I previously mentioned, there are three things any business should do during a recession: cut costs, reduce fees and increase marketing. Believe me, I know how difficult it is during slower times to find extra money to spend on marketing but you absolutely need to increase your marketing in some form. Even increasing your internal referral efforts will pay off, but you have to do something besides sitting around and complaining about how bad things are!
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
Dentaltown Magazine September 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Townie® Poll
Who or what do you turn to for most financial advice regarding your practice?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds Dental News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2025 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450