Evan Lazarus of Simple Impact Media is seeing the impact of COVID-19 on the dental industry. In talking with an oral surgeon who is a client, he mentioned the doctor knows he will get the virus, but it is a matter of when. When the rest of the industry comes to terms with that, we can get back to work. If your office is still open, people need to know that you are there. People are already inundated by emails, so that is not an effective means to send your message. The focus of your message should be informing people of your safety measures as well as making a personal connection with your patients. Pick up the phone and make it personal.
One of his clients is UPenn Dental School. He placed a banner at the top of their website. It is an easy way to educate your customers about what constitutes an emergency, post limited practice hours, etc. Do not mark your business as closed, even with the temporary close option because it means your phone will not ring at all.
Look to more nontechnology and human relationships in order to come back thriving. You have an opportunity to be a leader in your community and provide value. Your marketing plan can be as a person who is available to help. Whether it’s a FB Live to your community, using your network of people to help answer questions, or just to be a calm and friendly community member, you can still impact your community. People like to help people they like, and you can be one of those people.
There are two types of business owners in this situation. One is scared and shuts everything off, the other is working to build their business and opportunities to come back even better. Whatever you do and share, humanize it. Many places are not doing anything to change, so people are looking for answers.
You may want to consider focusing on children in your practice because parents will not let their children’s care fall off like they may their own. Getting kids into the practice gets the family in the practice.
Sometimes it takes a terrible situation for leaders to arise, so take your opportunity.
The Nifty Thrifty Dentists
Dr. Glenn Vo and Dr. Vinh Nguyen are the original "Odd Couple" of Dentistry - they are neither partners in practice or in bed. Just the dynamic duo behind one of the most entertaining Dental Podcasts in the World. Let's face it. Being a Dental Professional is hard. Heck, life in general is hard. Leave reality for a moment and join us in this podcast whirlwind of interesting guests, funny jokes, and thought provoking banter.