How does a dentist build a practice? Of course, word of mouth is important, but how do you reach those potential new patients who don't have a referral from someone who knows you? And how do you encourage existing patients to refer you? Marketing is the answer. Really good marketing will set your practice apart and make it memorable to the patients you want to attract.
Printing business cards and letterhead, putting your name on giveaway toothbrushes and sending reminder cards are important, but to make your practice stand out from the crowd, you need some pizzazz. You need an image. Phoenix marketing and printing company, Affordable Image, is one company that takes marketing for dentists beyond the ordinary, the expected and develops creative marketing solutions with zing.
Old-Fashioned Service with Today's Technology
Affordable Image is a rarity in the marketing world. It is a relationship-based marketing company where clients are treated with honesty, integrity and dedication. Knowing relationships grow better and stronger with time, every employee at Affordable Image is invested in the client's long-term success. From the first contact, clients regularly interact with people who are there for them when they need them and who are willing to go the extra mile to help them grow their practice to where they want it to be. It is a philosophy that sets Affordable Image well apart from its competition.
"We are like family to our customers and to one another," says Affordable Image's manager. "That's a huge part of what we think of as old-fashioned values. It's not something you find on the internet. It comes when people interact on a personal level That's what we're all about." The philosophy appears in many small ways. Phones are answered by human beings. Meetings are scheduled at the client's convenience, including evenings, lunch hours and even Sunday afternoons if needed. Helpful professionals cheerfully take whatever time is necessary to make sure each client understands all the choices available to them for their marketing needs. Couriers deliver orders if they are needed right away. Affordable Image's commitment to service even extends to making reminder calls about upcoming trade shows. And every customer, even those who are clearly not planning a long-term marketing program, receives follow-up calls to confirm their satisfaction.
The old-fashioned core values are the foundation that supports a technologically savvy organization. Affordable Image's staff includes a creative director, graphic designers, marketing coaches and account administrators who work with businesses of different sizes in a variety of industries. As a result, "cross pollination" brings fresh ideas and concepts to dental marketing. A dental campaign, for example, might well benefit from using ideas that worked for a day spa or other service-based business.
Unlike many marketing companies that rely on out-of-state printing vendors, Affordable Image also does its printing and bindery work on site. That assures the highest-quality work and better retains control of when and how printing is done. "Having our own printing equipment is a service issue for us," says Marketing Consultant Chris Macomber. "The equipment is just a tool that gives us the flexibility we need to do the most responsive work for our customers. We are a marketing company that owns its own printing equipment, not a printing company that does marketing. That is a crucial distinction."
Innovating A Different Type of Marketing Machine
The marketing professionals at Affordable Image specialize in thinking outside the box when they develop a plan for a client. It all starts with a one-on-one consultation and initial identification of the client's target market. After 13 years in business, Affordable Image knows the demographics of the various areas in the Valley and is well qualified to customize marketing campaigns to any dentist's practice. Although Affordable Image has a division dedicated to serving dental practices, members of its staff draw on what's going on in the community. It makes their campaigns that much more effective.
With demographics firmly in mind, the creative and graphic design teams are available to help brainstorm everything from a business card or letterhead to a grand opening celebration or a website. Those teams excel at creating complete marketing images, a significant part of any well-conceived marketing plan, for clients. Creating a marketing image is much like branding any product. Elements such as logo, color choices, website design and overall style contribute to all those subtle details that make a practice instantly recognizable. They build comfort and help patients feel they know and can trust their dentist.
Direct-Mail Campaigns That Stand Out From The Crowd
Consistency is a significant key to the success of any marketing plan. For those dentists who are truly committed to building their practice, Affordable Image can set up and conduct an automatic marketing plan that identifies marketing efforts, often themed, to be accomplished on a regular basis over a specific period. One key element of such a plan is direct-mail campaigns using custom-designed marketing pieces for an existing or potential customer base. Such mailings are distributed to a carefully describe demographic then tracked to follow their success.
These are not "cookie cutter" mass mailings such as those that often arrive in the mail in thick envelopes filled with other offers for duct cleaning, home repairs, neighborhood restaurants and, often, six or eight dentists. Instead, mailings put together by Affordable Image stand out from the crowd. They have a distinctive look and go to a customized mailing list that is specifically targeted to the client's ideal patients. For example, orthodontists could send mailings to homes with adolescent and teenage children dentists specializing in cosmetic dentistry could target more affluent individuals or young professional, and general practice family dentists could target homes in their office's zip code with children under a specific age. The possibilities are almost limitless. Mailings are an excellent way to improve return visits and referrals from existing patients and to entice new patients to try the practice.
The Affordable Image service even extends to include a tracking service to count calls that come in as a result of a mailing. Affordable Image can also record incoming calls to the practice to monitor patient contacts for courtesy and customer service. In every case, the mailing list or offer can be modified to make the mailing more effective.
Marketing Department When You Need It
Dentists who choose to work with Affordable Image have the advantage of a professional marketing team on call. It is much like having an outside marketing department that is an extension of the office staff. It saves time. It saves stress. It sets the practice up for the future and prepares it for greater success. Having a team of marketing professionals available all the time frees every member of the practice to do what they do best and enjoy the most. The dentist spends his or her time treating patients. And the front office is able to devote itself to customer service, an effort that pays off in customer satisfaction.
Many dentists want or need the marketing help Affordable Image can provide them, but no not realize how affordable it can be. There are no monthly fees. Charges are only incurred when Affordable Image designs or prints something. "All too often," says Manager Mike Shoun, "a client will spend hours searching for ways to save a few pennies and not realize how very valuable their own time is. It's a lot like pinching dollars to save pennies. In the long run, they are much better off putting their time into what they are trained to do while we do what we do best -- make their practice stand out."
by Cathy Marley
