Dental Ventures’ Success Based on Listening and Educating – Yours Can be Too
We’ve been providing superior products to the dental restoration industry for thirty years now and we’ve been able to carve out a very special niche for ourselves. Our customers know that we save them steps and thus save them time which increases profitability.
But our successful position in this industry didn’t just happen. It was largely the result of many years of listening. We listened as we stood next to dentists in their practices and technicians in labs. We listened in trade show booths. We watched and analyzed the steps involved in making a single restoration. And then we went home and analyzed them further. We found ways to create new materials that would eliminate some of those steps.
Then came the educating steps. We went back to our friends and colleagues and showed them the new materials and educated them on the way they make their jobs easier. And we listened again as they pointed out things we had missed or flaws in the processes. And we finally ended up with products you can count on to increase your productivity.
The Same Tools Work at the Other End of the Business
At the production end of this line, we know our subject so well that we can forget that the patients do not. By taking a little more time to listen and educate, you can make your practice more popular with your patients and that means more word of mouth.
Your patients accustomed to multiple visits to fit a restoration may have concerns about getting the same quality product in just one visit. Training your staff to take a few minutes to listen and then educate can turn their concerns into praise and word of mouth.
There are other channels of listening and educating. Provide an email address your patients to ask questions or air concerns. Don’t forget to assign a staff member to acquire and relay answers. Also answer commonly asked questions in printed or emailed newsletters. Schedule workshops in the evenings to cover these same points. You don’t have to do the workshops yourself if you have an experienced staff member who knows the technical side of your business.
Things are Moving Fast in this Industry
You and your staff may be having trouble keeping up with the speed of change happening all around you. You’re not alone. Whether or not to invest in CAD/CAM, what system to invest in, which materials will give the result that is satisfactory to you. You’ve probably been hard pressed to keep up and to train your staff in all these new procedures. Don’t overlook the fact that your patients have not been had the advantages you have had. Especially older patients have been accustomed to very different methods of dentistry.
When you or key, trained staff take the time to familiarize your patients with new methods of manufacturing restorations, their precision and speed, you build loyalty and even word of mouth. When you excite your patients with your advanced technical skills, some of them will pass the word along to friends.
CAD/CAM is a big decision and big investment, and I figure our job is to help you recoup your investment by lowering your steps and speeding up your delivery. We do it well.