MY NO CHARGE MARKETING PLAN FOR DENTISTS

An article in the LA Times about the declining revenues for dentists caught my attention.  The article is about the new marketing efforts of dentists who are seeing their profits drop as patients are skipping cleanings, fillings and other dental work.

Their response is to seek new marketing strategies.  They are paying marketing consultants to tell them about social media, upgrade their websites and even to add spa like amenities to their practices.

That's why Vines hired Steffany Mohan, a fellow dentist and marketing consultant who says that keeping patients satisfied is as important as persuading them to walk through the door.


Mohan emphasizes personal service: Dentists should offer sedation to patients nervous about pain, and make dental care feel like a trip to the spa with amenities such as scented neck wraps, moisturizing lotions, heated massage pads and video screens mounted on the ceiling above dental chairs.

"People don't necessarily remember what you said or did, but they'll remember how you made them feel," Mohan said. "We're going for giving them an experience they'll remember so they won't go anywhere else."

Vines said he expects to spend $35,000 to $50,000 over the next year on Mohan's marketing strategies.
 
Okay.  The economy has tanked, 10% of the population is unemployed, even more are underemployed.  Companies are cutting benefits right and left and we all know that having dental insurance is pretty much a joke because , beyond a couple of x-rays and cleanings, the cost of any procedure is prohibitively expensive. 
 
I have had a broken crown for 3 years.  I finally had a job with benefits and opted for the dental so I could get it fixed.  The difference in cost with $100.00 a month insurance and no insurance?  I would "save" $435. on the crown, making my out of pocket cost $600.00 for the insurance and $985.00 for the crown.  The crown, by the way that the same dentist supplied me about 7 years ago.  I still have a broken crown and am cancelling the insurance in January.
 
My experience is that dentists are big on price fixing.  Have you ever called around to see if you can get the services for less?  Don't bother. 
 
If my business was losing revenue, I might look at my pricing, my hours (our dentist was closed on Friday, closed for a week at Thanksgiving and 2 weeks at Christmas - making it impossible for my college kids to see her when they were home.  We now have a new dentist) and better financing options for my patients.  Hey, how about some evening  or weekend hours so people don't have to skip work to have an appointment?  How about offering some kind of discount to people without insurance who are paying cash? 
 
Personally I would not be soothed by warm scented towels, I would be wondering how much the damned thing was costing me.
 

RUNNING AROUND TOWN

I realized the other day that this problem with the dog barking when I am out of the house has had me on edge to the point that I stay home all the time.  I go to the gym and hurry home.   I wait until someone is home before I run to the store.  Finally this morning I decided to get out of the house!  The dog will survive in her crate and I have a long list of things I need to do.

I noticed more and more women wearing gloves while driving their cars.  I think most if not all of them were Asian women, but I didn't see all of the drivers faces.  Is this a new thing?  I assume they are keeping their hands from freckling in the sun.  Sunscreen isn't enough?  Has anyone seen this?

They had completely changed Target around.  They have some cool new shopping carts!  It was quite an adventure trying to find things.  Who knew that the garbage bags would be in the pharmacy rather than with the cleaning supplies?

And why is Target turning into a grocery store?  This particular Target is right across the street from a huge Safeway, so it isn't like there is nowhere else to buy groceries.  Plus, the stuff they are selling is the processed, frozen and junky food that people are better off avoiding.  Convenience over quality, I guess.

On the plus side, I found something I have been hoping existed.  We now have a green waste can, so instead of putting food things down the disposal, we  save them for the green can.  But all those veggie scraps and tea bags and fruit pits get wet and slimy in the little can under the sink before I carry it out.  I have lined it with paper bags, but they break through.  Glad now has little compostable and biodegradable bags to line the can with and they aren't expensive.  Hurrah!

I finally broke down and bought a pair of "Spanks."  It sort of defeated the fact that I scored a nice polo style dress from Lands End for $20.00 to spend about that much on an undergarment to make it look better on me, but I am likely the last woman of my age group (any age group?) to own some.  My sister assures me that no matter what size, all women over 45 need these things to smooth out the indignities of aging.  And I constantly hear these skinny celebrities claiming they owe it all to spanks - yeah, right!

I hit Home Depot and stopped in to the bike store to get the special nutrition thingies Tom likes and then I went to Sweet Tomatoes and had a salad bar lunch.  I have not been there in ages.  I enjoyed my lunch out and then picked up a few groceries and headed home.

Hilda survived and I  enjoyed being out and about for a change. 

THE FOREVER SANDWICH

Just when you thought we were all getting the messages about healthy, fresh foods comes the Candwich!

Yes, a sandwich in a can. It has a "long shelf life" and requires no refrigeration which makes it perfect for emergency food storage in case of natural disaster! Also great for soccer moms and outdoor enthusiasts!

Can you imagine your kids popping open one of these canned PB&J sandwiches at school? Your husband prying out the BBQ Chicken Sandwich at his desk?

Can you imagine the preservatives in play to keep those things from going bad?

WHY OUTLET MALLS ARE WAY OUT THERE

Did you ever wonder why outlet malls always seem to be so out of the way? I always figured it had to do with the cost of real estate - building those big buildings in costly places would make the rents too high for all those low cost retailers...right? Plus, they can't be selling the discounted clothes and stuff right near the regular malls where they are selling the same stuff for full price...right?

Wrong. It is a psychological set up. Turns out we consumers believe those things, that the drive and inconvenience mean bargains - so we don't really question the prices.

In her book "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture" Ellen Ruppel Shell's research shows that people perceive merchandise found at out-of-the-way outlet malls as being more of a bargain than they do if they see similarly-priced items closer to home. We overestimate what the original value of the item must have been and focus on the difference between that hypothetical price and the outlet price, rather than on the objective price itself.

The reason I came across this information was my interest in understanding something I saw when I was shopping at a DSW store. The tags all showed their "discounted price" and then underneath it, there was another, higher price which said "compare to." And I wondered what that was supposed to mean.

It turns out that this is addressed in Shell's book. She calls it the "Meaningless Discount" because the numbers are largely fictional. The "compare" numbers are like the MSRP, (manufacturer suggested retail price) and manufacturers rarely set the retail price of goods sold. But the consumer thinks there is an original price and a discounted price and is thrilled with the mark-down. Marketing research shows that people are fairly easily swayed by perceived savings, I am sure I have been - or at least used it as an excuse to buy something!

Like the shoes I got for $29.00 compared to $65.00.

ARE THERE ANY WOMEN AT APPLE?

This parady was done in 2007 on MadTV, I guess no one at Apple paid any attention because their new big product has been named the iPad.  And the jokes immediately began to fly, including:

"iPad: Proof not enough women work in the Marketing Department."

"Will the next version have wings?"

"So will the 64GB one be called the Maxi-Pad?"



"I'm holding out for the iRag."

Oh, they go on and on.

OUR PERSONAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

Tomorrow I am participating in a day in the life photo essay along with about 80 other readers of my favorite blog Derfwad Manor.



I'm not an above average self conscious person, but I was thinking about what kind of impression my average day may make. What does my life now tell you about me without knowing what has taken me to this place? Some background is in order.



I will only go back as far as our very own financial crisis. I had been a SAHM for about 12 years as my husband climbed the corporate ranks. He worked long hard hours, traveled and I managed the rest of our lives. We moved to Bellevue WA when he was recruited to a company there - had a big house with a lake view and great school system. All was going great when out of the blue the owner of the company, who had lured us there with promises that Tom would take over the company when he retired, asked Tom to return his stock options. Whaaa? That is what he had been taking in lieu of raises and bonuses. Turns out that the owner had decided to cash in on all the great value that Tom had added to his company, and he wanted to cut Tom out. When we decided not to take a chance that he would do the right thing during the sale of the company and refused to turn over the options, Tom was fired.



Bla -bla, attorneys, a settlement, a job in Silicon Valley, a move, another nice house three more years, dot com bubble bursts, move to a smaller house, get a new job. Employers make promises, Tom builds business, brings in clients, earns big commissions. New employer decided he doesn't want to pay. With no notice, stops paychecks, drops insurance, locks Tom out of his office. Have any idea what COBRA insurance costs??



Bla-Bla, attorneys, a settlement, a new job? How many times do we walk this road? My husband was a highly compensated individual. Obama would raise our taxes. We didn't live high. We live in the San Francisco bay area - we were house poor. When we took vacations, they were long weekends - usually driving distance, I shopped Mervyns and Target and sales at the mall. We drove our cars for 10+ years. We were preparing for our twins to go to college and putting money in our retirement accounts.


Tom worked really hard to get his law degree and to become a licensed attorney in California. And yet he had never practiced law, always working in the corporate environment. It wasn't the ideal time to make such a big change, but life is short and he was 49 years old - if not now? He set up an office in our very large garage, made up cards and letterhead and a website. Oh, and he switched sides - he would represent employees only - not corporations.



When you start from nothing, it takes time to get to something. We went through our savings and retirement money, we borrowed from my parents against our house. We had all kinds of stuff go wrong. I sold the ring I got for our 10th anniversary, we sold all kinds of stuff. We hung in there.



After 8 months I finally got a job. No one was sure what to do with a job candidate with a law degree, marketing and management experience who was now middle aged and last had a job before there were computers at every desk. Last time I worked, I had a secretary! I felt very lucky that I was hired by a woman with her own business who took a chance on me. The older kids could drive to get themselves around, the job and Tom's schedule were flexible enough to get the little one to and from, so the timing there was one of the few things we had on our side.



So now it is 5 years later. We had to declare bankruptcy, and some time later sell our nice house and move into a small rental. The downsizing came just months before the twins went to college. One to Penn, one closer by in Monterey. Tom has a nice little office a few blocks from home and now has the ability to pick and choose his clients. His income is rising. We have paid off the bankruptcy, we're building our credit and retirement accounts, and in 3 years our 3rd child will be going to college, and we may then move to another area and buy a house. It is all survivable. He talks about me coming to work for him, but I like my job.


I work for an artist. Cool, huh? Most of the business is web based. I started out processing orders and answering phones and e-mails and pitched in wherever I could as an employee of a small business. Now I have moved on to other duties and we have added one full time and a part time employee the office. One of my favorite new duties has taken me full circle, I am involved in the marketing of our business by writing about it. I blog and Squidoo and This Next and write articles to drive traffic to our website. I am a part of a growing business with a boss who lets me know she values me.


And tomorrow you will meet the gang at Kyle Design.