For reasons that are completely foreign to me, the dental community still harbors negative opinions about any kind of external marketing or advertising. I know that a lot of this negativity stems from old-school dentists who were fortunate to practice during a time, when simply being a dentist guaranteed a certain amount of success. I’ve spoken with dentists who in years past, were even shunned by their peers for running a simple newspaper ad. The philosophy being perpetuated was that these renegade dentists were going to somehow taint the whole industry and turn dentists into ambulance-chasers or used-car salesmen.

Fortunately, times are changing. We live in a world where marketing is a vital part of the success of any business. Advertising agencies, technology advancements and the media in general have created an intense, fast-paced world where name brands, discount clubs and multi-million dollar advertising campaigns rule the world. Dental professionals who fail to recognize and understand the rules of this ever-changing game, will struggle to thrive in the new century.

The largest companies in the world, spend billions of dollars on complex marketing campaigns, because they know that being the biggest and the best today may change tomorrow. The leaders of these mega corporations are far from desperate. They’re not begging for business and they don’t apologize for pitching their products and services. Dentists who intelligently market their practices are not desperate. They are shrewd business people who understand the necessity of creating continual awareness for their products and services.

I either hear this phrase word for word, or I see it in the eyes of too many dentists. In one form or another, I have been a salesman all of my life. I don’t wear a plaid sport coat and I don’t use tacky sales pitches. I am proud to be a good salesman and have found success in my life because of it.

Some of the most influential people in the world are some of the world’s best salespeople. Steve Jobs didn’t build Apple Computer because he’s a talented nerd. He was able to build Apple because he’s a brilliant salesman and marketing genius. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the other great founders of business empires were all great salespeople. They weren’t famous for being pushy. They were famous for being able to sell. All of the successful dentists I have met over the years are all very accomplished salespeople. They didn’t build thriving practices behind a mask with their hands in a patient’s mouth. They built their practices because they learned how to communicate with their patients. They learned how to build relationships and they learned how to get their patients to say “yes”—all talents of a good salesperson.

Please don’t make the mistake of doing your marketing on trade! It happens all too often and the results are almost always the same. The dentist does several thousand dollars of dental work and the graphic design and marketing work never quite gets finished. Usually, the quality is average at best and your patient doesn’t know a crown from a filling. I’ve seen it so many times, I’ve lost count. Patients who can’t afford dentistry probably aren’t the best source of marketing expertise. Trade for carpet cleaning or credit at the hardware store. Never trade for dental marketing services. Find a professional and be willing to pay them.

A good dental marketing professional is worth every penny. When a marketing plan is properly executed it won’t cost you anything. It will only make money. I tell dentists every day that marketing doesn’t have to be seen as a long-term investment. It works quickly and in many cases the return is so rapid, that the initial expense of the campaign is back in the bank within the first few weeks. Hiring an experienced professional can get you these kinds of results. When you need legal help, hire an attorney. When you need accounting help hire an accountant. When you need marketing help, hire a pro.

Marketing should be seen as preventative medicine not just a cure for your problem. Wise dentists, like all wise business owners, are always marketing. They don’t wait until the well is dry to solve the problem. Even if you think you’ve got plenty of patients, you should use marketing to improve the quality of your patient base. I don’t know a dentist who couldn’t use some help displacing some of his current patients who may not pay on time or can’t afford treatment with more viable patients.

I need to be very careful how I explain my philosophy with regard to this section, so here goes. Unless a patient is in your office he or she is not yours. Any patient is fair game anytime they are not on their back with their mouth open in your chair.

I have always found it cavalier when a dentist gives me their official “patient count.” I am especially suspect of these head counts, because I am in the business of helping dentists grow their practices. I accomplish this by luring so-called “patients” away from other dentists to grow my clients’ practices.

In almost every practice, there is a core of active patients that make up the bulk of the business. Take care of these patients like gold, because they are. Now, be willing to admit that a patient who hasn’t been in your office in two years, may very well be visiting another dentist and somewhere along the way you lost that patient’s loyalty. It doesn’t mean you are a bad dentist, it only goes to show you that some dentist out there out-marketed you. It may have been through something as subtle as location, or as aggressive as a free offer from a new kid on the block. Either way you lost, and to ensure that it doesn’t affect your profitability next time, make sure you implement your own marketing plan.