2017 New Grad Edition - 50

Some dentists
view having
associates as
giving newbies
their big break.
If you're facing
what your boss
sees as a debt
of loyalty, that
can seriously
complicate your
plans to
self-promote.

PODCAST:

Discover
the right way
to market
your practice
SmartBox founder and
CEO Colin Receveur
discusses more details of
successfully marketing a
practice during his latest
appearance on Dentistry
Uncensored with Howard
Farran. To listen or to
read a transcript, head
to dentaltown.com and
search "Blogs/Podcasts"
for "Market Like a Pro."

50

the choice of giving up his efforts or leaving
the practice. He decided to leave, because he
believed that his future with the practice would
be constrained.
Spend some time thinking over what you know
about the owner or owners-and don't forget any
other staff member who wields inﬂuence within
the practice. Your initial approach must anticipate
and account for their possible reactions, which may
be irrational. Egos may be bruised, and you could
face unfounded charges of disloyalty.
As with all radical ideas, consider taking a more
gradual and suggestive approach to self-promotion
to allow the different personalities to get used
to the idea.

should be making more. They don't care that their
cut, plus my marketing outlay, is going to more
than cancel out any gain I can realize."
Crazy people notwithstanding, you'll almost
certainly need to create a financial plan that
beneﬁts both you and the practice. Be prepared
to be somewhat ﬂexible in terms of who gets how
much, and why, but have a point that you simply
won't go below. Keep that a closely guarded secret.
After all, you're proposing something that will
enrich the practice as well as you.
Financial negotiations may take a while (and
cooling-off periods may be required), so be patient.
Patient associate dentists succeed far more often
than impatient ones.

Payment

Practicalities

There will be several ﬁ nancial variables to
consider, including whether the principals are
open to co-promotion with you and the practice
contributing a share of the cost. While that might
not be in your plans right now, it's a mutually
beneﬁcial option to keep in mind.
An important consideration is whether the
practice compensates you on production, or on
collections. It makes sense that if you pay for
marketing out of your own pocket, you should
take a larger share of the ﬁnancial rewards. That's
particularly true if you're furnishing your own
equipment and dental assistant, and that's a strong
argument in your favor. Have other points ready
at hand if the practice disagrees with the idea of
you receiving a larger share.
I've seen time and again that the ﬁ nancial
aspects of self-promotion can be a major sticking
point.
"These people are crazy," one associate told
me. "They're ﬁ ne with me doing promotion, but
they want a larger cut for the patients I bring in.
Their rationale is that I'll be making more, so they

Once you begin promoting yourself, you'll
face a different set of challenges. With successful
marketing, you'll have a full appointment calendar
and possibly a waiting list of patients. At some
point, one or more of your prospects with urgent
needs will wind up being seen by another dentist
in the practice. You need to plan the ﬁ nancial
arrangements before that happens.
Also consider the likelihood that some prospects
who were attracted by your marketing will decide
that they don't want to wait, and will request to
see a different dentist.
Any issues with the new patients that your
marketing brings in can spill over onto the practice.
An unhappy prospect is an unhappy prospect, and
most new patients won't differentiate between you
and the practice. Any negative online review will
implicate the entire practice, justiﬁed or not. You
and the principals will need to have discussions
up front and have a plan in place for dealing with
negative reviews.
If yours is a multidisciplinary practice, you'll
also need to consider ﬁ nancial arrangements if

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2017 New Grad Edition
