Orthotown May 2015 - (Page 10)

wired for // success Your Orthodontic Business Funnel by Alan A. Curtis, DDS, MS, Editorial Director, Orthotown Magazine if you whisper your service offerings-you must shout them from the rooftops! As dental consultant Dr. Roger Levin says, your PRC should be your ﬁrst hire. In businesses that have a traditional sales cycle, the term "lead" refers to every potential client who has had a contact with your company. Your PRC is responsible for ﬁnding opportunities to get your practice out into the community in as many ways as possible. You need to have a marketing calendar and someone to be in charge of executing it. Work your plan, plan your work! Every successful business makes strategic plans. Those plans map out the key processes, decisions and structure for the proper functioning of that business. Orthodontic practices are no different. It's important for an orthodontic CEO and the ofﬁce manager to review that structure periodically to see if the practice needs to be adjusted to bring employees back in line with this strategy. As I near my 10th year in practice, I love seeing my business as a funnel more than ever before. The orthodontic business funnel is useful because it graphically identiﬁes areas where you and your staff divide responsibilities. It also allows employees to see where their performance can affect other metrics downstream. The entrance to your funnel A lead becomes a lead once you have collected a person's information, such as name, phone number and email address. This could be someone's information on a clipboard at a health fair, a new-patient phone intake, a Web inquiry, a chairside question about a sibling, or a referral from a dentist. Getting the patient into the funnel and following up on interest (no matter how small the interest) is the most important key to a practice's success. Continued on p. 12 The top of your funnel At the top of your funnel you have your community; these are your potential clients. It is the responsibility of your professional relationship coordinator (PRC), or marketer to put you and your practice at the top of people's minds when they think about orthodontics in your community. You can't expect any kind of response Professional Relationship Coordinator Leads Scheduling Coordinator Lead capture Intake (Intake, registration forms, invite both parents, send to "get to know us online") Treatment Coordinator Wow the patient and build relationships Financial Coordinator The Clinical Team Everyone Present ﬁnancial terms, ﬁnancial compliance Efﬁcient, excellent treatment while maintaining overhead control EXAM (Showtime) The contract Treatment Overhead PROFIT 10 MAY 2015 // orthotown.com LEAKS Marketing activities community, Web, review sites, social media, dentist referrals Lost opportunities Exam no-shows, quoting fees over the phone Fumbling the exam, "I'll go home and talk it over." Inﬂexible payment terms, high down-payments Waste, MIA Unnecessary spending http://www.orthotown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown May 2015

Orthotown.com Highlights
The Benefi ts of Treatment by Twelves
Your Orthodontic Business Funnel
Industry News
TADs Experience
Poll
Case Presentation: The Next Twelve
Large Arches, Small Teeth
New Products
Overhead: What Does it Mean to a Start-up Doctor?
A Winning Combination: Stainless-Steel Mini-Screws and CBCT Simulations
Orthodontic Marketing Automation: A Look Into the Future
The More We See, The More We Know
Three Key Solutions
A Leader Inside and Outside the Practice
From San Francisco to Orlando: A Look at AAO’s Upcoming Sessions
Use of Digital Impressions in Orthodontic Fabrication
Ad Index

Orthotown May 2015