Margaret Titus, Brand Strategies For Professionals If I had to start my career over, I would focus on research in behavioral neurology. I am fascinated by why people do what they do and what influences us to make the choices we make. The overlapping interactions of body, mind, and spirit are endlessly intriguing to me. The last books I read were Molecules of Emotion by Candice Pert PhD., My Land and My People by The Dalai Lama, Emotional Branding by Daryl Travis, and Neuromarketing by Patrick Ronvoise and Christophe Morin. Since I never watch TV, I usually have several books going simultaneously. When people ask how I arrived at my approach to professional branding, my half-joking answer is, “I am of normal intelligence and I know how to read.” In other words, I have made myself a student of all things pertaining to human behavior and decision making. As a practice consultant my work, like that of the dentists I brand, requires ongoing learning and a genuine concern for people. The doctors who choose to work with me truly care about the people who are touched by their practices. This includes the doctors themselves, their patients, team-members, and community. I have been called the Jerry McGuire for dentists because what I do often boils down to “Show me the love and I’ll show you the money.” Basically I teach doctors how to improve their profits by loving their patients better. This becomes quite specific and learnable when deconstructed and deliberately practiced. The number-one practice advice I have today is start at the beginning and be comprehensive – just as you do with a new patient’s treatment plan. Know who you are, what you value, and what promises you can and will ALWAYS keep. Your brand must be solidly grounded in authenticity in order to be sustainable and powerful. Over and over I hear the equivalent of “We tried XYZ marketing and it didn’t work.” What I invariably learn is that their approach was random and fragmented – not unlike the old fashioned “fix a tooth here and fix a tooth there” kind of dentistry that resulted in an ugly patchwork of mismatched teeth. These dentists were not guided to create a true brand so their message lacked congruency and authenticity and was not convincing. This is like changing the words of a song every time you sing it – no one can ever learn your song and sing along with you. The result is failure to build deeply bonded customers/patients/clients who can and will spontaneously tell your story for you in the community. The biggest change coming in practice branding is probably the use of interactive Internet communities and social media. In this new society, the lightning-speed transfer of information can make or break you overnight. Even the popular Angie’s List is running radio ads promising that they now evaluate doctors. These types of media disperse information exponentially. President Obama’s successful campaign is a recent example. Regardless of your political views, there are valuable lessons to be learned from his use of the Internet and social media to create real meaningful connections and to express his brand promises. One of the best decisions I’ve made at Dr. Oppenheim’s practice is to present his practice as a hospitable dental showroom. We value and appreciate everyone who comes in the door – from the Fed-X man to the plumber – as a friend and practice ambassador, whether they become patients or not. Interested potential patients are offered a no-cost, no-obstacle opportunity to come in socially to meet the team, look through his amazing before-and-after photos, enjoy a Coke with us, and just get a vibe. Visitors are told in advance that they will not receive a treatment plan or an estimate. This prevents any bait and switch confusion. After all, world-class dental care is essentially a luxury. People can and do live without it every day. Other businesses have understood this approach all along. For example, when I was shopping for my Z4 roadster, I didn’t have to make an appointment and pay a fee to visit the BMW showroom and admire the cars. I was welcomed, wanted, and encouraged to take a test drive – at no cost of course. Why should dental patients have to pay to window shop our services? They are being asked to invest their time, trust, money, health, and appearance. What else is left? To help them make an important and often-confusing decision about who to choose, we escort them on a personalized walk-about of the office which is set up so that we can tell Dr. Oppenheim’s brand story in a warm and interactive style. As we are looking at photos and telling his story, we are simultaneously listening deeply to the soft clues they give us about what matters to them. Once they see his exquisite work and experience the team’s warmth and friendship, there is about a 99% conversion rate for a follow-up exam. When that exam is done, we are in a position to make recommendations using their own language in the context of their expressed values. For example, I once had a gentleman tell me, “I just want to be able to eat a steak when I’m old!” Because we understood this before we did his exam and treatment plan, we were able to present the benefits of his treatment in the light of its ability to enhance his eating and chewing. We used his exact words to validate his values: “Mr. Patient, we know how important it is for you to be able to eat a steak when you’re old, so Dr. Oppenheim is recommending a treatment and materials that are really strong and secure. You’ll be enjoying that steak to the fullest!” I always recommend basing your brand messages on your core values. Folks can get dentistry lots of places but they can only get dentistry done by you from you. YOU are the unique selling position of your practice! Once you have defined your most deeply held values, we look at every single point of contact with your public and evaluate how you and your team are, or are not, translating those values into each point of contact. As I said, authenticity yields sustainability. If you are not satisfied with your authentic self, then the necessary first step is improving your reality. In other words, you can’t sell what you don’t have. Essential in a dental practice today is consciously and deliberately generating community buzz – word-of-mouth marketing. This powerful tactic should not be left to chance. It must be consciously and thoughtfully managed. Teams need to keep their radar up 24/7 for appropriate opportunities to tell their brand story, and to do that, they must know what that story is and be empowered to tell it enthusiastically and clearly. Stories are potent vehicles for communication. Learn to be a great story teller! The best format for team meetings or morning huddles is … having the doctor show up! To my surprise, I’ve discovered that this is often a problem for teams. I encourage motivating practice staff by loving them exactly as you want them to love your patients. For example, I strongly encourage the habit of sincerely complimenting your team mates (including the doctor) in the presence of the patient when s/he is moved from person A to person B on the team. You might say something as simple as, “Megan will take great care of you – our patients just love her.” It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, just so it conveys sincere appreciation and respect. This reassures your patient and enhances her confidence. And at the end of the day, everyone feels a little better for having been affirmed by their team mates throughout the day. On a more pragmatic level, I have also observed that doctors who maintain a profit sharing/bonus system consistently get much more buy-in than others. After all, whose stocks do we watch the closest? Our own or other people’s? I encourage dental practices to capitalize on the brand power of each of the five senses. For example, one of the most ignored but evocative senses is the sense of smell. Olfactory memories trigger powerful emotions. I still remember the wonderful soapy-clean smell of my precious Grandmother. When I smell it today, I’m right there with her even though she has been gone over 40 years. Most offices either have no brand smell or it’s a scary blend of alcohol and chemicals – not conducive to positive associations. When I evaluate a practice, I look at the patient’s experience from the perspective of all five senses and a sixth sense which could be called the energy or vibe of the practice. Together we decide what we want our patients to experience, then orchestrate things to make that happen. When creating a marketing plan, begin with defining your brand and knowing your story. Then invest in a comprehensive and rational strategy for communicating it. I have learned that it is important to figure out what you are doing right that could be ten times as powerful if you understood why it was working and did it consistently. I see my role as one of helping doctors create a workplace that reflects their style and values while providing exceptional care for their patients. This is best done by potentiating their best qualities and putting them in the spotlight. After carefully researching the options, I recommend PNP because PNP offers my clients intelligence, superior writing skill, award-winning design artistry, content flexibility, and personal commitment. They are available, in touch with each project, and in touch with each other. Working with them is like having in-house designers and writers on your own team. PNP has delivered everything I’ve asked of them, cheerfully and well, and that makes my job easy. Margaret Titus received a degree in dental hygiene from Loyola University School of Dentistry in New Orleans at the age of 18. After getting an age waiver from the Georgia Board of Dentistry, she practiced dental hygiene for 33 years before transitioning to branding, marketing, and public relations for professionals. Margaret enjoys reading, writing, speaking, and gardening, and is currently studying for her private pilot exam. She lives in Thomasville, Georgia. You can contact Margaret at mtituspr@rose.net or 229.225.9695.