The opinions regarding dental health month are as diverse as veterinarians themselves. Some feel dental health month represents a great opportunity to grow the dental site of a practice while others feel it forces them to give discounts to existing customers that would have undergone the cleanings anyway. Either way it is impossible to argue the importance of a pets dental health.
Should you choose to use February as a month to grow your dental procedures there are a few marketing tips that can greatly increase your success. However, it is important to remember that a client needs to believe that you have their, and their pets, best interest at heart when recommending dental procedures. Like most marketing efforts, knowledge is key. Show and tell plays a big role in educating your clients.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- In case you haven’t been following the previous posts I will reiterate the importance of any marketing effort being a part of a system. This month represents a great opportunity, especially for new customers, if you have a good follow-up system in place.
- Beef up your in-clinic marketing materials and include several presentation binders in the waiting room that include success stories, before and after photos, helpful articles, and instructions (take home copies) for at-home dental care.
- Exploit your vendor relationships to obtain free swag such as toothbrushes, rinses, and pet food samples. If you can’t obtain enough to give to every customer than put together a few nice gift baskets and offer them as prizes. Everyone that schedules a dental exam is automatically entered into the drawing. This way you can offer a sweepstakes with little to no monetary investment on your end.
- I love open houses; done correctly they can quickly boost new customers and represent some good PR opportunity. Design and host a dental health open house. I have done a few of these, if you need help please feel free to give me a call, I can give you some advice.
- Promote the event on the homepage of your website and announce it to your facebook followers.
- Send out a targeted direct mail campaign centered solely around promoting your dental specials.
- Contact your local newspaper and volunteer to write an article highlighting the importance of dental health to pets. Include your name, website, and phone number in the bio line. This is much easier than it sounds and it is something I do often.
Remember that successful marketing should be primarily educational based; and when educating your clients on the importance of dental care, make sure to carefully word your recommendations in a way that shows honest and sincere compassion. Good luck and call me if we can help.
