There was a time when people would say, “All you need to do is hang your shingle and you’ll have it made.” Nobody predicted today’s exorbitant cost of a dentist’s “shingle,” the smaller ROI it now brings and how industry changes would affect dental laboratories. The story of old has crumbled. We need to tell a new story to bridge the gap between that which is, and that which should be.

Facts: What is Happening

Finally, we have good news about the economy. All measurements are up, with durable goods and manufacturing beginning a small uptick. However, private practice dentists and dental labs are continuing to lose revenues to outside interests. Insurance companies and DSOs are forcing changes to benefit themselves at the expense of 90% of the dental industry and sometimes, the patients they serve.

Outsider influence has raised the cost of a dental education to as much as $400,000, while its value has in many cases, plummeted. Sky high debt and inadequate education has made entering private practice upon graduation, the life blood of domestic dental labs, largely impractical. Meanwhile, insurance companies are lowering the number of procedures performed and their reimbursements. This has caused average annual income for dentists to drop 22%, from 2009 to 2014, and currently sits at the 1995 income level. Many labs have been equally affected, or are not growing as much as they should.

The result from the above for most dental labs is, more units need to be produced to keep a level income. Thanks to digital technology, productivity has been easily increased. However, digital technology has also increased product consistency, making new client acquisition more difficult (less reasons to look for a new lab), and lab differentiation more often about cost than quality.

Facts: Why this is Happening

Dentists and their organizations have allowed these changes to occur, and in some cases, supported them. Outsiders see patients as the headwaters of the revenue stream, and the earnings they bring, low hanging fruit in a wide open, fragmented industry. Influencing the mass market in ways that individual dentists and lab owners can’t, consumers naturally form attitudes and beliefs shaped by outsider messages and brands.

Unfortunately, everything that happens to dentists is quickly felt by dental labs. A future challenge for dental labs is, as technology advances and becomes more productive, smaller labs may be priced out, and larger labs will find it more difficult to remain profitable as price wars become more aggressive.

Below is a link to typical DSO information being distributed. Individual dentists need to confront this  with an equally powerful, but more complete, rendition:

Wisconsin Dental Board Legislation

We are not opposed to DSO practice management services. Neither is state dental board oversight. Like us, state dental boards are interested in protecting patient welfare in all practice models, as they do now only in private practice settings, or, supposed to.

DSOs have the right to exist, but not the right to practice dentistry without a license. If they are not practicing dentistry without a license, why should they care about falling under state dental board regulation? 

Why is the DSO lobby opposed to that?

Why is no one in the public spotlight asking that question?

How is being regulated by state dental boards anti competitive?

 The Response: Take Action or Do Nothing

Trends from doing nothing are clear: the number of private practices is shrinking, and we don’t see fee increases as often as decreases. The question is, “What can we do?”

The obvious first step is to organize and take advantage of newly competitive opportunities. Individualistic thinking is increasingly placing lab owners of all sizes at risk. Lab owners who want to survive and thrive need to discard the artificial barriers that have long existed and begin working for the common good.

If you are a dentist, laboratory owner, distributor, or manufacturer, now is the time.  The same mass marketing tools being used against us could be working for us. Together, we can take advantage of everything the internet offers (including social media marketing), and add public relations, pressure legislators and regulatory agencies, and develop new business models in direct competition for market influence, including insurance.

To change the trend line, we need to pull together to educate and attract consumers as informed patients who clearly understand the value of traditional dental care. The good news is, consumers only want the truth, something traditional dentistry is in the best position to provide. More good news: Accomplishing this is easier than in the past. Research shows that consumers want genuine information they can trust. No patient deliberately chooses to be misled or mistreated, yet it happens daily to hundreds, perhaps thousands while the industry remains silent. Traditional care is a key marketing advantage, but only if we make it one.

“We believe big visions need big stories to match…We believe in the power of collaborative community, and the choices you can always make to change your story. We believe in messages that make people feel inspired and connected to something greater. We are truth-seekers teaching a new paradigm of story.” Michael Margolis, CEO and founder, Get Storied

Great stories untold die in obscurity.

We have a great story to tell,

But only if we are willing to tell it.

 This is Our Story to Tell

Through professional marketing and a consumer website, OPT-In Dental Advantage is the only dental organization telling the story about the value of traditional dentistry. We employ professionals for website SEO, SEO support for our members’ web pages, bi monthly consumer blogs with SEO, and more recently, a national public relations campaign, managed by Braithwaite Communications, to brand the image of traditional dentistry and present our story to consumers, nationally.

We invite dental laboratory owners, dentists, and companies to join us in making the advantages of traditional dentistry known, and preferred. Please help our voices to be heard through stories consumers want and need to hear. Contact us today.

Please visit our website, OPT-In Companies, or call us at 855-321-OPTN (6786). It’s time to be a part of the solution.

What is brand power?

Apple iPhones sell like crazy. In fact, the Apple brand has created a community of users that is the envy of major companies around the world. Why is that? Their phones aren’t actually better than others.

Apple stands for something, a purpose that generates raving fans, while competitors just make cell phones. That’s brand power. Whatever dentists see and believe about you is your brand. It tells your market what you stand for, what you believe, and how you should be perceived. It also tells them what to expect from you. Your brand, just like Apple’s, should set you apart from others who do what you do. For the most part, your local competitors market themselves as being identical to you, a dental lab. Your brand should sell your uniqueness.

But I have a logo!
Many believe a brand is a logo, but a logo is only a graphic representation of your brand. In fact, some branding professionals believe logos are overrated. This is especially true when they don’t project an “image” expressing a story. When used properly, C. Whan Park, director of the global branding center at the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, points out they can be effectively used by emboldening their name – IBM, presenting a friendly image – the duck from AFLAC, or simply provide a meaningful visual, such as used by Apple – a bite from the Apple (maybe that fell on Newton’s head to spawn ideas). However, Park cautions, “We also do not suggest that brand logos themselves automatically create meaningful positive associations between a brand and consumers.” Very often, the logo needs to be reinforced with a clever tagline and advertising to provide more meaning.

How do I create a great brand?
What would your customers say about you? Would it be a generic answer, or, would they be a raving fan? “Oh, my lab does decent work,” doesn’t describe a brand. A better response would be “My lab work always falls right in. That saves time and makes for happy patients. I always feel that they really care about my practice and prevent problems. I thoroughly trust them when they give advice.” After you identify your brand attributes, identify every dentist contact point, and make sure your strengths are creating customer experiences.

Another aspect of establishing a brand is having an area of expertise that targets a specific market. For example, if you want to attract implant cases, focus on disseminating new implant research and product information that solves problems. Theodore Levitt, a former Harvard marketing professor once wrote, “People don’t want a ¼” drill, what they really want is a ¼” hole.” Focus on being an expert in offering what your customers really want, and then package it in your branding message.

How important is branding online?
Neilson research indicates 61% of consumers will search online for services. According to branding expert, Debbie LaChusa, visitors to your website “…don’t have the opportunity to come into your place of business, meet you, and experience your business environment and personality in person.” Your website provides a first impression and should separate you from other labs. To make a good first impression and establish trust, graphic design, photos, and content need to immediately connect with a visitor’s concerns. The ability to quickly and effectively tell your story often requires the help of experts. They don’t make crowns, and most of us make lousy graphic artists.

Summary

Take the time to identify your strengths and target market. Then, create a brand message that resonates with the dentists you are trying to attract. Work with your team to incorporate outstanding brand experiences into every touch point. Your customers will trust you, become raving fans, and spread the word.

Understanding the Real Competition

Your customers are facing stark and increasing challenges. Understanding them and how to help will better prepare and position your lab for this new environment and the future.

 Dentists Compete with a Triad of Insurance Companies, Dental Chains and Unethical Offices

Three Challenges facing private practitioners and what to do about them.

Challenge #1

Insurance companies have lumped dentists together in nondescript lists for consumers to choose from. Consumers think all dentists are the same and should charge the same low price set by insurance. How will your customers convince patients to trust them, more, and their insurance company, less?

Challenge #2

Branded large dental chains are stealing about $150,000 in revenues from each private practice (and your lab), annually. How will your customers attract new patients to their practices instead of losing them to better branded competitors?

Challenge #3

It has been alleged that patients are being deliberately mislead, daily in the name of better deals. But nobody is telling patients what to look out for. How can your customers help consumers understand why their practices are different and trustworthy?

 Be Noticed for the Right Reasons

The Triad influences consumer attitudes on a large scale, tells consumers what they want to hear, and makes your customers (and you) pay for it. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. The Triad survives for two reasons: uneducated consumers and, unorganized dentists incapable of educating them.

OPT-in Dental Advantage is helping private practice dentists be noticed for the right reasons. We are educating consumers, daily, about the value of ethical private practices, the important role of the dental lab, and the potential risks of misplacing their trust.

We separate ourselves as being trustworthy because our members vow not to Break Laws:

• Running sham practice ownership schemes.
• Using non dentists to design treatment plans directly or indirectly.
• Diagnosing conditions that don’t exist.
• Performing unneeded treatments.

We also educate consumers about routine violation of:

• State insurance codes and good faith statutes
• Professional Ethics and to look out for sub standard care

 Because Nobody is Forcing the Issue,

The Public is at Risk, and not being Protected

If you want to win a battle fought in the desert,

Take away the enemy’s water supply.

How should you respond?
The public is loath to have their trust violated. With OPT-In Dental Advantage and our national public relations campaign promoting private practice, your customers will be noticed for the right reasons, help educate consumers, and make breaking the law less profitable.

For more information about how OPT-in labs are changing the market and, how you can get involved, visit optincompanies.com, and, visit our consumer website, optindentaladvantage.com. While you’re there, look into joining OPT-In Dental Laboratory Cooperative. We are saving our members money each month, helping them grow their businesses, and helping their dentists save money and grow their practices.

There’s never been a better time to work together to make the world of dentistry a better place for everyone. Contact us at info@optindentallab.com, or call us at 855-321-OPTN (6786).