Marketing Monday: The most wonderful time of the year

As you probably know, in the orthodontic business, there's a lot of seasonality.  In other words, new patient demand tends to be substantially higher during certain parts of the year than others.  And clearly, the peak points tend to come when children are out of school for an extended period and have available time to be seen for lengthier appointments like consultations and initial bandings.  And children tend to be out of school for those extended periods during spring break and summertime (there's also a bump for a lot of practices during Orthodontic Health Month in October, but that is for another day).  Even though children are out of school during the holidays toward the end of the year, household finances tend to be geared toward holiday shopping and activities are pointed toward holiday festivities.  Not good times for new patient contracts.  Not good times at all.

If we turn our focus to the summer period and examine it even further, NOW is the prime part of the prime season for signing new patients.  Usually, in early June, right after school lets out for summer, families take vacations, enjoy quality time, make divorce related-arrangements or engage in other family-related matters.  As a result, historically, we have not seen a substantial increase in June new patient contracts  when compared with other months for a given practice.  But, as June expires, so do those family obligations.  That means that the summer selling season is upon us.  Now, you may say, "Isn't this post coming a bit late?  Haven't all the patients who are going to sign a contract already made new patient appointments in June, July or August?"  The answer is no.  Remember from last Marketing Monday that patients most typically want to be seen within 14 days maximum.  Those that haven't been seen are probably looking to move on if a better offer arises.  Plus, quite a number of people haven't sat down and made that appointment yet.  Here's what you need to be doing to take advantage of the opportunities presented during this important time of year:

- Give it away now - If you were considering running a giveaway or contest, now is the time to do it.  Electronics --TVs, iPads, etc.-- are good, but a lot of practices don't get the best results from them because lots of small businesses run electronics giveaways.  Sometimes those tend to get lost in the shuffle.  One thing you might want to consider are items that are currently unique, trendy or kitschy (like something you might find on eBay).  About 20 years ago, when MTV was still cool, one of our practices ran a contest to give away a black satin MTV Jacket.  The kind with the big logo on the back.  People ate it up and signed up in big numbers to get their shot at something that not everyone had.  The next year, we gave away a mountain bike, which was a popular item at the time, but could also be found at dozens of stores in the local area.  The contest produced a nice response, but with about a 25% lower return than on the jacket giveaway.

- Offer meaningful discounts on your fee - Ever notice how a leading retailer like Wal Mart offers incredibly deep discounted products during their highest demand part of the year (note their 47-inch flat screen discounted from about $2,000 to under $900).  This is your holiday season and it's time to do the same.  While a discount of 5% or 10% might sound generous to you, keep in mind that a potential patient might not distinguish much between a $4,000 contract and one costing $3,800.  But, if your normal fee is $4,000 and your Super Summer Special Deal is $3,000, that moves the needle in the mind of a potential patient.  Next Marketing Monday, we'll take on the subject of how are actually adding to your profit and profit margin by offering these deep discounts.

- Involve everyone in the practice - This is the perfect time of year to institute a program to give the owner doctor, associates and staff extra incentive to push harder to get those extra patients in for a consultation and signed.  In a post coming up a bit later today, we will discuss the details of how such a program might look.  But, a program like this at this time of the year, gets everyone focused on the same goal: maximizing your potential when it comes to the additional new patient demand during the summer months.  Even if you don't offer a financial incentive for them, this is the time to get your most motivated, sales-oriented people motivated and pumped up for the season.  Gather everyone up for coffee, in a morning meeting, evening drinks or whatever and let them know that this part of the year is what can set themselves up to preserve -- and potentially grow -- their incomes for at least the next year.  Win here, and that makes things a lot easier for the next 12 months, or until the next big patient demand season rolls around.

- Spend the budget - Most of us don't have an unlimited amount of money to spend on advertising.  You need to pick and choose the best times to utilize those funds.  This is one of those times.  For our clients, we traditionally put 35 - 40% of the total advertising budget for the year into the summer months (specifically, mid-June through August).  Why?  At this time of year, people who might respond to your advertising are more attuned to the services you have to offer.  Adults or adults with children in need of service know are frequently thinking about making a consultation appointment, so your advertising fits into that thought pattern.  The holiday season example is useful again.  During the holiday season, consumers are focused on preparations for the season.  As such, practically all of the new advertising you see during that time is somehow themed for the holiday season.  If you have found that TV, radio or internet ads work best for you, push more funds toward that media.  You'll probably see your best return on investment for the dollars spent.

Want to discuss further?  Want us to address a topic?  Feel free to contact us and let us know what you are thinking.