In this post, we examine the closing of Sauk Valley Orthodontics, a 2 office practice in Illinois. If you are so inclined, you can read the news story about it here.
Certainly, this practice is not the first to close nor will it be the last. Moreover, I am not going to discuss what seems to be the rather abrupt closure of the practice. Maybe they had a good reason for having to close with almost no notice or maybe they didn’t. No need to speculate about that. Our goal is to take the facts from the story and what we see online to determine what operational changes could have been made to enable the practice to survive.
To do this, I am going to make one major assumption: the practice had to shut down because the volume of paying patients was insufficient to enable the practice to pay its bills. In other words, the practice did not shut down because someone stole a bunch of money or major malpractice or a radioactive leak at both offices.
Here’s what I see:
You need to create an inviting environment
Look at the picture at the top of the post. You see a darkened door at the corner of a drab building with a rather depressing, peeling sign next to it. Nothing screams smiles and happiness and fun for kids in that picture. We’re going to do a piece on signage soon, but you need to use your location to make people think they are in for a positive, enjoyable experience. Ever see a McDonald’s with the sign out. Makes you want to drive by instead of through.
Details matter
Take a look at their Facebook page. Almost every post has a misspelling somewhere in there. This may not seem to be a big deal, but to someone reading, it gives a look of being less than 100% professional. And if you don’t do the small things like spelling, what happens when faced with something significant like a severe treatment case?
Also notice that the content is not compelling. I’m not being offered a call-to-action to show up for an appointment nor am I being given any information to help me or keep me coming back. Certainly, lots of folks dig deep into content and social media, but the premise is simple: if there’s no good reason to stay in touch, people won’t.
If you do have a call to action, it must be strong
Looking at the Sauk Valley Orthodontics website, I see 4 major reasons listed to visit the practice:
- They have a digital x-ray machine with plans to upgrade from there.
- Free consultation
- Invisalign
- Open on selected Saturdays
Let’s look more closely at these.
Patients don’t really care what version of software or hardware you use. Most people don’t use a digital x-ray every day so those things don’t really have an impact. What matters is how it benefits them. Does it shorten treatment times? Does it eliminate certain requirements for having braces? Does it increase the interval between appointments? If it doesn’t do any of those things, it’s not a selling point.
A free consultation would have been a nice incentive 10-15 years ago, but everyone does that now so it’s not as special as it used to be.
Invisalign is an excellent service that has become a part of the industry. Here’s the question: do your competitors offer Invsalign as well? If so, what is different about your Invisalign offering? Better price? Better delivery of the appliance? If you are no different than anyone else, you are not marketing it.
Being open on Saturdays is fantastic. The problem here is that being open on “selected Saturdays is too vague.” Just during the summer months? One Saturday a month? What? This is what the practice should have pushed more.
Owning/operating from a distance has challenges
As you can see from the story, a doctor based in Arizona bought the practice in 2009. Have a practice owner far away from the physical location of the practice is nothing unusual. You just need the systems to monitor, identify weak areas and make changes. If anything, this blog stresses the importance of good information and nowhere is it more important than in situations where you cannot physically reach out and touch the practice. The information needs to be up-to-date, meaningful and acted upon when necessary.
We’ve talked about other issues before: running a practice that accepts Medicaid, the challenge of down payments, etc. All of these go into the solution.
If you find your practice on a glidepath downward, please contact us. We’re here to help without creating a further financial drag on your practice. That’s what we do. Don’t become the next Sauk Valley Orthodontics (unless you want to).
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