In today’s episode, I am talking with Mike Jeffs, the Director of Customer Marketing at Solution Reach, and we take a closer look at how to stand out from the rest of the competition.
Mike shares 3 keys to setting your dental practice apart from everyone else that will help you not only to draw and retain patients, but also to attract top talent to your team.
Mike shares some great examples that demonstrate these 3 keys that involve Star Trek and surfing.
Yep, Star Trek & surfing. You’re just going to have to listen in!
Join us!
Full Transcript
Mark Thackeray: 00:01 Hello and welcome back my friends to another episode of the Dental Marketing Secrets Podcast where we provide actionable tips and tricks that you can take and apply immediately to grow your practice so you can serve more patients and leave a greater impact because that is the name of the game, my friends. My name is Mark Thackeray and I am so excited to be here with you today. Another glorious day is actually out in the mountains, did some back country snowboarding with one of my good friends and I’m feeling great and is a good day, but I’m excited because we have a very special guest on this episode. I’m talking with Mike Jeff’s, he is the director of customer marketing over at Solutionreach and we dive into, take a real close look at how to stand out from the rest of the competition. Okay, Mike shares three keys to setting your practice apart from everyone else that will help you not only to draw and retain more patients, but also to attract top talent to your team. Mike also shares some great examples that demonstrate three keys that involves star Trek and surfing. That’s all. I’m going to say star Trek and surfing. And you’re going to want to listen to that. So excited to share this with you. So let’s jump right into it.
Intro: 01:12 What do you get when you combine simplified practice marketing, proven ROI strategy, and Vans skate shoes? You get Mark Thackeray, of course. So lace up, grab your green smoothie and get ready because this is Dental Marketing Secrets and this is Mark.
Mark Thackeray: 01:32 All right you guys, I have Mike. Jeff’s here with me. Mike, how are you today?
Mike Jeffs: 01:37 Good, good. Thanks for having me.
New Speaker: 01:39 You bet. You bet. I’m excited to have have your on here. Today we’re going to be talking about how to stand out among your competition and we’ve got an awesome discussion lined up. We had a great pre-call and had been going through all these different, different points, but I wanted to start off with, , Mike, talk to us a little bit about the current state of the industry, just with how everything’s shifted, it seems like, you know, back in the day we were talking about how before there was this mentality of you could build it and they would come and how that does still remain true in some rural areas. But now, I mean, we’re in salt Lake city and I, you know, I took a two mile drive over here, you know, it took me 10 minutes to get here and in that two miles I probably pass 10 different offices. So talk to me a little bit about the current state of, of the dental industry and how competitive that is.
Mike Jeffs: 02:27 Yeah, sure. Well, first of all, it all depends on your city and state and, and where you’re located, obviously. But, yeah, we’re not in the, if you build it, he will or she will come phase anymore. Like in my dad’s time, it used to be take out a page, you know, and the yellow pages, maybe do some direct mailers and you’d probably be okay. He practiced for 39 years, mostly in, in Silicon Valley. But yeah, I mean you, you, you do have to take time to really stand out from your competition and, and we’ll get into a little bit more of that. But even if you are in a rural area and you know, you are growing, there isn’t a lot of competition around, but that could change very quickly. So it’s still good to have a good online presence and tell your story and create a why for your practice because that could change very quickly and when the new person comes in in town, you want to be able to sort of have that fortified online presence as well as your culture buttoned up so that be able to prevail or at least continue to grow even when that new practice opens its doors.
Mark Thackeray: 03:44 Yeah, 100% and that’s so critical nowadays is to constantly be building a fence around your herd. You know, your patients and this is exactly what we’re talking about today is, is how it building this culture that will keep all those people in, you know, both patients as well as team members. It’s challenging to do because it takes a lot of time. You know, we talked about that before. It’s not just, Hey, I’m going to build this amazing culture and you do it over a weekend getaway up at the cabin. It just takes, it takes a lot of time and effort to do that. but let’s talk a little bit about how to get started with that. so why don’t you start, Mike, I mean, we talked a little bit about defining what would you say is your first step to building a culture like that?
Mike Jeffs: 04:33 Well, if you listen to Simon Sineck, which I strongly recommend you follow him on social media, or, or read his books, particularly start with why. And he says, “people don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” So, it’s really important to establish that why and get that clear vision of what makes you different. It doesn’t have to be, you know, some big audacious thing. It could be simply, you know, the doctor was born and raised in the city in this town and, and he or she’s really passionate about giving back to the community and just loves, you know, X city or X town, or, or loves to state or whatever. maybe it’s showing off the doctors, hobbies a little bit or, you know, volunteer work that the practice may be involved in.
Mike Jeffs: 05:36 I know a dentist, you know, out in Utah that his thing is like, he’s an orthodontist actually, and it’s surfboards and that his branding is like the teeth are the surfboards and the, the bar, the band goes across and he’s got like an old VW bus parked out in front of his practice, like in parking lot with like surfboards, et cetera. Like, that’s memorable, you know. and it sets you apart from your competitors. Oh yeah. It’s the surfboard orthodontist, I’ve seen him for, it can be something that’s subtle. I had an eye doctor appointment a couple months ago and it was my first time there and there was nothing special about it. Yeah. I mean, it was bland. It was sterile, old, they never told me like, you know, welcome, like we’re so excited to have you here for our first, your first visit.
Mike Jeffs: 06:34 I certainly didn’t know their why. and you know, I think there was nothing impressionable about that. Yeah.
Mark Thackeray: 06:48 well let me jump in here too real quick because that’s such, I think a lot of people when they hear that, you’re talking about, okay, what, what is my why? And they, a lot of dentists, a lot of orthodontists would naturally say, well, I want to fix smiles, you know, I fix teeth, you know, and they, they kind of look at that surface level. But like what you were saying is to take that a little deeper and personalize that a bit more. Yep. Because now it seems that in today’s day and age with so many options out there, people are looking for a better fit altogether. You know, certainly you’re checking the box, okay, clinically, I know this is a dentist is an orthodontist.
Mark Thackeray: 07:27 They can do all that, but really I want someone who’s, who’s kinda like me, you know, who shares those same Affinity’s for surfing or for the beach or for a sports team. It could be a sports team or the community at large. You know, those are some, those are some great examples of that.
Mike Jeffs: 07:47 Yeah. you know, why are you a dentist or an orthodontist? Like what got you where you are today? Well, you know, how did the stars align to get you where you are? you know, what’s your story and then tell that story through your website, through social media, even in your waiting room, first visit, first tour, you know, however you want to do it, you need to get it out there.
Mark Thackeray: 08:14 and that can be tricky too. I mean, sometimes people think, well, I don’t have a story, you know, I mean, I just kind of fell into this, but the reality is almost we all have some you do though, type of story, right?
Mike Jeffs: 08:25 Yeah, yeah. You’re a human being and you have the relatable things that you need to get out there.
Mike Jeffs: 08:35 You know, if you think about the average person really, they’re consumed, they’re consumed by the probably six or seven things on there and it’s all on their phone, right? It’s Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, podcasts, and that’s about it. Yeah, that’s really, that’s really like your world. And so those are the channels that I would think that you’d want to get. Your stories are out on. Not a lot of people are looking at billboards. When was the last time you looked? You watched a commercial aside from live sports. Yeah. You don’t know or you fast forward or as soon as the commercial comes on and you look at your phone. So, there is a really, easy way to get your story out there. It just takes some time and it’s a slow process. It’s not going to happen overnight. But just remember, people don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it. And that ties into, that should tie into kind of the base of your practice.
Mark Thackeray: 09:58 Well that should really be that cornerstone of everything you do, that should permeate your entire culture, you know, and permeate everything that you do. internally, you know, the systems that you create as well as externally patient facing, things like, you know, whether they’re emails or advertising or anything like that, that should all be founded upon this, this why, right?
Mark Thackeray: 10:24 I mean this, this cornerstone of your why, because then it creates this identity. Okay. You know, I mean, you think of, I mean, you look at Hollywood and you look at all, not just Hollywood, but all the books, almost all the books that have ever been written, you know, and they, they have, they focus on a very simple story, you know, of a hero, an antagonist, you know, and then generally speaking, a guide of some sort that helps the hero along the journey, you know, and that’s, and that’s what we’re kind of looking at. But if that, if that hero did not have the right identity, you know, if that man never became Batman and was confused, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be Batman or if he’s going to be, I don’t know, chicken man, you know, I mean, that’s not going nowhere,
Mark Thackeray: 11:07 you know, and that’s where a lot of people are, they find themselves today is where they’re, they don’t think about these things. they don’t take the time to really figure out what their story is and what their culture is and what their why is. And so when they look, when they’re trying to project their company out into the world, that just comes across as being, you know, very bland or it just is, it just doesn’t resonate with people, you know?
Mike Jeffs: 11:32 Yeah. I mean, a few examples I’ve seen, there’s one pack, there’s a practice back in Tennessee where their thing is, they’re open 24, seven, or excuse me, they’re open 365 with extended hours. So they’re open on every single holiday, for like more than 12 hours a day, and they have doctors that’ll work on Christmas, on major, you know, 4th of July or whatever because they want to be known as the practice where it’s like, Hey, if you have an emergency, or the normal like nine to five hours, don’t work for you because of your work life balance or your job or whatever, come see us. Yeah. Right.
Mike Jeffs: 12:17 There’s, there’s another one where the doctor is like an extreme star Trek fan and the whole office is like, is decked out in star Trek. I love this. And they were star Trek uniforms. It’s, I mean, it’s really, really extreme. but it’s memorable and it’s, Oh, it’s the star Trek guy. Maybe you’re not a star Trek fan, but at least like, it’s, it’s kind of fun. Right. And, it’s memorable and it sets your practice apart and you don’t have to be that extreme. Maybe you enjoy fishing. That’s your thing. Okay. So show that. Show pictures of your last trip. talk about it with your patients. it’s, it doesn’t have to be that hard.
Mark Thackeray: 13:03 That’s so true too. And what’s cool about that is that, and I think this is where some people get hung up too, is because they say, well, if I’m, let’s take the star Trek example, the star Trek office, if I’m, if all we do is show up in star Trek attire and we talk about star Trek all the time, that’s going to turn some people off.
Mark Thackeray: 13:21 And so they, they are, they’re afraid of doing that because of that reason. But the reality is it’s actually going to attract more people that that resonates with and make them. It’s really going to endear them to your practice because you did that, you know? So it’s really, it’s such a cool filtration mechanism because now you’re really repelling all those people that aren’t as good a fit and you’re attracting those that are going to be a better fit, right. If you know, if you do it right.
Mike Jeffs: 13:53 And there are tools that can quickly tell you whether or not you’re going too far, whether it’s like post appointment surveys or online reviews, like you’ll know. Yeah, yeah.
Mark Thackeray: 14:08 That’s such a cool example too. I love that one. so that’s, that’s what’s cool. It’s about what you’re starting to flesh out, what your identity is, what your story is. It really helps you create a vision for you in your office and your practice. Because without that, you don’t really, it’s hard to move forward, you know? I mean, you’ve probably encountered this too, Mike, where you’re talking to an office talking to a doctor and they’re lamenting the fact that they had a poor year, you know, as far as revenue goes, that production’s down. And then as you start digging in deeper, they have no idea what they have no goals, they have no vision. And so it’s, they’re really just saying, well, think it’s worse. It feels worse. Don’t really know, but it feels worse than it was last year. You know? And that’s the challenge if you don’t have a clear vision, you know, is, then you’re, you really run the risk of being like, Oh, I don’t, I don’t really know how I’m doing.
Mike Jeffs: 15:09 Right. You know, and it all starts with your, with your why and creating your vision. And if you don’t have a vision, you don’t really have a direction or a purpose. So you have to know where you want to go in order to get there and then measure and gauge the progress. Right. Yeah. And it’s not easy. And the part, the biggest companies in the world struggle with this and the ones that do it successfully, it’s an ongoing thing. It’s a daily thing. And it takes years to get there. When you look at, you know, the easy examples of like the Googles and the apples and the, you know, the Zappos of the world. Like it was very deliberate and it took years and years to get to where that is. So, you know, give yourself a break as you take this on because it is a very big undertaking, but it can have massive upside.
Mark Thackeray: 16:08 Yeah. Well, and it’s so, so cool because it’s a, it galvanizes your team as well, you know? I mean, if you have this clear vision and it’s really articulated well, and then let’s say if you take that vision and you post it on a job posting, for example, this was something that we were talking about in the pre-call, that’s going to attract better team members. You know, I mean, I’ve seen those people that they’re going to read that and it’s going to ignite something in them and they’re going to raise their hand and say, I want to be part of that. You know? But if you leave that out, then they’re just sifting through these different ones and you may miss out on a huge asset that could be going to work for your competitor because you didn’t take the time to spell that out.
Mike Jeffs: 16:45 Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, you know, it could be an easy one where Dr. Johnson is a third generation, you know, doctor from Wichita and he just loves Wichita and they went to school there and they love Kansas sports and, and all that. And they’re really passionate about making Wichita a better place and a great community for families or whatever, giving back to the community. And if you put that in the job title that’s going to ring much more true than just a generic job title. And I’m going to be able to attract the kind of people that you want and your culture, that are gonna, that are gonna fit and you know, provide the kind of experience that you want your patients to have to help you to help set you apart from your competitors.
Mark Thackeray: 17:41 Yeah. Yeah. And I, what I love about it too is that it also gives you this, this a measuring stick to gauge your performance on, and really determine, Hey, am I in line with, with what my why is, you know, because then you get, if you have this team around you and they’re there supporting you, then you can go periodically throughout the year and say, okay, these are the actions we’re taking is this, does this follow suit with what we’re trying to accomplish?
Mark Thackeray: 18:04 You know? But without that, without that clear vision, you really just kind of, you know, you’re kind of going a little bit over here, a little bit over there and not really making a ton of progress, you know? Yeah. So it’s, it works really well as a, as a measuring stick, for your own company progress as well as attracting talent. plus it’s cool. It’s, it’s, you know, I mean, going back to your example, let’s say if you’re really heavily involved in the community, you know, then you can go and say, this is our mission. We’re really trying to build up Wichita. You know, we want to make this the best community out there, the best place to live. And you can go to other companies that you feel like match that and help get them on board, you know, and enlist them, whether that’s finding a new team members or whether that’s finding new patients just by articulating, Hey, I know we share the same value in building Wichita to this great place. What can we do to help each other out? That’s gonna make it so easy to build, to forge that relationship that could potentially be a huge referral source for you.
Mike Jeffs: 19:05 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it goes without saying, but I’ll say it. Your employees are your biggest asset. They really are in turnover’s really high and, and, the dental industry, for a variety of reasons. But, I would just really put, put a lot of emphasis on who you bring into your practice. you know, slow to hire, quick to fire, just take your time and find that right person on the bus. Because it has huge, again, huge upside, very difficult to do. But if you take the time and you understand the, the, the upside and, and how it’s gonna really impact your practice longterm, you can do it. Yeah. yeah, I have no doubt.
Mark Thackeray: 19:58 Yeah. And that does take time. It’s cause you have to, you have to dedicate time to discover, okay, how am I gonna figure out if this person is the right fit? but again, if you have that clear vision, if they align them aligned within that vision, that’s gonna make it so much easier. Just like you’re saying. Right. That’s so key, so key.
Mark Thackeray: 20:18 So how do you get that started? You know what I mean? That we’ve been talking about building this, this culture and you do that through a shared vision, a clear, clear cut vision. How do you, how do you get started? You know, if I’m, if I’m listening to this and I’ve never thought about creating a vision before for my practice, what are the, what would you say? What are the first things that you’d start to do?
Mike Jeffs: 20:41 I would really think about why you’re there. What gets you up and motivated and eager to jump out of bed in the morning every day? What are you passionate about? It doesn’t necessarily have to be about work, you know, dentistry or, or ortho. It could be about, you’re really pumped up about, you know, you’re really into fitness, you know, or you’re really passionate about your family and your kid’s activities or you know, you’re really into some sort of, cause maybe it’s local or national or international even. so Carl Jung, he has a quote, he’s a, he was a German psychologist. “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens.” So you really have to look inside and not to sound corny, but it’s like what is, what are you passionate about? What’s in your heart? and that will resonate with people almost anything that is, I guess that honest. And if you do like a real gut check, it will resonate. Yeah.
Mark Thackeray: 22:03 Well it shows, right? I mean, when you’re talking with someone and they’re sharing like a personal experience or a some type of personal mission that they’re on, you can feel that. You can sense that. We have that unique ability to determine when someone’s telling something from the heart as opposed to just a canned script. Right. I mean, you can sense that immediately, you know? So that’s, that’s kind of what we’re asking you to do is just take that time to really discover what that is. And I love that quote too, because he talks about who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens. I think of that like if you’re looking at for outside motivation, then that’s more of a passive type of approach.
Mark Thackeray: 22:42 But if you look inside and internally that awakens, that’s more of a, a proactive approach. I mean, it sparks something that’s gonna really be, could become something huge, you know, and really build a ton of momentum there. That’s really cool.
Mike Jeffs: 22:56 And what do you want to be known for, right?
Mark Thackeray: 22:58 Yeah. Yeah. And that’s a good way to look at it and say, okay, at the end of my career, what do I want people to say about me or about my practice? You know, about my life. You know, I remember there was, I can’t remember if the Stephen Covey that said, imagine yourself, you’re at your own funeral. What do you want people to stand up and say about you? You know? And I thought, man, that was such a good way to put it. Starting with the end in mind and thinking, what are those things that are most important to me?
Mark Thackeray: 23:26 You know, and like you said, it doesn’t have to be dentistry. It doesn’t have to be fixing teeth, you know, filling cavities, dental implants, ortho, anything like that. It could be, Hey, I love what I do, this is great, but really what I’m passionate about is my family or what I’m passionate about is the community or some other interests or the, you know, the football team, the university of Kansas, it doesn’t get, you know, I mean, yeah, it doesn’t, that part doesn’t matter as much.
Mike Jeffs: 23:55 But it is, it is a long process. Can be a long process to find your why, your why and your vision, but it’s well worth it and it could change over the years, you know, and that’s okay. as long as you have one. Yeah. And it’s, and you’re making a connection, a human connection.
Mark Thackeray: 24:16 Right. That’s a key point is just remembering it does take time. Okay. You know, I mean, then there’s going to be times when you get, you put your vision out there and you get feedback that suggests that you might need to tweak it. You know, you might need to say it differently or articulate it in a, in a slightly different manner because the original perception wasn’t correct. You know, I mean, or you’re just, you realizing, Hey, that, but this is more important. So we’re going to, we’re going to pivot and move this direction. Yep. So, yeah, it does take, so that’s a great thing to remember is just don’t get too hung up on making it perfect the first time because it’s going to evolve.
Mike Jeffs: 24:54 Yeah, totally.
Mark Thackeray: 24:57 So one thing that we discussed before too was, was now you’ve kind of got this vision, you’ve got this Y articulated out, now it’s time to really look at how do I take this vision and build a culture around it?
Mark Thackeray: 25:12 Okay. Around your why, around what makes you excited, what makes you passionate and, and there’s a couple of ways to do that. So why don’t you walk us through Mike, some of the different ways that you could do that, to build a culture around your why.
Mike Jeffs: 25:27 Yeah. So in order to succeed, you’re going to need a team to support you, you know, in your why and, and you know, you’re going to have to take care of them and, and, and motivate them and all that good stuff. But there’s really, three ways that you can do that and hiring the right people, which we’ve, we’ve talked about, and attracting the right talent and, communicating your why and your job posting during an interview. Have a why scorecard of sorts to kind of gauge if the candidate is a good fit.
Mike Jeffs: 26:04 ask for examples. and you know, another easy thing to do is to practice competency-based hiring where you essentially outlined five to 10 competencies that you’re looking for in that person and, and create questions based off of that. I’m a big proponent of hiring on, you know, competency and attitude and then training for skills, you know, hiring people that you know, who they are and like what they stand for and their values and if they’re smart, like they’ll pick it up.
Mike Jeffs: 26:42 That person’s going to be way more, loyal and treat your patients better. They might require a bit more training. But again, if you want to think long term, it’s important to understand that you’re investing in that person that you know is better rather than someone who could come in who knows her, your PM system and you know, knows your patient relationship management software or whatever and has all this experience and you know, you’re not going to need to train them but you’re not so sure about their attitude.
Mike Jeffs: 27:21 Or their values or, you know, I would much, I would take the person with the, the character and competencies that I want every, every day.
Mark Thackeray: 27:35 100%. I couldn’t agree more. That’s so true. It’s funny, I was a years ago, I was at in and out burger. There’s one not too far from our house. And I was with there, there was some friends and I’d actually been there a couple of weeks prior. Okay. So, and I, and, and when I went there, the first time, there was this guy, this taller guy, working the counter. And immediately when I walked in, he started engaging me in conversation. Just very amiable, super neat guy, just outgoing, has this great personality and was going out of his way clearly to make sure people were welcomed. And then literally like two weeks later, I go back and I’m looking for this guy and I ask about him and turns out someone came and, and hired him off to a different company.
Mark Thackeray: 28:21 You know, they’d certainly, they’d seen what I’d seen in him, just that he was willing to do these things that probably weren’t on the job description, but he was doing them any way because that’s the type of person he was, the character that he had. And they knew that they could take that and make him into something amazing, you know? I mean, because he had that right attitude.
Mike Jeffs: 28:40 That’s right. That’s right. And for those on the East coast and, and uppers, a popular burger place in California and is now, in Utah. but you bring up an interesting point because when I was in high school and in an upper was moving to Northern California, a lot of people wanted to work there because they pay significantly more than any other fast food place. And they only hire like the top. They kind of pride themselves on hiring like really hard workers, people who are friendly and passionate.
Mike Jeffs: 29:19 and it shows. If you look at it on a spreadsheet, you’re probably gonna say, why are they paying 12 bucks an hour when they could pay 9.50 an hour? Right. Well, look at their production, look at their brand. Their people are their brand. and when you go through the drive through, it’s all windows and you’re watching them, they want you to watch them cause they’re working really, really hard. And I had a buddy in high school who worked there and he, cause he had a Camaro payment and he wanted to work there. And he’s like, I, it’s hard. I mean they, it’s a hard work but it’s a great environment and they pay you well and he liked it.
Mark Thackeray: 30:06 Yeah. Isn’t that cool then that, and that speaks to another facet of this, right, is that it’s the, it’s the word of mouth that travels because of your reputation or the culture that you’ve created. You know, just like in and out burger. You know, your friend that worked there, I mean was probably attracted there. You know, I mean if you get hired on and you pride yourself in being a hard worker, you know, cause you recognize that they only take the top 5% or 1% or whatever it is, and now that you’ve qualified for that, you feel that sense of pride and you’re going to carry that with responsibility. You know? That’s such a cool, cool way. And imagine, yeah, if you did that for your practice where you were, you’re not just trying to honestly take anyone that you could get to be your dental assistant, but you are attracting the best client and you were actually having to say no to three fourths of those candidates. You know, that’s a good position to be in and you may pay a little bit more because of it. But in the longterm, it’s such a nominal amount.
Mike Jeffs: 31:08 And in and out is also, partnered with some great charities to, to help with, you know, child trafficking and, and, and some great causes. And they’ve, they’ve, they’ve ingrained that into their, into their brand. When you look at like on their cups and stuff, because they are trying to do the right thing.
Mark Thackeray: 31:35 Yeah. That’s so cool.
Mike Jeffs: 31:36 They’re just picking something. They’re picking something doesn’t, I mean nobody can help everybody, but they’re picking something that’s, that they really care about and they know they can make a difference on. And, kind of making a great play for, Hey, we’re helping with this really, troubling cause that we want to help out these kids with like Tom’s shoes is another one.
Mark Thackeray: 31:58 Yeah, that’s a great example. And they don’t always have to be this philanthropic, you know, pursuit or mission of you, you know, but I like I, there’s a guy, one of my friends, he has started a coffee company for veterans and now that we’re talking about it, I can’t think of the name, I’ll think of it, but, and that he just wanted to do it for veterans. He was a veteran myself, you know, and he wanted something a little stronger than what you could normally find. And he told the story really well, having lived that life, you know, and that appeal to those people, you know, and it’s done really well, you know? That’s great. Lock N Load Java (now Alpha Coffee).
Mike Jeffs: 32:40 He probably gives back to veterans.
Mark Thackeray: 32:43 Yeah, he does. He does. So, so that’s the first one. Okay. So your vision, building a culture can help you or your visions can help you build a culture through your team. Okay. So that’s the first one. So you mentioned there’s three of them. What’s the next one?
Mike Jeffs: 32:58 The next one is your in office experience. So what do patients see when they first step foot in your practice? What are their, what are the first impressions? Yeah. during the appointment, are you exhibiting those values during, during it? and then think about how you can make sure you work it into your processes to ensure that it happens every time. Give you an example. My, I had a friend who went to a new dentist. Got has work done. I think he got a crown and he was checking out for his followup appointment and, the receptionist gives him a bottle of Martinellis and says, welcome to such and such practice, we’re excited to have you as our new patient. Hope you had a great experience. We’re excited to see you again.
Mike Jeffs: 33:50 Just something as simple as that doesn’t have to be expensive or, you know, grandiose. It’s just a simple gesture. That’s, Oh, that’s, that’s nice. Thank you. and he told me about it. So, yeah, I mean, that in and of itself was an example that you just created a memorable kind of experience. You know, the five senses do matter, you know, do you have like a weird smell? Right. You know, of course there are some smells that you just can’t avoid in a dental office. But again, like think about those things, think about, are the chairs comfortable to have something for someone who has kids, you know, are, is your staff being really loud in the, in the front office when people are trying to like, you know, read their phones or whatever.
Mike Jeffs: 34:46 So you need to be thinking about that and you could even do like setups up some ghost patients and have them come through, have how have a friend go through and say, Hey, I’m trying to get some feedback here. Tell me what you think right from the time that you schedule to you came into the practice to post. Like I want to know. Candid feedback. There’s post appointment survey tools, you know, that you can get that immediate feedback.
Mark Thackeray: 35:22 And I was thinking too, I mean you mentioned the five senses and I was thinking back to the, your example of the orthodontist, that’s more of the surf culture. So imagine if you walk in and yeah, you see visually scenes of the, you see a surfboard
Mark Thackeray: 35:38 propped up against the front office or on the wall you see, maybe a fake Palm tree or whatever. But then imagine sitting in the chair and they give you sunglasses, like cool looking sunglasses instead of just the big bulky ones. You know, they’re still functional, but instead of the big black ones that no one, you know, shop glasses that no one wants to wear. But also imagine if you had some type of pina colada scent in there, you know, I mean it was just in, in the office. Like that was your sin. You know what I mean? That was very tropical. It, it conjures up images of the beach or you know, the jungle or anything like that of some type of paradise or getaway. That’s going to help in that experience.
Mike Jeffs: 36:20 Yep. Yeah, and I mean, there’s a lot of cool technology that you can offer during the treatment as well. And at first thought, you’re probably going to say, well, that’s gonna cost me XXX amount. Well, how much is an experience worth for you? Do you want to keep those patients happy or go spend a bunch of money to go get new ones? I mean, sometimes you just can’t, not everything has a A to B ROI. Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. Like why does Disneyland have three street sweepers in front of pirates of the Caribbean instead of one? Why? Because they care about the experience and they know that it’s gonna pay off dividends and that they want their guests to have a great experience so that they’ll come back and spend more money with them.
Mark Thackeray: 37:15 Well, it shows that to the guests, or in our case, the patients, but also shows that to the team. You know, that we’re that committed to our vision. You know that we’re going to do that. We’re going to go, we’re going to invest, whether it’s time or money or resources to ensure that that happens, you know, and so that’s a, I just think of that as another way that it really pulls people together and unifies the team, not just the patients. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Okay. So that’s kinda the in-office experience. that’s a great example. So that we have one more, talk to us about the third and final way to build your culture around your why.
Mike Jeffs: 37:59 Yeah. So, communication and so kind of what I was talking about with having a ghost, a ghost shopper or a ghost patient is, you know, what kind of communication are you sending from the very first time that they find your practice? all the way til, you know, post appointment and it’s been six months and it’s time for six weeks or whatever and it’s time to come back. That includes phone, that includes email, that includes a, you know, a welcome email, a welcome, thank you card. you know, a text follow up, you know, and then a post appointment communication. You got to think about your, your emails, your social posts and your texts need to align and reinforce your why so that patients know exactly what you stand for and why you do what you do. So you need to think about making sure you have your branding correctly on those emails, make sure it looks good on mobile.
Mike Jeffs: 39:03 What are you doing to welcome a new patient? Look, they could have probably had three or four other choices in nearby. you need to recognize that and appreciate it. What are you going to do for them? Right? It could be as simple as you, you give them a 32nd tour and you tell them the story of that practice or the story of that doctor. Such a good idea. Just something as simple as that. It could be an extra thing in your, in the packet and your little bag that you give them for the first time rather than just floss toothbrush, toothpaste. It could be something else, like a little movie gift card, right? you know, or something, you know, $5 thing and it doesn’t have to be big.
Mike Jeffs: 39:54 And then making sure that you are communicating in the way that’s again, that follows your vision and your, why are you the, you know, are you, they’re really buttoned up, kinda high class practice that does a lot of cosmetic work. and the doctors you know, out every month at a, at a trade show, learning the latest techniques, well then your, your emails and your texts should kind of show that. Yeah, yeah. are you the more fun practice was, you know, that’s into surfing or whatever, you know, make sure that, that that brand and that voice comes through on their communications. so it’s, it’s important just to get that, that alignment.
Mark Thackeray: 40:45 Well, and one thing that I thought of when you were talking about that Mike, is just, how neat it is because it allows you to really market yourself so differently. You know, once you have that clear vision and you injecting that into all of your, certainly patient emails and, but even just, I’m thinking to trying to attract new patients, now you’re suddenly projecting a different message than everyone else. You know, if you, if you’re adding in and incorporating in to your messaging your why now it’s not just about dentistry, it’s not just about the clinical side, but it’s about, yes, the clinical side. We take care of that and we do a great job and we’re also really passionate about surfing. We’re also really passionate about our community. And here’s how, here’s how we do that. And it takes it a step further, you know, and it makes it easier for people to, to recognize and to really pay attention to what you’re doing because, because that messaging is so different.
Mike Jeffs: 41:41 And that that should really come through if you have any sort of newsletter, whether it’s quarterly or annually, you know, make sure you show your personality of your, of your, of your practice and, and anything that you’re, you’re involved in. Like my dad was part of a group called flying Samaritans where they was hop on a plane, like, an optometrist that dentists’ in a family physician would hop on a plane and go to Mexico, to some areas who were underprivileged and the next day would be open for like 15 hours and it was free and people could just come in and get treatment, that need it. And they would work for free just like all day. So cool. And helping, you know, people and families too, couldn’t afford it. Things like that.
Mike Jeffs: 42:40 My dad never really liked vocalized that to his patients when he was practicing, which I think he showed up. Like, check out the pictures from, you know, dr Jeff’s latest trip, right to Mexico and you know, he helped out just boy, or if you want to donate toys, he’s going, he’s going down. Here’s a box, out front in our waiting room. If you have any old toys you’d like to donate. Again, it doesn’t have to, you have to be hard.
Mark Thackeray: 43:08 Yeah. And it’s not that you’re putting yourself up on a pedestal when you say that. It’s really just demonstrating your passion for what you do. Right. You know, your why. It really does come back to your why and that’s a great way to do that. And yeah, I totally agree. I think if you’re doing those things, you need to be, you need to be sharing that with your patients on a regular basis.
Mark Thackeray: 43:30 So one of my clients was, involved with Make-A-Wish foundation this past year, and I’ve mentioned this on the podcast before. I’ve had it. I have a daughter that’s been through Make-A-Wish and they’ve had some team members that have been through Make-A-Wish. And so just having had that firsthand experience, it was something that was very personal to them. And so it was a neat combination, right? I mean it was so cool.
Mark Thackeray: 43:54 And so one of the things that we did was put, put on these proclamation parties. So that’s where you host a party for the child with cancer and make a wish would come in at some point in that, in that party. And we’ll let them know that their wishes being granted. So most of the time they’re going to Disney world or they’re going to the Caribbean on a cruise and you’ll get to read a scroll to them that says, Hey, you’ve hereby, I’ve been granted this wish and it’s such a cool experience. But one of the things that, that we did for my clients is we let them know, let our patients know that this is what we’re doing. We’re hosting party and it’s, well, while it’s exclusive, it’s, you know, it’s just a family that’s invited. We would love your help on putting together, you know, things for this party that’s based around a specific theme.
Mark Thackeray: 44:43 So one of them was a Harry Potter theme and we had patients because they’d heard about this from a newsletter, you know, and they stepped up to the plate. One of them a Baker, and she’s been featured nationally. On one of the contest, she actually won one of those baking competitions, the cupcake ones. And she made these Harry Potter cupcakes. And I don’t know if you’re into Harry Potter, but they were the sorting hat. And they were phenomenal. They were so cool. And you bite into them and they had a different colored filling that was, that would determine which house you were in. And they were just so close. So that was one thing. And then we had another patient whose daughter had created this Harry Potter dance with her company, but she came by herself and her mom brought the music and the daughter did a dance for the family, you know, I mean for the other, for the child, which was really cool and totally out of her comfort zone, I’m sure, which was awesome. But then other patients would donate things for the, you know, whether it’s food or decorations or, and it really was cool because it was a group effort, you know, now they got to participate in something that meant so much to us and now it means so much to them.
Mike Jeffs: 45:46 Yeah. Yeah. That’s a great example of just making that human, that human connection.
Mark Thackeray: 45:53 Yeah. Yeah. That’s so cool. So cool. And again, it doesn’t always have to be some type of philanthropic endeavor, but even if it’s, yeah, like we’re talking about, if it’s this surf theme or a community theme, just putting on, you could do an event like that to really, really demonstrate your commitment to your why. You know, so if it is a community thing, maybe you’re inviting other people that are active in the community or, or put on an event that, that showcases some of the, I dunno, maybe things from that community. They’re unique to that community.
Mike Jeffs: 46:26 Yeah. And you can look at other industries too and find tons of examples. I have a realtor, my realtor, who I haven’t used in six years, I still get an email where he holds like a movie night for all of his customers. And you can go, he’ll, you know, whatever’s the hottest movie, he’ll rent the theater out and I could just go if I, I’ve never been, but I think that’s awesome that he does that. And then I think he does something in the summer as well, like a big barbecue appreciation thing. It probably doesn’t cost him a lot, but it’s memorable. I’m not planning on moving anytime soon, but if I, if I was, he would probably be a top of my mind. So look outside your industry and be looking for things that, that you’ve connected with, whether that’s your dry cleaner or your realtor or whatever just keep an open mind.
Mark Thackeray: 47:30 Yeah, totally. There are so many examples out there and honestly we could keep going because there’s just so much involved in building a culture like this and really establishing what your why is, but we’re kind of up against it. So let’s, let’s kind of bring it back and summarize three things. I always like to leave with some type of action items, right? I mean, what would you say, Mike, if based on our conversation, what would be three things that people can take and work on right now to build a culture around their why?
Mike Jeffs: 48:02 Well the first is defining your why and I would suggest that Simon Sinek, Ted talk on, start with why. Just listen to that on your, on your commute or when you have a few minutes in your car. I think it’s the second or third most watched Ted talk of all time. but it’ll help galvanize that idea and how important it is. Then spell out your why. So that would include your, your communication and, you know, what you’re going to be known for that’s tied to your why, and making sure that your, your patients know what that is. And sometimes those are subtle things. But the last one is build your culture around your why. And again, that’s a, it can be a long process there. And, and, you know, anyone who tells you they have it figured out, they’re lying to you because it takes time to get there. And even once you get there, it takes a lot of work to keep it there. So, give yourself some time.
Mark Thackeray: 49:08 Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Those are tremendous. Well, before we sign off, are there any last words, anything that you feel like you wanted to mention? I feel like we covered a lot of good stuff in here.
Mike Jeffs: 49:19 I think that, you know, whatever one thing I would say is whatever that got you to where you are today, and your success doesn’t mean that that’s what’s gonna keep you going in your success. You gotta continue to think outside the box. You got to continue to think of ways how you’re going to stand out from your competitors and have the humility to accept new methodologies that are going to get you there.
Mark Thackeray: 49:54 Yeah. Yeah. That’s so true. I just took some notes cause that is so true. It’s easy to rely on what we’ve done in the past and just think that Hey, this will continue in the future
Mike Jeffs: 50:05 And it might. It totally could. But, but you’ve got, you’re going to have to have something in there to measure, engage, setting up quarterly starts with, you know, your employees. Having those one on ones with them, having quarterly goals with them, that align to the goals of your practice. And again, that’s a whole, that’s a whole other conversation, podcast that you can have with somebody. But, but just make sure that you keep that in mind, that what got you where you are today it might not get you where you want to go in the future.
Mark Thackeray: 50:40 Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you Mike. How, last question is how, if people want to get in touch with you, learn more about what you guys do here at SolutionReach. What’s the best way to get a hold of you?
Mike Jeffs: 50:51 yeah, so I’m on LinkedIn, just Mike Jeffs, J. E. F. F. S. you could also visit us at solutionreach.com and learn about more of what we’ve been doing for the last, 20 years, with, with patient relationship management.
Mark Thackeray: 51:09 Awesome. Cool. Cool. Cool. Well, we’ll have to have you back on the show. but until then, thank you and enjoy the rest of your day.
Mike Jeffs: 51:16 Thanks for having me.
