iDentistry The Journal identistry_jan_april2019 | Page 14

The Journal
costs, competition, services, categorization,
season, weather, instinct and a combination of
a few or all of the above. Believe me, it is difficult
to tell, how to set the right price, but it is easier to
tell how not to set your price or which mistakes,
we commit and are not to be committed. We got
to realize our own worth ourselves while pricing
any particular service or while introducing a new
product line. India is a vast country with huge
demographic variation and different strata of
population and furthermore, each dentist
having specific target group of population as
their patients and as they say, one size of shoe
doesn’t fit all, one price for a particular job
doesn’t suit all the dentists from different areas
of the same city or different cities.
They say that Love is more important than
money, but have you ever tried paying bills with
hugs?
~ Unknown
11. Always use an approach of empathy with
your patients: Try to understand who you are
marketing to and what their needs and
constraints are. You will end up building a better
offering through a stronger product roadmap
and you will have more success when you are
pitching for an expensive product like an
Implant or a Metal Free Crown. The practice of
empathy is often confused with sympathy.
Where, Sympathy is an expression of one’s own
feelings like ‘I am sorry’; Empathy is the
demonstration of an understanding patient’s
feelings like ‘You must be very sad’. Misuse or
confusion in using these above two vital
phenomenons coupled with the time
constraints in OPD care in today’s times are big
obstacles in getting the type of dignity and
respect that are vital foundation stones for
achieving results of higher degree of patient
satisfaction. Like a drug, we always seek higher
and a higher high in patient satisfaction as this is
paramount in transforming the same into quick
bucks always.
People will forget what you said; people will
forget what you did but people will never forget
how you made them feel ~ Maya Angelou
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12. Dif
12. Differentiate or Die: Marketing Strategy
Guru, Jack Trout once said "differentiate or die."
That doesn't necessarily mean bashing the
competition. It means knowing your relative
strengths and weaknesses and positioning your
services accordingly. The best would be a
SWOT Analysis (Strength, Weakness,
Opportunity and Threat analysis) especially
from your clinic point of view.
> Strengths: characteristics of your clinic/setup
that give it an advantage over others
> Weaknesses: characteristics of your clinic
that place your clinic/setup at a disadvantage
relative to others
> Opportunities: elements in the environment
that your clinic/setup could exploit to its
advantage
> Threats: elements in the environment that
could cause trouble for your clinic/setup
Differentiate with value or die with price
~ Jeffrey Gitomer
13. Involve them and they will understand:
Confucius once said
"Tell me and I'll forget
Show me and I'll remember
Involve me and I'll understand”
Engaging patients in treatment decisions can
lead to beneficial outcomes. Patients who are
active participants in a shared decision-making
process have a better knowledge of treatment
options and more realistic perceptions of likely
treatment effects. The resulting treatment
choices are more likely to concur with their
preferences and attitudes to risk. They are also
more likely to adhere to treatment
recommendations and more likely to select
expensive procedures.
14. Have a website – build your online
presence: A website serves as a very good tool
and is paramount for any start-up. I would
recommend a responsive (dynamic) website;
compatible with all digital devices,
Vol. 15
No. 1
Jan-April 2019