We’re all familiar with the concept of New Year’s resolutions. The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to refocus and set goals that will help us be the best version of ourselves. New Year’s Day also creates the perfect opportunity to set goals for your dental practice.
Be SMART!
Non-specific goals are rarely met. That is why it’s important to make sure all of your goals — business and personal — are SMART: Specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound. An example of a SMART goal could be “I will increase my number of Facebook posts by 10% by Valentine’s Day by delegating social media to my office manager or my marketing agency.” Such a goal holds you accountable in a way that “I will get more implant cases” cannot.
Try These On For Size
There’s no need to wrack your brain trying to come up with resolutions; we’ve done the work for you. To ensure your success, select just one or two of the goals below and rework them so that they are SMART:
- Update your website. Have you added new treatments to your practice? Changed your hours? Hired additional team members? Then your website should say so. While you’re making changes, be sure to add some images of your team members and (with permission) patients so potential patients can catch a glimpse of your personality.
- Reach out to your community. This doesn’t have to be a huge commitment; you don’t need to regularly clean up a highway or sponsor a little league team unless you really want to. Community outreach can be as simple as taking your team to serve in a soup kitchen, reading to kindergartners during Literacy Week, or handing out water to runners during a charity race.
- Share your genuine personality. Eighty percent of your Facebook posts should be engaging; make sure some of those posts include pictures of you being … well … YOU! Have a giant toothbrush at work? Post a snapshot of you trying to brush your teeth with it. Team member birthday party? Share a picture of you in a party hat. The more approachable you are, the more patients will be willing to share with you. The more they share, the easier it will be for you to help them meet their dental goals.
- Put your patients to work. Nothing is more impactful than a patient testimonial and review. When you encounter a happy patient, ask them if you can record a brief testimonial to share with others who may be considering the same type of treatment. Those who experience dental anxiety, have put off dental implants, or think that orthodontics are just for teenagers will feel far more comfortable in your hands when they see the impact your treatment has had on your actual patients.
- Launch an ad campaign that you genuinely care about. Are you passionate about sleep medicine? Do you enjoy Invisalign or ClearCorrect cases? Then focus your Facebook and Google ads on those. To maximize your efforts, make sure that you’re marketing to the correct audience; if your ads include verbiage that appeals to millennials, you’re not going to land those implant cases.
Once you reach the SMART goal you’ve established for your practice, be sure to set another. A series of short-term goals can get you to the same place as a monumental long-term goal — only with less stress. Whatever you do, continue your quest to make your practice the best in the business.
