Building a brand identity is probably not top of many dentists’ ‘to do’ lists when setting up a practice or dealing with the everyday administrative demands that this can bring. However, you’re running a business and selling services to the public, so whether you like it or not, your practice represents a brand. With this in mind, creating the right impression, one that will help attract patients and ultimately add value to your business, is not something that should be taken
lightly.
From the outset, even as you’re deciding on the products and services to offer, it is important that you have a strong sense of what your business stands for and what it means to you and your patients. Developing a strong brand will ensure that you have considered your business values and will ultimately help you determine the future direction of your practice.
Big brand loyalty
The power of big brands is all around us, from Apple to Asda, David Beckham to John Lewis. Last November John Lewis was named as the top brand for customer
experience by UK shoppers. This pushed the previous number one, Amazon, down to fourth place, after the world’s largest online retailer came under fire following adverse publicity surrounding their corporation tax affairs.
John Lewis has worked hard to develop a brand that is recognised and trusted. It is perceived by the public as a strong home-grown British business and has built its reputation around the word ‘partnership’, emphasising the fact that it is owned by its staff. John Lewis uses these values to give customers the feeling that their staff consequently try that bit harder and make extra effort to meet and exceed customer expectations. The John Lewis brand is effortlessly portrayed as stable, reliable and understated – a company confident in its own position – and this image has resonated well with the British public.
Building a brand
We can’t all replicate the success of John Lewis but what you can do is build a strong brand image which gives consistency to your practice and communicates professionalism and quality of service. Everything, from your
chosen identity to your brochures, your advertising to your website, needs to reinforce what your brand represents, but so too does the building itself and the service you provide. If your brand is built around being a caring, family
dental practice for example, then these are the values that must greet patients from the moment they walk through the door.
The same is true if you have developed a state-of-the-art, technology driven practice, that will attract a certain type of patient. Your brand is a kind of promise and can’t be all things to all men. Make sure you know what your brand stands for and demonstrate this from the outset, making patients feel confident about the type of dentistry they will receive and the way in which it is being delivered.
Marketing a practice has not traditionally been something that dentists have had to concern themselves with, as patients had been well trained to return for check ups and treatment, but the recent recession has changed all this. Patients are now looking for more than just dental care; they want a pleasant experience, excellent results and value for money, all delivered in a relaxing environment. Your brand image can help communicate all these qualities and continually reinforce them to patients.
Patient loyalty
These days, there is a lot more to developing a successful practice than just providing dentistry. Principals must look closely at their business development strategy and consider ideas that will attract patients and build patient loyalty.
Introducing a practice-branded dental plan is one strategy that can provide considerable benefits to both practice and patients and a tailor-made plan will help reinforce your brand values. A dental plan will allow patients to budget for their routine dental care and most practices find that once patients have committed to a plan they are much more inclined to return for regular treatment. This in turn benefits the practice with improved cash flow,
increased appointment bookings and greater financial peace of mind, providing the foundation to look into future planning and investments with confidence.
Stand out from the crowd
The impending NHS contract has caused increasing uncertainty amongst dentists in the past few years and this has resulted in an environment which is not necessarily conducive to business growth or investment. In fact many practitoners are currently awaiting firmer details of the new contract before once again considering their allegiance to the NHS.
Converting to private practice can be an unnerving experience, but taking control of one’s practice affairs, free from the vagaries of government and the Department of Health, can be an attractive proposition. Installing a practice branded dental plan can be an ideal way to help maintain a regular income stream after a switch to the private sector, and when presented in the right way can help to recruit more patients. Working with a provider that recognises the significance of your brand and understands its importance in relation to the value of your practice
is vital when making these key decisions.
Your brand should be unique to you, particularly if you have created and nurtured it. In the face of the increasing competition levels already evident in many areas of the country, the need for a strong brand identity that will make your practice stand out from the crowd is now more important than ever. Don’t be left behind – get to grips with your brand, start living it and you’ll never look back.
References available on request.