Business advice
Ask for referrals The easiest way of growing your practice, and it costs nothing, is to ask for refer- rals from your happy, delighted existing patients. I could write a book of the advantages of asking for referrals as there are so many. I worked with a dental practice in
Huddersfield last year and, by imple- menting a referral strategy in their practice, they have increased turnover by €20,000 a month. Get some top drawer business cards
done and hand them to your existing patients and ask them to pass them onto their friends, relatives work colleagues etc. It costs nothing and they will help you grow your practice.
Go networking Go and hang out anywhere where your target market or synergistic businesses hang out. There are plenty of places to network, such as BNI, Chamber of Commerce, business clubs etc. Go to these meetings and take some business cards with you, and hand them out. Become a full-time networker and
start conversations with people; you never know who needs your services.
Go public speaking When you go to these networking events, often they are looking for a speaker to do a short presentation, say for ı0 minutes. Here you have a superb opportunity to present your business to a target audience that needs your services. Yes, everyone in your room will benefit by seeing you.
Now, I know most people hate public speaking and would rather die than speak in public, but it is the greatest way of expanding your comfort zone, which will also help you in other areas of your life. You can learn these skills at Toast-
masters, or join a Dale Carnegie course. Here you can practice in a safe environ- ment and be coached one-to-one.
Joint ventures How many other businesses can you partner with in your area and start joint ventures with? I am thinking out loud, but they must include local beauticians, hairdressers and wedding fairs. Why don’t you call the owners and
put your heads together and work out a strategy on how you can work together for the benefits of all their businesses? I know of many dentists who have
joint ventures and they often speak very highly of the relationships they have with other businesses.
Never get complacent I have been coaching a dental prac- tice over a period of time on some marketing techniques and in particular how to increase the number of new patients by asking for referrals. For a few months they had increased
their new patients by up to ı5 a month, simply by asking for new referrals. Their appointment books were full and they had an excellent system in place. Then, all of a sudden, gaps appeared in their books and they realised that for a couple of months they had simply forgot to ask for referrals.
The more you learn, the more you earn When I started my business coaching career at Dale Carnegie Training, I was encouraged by my sales manager to read personal development books. I very quickly became an avid reader and got into the habit of reading at least one personal development book a month. I quickly became a fan of the more you learn, the more you earn. Successful people are always striving
to learn. They also have open minds and are willing to change in order to succeed.
Take action I have been in the business coaching business for more than ı7 years and I have worked with many hundreds of very successful people and, without doubt, these people have many traits including enthusiasm, commitment, taking responsibility and, of course, having good people skills. However, there is one trait they
have above all else – they take action. They do not procrastinate, or delay in making decisions. Simply applying five different strate-
gies a month from the above actions will lead to better results. Take action and take responsibility for your results.
® Ashley Latter is one of the leading business coaches in the United Kingdom and specialises in working with forward- thinking dental practices all over the UK and Ireland. He has delivered his ‘Ethical Sales & Communication Programme’ to more than 4,500 delegates over the last 12 years and has written two books: Helping Patients say YES and Don’t wait for the Tooth Fairy. To sign up to his free email newsletter and to read more articles on this topic, visit
www.ashleylatter.com
Ireland’s Dental magazine 15
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