2017 New Grad Edition - 49

Master the 5 key areas of marketing yourself
as an associate dentist or new practice owner
A few months ago, I was talking with an
associate dentist who was interested in opening
his own practice in the near future. His problem
with the practice where he worked was that his
income was limited by the number and types
of patients the marketing targeted.
"I'm thinking about promoting myself independently of what the practice does," he said.
"I'm just afraid that I'm going to be stepping
into a briar patch."
Fortunately, we found a way for him to keep
his skin intact and still promote himself.
As an associate dentist at the mercy of the practice's
marketing, you're likely able to relate-you get the patients
the practice brings in and assigns to you. If your schedule is
full, you're probably pretty content; after all, you're making
money and you don't necessarily have to pay out of your
pocket to get patients. But if your schedule isn't full-or
if you aspire to greater things, or if you're looking for
higher-value cases-then you're probably not content. The
question is, what can you do about your situation?
The answer for some associate dentists is to engage in
self-promotion with the goal of getting more new patients,
and higher-value patients, on their schedules. If you're not
ready to jump ship or open your own practice, you've got
some thinking to do. My experience is that associate dentists
who don't carefully plan every step of their self-promotion
campaigns are looking at a very thorny path.

Caveat marketer
Associate dentists work in different kinds of practices,
under different kinds of dentists and under different ﬁnancial
agreements. What follows should cover the different aspects

of self-promotion that you'll need to consider. Tailor this
discussion to your situation.
Based on conversations with many associate dentists,
I've identiﬁed ﬁve areas-the Five P's-that you'll need to
include in your self-promotion planning. We strongly suggest
that you have ﬁrm ideas about how to handle each area before
ever broaching the subject with the practice owners. And
once negotiations are complete, be sure to have a written
contract vetted by your attorney to cover all eventualities.

Personalities
Dentists are people, and people are funny. Some practice
owners believe that having an associate dentist is strictly a
business arrangement: If the associate produces, bills well
and does good work, then the principals are happy. If your
idea to self-promote makes good business sense, you're
unlikely to face much pushback.
Other dentists view having associates as giving newbies
their big break. If you're facing what your boss sees as a
debt of loyalty, that can seriously complicate your plans to
self-promote. One client who had attempted to self-promote
as an associate ran into this situation: He was faced with

by Colin Receveur
Colin Receveur, a nationally recognized dental marketing
expert and speaker, has written several best-selling
books on internet marketing, including the recently
published The Four Horsemen of Dentistry: Survival
Strategies for the Private Dental Practice Under Siege.
His company, SmartBox Web Marketing,
helps more than 550 dentists on three continents get
more patients, more profi ts and more freedom.
Email: colin@smartboxwebmarketing.com

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