[February 28th, 2020] by Dr. Ginger Bratzel

Episode #6:  [Interview with Dr. Kelly Brown]

 

At one of my recent coaching days for my private clients, I asked someone that I know is a Master of building practices and being successful to come in.

Dr. Kelly Brown of Custom Dental

Kelly is honest, approachable, and straight forward.  Those traits are in his DNA.  And he really invests in people which in turn means they turn around and believe in him and his dream.

I’ve had the unique honor of working in and with his company, Custom Dental, so I’ve seen it from several angles.  Plus Kelly and I have heavy conversations about playing a bigger game in your business and personal life.

He hasn’t always had a thriving business and is honest about his journey.

This is a rough and unfiltered conversation.  Nothing was off-limits during this conversation, so I asked the hard questions.

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

gingerbratzel.com/financial

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Are you subscribed to my podcast?  If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today.  I don’t want you to miss an episode.  I’ll continue to crank out some great info each week about running your business, marketing and mindset and I don’t want you to miss an episode.  Click here to subscribe.

If you’re feeling extra loving, I would really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too.  Those reviews help others just like you find my podcast and they are great for me to real as well.  It is very helpful so that I can customize my content to give you powerful stuff each week.  Just click here to review. Thank you!

 

 

[February 21st, 2020] by Dr. Ginger Bratzel

Episode #5:  [2nd Chances with Patients to Increase Case Acceptance]

 

It is important to build relationships with your patients. If you invest time and effort in the patients you already have, this will help build loyalty and create lifelong patients.

Patients aren’t disposable razors. You don’t just use them, throw them out and get new ones.

But sometimes, you don’t get it right on the first visit and a patient doesn’t accept treatment.

If you’re lucky enough and the patient gives you a second chance, this is your chance to do something better than last time.

Case acceptance is like a journey. And it starts well before you present a treatment plan to a patient. 

When a patient says no, there is usually some kind of barrier preventing them from accepting treatment. It is your job to figure out what that barrier is and break it down into manageable pieces.

You might not be able to get a patient to accept a full treatment plan at this moment.

So maybe you need to break it down into smaller pieces to fit their schedule, budget, etc. Maybe you need to be upfront and ask them “What’s holding you back?” so you can help them find a solution that they haven’t thought of or don’t have access to.

Chances are, there is something that you can do to help ease their mind and make them feel relaxed. You don’t want a patient to feel like they need to be on guard in your office.

Remember, nothing lasts forever. New patients are important too, but you need a healthy cycle of patients that continue to come back.

Listen to the full podcast to hear how we break down barriers and second chances.

 

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

https://www.messagefromginger.com/live

Subscribe and Review

Are you subscribed to my podcast?  If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today.  I don’t want you to miss an episode.  I’ll continue to crank out some great info each week about running your business, marketing and mindset and I don’t want you to miss an episode.  Click here to subscribe.

If you’re feeling extra loving, I would really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too.  Those reviews help others just like you find my podcast and they are great for me to real as well.  It is very helpful so that I can customize my content to give you powerful stuff each week.  Just click here to review. Thank you!

 

 

[February 14th, 2020] by Dr. Ginger Bratzel

Episode #4:  [Gold Mine In Your Office]

 

 

Everyone always wants a step by step process to success. Unfortunately, there isn’t a perfect recipe.

Building a business can be messy and frustrating, but it’s a beautiful journey with peaks and valleys along the way.

Creating stability can be a challenge. After observing several practices over the years, I have come to the conclusion that the most stable practices are the ones that focus on patients within their own office, not the shiny new objects.

Don’t try to replace patients. Take the time to build those relationships and get your patients to come back. They will need maintenance for the rest of their life. You’re never done with the dentist. Things wear out over time and need replacing. 

Today, we are breaking down that journey into 3 areas of riches, or gold mines and where to focus to build your practice.

The Unfinished Treatment Plan is the biggest gold mine. On average, a dental practice has approximately 1 million dollars of unfinished treatment plans. It is important to focus on the difference between what a patient needs versus what a patient wants.

Instead of putting so much focus on new patients, what can you do right now to make sure more people come back to complete their current and future dental treatment. 

I’ve talked a lot about unfinished treatment plans in the past. If a patient doesn’t accept treatment, something went wrong in my system. I take that seriously and look back and evaluate why they said no. 

Consumer behaviors have changed so much these days. People don’t compare you to another dental office down the road, they compare you to Amazon. They are used to getting what they want in just a few hours. We have to be aware of this and change our approach when presenting treatment.

The second gold mine is add-on services. Is there something that they’ve always wanted to get done? We want to work towards getting the patient to say “Yes!”. How can we add services and make it happen now? We all know, wants are generally higher than need. What can we do to take away the obstacles and make it happen?

Making patients wait is a killer. If you talk about something as being important and then make them wait 2 weeks, it likely won’t happen. Are there small things on their treatment plan that we can whittle away at while they are already in your office? How can we make it easy for your patients?

The last gold mine is frequency & follow-up. Patient loyalty is so important. Hygiene visits or unfinished treatment plans are a great way to get patients back into your office. Make sure you are checking in after treatment or visits. You don’t want to be overboard and annoy your patients, but you want to be genuine in your communication.

We go into each of these gold mines in detail on the podcast.  Scroll back to the top and make sure to listen to the full episode.

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

MessageFromGinger.com/Masterclass

Subscribe and Review

Are you subscribed to my podcast?  If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today.  I don’t want you to miss an episode.  I’ll continue to crank out some great info each week about running your business, marketing and mindset and I don’t want you to miss an episode.  Click here to subscribe.

If you’re feeling extra loving, I would really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too.  Those reviews help others just like you find my podcast and they are great for me to real as well.  It is very helpful so that I can customize my content to give you powerful stuff each week.  Just click here to review. Thank you!

 

 

[February 7th, 2020] by Dr. Ginger Bratzel

Episode #3:  [Not Going Well With Your Hygienist]

 

 

Now, before I start getting hate mail from the hygienists around the world…

This is a bit of a touchy subject. I’m not bashing hygienists. I’m not a hygienist hater, I’m a hygienist lover in fact!

I’m married to a hygienist. My husband, Ron, has been a hygienist for 20 years.

He’s been along for the ride since the beginning and helped me when I purchased my dental practice. We inherited an office manager with the practice and she wasn’t on board with the changes and decided to leave.

He was supposed to help for just 2 weeks in the office to help get things straightened up and it turned into forever! But it turned into FOREVER, first as the office manager and then,
after going to hygiene school, he joined the practice as our head hygienist, a career that he
loves and continues with to this day.

So, hygiene was always a key part of my practice’s success.

But what happens when there is an issue with the hygienist (which can be tricky when you live together like Ron and I…but I will save that one for marriage counseling), how do you handle it?

We’re going to dive in and look at this from the dentist’s AND the hygienist’s point of view. It breaks down into 3 areas where we can work together as a team to address it… Plus, we even talk about what happens when you CAN’T fix it and where to go from there.

Number 1. Everyone in the office is part of the team. Nobody is more important than anybody else. No one is irreplaceable. That includes the business owner. We can sell the practice and put a new owner in and keep going. New doctor, new office manager. Sure it’s a huge adjustment, but it can be done.

Number 2. Leadership from the owner is extremely important. Businesses used to run by just putting your name out there and the patients will come. Leadership skills weren’t as important. But it isn’t like that anymore. The world has changed and the consumer wants more. They want communication and someone they can trust.

If the dentist doesn’t step up and do it, someone will always step up and do it for you. It’s just the nature of things. You cannot delegate it, it is not their practice.

Number 3. Despite our best intentions, sometimes it isn’t a good fit. No harm, no foul. Sometimes you have to be mature enough to let someone go. I tell them I believe everyone is a superstar, you are a superstar and I don’t think you’re shining here. We are struggling and it isn’t letting you be all you can be. I want to give you that opportunity to be a superstar and find an office that you are going to be great.

We go into each of these into detail on the podcast, go through examples and case studies. Scroll back to the top and make sure to listen to the full episode.

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

 

http://gingerbratzel.com/financial

 

Subscribe and Review

Are you subscribed to my podcast?  If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today.  I don’t want you to miss an episode.  I’ll continue to crank out some great info each week about running your business, marketing and mindset and I don’t want you to miss an episode.  Click here to subscribe.

If you’re feeling extra loving, I would really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too.  Those reviews help others just like you find my podcast and they are great for me to real as well.  It is very helpful so that I can customize my content to give you powerful stuff each week.  Just click here to review. Thank you!

 

 

[January 31st, 2020] by Dr. Ginger Bratzel

Episode #2:  [Marketing Like A Mother]

 

 

Being a Mother Marketer

I’m talking like a mother “mutha”, as in hardcore, getting the job done whatever it takes…

BUT also happens to be on the booster club and draws hearts on notes she puts in your lunch. <3

Tough and soft all rolled into one.

So we’re focusing on marketing like a mother today; which I am. I have 2 children and my oldest is a senior this year. My kids have kept me super busy. And while they were growing up, I had to do something I SWORE I WOULD NEVER DO… get a minivan.

I hated it.

I thought my life was over.

And when it came time to sell it (YIPEE), I was looking at trying to position a non-exciting, highly commoditized used car as something interesting (BOO). Not the best circumstances for me.

But I didn’t let that discourage me. I came up with a plan. I took my years of marketing experience to create an ad that made my used minivan a solution to a problem that plagues families everywhere.

I did the impossible…I made a minivan desirable and a little sexy.

Within 4 hours, the minivan sold without the person even seeing it. Here is the actual ad I put together:

Children! God’s little blessings? You see I question that because there’s a lot of stuff you don’t think about when you decide to have kids.

Things like how loud they are.

And how much they cost.

And don’t forget how much of your life you give up taking care of your little darlings.

I’ve got 2 of the little ankle-biters. A boy and a girl and they fight nonstop. Getting in the car and driving somewhere was a
nightmare because of the bickering and yelling.

“He’s on my side.”

“She’s touching me.”

And plus, I’m taking them and all their friends all over tarnation.

A few years ago I had it up to my neck, so I had to do something to save my sanity. I had to get more room to separate my ‘brats’ and carry all their stuff.

So I did something I never thought I would. I cashed in my cool card and I got a minivan.

But not just any minivan. I had to make sure momma was taken care of in this whole deal. I wanted to ride in style so I got the black leather interior and the best entertainment system I could buy at the time so my prodigy would leave me and each other alone. And if this was my car, my little monsters weren’t going to trash it. It was going to stay pristine or they would be riding on the luggage rack!

It turned out to be a pretty sweet ride. I even named her “Minnie.” And I didn’t sacrifice on power ever. My minivan flies down the highway to get me and the family there so I’m never late.

Now, why would I tell you all of this? Well… my oldest is about to graduate and he’s going to be out of my hair…and my car… so I can spread the love to another family by selling my minivan.

My super clean, well taken care of momma-mobile is looking for a new family. And I love my vehicles so this one has had great tires, regular service, and has been kept clean.

Then, I listed all of the normal details and features about my minivan and finished things off with this:

I don’t want to play games (remember, I’m tired and I don’t have time for that because of these dang kids.) I just looked on Facebook and everyone is trying to sell a similar van (that hasn’t been loved like my baby) for much more. Maybe I’m the crazy one and I should ask for more. But if you want to try to haggle me down, I wouldn’t. Don’t waste your energy because I’ve gotten really good at saying ‘NO’ and walking away through lots of practice with these two kids.

Now at this point, you might be a little concerned about me going through a big transition like one kid leaving the house and me giving up my dependable car. Please don’t feel sorry for me. I will be okay. I still have the little sister for a few more years which is going to be a wild ride, but I think I can handle taking her on 1-on-1.

I got immediate responses, with very FEW questions or resistance. People were telling me “I want it, I’ll buy it right now!”

Let’s take a minute and break the ad down. I started by talking about my personal experience, put the audience in the same situation and then brought it back at the end.

Marketing like a ‘mother mutha’ is about being real, sharing your feelings. The interest and response was high. And it sold well over my asking price because there was hype and sense of urgency to purchase before someone else does.

Think about something in your personal life, something that has happened to you. Write down all the emotions you had, what you felt, what you learned about it. Get in touch with that emotional side of things.

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

http://gingerbratzel.com/financial

Subscribe and Review

Are you subscribed to my podcast?  If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today.  I don’t want you to miss an episode.  I’ll continue to crank out some great info each week about running your business, marketing, and mindset and I don’t want you to miss an episode.  Click here to subscribe.

If you’re feeling extra loving, I would really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too.  Those reviews help others just like you find my podcast and they are great for me to real as well.  It is very helpful so that I can customize my content to give you powerful stuff each week.  Just click here to review. Thank you!