Coupon Culture

Let's face it - we all love a great deal! How can we not? We've been programmed into thinking that we can and should get more for our money (especially in times of economic hardships). So...if our eyes light up at the thought of 40% off, do we actually start salivating when it's 75% off or more? *looks around furtively*

How have we come to this point, you ask? Coupons and discounts have been around since the 1800s and they appear to continually be on the rise with no signs of slowing. What started with a trend in the retail sector has made its ways into the service sector. From BOGOs ("Buy One Get Ones") at the grocery stores to discounts on spa treatments to (since it's appropriate to mention it here) dental services, coupons have made a large impact on both consumer spending habits and expectations.

With every barcode redeemed and every discount card swiped, large and small businesses are helping create a mindset of "less is more." A consumer now wants to not only save a dollar, but also reap the benefits of more quality and quantity from a service or product. Back in the day (think 17th century!), if I wanted to purchase livestock, I would assume that the less money I had to pay out, the less amazing my horse/pig/cow would be. Somewhere along the line, as the economy tipped, the payments dipped and the expectations slipped. There's no denying the evolution in this economic trend, however, when it comes to the medical sector, can we really place a monetary value on the service of health? 

When did visiting a dentist become a "nice-to-have" instead of a necessity? A large part of dental emergencies can be avoided through preventive care. However, my belief is that due to the following reasons, patients seek out dental work only when absolutely necessary: 1) There is a general fear of dentists; 2) There is a general fear of dentistry costing an arm & a leg; 3) There is a belief that dentistry is mostly an aesthetic luxury. The second and third points are especially crucial in understanding why dentists are advertising their services with coupons alongside other aesthetic procedures. Nowadays, when you receive a coupon booklet in the mail, you'll find at least one dentist advertising discounted prices.
How did dentistry become akin to laser hair removal and nail services??!  We don't see cardiologists or brain surgeons advertising their services in a Smart Saver booklet! Or if dentistry is viewed as an aesthetic luxury, how come we see more dentists advertising services over plastic surgeons (the ultimate form of medical artistry)?

We here at Smiles Northridge jumped straight into the coupon culture over a year ago when we signed up with a well-known coupon provider that offered a large database of potential patients. The coupon redemption rate for an "exam, x-ray and cleaning" package was over 95%, which is amazing! We also offered a discounted rate for repeat cleaning visits at our office to promote customer loyalty. The experience was truly eye-opening for us and it is, in fact, the reason why I write this today. Coupons are a wonderful way for new businesses to get exposure. Whether or not patients are retained and commit to treatment is something that can only be determined by the way your office staff and dentist treat the patients and address their immediate and long-term needs. If and when a dental office succumbs to the coupon culture, it is important to make the patient realize that dentistry is truly the most comfortable and inexpensive when it is a preventive practice. Oral hygiene education is a great way to create a dialogue with your patients and a great way to get them to trust you and see your office as more than just a service they can get with several coupons.

Great dentistry doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, and on the flipside, it shouldn't only be obtained with a slew of coupons. You wouldn't dream of handing your medical doctor a coupon for a check-up! Dentists are qualified, trained, and highly-educated specialists in the realm of teeth and their time is just as valuable as any other medical professional's time. Smiles Northridge prides itself on giving our patients the utmost care and attention they deserve. We spend our time, energy and smiles on you, the patient, and in turn, we love to see the smiles back. Whether you save a buck or not, just always know...you're in good hands. :)




-Lar
www.smilesnorthridge.com
Smiles Northridge Rocks! yay!

Family in the Workplace 101

Ahhh, Family! There's nothing quite like it! One might conjure up a vision or two of bustling gatherings with chatter, arguments and good food - a roulade of little blessings and curses. Oftentimes, if the right mood is set and the willingness is there, a work environment can be equally familial. The problem that most have seen with creating a more "friendly" environment at work is that when the fine line of work | home gets blurred, hierarchical relationships tend to evolve in less concrete ways. But, the key here is to extract the positive aspects of a familial interaction in the workplace in order to create a happy and homey environment. The difference in interactions between co-workers can be sensed by patients, and happy workers are more efficient workers. That old cliche statement, remember?!

And now...to delve into another cliche statement, namely that of not being able to work WITH family members. To that I say, "Nonsense!" Smiles Northridge is a very happily-run family business. Dr. Hovsepian (the dentist) and I are sisters and we actually really ENJOY working with each other! *toothy grin*  Our personalities complement each other. I'm the Chatty Cathy and she's the Patient Patty. We both have the same goals, the same ideals, the same pride of ownership in the practice and...the same smile! We feed off of each other's energies and pick each other up if either of us needs a boost. We take turns in grabbing the Starbucks coffee in the mornings or lunch. We take the time to listen to the patients and to make sure they love the way the office smells, looks and feels along with how they're treated from the moment they walk in through the door. And? The patients can feel that we're sisters (some may call us twins, but I wouldn't go so far) and it makes them feel like home. They may think of their own siblings or their parents or, potentially, of people in their family who work together, as well. This isn't to say that non-family workplaces are sub par (perish the thought!); it's just to note that when a family is functional (as opposed to dysfunctional, obviously!) in the workplace, there is true value added to the business.

With the family mindset swirling through our brains in each of our daily interactions here at Smiles Northridge, we realize that making patients feel like they're at home has become a priority of sorts. The little things matter, like...remembering a patient's name when they call in...remembering a patient's birthday...following up with events in their life...making them realize that they're each special as individuals. The energy you put into a business is the energy that comes out of it...and the energy that you attract to the business, as well. A true motto to swear by! As always, bottom-line-fanatics will point out that maintaining a homely environment may be detrimental to the display of professionalism... that somehow, showing people that you care about their families and their lives means you cannot charge them for a service. But, essentially those patients who seek to be treated on a more personal level are the ones who will stick around as your loyal clientele.
With that said, family and family environments aren't so bad, eh? :-)

Dentists in the "New Age"

   Why, oh why, has it taken me close to two weeks to muck up the thoughts and inspiration to write again? It seems like it'd be such an easy task, doesn't it? Almost as though with the initiation of the blog, the content should somehow arrive (or float? or drill?) both freely and whimsically through my conscience and onto "paper". But, the only thing weighing in on my conscience - aside from the daily musings with insurance companies about claims - is the fact that I've started a blog and now must keep up with it, lest it become drenched with cobwebs! That's right... I'm thinking about having thoughts on the blog.  Thoughts ^2.  And should I have a random topic to discuss, I put it on a pedestal only to swat it away either for lack of professional value or for lack of amusement.  To say it puts me in "a pickle" on some days is an understatement. It downright puts me in a sandwich.

     That's right. I just threw it out there..."Blogging Ain't Easy." And perhaps that's why so many healthcare professionals or offices don't embark on the journey in the first place. Because who is interested in the deepest of technical banter other than colleagues and such? Or worse, who wants to be an initiator and then a quitter? Why do I feel like this will come back and bite me where it hurts?  But, truly, the main reasons I feel that healthcare professionals don't engage in blogging (or other types of social media) are: 1) the lack of knowledge -  the internet is a big, bad world and sometimes it's hard to focus on or find the appropriate avenues of social media marketing; 2) the inability to effectively track ROI (return on investment) - sure, we can evaluate media impressions, but there's no hard and fast rule to gaining patients consistently and solely through social media; 3) the fear of not seeming professional - this may have some merit to it depending on the depth of  "outreach" or contact, though the world is ever a-changing and to "keep up with the times" means to cater to patients and potential patients through a medium they're savvy in; 4) the insecurity with writing candid, descriptive, technical or friendly copy. I understand the reasoning, truly, and for the most part, agree with some of the skepticism. But, as far as a business decisions go, it's always key to weigh the pros and cons for your individual practice.

 The fact of the matter is that patients are using the internet more than ever, not only to connect with friends and family, but also to gather information about procedures and to learn more about doctors/get reviews. The flipside is that with the information being so transparent and abundant on this big, bad thing called the internet (I know...I should stop making it sound like it's 1996!), patients can sometimes feel lost. Also, healthcare professionals are at "risk" of having negative information circling about their work/practice. Sometimes disgruntled patients speak louder than content or ecstatic ones, which can seem problematic to professionals. But, the key here is to make the most out of both positive and negative comments (both are constructive criticisms) in order to better one's work, practice and procedures. 

You can choose not to go into the water because you think it's too cold...but, then again, you'd never know what you were missing out on until you embarked on the journey!

Thanks for reading and keep smiling!!

- LH

Smiles Northridge

www.smilesnorthridge.com

Gimme All Your Money & I'll Show You the Door!

"I AM MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER!"

Chant that to yourself 10 times as you stand in a line the next time!

Well...I'm not here to gripe about standing in lines when they're necessary, but bear with me as I explain. I was standing in line at the cutting table of a fabric store and as it was my turn, I stepped up to the table, dropped off my stuff, smiled and said, "Two yards of each, please," only to be confronted by a, "Did you pull a number?" Trying to hide my scorn, I looked to my left and realized that I was supposed to pull a number from the ticket dispenser...and when I realized that no one was actually behind me in line and that I didn't really NEED to pull a number, I broke out into a classic existential mental monologue moment (hereafter referred to as EMMM, if I ever remember to use this acronym again anywhere!):   Am I just a number in life? A number to a business? One out of billions? Who am I? What am I? Where am I?  (Ok, Ok, so it didn't get quite THAT far! *self snicker*)


I started to think about individuality not only on a micro level (personal), but also on a macro level (business/life). The more we immerse ourselves into a globalized sense of transparency, the more we become obsessed with the concept of numbers. Dollars. Statistics. Site hits. Enrollees. Viewers. Kids. Followers.  I've got more. You've got more. They've got more. Dare I call it a societal perversion? Well, whatever you choose to call it, it's not just apparent in the business world, it's prevalent. And the downside is that if you're not thinking in terms of the numbers game in some shape or form, you may potentially be left behind to inhale the dust of those already on the fast track. But, just because you jumped off a cliff, does that mean I/we should??

Here's the thing: in the business world (speaking in terms of capitalism), you've got a fairly cut & dry path to take for success. You can differentiate your business by appealing to the mass market and keeping your prices close to cost (quantity), or you can differentiate your business by appealing to a niche segment & offering a more unique experience/product (quality). It sounds fairly black or white, right? Well, what about the various service industries such as the medical and dental ones that can almost predominantly operate in the grey zone? Grey practically sounds "mediocre" here, but my point was that because there are a plethora of such professionals, it gets harder and harder to differentiate oneself with the black vs. white categorization. Instead, what a patient gets hit with are medical professionals who charge the big bucks for a non-unique, non-personal and oftentimes sub-par experience. They may get success in the short run, but in the long run...I consider this to be the grey zone.

But, isn't it just a case of HMO vs. PPO, you ask? Well, it's true that more often than not, you know that with an HMO plan your medical professionals will adhere more to the quantity over quality ideology. Yet, it's almost equally the case that a PPO doctor will seek a similar ideology of quantity, though trying to maintain the quality. Inevitably, one of the two points will suffer...

So, coming from where I work (Smiles Northridge) as a PPO provider, I'll be the first to tell you that we're in a pickle to try and incorporate both! Our business model tries to integrate the opposite of what I described above; thus, we strive to provide the boutique/unique experience/family environment (the quality) and couple it with the affordable prices usually seen with HMO providers...in the hopes that, over time, the unique differentiation and the low price combination will translate into long-term and loyal patients in quantity. It seems like a natural or even easy fit, but it's honestly a difficult (yet hopefully rewarding!) feat. Can it even be done without it becoming a negative cycle or are we crazy? Should I call my good ol' business school marketing professors about this one??

The bottom line (juicy puns are my thing) is that it's a tricky business when you tie a numbers game to something so important as your health, because as a patient, you may find yourself wondering if the ultimate monetary motives of certain offices will cheat you of an experience you deserve. Whether an office is quantity-focused or quality-focused, you may still find yourself wondering what part of the number scale of importance you, as an individual, fall on. And with the economic downturn wreaking such havoc, it's more often the case that you  feel milked dry now (as a patient) in order to make up for someone's overhead cost increases. It feels like...I can almost hear it now in a distant haze...someone behind a counter telling me, "Gimme all your money and I'll show you the door."


*shudders*

- LH




www.smilesnorthridge.com
An office that cares! :)

First Impressions

Ahhhhh, where would we be without "first impressions", the finest of all cliche statements?!

Well, we'd be taking every situation into account as a unique experience with no preconceived notions and with no repercussions on future impressions. But, we're human, right (*pokes herself to check for any wiring beneath the flesh unbeknownst to her*)? Sooo... scratch that thought and place it in your "Fantasy" bucket!

First impressions actually help us ease into an unknown situation by keeping our guards up and our "alert" functions on HIGH. The judgments we place upon a moment, person, place or thing (etc. ad nausea) are inherent walls of defense. And as any human would agree, a future of unknowns can be scary and tricky, thus requiring us to find ways to alleviate our concerns by keeping our "first moments" in check. So, we place the onus on the situation or person we are judging with our first impressions.  Because every human being subjects his/herself to first impressions and carries it in a backpack full of memories, it is the responsibility of the judged party to create positive moments if the desired effect is indeed to leave a great impact on said human's convolutions. Especially where the internet is concerned...virtually every one has access to the reviews of other people's first impressions. The customer isn't only king, he/she is a savvy digital maven!

(I'll stop acting like an alien now, addressing humans in the third person!) 

++++

I remember my first experiences with the dentist when I was a wee tot. I, unfortunately, cannot remember the name of the dentist...but, I do remember a room with a huge (size perspective is interesting when you're a child) built-in cabinet with little drawers. Behind each drawer was a gift, hidden and waiting eagerly to be chosen. As I'd jump out of the dental chair and rush to the room, I could greedily hear them all whispering my name. It was my very own game of chance - Deal or No Deal minus the scantily-clad models and monetary reward, if you will. 

But aside from the toys, what I DO remember is how I FELT in the dental chair. Nevermind that I'm utterly squeamish when it comes to blood and needles and general medical "tools", I somehow felt comfortable in the same seat where grown adults would sit trembling. I didn't know meditation at the time, I could comprehend enough of procedures to be done in my mouth to actually be scared, and yet, I still wasn't. The dentist would tell me to raise my hand or open my eyes real wide if I ever felt pain. I remember how comforting he was and how attentive he was to my needs as a child. Though I don't remember his name, I am extremely grateful that he afforded me the positive and pain-free experiences in the dental chair that has helped shape me both as a patient and as a business manager for Smiles Northridge. When I see teenagers or adults walk into our office for the first time with a look of fear on their face because of a past terrible experience with the dentist, I cringe. I listen to stories upon stories of children being strapped down, patients being worked on without the mouth fully numb, office managers who bait & switched patients, treatments being forced, and a plethora of other experiences that are worthy of being called "bad first impressions."  It boggles my mind! Dentists and other medical professionals have a commitment to their patients to provide the best possible care; but, in addition to that, it is important to LISTEN to your patients. Listen to their needs, listen to their feedback, listen to their concerns and then ADDRESS them in a timely and genuine manner. Because after all if first impressions are inevitable and if first impressions are king, wouldn't you want to make sure your patients leave with a smile, wanting to come back for their next visit?  It's a commitment not only to your office's success, but also to the future of how patients will perceive dentists. Dentists shouldn't be considered money-grubbing, power-hungry sadists (pain - get it?!) only concerned about short term quotas...  they should be considered those friendly folks who sit you down to say "Aaaaah", get you OUT of pain, and put a smile on your face.

:)

-LH

www.smilesnorthridge.com
gentle, affordable, cosmetic dentistry by Dr. Tsolair Hovsepian