Hi, everyone. This is Erica Spicer Mason with
Becker's Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning
in to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series today.
So today, we're going to talk about boosting
patient demand in dental
care. And joining me for this conversation is
Sherianne James, the chief marketing officer of Heartland
Dental.
Sherianne, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so
much for being with Becker's today.
It's great to be here. I'm really looking
forward to this discussion.
Likewise, Sherry Anne. And before we get into
that discussion, I wanted to be sure you
had the chance to share a little bit
more about yourself with our listeners.
So if you don't mind, can you share
just a bit about your background, you know,
your work in health care, whatever feels top
of mind to share with our listeners?
Absolutely.
So I have been in the marketing field
thirty something plus years. I like to just
say thirty something plus so that my age
isn't that apparent.
And I started in
consumer products,
with a little known company called Kraft Foods
and then went on to work, in other
industries in hard goods. But I've spent the
last,
fifteen plus years in health care. I was
in optometry
before
Heartland with a company that has brands like
Ray Ban
and Transitions Lenses and got to work with
optometrists.
And then now I've been in the dental
industry
for the last seven months with the,
number one dental DSO in the country, which
is Heartland Dental. And I'm really, really
enjoying bringing my
experiences
to this great industry.
Well, Sherry Anne, so great to learn more
about you and the marketing expertise that you're
bringing to dentistry and the dental world now.
So that's fantastic.
I'm sure you're learning a lot in these
initial seven months, but also
just with the rise in consumerism and health
care, I'm sure there's so many through lines
in health care and even retail and and
food and service industry. So,
excited to learn more about how this experience
is translating for you.
But to get us started, I I thought
since we're talking about patient demand, I thought
it could help our audience if we started
nice and high level here. So just briefly,
in your view, what really separates
a good dental practice from a great one
when it comes to generating patient demand?
You
said that it's the service industry, and you
you said the consumerism
in health services, and that's what's really behind
the insight in my answer.
It really is pretty simple.
Great services that your patient can't stop talking
about. What we've seen in a very data
based
way is when you look at patient demand,
what separates
a great and good enough practice from an
excellent one is really those who are able
to form
deep relationships
with their patients through a predictable
experience
that their patients
want to really talk about and share with
word-of-mouth. It is really that
superpower that delineates
the the tip of the spear practices.
I I love what you're saying, Sherianne, about
creating a predictable
experience as I'm kind of envisioning, you know,
some of my last health care experiences, and
you're spot on. Those that were predictable, I
knew exactly what to expect,
who my doctor would be, what the care
you know, how much time it would take.
Those are always the most comforting
experiences as a patient. So,
appreciate how you framed that.
And I'd like to kind of get us
started by talking about the patients as well.
So what role can patients play in supporting
a practice's growth? Can you elaborate on that
just a little bit? Sure. So assuming you
nailed what I've just said, which is giving
them
a predictable
experience
that they rave about, then you have to
ask for the tech as we say. You
you must
ask them to share what they
had in mind and and how you delivered
against it. You should ask them for the
feedback,
but especially when you know you've nailed it.
And you you usually do because what tends
to happen is the
patient starts naturally
emoting about the hygienist or the doctor. And
when that happens, that is gold.
When that happens, what you want to say
to your patient is first and foremost, thank
you.
And you want to tell them how much
you appreciate it. So thank them in your
authentic voice, but then
really encourage them
to
essentially
enhance your digital footprint, but that's obviously not
how you would say it. You wanna say,
can you leave me a five star review
on Google, health grades, all of the places
where you have a footprint?
Say, would you love to share
your experience on your social media and tag
us in and give them the hashtags to
use?
Say, hey. Here's a way you can refer
me to friends and family
and give them referral collateral to help them
do so. So empower
your patients
to be your biggest advocates because they can
do it in a way that no paid
advertising
can because they're sharing their authentic experience.
We've all had that moment where a friend
is telling us about an amazing service they
had, and we're like, oh my god. What
was the name? And we write it down,
and it is better than any messaging and
paid advertising could ever be.
So true. And I think it's really helpful
the simplicity behind what you're saying. You know,
it's not,
necessarily a flashy new device or piece of
technology
to to drive that patient demand. It really
is just kind of taking advantage of word-of-mouth
and understanding when those opportunities,
are kind of ripe for for great patient
feedback.
And I wanna come back on a part
of what I said to just maybe bridge
a little bit with the technology.
The the
it is simple, but it's also
behind the digitization
of the the world because
Google has a bit of a black box.
But some of the things we know to
be true
is
they really
reward where how you show up in search,
not only by the quality and and quantity
of your reviews, but something we call in
marketing engagement.
So when you get a review
and you comment on it, or when you
get a review and the patient puts a
picture in it, these are the things that
Google crawlers really value.
Why does that matter? Because that's what then
drives up. If someone's searching, I'm looking for
a dentist,
suddenly
your practice rises to the top of the
list, which is, of course, what drives people
to click. So, yes, it's
kind of common sense, basic meat and potatoes,
but it's not just
the word-of-mouth
where I go tell a friend. It's what
they're doing to your digital footprint and increasing
what we call your
organic searchability.
That's really why it's so important to drive
those reviews and that social media footprint.
That's such helpful context. So thanks for adding
that on, Sherry Anne. And I I like
where you're going with this too because I
did wanna take the digital piece just a
little bit further.
You know, you're mentioning the the power behind
Google reviews and and how practices can really
drive visibility there.
And you also mentioned
practices
encouraging patients to you know, if they had
a great experience to share that experience on
their own social media, use hashtags or whatever
it may be.
So when it comes to developing that authentic
online presence and and really being active with
it,
You know, how important is that for a
practice? And would you like to elaborate on
any other
best practices in this realm?
Absolutely.
So first and foremost, make it easy to
do what I was just talking about.
First, ask for it, which I think is
sometimes the most uncomfortable
for providers,
because they feel
gauche if they're saying, please leave me a
five star review. So I always encourage,
my provider partners to find a way to
do that in your authentic voice, but also
to make that easier for you. You've seen
it, like, where there's a sign that says,
hey. Had a great experience. Leave me a
five star review.
Also, you can have QR codes that are
part of the checkout process,
follow-up text that asks for the reviews.
These are the ways that allow you to
make sure that you are creating that review
process
in a trackable way
and celebrate those reviews.
When you get a review from a patient,
it is such an honor.
And so when you respond, as I said
earlier,
it already has the pragmatic value of increasing
your
digital searchability.
But also too, if you have the patient's
permission
and you repost a social review
on your,
social media footprint, it's helping drive engagement,
interest. So, of course, as I said, with
their permission, but that's another great way you
can really drive your digital footprint.
Yeah. Really great advice. Thanks, Sherry Anne. And
you mentioned
just a a minute ago, you know, how
it's important for providers to kind of find
their own voice when it comes to
making those asks for patients to leave a
review.
And so I think that
authenticity
imperative is really important for us to touch
on and just go a little bit deeper
on too. So how do you encourage dental
teams to effectively strike that balance between, you
know, intentional marketing, but also keeping it human
at the same time?
So I I think know who you are.
So very much like when you're marketing a
brand,
a dentist,
a hygienist,
they are the brand. Right? The the the
practice
name aside, it is really the people are
coming there
for your services, for the
impact your hands and skill
have on them. So you want to define
who you are and make sure that you're
speaking in that authentic voice. If you're very
quiet and understated,
you don't have to try to be all
loud and animated, you can find the right
way you want to say ask for a
review. You can find the right way to
talk about the experience with your patient
in in a way that allows them to
feel
empowered and
reminded
to share. So it's really
going through that exercise and then also leveraging
the full footprint of the practice.
Most of the practices I've visited,
there's always that one person
who,
even in their home life, is already
super, super active on social media. Consider
that person your little marketing
magic sauce in the practice
and leverage them. Like, leverage them to make
TikToks, leverage them to work with patients to
generate what we call
user generated content. So saying, hey. Let's you
and I kind of say something that we
can do a post about.
There's that person who's just very socially comfortable,
and you want to really tap into them.
But most of all,
embrace who you are and find your your
voice and your way of interacting with the
patients, which is what you're experiencing
day to day when you talk with them
and interact with them and communicate with them,
and just
weave that
request for reviews
into that dialogue in the way that's most
natural to you.
Yeah. Such practical advice, you know, knowing who
you are and then assessing who on your
team is already great at doing marketing. It
might be a you know, they they've they
have a proclivity for social media on their
own terms, and perhaps that's another way to
to grow their skill set in their job
or just become more involved and more engaged
in their work. So really appreciate the advice,
Sherry Anne.
And to kind of close our conversation today,
I wanted to be sure that we could
touch on
community.
More and more in health care now, we're
seeing providers acknowledge that care goes far beyond
just the four walls of a clinic or
a dental practice.
So can you just elaborate a bit on
the importance for doctors and their teams to
really show up beyond the practice walls and
how they can do that in a way
that's meaningful and also sustainable?
I'm so glad you asked this question because
it's something that I think
providers often miss an opportunity.
The
dental industry is still very much a local
business.
People identify
with their local dentist,
and they refer to them as such.
And when you
aren't leveraging that local presence, it's truly a
missed opportunity.
So what you wanna do is first anchor
yourself
in that local community
and make sure that
whether it's through the aesthetics of your practice,
but really importantly,
the connections that you have within the community,
that you are understood
to be the local dentist.
People go to who they feel are part
of them.
So if you're a member
of a church, if you're a member,
having
a friend of the family who has
presence in a local employer,
very important
if you have connections
into some of
the retiree communities where dental care and the
return on the patient is so substantial,
those are relationships that you wanna deeply nurture.
And how do you nurture them?
Show up. You want to go to the
aforementioned places. So go to employers,
build a relationship, and ask to do a
health care. Ask for the opportunity to explain
to the employees of that practice who you
know take the to the employees surrounding that
practice, rather, who you know take your insurance
the importance
of dental
care, and the access to dental care being
such a
relevant and critical part of their overall wellness.
So showing up that way and making it
a larger narrative,
not only
does a service to that employer, but it
really shows
your
credentials as a health care professional.
Similarly,
if there is a local business
that is in proximity to yours, you wanna
go there and meet the manager and figure
out how you can help each other. So
if there's a local coffee shop, do a
takeover, do a takeover where you go there
for a day and
you obviously align with the manager that you're
going to meet with the patrons
and maybe offer teeth whitening, but really don't
just sit there passively. Go shake hands, meet
the people,
ask about them. Make sure that they feel
that they know doctor. They know the hygienist
because then they're gonna remember that and it's
gonna start building
your brand and you can do something to
draw them to you by saying, hey. Our
local dentist is giving away $5
coffee cards.
Go over there and meet them. And it
just really creates
a easy opportunity for you to create a
lead. And when if if you get someone
and by the way, you should bring the
computer and book the appointments right there on
the spot.
But if you get someone to come over
and book an appointment, then actually leave them
with a referral card to go tell a
friend to kind of bring it full circle.
Because these are the things that allow you
to first and foremost establish deep
roots through
not only awareness, but deep understanding of who
you are in the community.
And I just want to double click on
something I said. It is especially effective where
you have those authentic relationships
in the community. So where you have a
a friendship
in a with an employer,
don't just show up and meet the HR,
but show up with that friend who can
be the brand ambassador, who the employees there
know. If you have
a relationship with a large organization like a
school or a university
that happens to be in proximity to your
practice, again, if you serendipitously
have someone in the practice who knows the
principal,
when you go to show up at an
event, have the principal introduce you. In in
marketing, we call that endorsing. You're implicitly
using
the awareness and respect that they have for
that principal,
for that head of HR that you happen
to have a relationship with, to now broker
a relationship on your behalf. Those those
are sometimes so under leveraged, and yet they
add so much value.
Sherry Anne, this has been such a great
conversation with you today. I know we've covered
a lot of ground, but wanted to give
you the opportunity to share
any final thoughts or maybe even any points
that you think we glossed over too quickly
that you wanted to just add on to.
Great. The most important thing for a local
business is to really
have that community, but also have your strong
digital presence.
So have a website with what we call
sound SEO content. That just means that you
have great authentic
content that speaks to your dentistry.
So that if someone's looking up, hey, I
have gum disease, or I'm looking for a
dentist near me that they're gonna find you
organically, which is when you look at Google
and you see that search comes up, there's
ad, and then there's the one that's organic
where there's no ad, which we all tend
to click on. That doesn't happen accidentally. It
happens because of the rich
content on your website. So having a website
with great content.
As I said,
keeping your Google business profile up to date,
that is
so critical for a local business. Then responding
to reviews,
good
or bad. And I want to really make
sure that bad part, because sometimes we want
to run away from that. If you get
a bad review,
going in
saying, hey I'm sorry that didn't happen, figuring
out whatever your policy is to address it.
It says so much about who you are.
So good or bad, it really elevates your
search position.
Posting regularly
about your services,
your team,
and using patient stories. So sharing
pictures of the team, authentic photographs,
authentic videos that humanize
the providers,
but also humanize the team, and then having
your patients and you co create content that
you can share on their social media as
well as on your own.
And then highlight the services in your post.
Having things like doctor Smith, for example, made
my Invisalign journey so easy. That's, like, a
great example
of,
the patient and you generating content together. And
last but not least,
use local hashtags and have the providers tag
the businesses they have relationships with. So remember
when I was talking about community marketing, I'm
like, if you go and you do an
event with a local employer, and you create
an experience on your social media about that,
then tagging in that employer so that it
shows up on their social media, you're now
getting a lot more
reach and visibility
to that experience than even the people who
attended. But because they're seeing their friends and
colleagues in an experience with you, they feel
an affinity to you. So that digital presence
is doesn't have to
really cost money. It just is about that
discipline and using these tips and tricks that
I shared.
Yeah. Sherry, and I I I can't thank
you enough for this conversation and also keeping
it so rooted in, you know, we're not
we're acknowledging the possibilities in digital marketing, Google
reviews, social media. That is a very important
piece of the of the pie here. But
there's also this huge element and opportunity in
in person engagement and interaction and building
connections within the community and what that can
mean for patient demand. So
a really well balanced,
conversation and some really practical takeaways. So thank
you so much again for for your insights
today.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Oh, we'd also like to thank our podcast
sponsor for this episode, Heartland Dental.
Listeners, be sure to tune in to more
podcasts by Becker's Healthcare
by visiting our podcast page at beckershospitalreview.com.