Dear Dr. Dentist,
Good to know you graduated from Whatever University 20 years ago and have every degree you can possibly get and that you have the lastest and greatest cutting-edge, state-of-the-art whizbang equipment and fancy 3d, 4d or 5d oral scanner and that all your dentists in your office are Wellness Dentists ( whatever that is) and have over 80 years combined experience (sorry, combined experience is bs and means squat) , and you give to the community and you’re married and your kids names are Biff and Buffy and you coach soccer on the weekends along with running the church choir and sitting on the school board and working on your Nobel Prize for physics.
Wow! You’re awesome, your family is awesome and you’re a great and noble person.
But… what does any of this do for me?
What I really want to know is what is your philosophy on taking care of my teeth?
Are you conservative in your approach?
Radical?
Do you use your state-of-the-art whizbang 4D imager because it is necessary or because it impresses people and you can charge for it?
“We use all the modern cutting-edge procedures,” tells me nothing. Are you going to tell me I need all my teeth capped, not because they are in bad shape, but because they aren’t so pearly white anymore?
What are you really good at?
Saying you are a GeneralEndodontistCosmeticPeriodontistOralSurgeonRestorativePediatric dentist just says to me you are trying to be an everything to everybody one-stop shop (like a Walmart of dentistry). Because, let me tell you, if I need a root canal, I’m going to the Endodontist that does 25 a week vs. the dentist that does them once a month.
I want to know why I really need a deep cleaning and not feel like this is another way to pad the bill.
I want to know why I should go to you over every other dentist that says they are committed to offering every patient the [most advanced, top-notch, outstanding] care and state-of-the-art equipment (again, what does that do for me?) and cutting-edge treatments (i.e. newest fad?).
I want to know you are going to spend some time with me and explain to me what is going on and why this should be done and not feel like I am a car part traveling down an assembly line getting bored out, ground down, wired up, spray cleaned, pulled, poked or screwed.
And don’t expect me to rely on your measly 5 or 6 reviews that all say “So and So is the best dentist I have ever been to.” I don’t know these people. I have no baseline. For all I know they could be masochists and love getting probed to get their pain fix.
I want to read something to the effect of
“Look, if you just have a cavity, I’m not going to say you need a root canal, that’s not my thing.”
Or
“I want to do everything possible to help you keep your existing teeth. Will you help me?”
Or
“If someone says you need veneers because your teeth aren’t white, please, please, let me give you a second opinion.”
How about making a video so we can see the real you? And don’t do some slick, polished thing where you just regurgitate all that stuff about where you went to school and your kids and blah blah blah. Have a conversation with me. Talk to me like you actually care about me.
Let’s talk photos. Bad snapshots are just that. Yes, it’s nice to see whom I’m dealing with. You need decent photos. But what’s with all the model posed headshots for your “team”? Are you doing so well that you can have professional photos done for each and every staff member? “Jen is our dental hygienist and loves cats and taking walks with her boyfriend….”
And I don’t know what to make of the front page “Team” photos where everyone is posing at the park, or on a railroad bridge or, my favorite, the guy dentist surrounded by what can be described as his harem in the flower garden.
Finally, if you have been a dentist in the area for 25 years and are relying solely on Google paid ads to get patients, there is either something seriously wrong or you need to get a real SEO person.
“The risk of insult is the price of clarity.”
— Roy H. Williams
Do you have the courage to take a risk, be yourself and do what it takes to stand out from the crowd, or are you going to continue to blend in as one of many vanilla looking dentists, making it harder for people to choose you from anyone else?
Let me know. I need a dentist.
Sincerely,
Out of Patience
