July 26, 2018 by bettyhayden

Dental Tips and Ideas for the Month of August 2018

Hello Friends,

While we are still very much enjoying summer, as a mother of two school-aged children (and as of last week a brand new puppy!) I’m forced to start preparing for the Back-to-School season.

However, for your dental practice, this is a great time to educate the community on the importance of good dental health for their children as well as for the teachers.

Here are some ideas to help make the back-to-school season fun for the community and profitable for your dental office.

Dental Tips and Ideas for the month of August…

Theme: Back-to-school with Healthy Smiles!

Target Audience: Teachers and school-aged children.

Focus: Preventive Dental Services.

What: Education, Promotion, and Special Offers

Send a press release to local papers and news stations with “Children’s Dental Health Tips for Parents,” such as healthy snack and beverage ideas, when to visit the dentist, what-to-do in a dental emergency, brushing and flossing tips, mouthguard information, sealants information, and more.
Facebook (live) videos sharing the aforementioned tip and ideas.
Share social media and blog posts with dental health tips for children.
Promote special offers just for teachers and students during August.
August is Get Ready for Kindergarten Month – Send out a press release and promote social media posts that focus on kindergarten-aged children.

See more Dental ideas for teachers and schools here: Dental Marketing Ideas for your local School District

More tips and ideas for August …

Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night: August 8th – I’m serious; it’s a real day in August! While you probably don’t want to visit your patient’s homes during the night, you can easily have a basket of zucchini at the office for your patients’ to take. Wrap some ribbon and a business card with a zucchini recipe on it for your patients to sneak onto their neighbors’ porch during the night.

Dr. Bruyere & Team celebrating “Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night “

Another fun & easy give-away for your patients or referring doctors:

S’mores Day: 10th – Give away little S’mores making kits – “We need s’more patients like you!”

Just a few of the creative ways you can exceed your patients expectations with this sweet treat…

(See this Pinterest Board for S’more Ideas)

August 1 -7 – Simplify Your Life Week: Simplify your life by crossing off “Schedule my all-important dental visit” from your To-Do-List by calling us today at…

~ Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement ~

National Fresh Breath (Halitosis) Day: 6th

International Lefthander’s Day: 13th

Kiss and Make Up Day: 25^th

National Matchmakers Day: 31^st (ask for referrals)

What are you planning for August? Feel free to share your plans with me.

Did you enjoy these ideas that I shared with you? If yes, would you please kindly recommend me on Facebook? I would GREATLY appreciate it. Thank you!

Are you receiving my complimentary Dental Practice Management and Marketing Ideas via your email each month? If not, please follow today or send me (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

March 16, 2017 by bettyhayden

Dental Practice Management Ideas for April

Hello Friends,

When I share marketing ideas with you each month my goal is to help you exceed your current and potential patients expectations. Just as important, if not most important is to consistently exceed your employees’ expectations. Why? Because an employee that feels appreciated will always deliver more than is expected. Betsy Myers, an expert on leadership development says it best: “When people feel valued, appreciated, heard, supported, acknowledged and included, they are motivated to bring their best selves forward. “

I wanted to share some practice management ideas to help you make your second quarter more productive, happier and less stressful for you and your team.

If you’re looking for marketing ideas for the month of April see Dental Marketing Ideas for April & April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

Now on to the practice management ideas for April:

Just for Fun!

National Humor Month / Laugh at Work Week: 1-7 – Find ways to laugh each day at work all week-long.

National Fun at Work Day: 6 – Have a silly theme for this day. (For example, Crazy hair, silly socks, decades day, etc.)

Make Lunch Count Day: 13 – Buy lunch in or out for your team.

See for more ideas. Tips to Improve your Dental Office Part 4 ~ Happy Team

Reasons to Celebrate your Team:

National Dental Hygienist Week (Canada): 8-14

Administrative Professionals Week: 23-29

See Employee Appreciation Ideas Here: Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas Pinterest Board

Employee Conflict Resolution & Communication Improvement Opportunity:

Workplace Conflict Awareness Month – This topic should be discussed at a team meeting. Why? Conflict Happens! Make a plan and an agreement as to how all office conflict will be addressed and resolved.

Steps to deal with office conflict:

Calm down and talk with the other person. (Don’t go to anyone else to discuss the conflict)
Attack the problem, not the person. Focus on behaviors and events.
Listen carefully – listen to understand and not to be understood.
Brainstorm solutions with a focus on the future, what it will take to move forward.
Celebrate your Success.

For additional ideas visit Forbes.com for 5- Keys to Dealing with Workplace Conflict.

To manage conflict, excellent communication is essential.

Communication –

Job descriptions and expectations must be clearly defined. This is a great time to ask every team member to write a list of their description and responsibilities. Have them indicate next to each task how often it is done (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, varies, etc.). This will help you determine if and when and by whom these tasks are being accomplished. You might find some important tasks are not being done at all or not often enough and so on.
Team Meetings/Morning Huddles are essential for a happy and smooth work day. Visit HERE for some tips on how you can have a successful morning huddle.
Address quickly any needed discipline or correction, don’t wait for a staff meeting to address these problems. Instead, meet one on one with the offender.
Avoid office negativity, it’s toxic and will infect your team – Rather, focus on and share positive experiences.
Your team must know the why, what, and how. They may know the what and the how but not the why, often times, this is why employees are there just to collect a paycheck. Talk about what you believe and attract those who believe what you believe. People buy the why not the what.

Positive Gossip Only! Entire team agrees to stop gossip. Refuse to listen to it. Rather, encourage the person to go directly to the other person they have an issue or complaint about. Unless of course, they can let it go and move on.

Hygiene Continuing Care/ Recare Opportunity:

Cleaning For A Reason Week: 18-24 – Send out email & text reminders to your patients that are due/past-due for their hygiene visit. Time for their Spring Cleaning! The “reason”? For their health’s sake – or, consider donating a portion of the production to a local charity.

Community Involvement Opportunity:

Community Spirit Days (1-30) – What a great opportunity for your office to get involved in the community. Check your city’s event calendar for events and activities.

Are there any charity/sporting/community events that you and your team can participate in or sponsor?

Be sure to share a variety of local community events on your social media sites. This will encourage your patients to look to your office page to learn what’s going on in the community.

Host a:

Spring Perennial Plant Exchange
Book Drive
Canned Food Drive
Aluminum can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House

Be sure to send out press releases and share on your social media sites what you’re doing to help your community.

So there you have it, some practice management ideas for the month of April. Enjoy!

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email each month? If not, take a second and follow today. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

February 28, 2017 by bettyhayden

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

Hello Friends,

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month & Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week is the 2nd – 9th of April – An excellent opportunity for you to raise oral cancer awareness and the need for early detection in order to save lives.

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, approximately 49,750 people in the U.S. will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer this year. 132 new people in the US EVERY Day will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer, and that one person EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY, 24/7/365 will die from it.

While smoking and tobacco use are still major risk factors, the fastest growing segment of oral cancer patients is young, healthy, nonsmoking individuals due to the connection to the HPV virus. See more: http://oralcancerfoundation.org/events/oral-head-neck-cancer-awareness-month/

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Consider offering complimentary oral cancer screenings during the month of April or on a designated day…

Your offer is this:

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

our office is pleased to offer

FREE Oral Cancer Screenings

a National Effort to END ORAL CANCER!

How can you promote your offer?

Send a Press Release to local newspapers & TV stations.
Create a one-page flier for your patients to share with their friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors.
Talk about it on all of your office Social Media sites!
Create a Facebook Complimentary Oral Cancer Screening Event.

More Oral Cancer Awareness ideas for the month:

Hygiene Continuing Care Opportunity: Encourage your inactive patients to come in for their important free oral cancer screening.
Partner with a local business to do free oral cancer screenings at their location.
Open House/Oral Cancer Screening Event at your office. (See Tips and Ideas for Dental Office Open House Event )
Donate a portion of service/product sales (ie: teeth whitening, fluoride, Invisalign) to Oral Cancer Research.
Host or Participate in Oral Cancer Research 5k Walk/Run.
Give-away Free T-shirts or Bracelets to every patient that makes a donation toward Oral Cancer Research or Just Because 🙂
Create a video to share on your social media platforms demonstrating how oral cancer screenings are quick & painless.
Bring in your local dermatologist for a lunch n learn to demonstrate oral, head & neck cancer screenings.
Have a gift card or gift basket raffle that your patients can enter to win during the month of April.

If you have questions about Oral Cancer Awareness month or would like to hire me to help with advertising/marketing (press release, flier & talking points) for this special day/month, please contact me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

If you’re looking for additional marketing ideas not related to oral cancer awareness for April, please visit here: Dental Marketing Ideas for April

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Feel free to tell your dental friends all about us so they can start benefiting from these dental ideas too. If you liked these ideas, please let me know by hitting the “like” button. Thank you!!!

Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

January 11, 2017 by bettyhayden

Children’s Dental Health Month and GKAS Day Ideas

Hello Friends,

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, what do you have planned to help educate families in your community about the need for better dental health?

Field trips to local schools? School field trips to the office? Participating with the National Give Kids A Smile Day?

If you are interested in having me help your office create a custom “Children’s Dental Health Month” (or different themed) campaign that includes ideas for special offers, patient give-aways/drawings, community involvement such as school field trips and presentations, cross marketing with local businesses and hygiene continuing care/incomplete treatment scripting, please contact me today at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

Be sure to see Pediatric Dental Marketing Ideas for many ideas on how to Consistently Exceed Parent & Patient Expectations and Consistently Be Great! Visit here: Pediatric Dental Marketing Ideas

If you’re looking for Dental Health Month activities, crafts, printables, etc. please see my Pinterest board: Children’s Dental Health Month Ideas

Today, I’m going to focus on Give Kids a Smile Day which is held annually on the first Friday in February.

Here are some ideas and tips to help you host a successful Give Kids A Smile day in your office.

The ADA website has an excellent Give Kids A Smile Toolbox http://www.ada.org/1584.aspx It’s loaded with information such as Planning, Promotion, Forms, etc.

I wanted to share some additional ideas with you that have really helped to make this day a huge success and gain great patients long after the day is over.

Employee Participation – While you can’t mandate that your team volunteer to work this event, you can ask them to volunteer to work this very special day that will help many underserved children in the community. If you require your team to be there, you must pay them. GKAS day can be a very busy day for the office, I recommend ordering lunch in so team members can relax during their break.

Services/Procedures – Decide which free services you will be offering to the children on this day.

Advertising/Marketing your Event – Here are just a few ways to do this:

Social Media Pages ~ Make good use of all your social media platforms to share information about GKAS day.

TV News ~ Fax & Email a press release.

Fliers ~ Create fliers for in-office use and to give out to those in your community.

Even if your schedule is filling up, continue to advertise! Think of it as spreading seeds all over the community, getting your name in front of many people. You never know when those seeds will grow!!

Key things to remember/do before, during and after the event:

Show lots of Enthusiasm:

Be enthusiastic about this great event and how wonderful your office is!

Printed Materials:

In addition to the event information/details. Be sure to include: Doctors (office) Name, Address, Phone number, email, social media pages and website.

Telephones:

Thank them for calling, ask how they heard about the event (TRACK EVERY Callers Referral Source)
So your schedule is full for that day, what do you do when the phone continues to ring with people wanting to schedule an appointment for their child(ren)?
Take down their name, phone number, chief concern, and let them know you will call if there are any changes in the schedule for that day. (Believe or not people sometimes cancel/no-show on this day!)
Just because you may not be able to see them on that day, offer them a different day for a complimentary consultation. Give them hope, give them a chance, they’ve probably been turned away from other offices.

Donations:

See if you can get donations from local businesses for the event.
Be sure to include any business that contributed to the event in your advertising & thank you’s after the event!

Day of Event:

Every child receives a goodie bag that includes an imprinted toothbrush.
Take pictures!!! (The ADA website has a release form)
Enter all charges into the computer and write off as GKAS-Charity (Record total donation dollars – the production)

Sadly, There will be treatment that you won’t be able to do that day – give them a treatment plan and if they cannot afford treatment in your office you should refer them to a dental school or Medicaid office. Have a list ready for them.

It may be the first visit to the dentist for some kids so they may be scared you really have to work at keeping them comfy & make it fun.

You might be surprised to see how many families end up becoming patients.

After the Event:

Send a thank you to the children after the event.
Send a thank you to any business that contributed to the event.
Submit a press release talking about the success of the event, pictures and tips for parents to keep their child’s smile healthy.

Make your Give Kids a Smile Day a huge success!

It’s actually a really fun day – exhausting yes, and maybe a little heartbreaking but it feels good to volunteer your time, and donate your services to help so many children in the community.

If you have any questions about hosting your Give Kids A Smile Event or would like help planning/advertising (press release & talking points)/marketing this special day, please contact me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

If you’re looking for additional marketing ideas for February not related to Children’s Dental Health month, please visit: Dental Marketing & Practice Management Ideas for February

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest