Best of the Best 2013 - Leeds Marketing and Customer Service Conference
Oliver's Dental Studio - Sunderland 01915282340
Marketing Pirates of Dentistry
I often get asked what is at the heart of the continuing growth of Olivers Dental Studio in the City of Sunderland, hit hard by the great recession of the last three years.
I would sum our progress up as really a mindset which has seen us refusing to involve ourselves in the recession. We are more fortunate than many in that the service we provide has an underlying demand, whatever the state of the economy. People have teeth and most would like to keep them. Where recession comes into play is that people sometimes will drop teeth down their list of priorities when their circumstance may put a squeeze on their finances.
Most importantly however is that demand still exists but patients seek more value from any money they have to spend.
This is where Oliver's work hard to get things right with the aim of minimising recessionary impact on our business and indeed growing through difficult times. It is not a coincidence that some of the high end restaurants, golf clubs and bars are still flourishing in recession. People still have money to spend, in fact many have more to spend in recession. Range Rover sales are booming right ?
So our business strategy....
1. Employ only high quality staff who are friendly
2. Employ highly skilled dentists that are able to offer a wide range of services.
3. Focus on customer service and make it as good as we can be.
4. Utilise high quality but affordable materials
5. Invest in the studio to achieve a modern feel and clean environment.
6. Let the world know about us with a powerful marketing strategy
7. Give back as much as possible, particularly in the local community with charity work. We are proud of our roots.
8. Follow trends of dental demand and offer what people want at the right price.
Above all try to offer friendly pain free dentistry at a time patients want to see us. See what it is our competitiors do and try to do it better.
So did it work ?
Sure thing.In 2012 Olivers Dental Studio added a new full time dentist to take our team to 8, added a new full time dental nurse and are currently considering a new full time nursing position. Our patient numbers grew significantly and our turnover reflected this with a 10% increase plus. All of this at a time when many private dentists are as much as 20% down in their turnover. We are proud of ourselves and cannot thank our patients enough for their loyal support.
On Friday evening, January 25th, we were very fortunate to be rewarded for our excellent year at one of the major dental marketing and customer service conferences. This year in Leeds, in front of in excess of 100 dentists and their teams we were honoured to receive the Best of the Best Award 2013 for Extreme and unusual levels of Customer Service. Voted for by the teams in the room this was particularly rewarding for us as some of the cream practices of the country were present as our judges.
On a particularly special evening our team received their award and the celebrations continued as £1500 was raised towards the Dental Mavericks Charity. This money will fund a dental nurse to join the Dental Mavericks team as they head to Africa to help the Moroccan children with their badly neglected teeth. Studio Principal Michael Oliver is particularly proud of his involvement with the charity as one of the founding members in 2010 and one of the active dentists.
So 2012 turned out to be a really special year for us with several awards, in particular two awards presented at the Sunderland Portfolio City Awards.
We aim to make 2013 even better and have many exciting plans under wraps. Onwards and upwards.
Thank you very much for all the support we have received from both patients and the businesses we rely on. We couldnt have done it without you.
Oliver's Dental Studio 0191 5282340
We are always looking to grow, please give us a call if you would like to join us at our award winning facility.
Watch us on facebook with a like at https://www.facebook.com/oliversdentalstudio
or Twitter @sunderlandsmile
