To fully enjoy the power of profitably partnering get specific about the market you serve – both as their habits directly related to your kind of work and also their traits that are not related to your work.
In so doing, you’ll discover you have two kinds of profitable partners to approach.
1. What Do Many of Your Patients Have in Common?
List at least 10 things many of your prospective patients have in common, using the checklist below for ideas.
Make two lists:
1. Characteristics many prospects have that are related to dental needs.
2. Characteristics many prospects have, unrelated to dental needs.
• Rewarded for what kind of behavior?
• How, where and on what do they spend their time and money?
• Their passions and pursuits
• How they entertain themselves
• Their concerns, fears, complaints and other “hot buttons”
• Significant events for them
• Their heroes and heroines
• Who irritates or angers them?
• Main allies and friends
• Other organizations to which they belong and/or contribute, or that their friends or people they admire do
• Their small indulgences and major extravagances
• How they spend time with friends, and other free time
• What they value (for themselves, their family, friends and colleagues) in personal growth, work-related learning and bragging rights
Tip:
Ask your patients (or clients) “What are two or three other professionals or businesses you trust and use?” Soon you may see that some names keep popping up. They are your prime prospects for valuable partners.
2. Narrow Your Market to Increase Your ProfitsDescribe one of your best niche markets. It may be, for example, 30ish working couples probably because someone starting referring their friends and/or you are located near where many of them live or work.
Describe one niche within that niche: Are many of them also members of another organization such as a fitness center?
I have an Irish-American dental client who thrives by adapting his practice and recruiting partners who collectively serve the lifestyle, needs and interests of the Korean American Baptist community in his area.
That’s a close-knit niche within-a-niche so word travels fast amongst them when they feel understood and well-served. Now the partners are learning how to serve parents of young infants in that market – an investment in the partners’ future with this niche-within-a-niche-with-a-niche.
Main differentiating benefit (MDB) of your dental business in that niche-within-niche market (most frequent reason that they use your services):
Why are they most likely to see you?
When?
What else are they likely to need, either from you or someone else?
Two other significant benefits you provide these patients:
1.
2.
Main reasons they do not use your services at all:
1.
2.
What they often do instead of using your services:
1.
2.
How are their main needs met for you kind of dental services?
Met - Met well
Unmet - Not met well
Target this niche-within-a-niche for your most efficient SmartPartnerships.
3. Resources You and Partners Can Contribute to a SmartPartnership
Here are some to prime the pump of your thinking:
• Special expertise.
• Well-known in a niche market.
• Have a base of clients in a different niche than you.
• Located near your office, so your face-to-face collaboration is easier and clients can go easily to both of your offices.
Your Checklist
• What’s your first partnership?
• What is your niche-within-a-niche?
• What partners will your recruit?
• What is your goal in partnering?
• What resource(s) will you provide?
4. Steps to Recruit Your First Partner
a) Ask to meet with the prospective partner to confirm you have some of the same kinds of patients/clients.
b) Tell them that you’d like to explain how the right kind of partnerships could enable you both to attract and keep more patients – while spending less.
c) Ask if they would like to hear one or two specific partnering methods and how all partners could benefit from them.
d) Suggest more of the leveraging benefits of joint efforts over “solo” advertising or promotion.
e) Don’t propose too many details to leave room for all partners to “buy in” and participate in the actual creation of the first action.
f)) Reiterate your strong interest in working with them and refer again to the “best case” success scenario.
g) If they agree to partner, explore the value and downside of involving more partners.
h) Write a simple agreement to review together to be sure you are on the same page about the goal of the partnering method you selected, what who will do when and how for what benefits.
5. How to Choose a Method
Will the partnership serve your patients by:
• Saving time?
• Saving money?
• Giving more value for the same price?
• Representing a new opportunity for them?
• Making something easier to use or do?
• Improving their ability to use your services?
• Increasing the number of ways they can use your service?
• Making it more convenient to buy or use your products or services?
• Responding to a current, pressing interest?
• Making life more interesting or fun?
• Helping them feel better about themselves?
• Making them look good in front of others?
• Supporting them with their family, friends, clients or work colleagues?
Tip:
A successful SmartPartnership makes the patient’s life better – as he sees it.
Five “W’s” of a Successful SmartPartnership
1. WHO are your patients?
2. WHAT is your specific offer?
3. WHEN will you take those actions?
4. WHERE are the places you can reach your kind of patients?
5. WHY would they come to your office when they see or hear about you at another place?
Tip:
Gain an introduction to your partner’s clients by providing your partner with a gift offer that will entice them to try your services and products. Reciprocate by extending an offer of your partner’s service or product to them.
Even non-Scandinavians feel their mood dampen with thelonger nights as we head into winter. Luckily there are some easy ways to lift your spirits. Here are three: 1. When describing something that just happened or in yourpast, notice if it is anchored by a positive or a negative incident. Those who are most resilient, energetic, caring and involved with others tend to link their stories to redemptive themes. Those who are plagued by down moods often mark their stories with what went wrong and don’t include a redeeming detail. These narrative themes affect ourchoices –what we think we have to choose from – and how others see us. 2. We each have many personalities inside us. Some situations enable us to use our best talents and display
our best side. Instead of attempting to be a “virtuoso juggler” as many women do, discover the specific situations where you thrive. When you can identify those moments you are better able, like a defensive driver, to see potential danger farther ahead where situations or individuals spark your discomfort or worse.
Conversely, knowing where you shine (temperament and talent) means you can make smarter choices about how you work and live – and with whom. While Marcus Buckingham’s book is intended for women I know three male friends who have found it helpful in how they seek the situations that best serve them, professionally, personally and socially. 3.We each have a set point along the continuum of pessimistic to optimistic. After winning the lottery or experiencing the death of a loved one, we eventually return to that set point. Since those who are on the positive end of that range are more likely to thrive, have friends and advance in their work, you might want to practice specific ways of “acting as if” you are more optimistic that are described in Learned Optimismand Authentic Happiness.
Those who instinctively react more negatively or helplessly to difficult situations tend to experience it as the “three Ps”: Personal (most of all it happened to me) Pervasive (now everything feels worse in my life), and Permanent (it will always be this bad). One caveat that makes it worth having friends at the other end of the spectrum: Optimists tend to be overly rosy about a situation, leaping into opportunities that, in fact, aren't while pessimists are more realistic – seeing what is.
Together they are more likely to see potential problems and to find solutions. They are also more likely to squabble because the other person doesn’t act right – like them. So it helps to laugh when you recognize when it that is starting to happen. Hint: Perspective is potent - “Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” ~Unknown See links here http://sayitbetter.typepad.com/
spending less on promotion.
After watching her mother staining clothes while taking her dialysis treatments several times a week, Megan Stengel and her partners began designing functional yet attractive clothing with hidden zippers and other alterations.
spending less on promotion.
After watching her mother staining clothes while taking her dialysis treatments several times a week, Megan Stengel and her partners began designing functional yet attractive clothing with hidden zippers and other alterations.
1. A newspaper carries a column, “Stay Well” co-written by you, a doctor, a fitness expert and a nutritionist, offering advice, upcoming events and Q & A from readers.
Immunizations are offered at family-convenient times in a roomy, cheerful 