Put Marketing Success on the Front Burner: Tips from Dental Marketing Consultant and Author Melinda Spitek

Melinda Spitek wasn’t always a respected marketing consultant and author. For 23 years she managed multi-specialty group dental practices as an office administrator. During that time she not only learned the ropes of running a successful practice, but she discovered few new “ropes” along the way. This eventually led her to climb to the top of her profession as CEO of Hycomb Marketing, a respected marketing and communications company serving dental practices and specialists across the United States.

According to Melinda, one key to her success is her intimate understanding of what it takes to run a dental practice every day and the real world marketing needs of practitioners. “I worked in an office for many years and I am very clear that the marketing aspect is usually not on the front burner. There is a whole lot more going on that has priority over marketing the dental practice. If you think of it on the scale of things, their biggest concern is for the health of their dental patient, not marketing their practice…as it should be.”

Melinda brought this front line perspective along with her when she eventually left dentistry and joined Hycomb Marketing at the urging of friend and mentor, Connie Hasel, who founded the company in 1980. “There was essentially no marketing at all for dentistry in those days; a dental patient newsletter was about all there was,” says Melinda. “Connie was prepared to retire so she asked me to come on board: I had experience in a dental office and was an English major in college….so it was a perfect fit for me!”

The partnership proved to be a good match indeed. Hycomb expanded the types of marketing and communications services it made available and the company is now recognized as the first marketing agency set up exclusively to serve dentists and dental specialists. “I was very fortunate to work with Connie; she was the best mentor I could have ever had.”

Get the Most Out of Marketing

Melinda became CEO of Hycomb Marketing 10 years ago and has since lead a team of marketing analysts, copywriters, graphic designers, and production personnel to set the standard for quality dental practice marketing and communications. Whether yours is a solo or large group practice, Hycomb has the flexibility and experience to work within specific needs and budgets to provide high value marketing solutions and consultation. Services include every facet of marketing for dentistry – ads, brochures, direct mail, newsletters and web sites – plus consultation on how to make the most of commercial media resources as well as everyday interactions between patients and practitioners that can make the difference in growing your practice.

“We’re here to help dentists and specialists make the most of their marketing resources,” says Melinda. “We give our clients freedom to focus on quality service – what they are trained to do – while we concentrate on what we do best: marketing for small business.” Melinda makes this distinction pointedly; emphasizing that specialists and practitioners must recognize that their practice is a small business and that it must be marketed as such. “You need to market your practice because it’s good business.”

One great resource for information on the “how to” of marketing a dental or specialty practice is The Dental Marketing Journal, a quarterly journal published by Hycomb that contains a variety of tangible techniques to market your practice. Topics such as such growing dental referrals, web marketing, using direct mail, and more, are explored in each issue. In addition to a collection of past journal issues, the Hycomb web site has one of the country’s largest libraries of articles on dental topics written for patients. The collection is distinguished for its range of topics, clinical research, and professional writing.

Melinda is proud to bring all of these resources together with a level of personalized and customized service that ensures that Hycomb clients get the most out of their marketing efforts. “We’re large enough to provide marketing at the highest level and small enough to provide a high level of personal service,” says Melinda. “When you call our office, everybody knows your name.”

When a Shingle is Not Enough

Melinda has just published a new book, “Dental Marketing: When a Shingle is Not Enough,” written for the needs of today’s dental practice. The book describes a number of practical ways to improve your marketing efforts and avoid common marketing traps. Melinda provides a framework you can use to set your dental practice apart from the competition including how to target the patients you most want, and how to affect marketing strategies to improve the success of your practice.

“There are lots of books out there written for dentists on marketing,” says Melinda. “But most are written by consultants who are clearly trying to sell their services. In my book, I don’t try to sell anybody anything; I just explain what marketing is all about in plain language and provide a useful perspective on the A-B-C’s of marketing. Most doctors look at marketing a something scary and expensive, and the book was written so that dentists and specialists could be more comfortable with marketing. I want to dispel the belief that it is going to cost a lot of money and they are not going to know what to expect.” The book is available at www.hycomb.com.

Professionals like Stephanie Houseman, DMD, president of the American Association of Women Dentists, praise the book for its real world approach. “Melinda is right. No matter what year you hung your shingle, it is not enough to have it be the only marketing tool for your dental practice.”

Steven Anderson, president of the Total Patient Service Institute, agrees. “This book is required reading for any dentist who expects to be the visible, desired, most referred to practitioner in town. There is as much to learn about marketing as there is about clinical dentistry and Melinda can show you the way.”

Many Hycomb customers also have nice things to say about working with Melinda and a full-service marketing firm that is focused on the specific needs of dentists and specialists. “Hycomb’s communication products are the best I’ve seen,” says Paul Homoly, DDS, author of Dentist: and Endangered Species. ”If you want great impact, you won’t be disappointed. It’s easier to be a leader than to catch one. With Hycomb, you’ll be a leader.”

Focus on First Things First

“I believe that you must constantly be aware of the fact that you need to market and that you need to have dental patients coming back to you,” says Melinda. “You must do everything you can to keep that flow steady. We have a lot of clients that we’ve had for a very long time, and the reason why is that we teach our clients how to be effective marketers of their firm first, then provide the kinds of services they need to succeed in their efforts.”

According to Melinda, putting marketing on the front burner is a vital first step to building the success of your dental practice. “Everybody markets all the time, sometimes you just don’t know that you are marketing.  Consider everything from how your receptionist answers your phone, to how you foster your relationships with existing dental patients and referring dentists, to how well you attend to your marketing materials a part of the mix. It’s really about putting these things as a priority.”

Melinda and Hycomb are helping dental specialist build practice success. Have they unraveled the marketing enigma?  “There is no magic trick or hidden secret. It’s really about recognizing that that the things you do everyday are the things that get you patients.” By adopting some of these tips, dental specialists are sure to make each day more profitable and successful than the day before.

Make sure to check back next month for more dental marketing tips from Melinda.