7 Ways to Save Moneyat the office

Savvy dentists know they can usually get their sales representative to help with

some free samples! Almost every manufacturer allots their sales reps a certain

amount of free supplies to distribute to their clients. If you aren’t getting the oc-

casional freebie, it might be time to look for a new sales representative!

Once per month, try opening a conversation with your sales rep by asking how

they can go the extra mile for you. Often, they’ll respond by sending a sample of

a new product to you free of charge. The only thing you’ll need is a willingness to

try new products! Your rep may not send you much and the deals might not be

available every time you speak with them. But with as often as you buy supplies,

it will happen often enough that the savings can accumulate into something big.

And when you’re trying to save money, there’s nothing better than getting nec-

essary supplies for free!

Free goods From manuFacturers1.at officite, we’re always working to make life easier

for dentists. nobody knows how to do that better

than our Web Presence advisors, so we decided to

put some of their best ideas on paper! Here are the

top tips from our experts about how you can save

money while running a dental practice!

1. Free goods From manuFacturers

2. don’t be aFraid to try less expensive alternatives

3. go paperless wherever possible

4. don’t dump money into the phonebook

5. consolidate vendors

6. equip patients to do your marketing For you

7. solid Financial planning

Before we go too far down this line,

it’s important to note that this doesn’t

mean “start buying shoddy prod-

ucts.” Always going with the cheap-

est options irrespective of quality is

a sure-fire way to downgrade your

practice. However, it’s important to

keep the law of diminishing returns

in the back of your mind: there is a

certain point at which a higher price

no longer guarantees an increase in

quality.

Ask yourself if you truly need to

spend $8 on a box of your favorite

gloves when alternatives are avail-

able at $4.50. Is the extra expense

necessary? That’s subjective, of

course. You, and only you, can at-

tempt to quantify the value of having

your favorite brand of vinyl wrapped

snugly around your fingers. If the dif-

ference is worth nearly double the

price tag, then by all means, keep

them. But if you aren’t wed to the

brand, switching could reduce your

expenses by almost 50%. Ask your

sales rep to help you find suitable

replacements for everyday supplies.

You might find that you like the less

expensive products just as much,

and perhaps even more.

don’t be aFraid to try less exPensive alternatives.2.

The best part about going paperless is pretty straightforward – you no longer

have to pay for paper. This is a plus in and of itself, but the difference becomes

even more pronounced when you consider that postage stamps now cost 49

cents apiece. If you mail two appointment reminder cards to each patient every

year, you’re probably spending thousands of dollars on stamps alone!

Whether you’re sending appointment reminders or billing statements, electronic

communications are a convenient way to save time and money. They offer two

key upsides: the ability to engage with your patients in a way that’s convenient

to them, and a sharp reduction in overall cost. And if you’re into being green,

electronic communications help save the environment too. Start researching

electronic appointment reminders and you’ll save in the long run.

go PaPerless WHerever Possible.3.

Helpful Hint: officite now offers automated appointment reminders!completely automated appointment reminders that keep your schedule full without the headache. increase appointment attendance, get advance notice of potential cancellations and save on mailed reminders.

consolidate vendors.5.

If time is money, then this one is a no-brainer. Don’t waste time talking to two or three com-

panies when you can get everything you need from one. This applies to every product and

every area of your practice – it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about crowns, office

supplies, your website, or your marketing. The same idea applies across the board. For

example, instead of talking to a Web Developer and an online reputation tracking service,

use a company like Officite that offers both services as part of one platform. When it comes

to your bottom line, putting your eggs in one basket can actually be a good idea. It saves

time, and that means it can save you money and sanity, too.

don’t dumP money into tHe PHonebook.4.

That era of practice marketing is over. If you’re spending a premium to have your practice

advertised in the yellow pages, you’re dangerously close to throwing your money away, and

the reason why is simple: your patients don’t use the yellow pages anymore. If you want to

get new patients, you need to market your practice in the places where people are actively

looking for your services.

“Actively” is the key word there. Generally speaking, it’s wise to avoid outdated mediums

like the phone book, or wide-net approaches like billboards and little league team sponsor-

ships. These methods are too passive; they scatter your practice’s name into the wind in

the hopes it will somehow fall on someone with a toothache. Instead, start marketing your

practice where the consumer’s intent to visit a dentist is high.

The best modern target for that is search engines. A patient won’t Google “Dentist near

me” if they don’t want to find a dentist, and that means intent is high. A searching patient

actively wants to find your practice. Take the money you spend on unfocused and outdated

methods and invest in SEO and PPC programs instead.

equiP Patients to do your marketing For you.6.

Every time a patient leaves your office happy, your practice gains a small marketing op-

portunity. How, you ask? There are two main ways this works, both of which involve using

technology to harness the age-old phenomenon of word-of-mouth advertising.

1. Online reviews

According to Local Consumer Review, 72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as

personal recommendations. That number is too high to ignore, especially if you consider

that a further 52% of respondents said positive online reviews make them more likely to use

a local business. So, like it or not, your online reviews are a powerful decision-influencing

factor for new patients.

If you have negative reviews, it’s almost always impossible to remove them. However,

enough positive reviews will make them look insignificant in comparison. Utilize a reputation

tracking service in order to stay on top of your online reviews, and when a patient leaves

your practice, give then am online review card thanking them for their business and politely

asking them to submit a review on a site of your choosing.

2. Social media referrals

Your patients discuss everything on social media, and it’s not uncommon for people to ask

their friends for doctor recommendations. If your practice is active on services like Face-

book, pleased patients can link their curious friends directly to your page, and voila, you

have a new referral. Even though social media is the least direct method on this list, it’s

worth mentioning because so many dentists find it effective. Many even think it’s fun!Helpful Hint: reputation tracker review cardsofficite’s reputation tracker program comes with complementary

cards to hand out to patients encouraging them to give a review. they

even double as appointment reminder cards.

solid Financial Planning.7.

There is absolutely no substitute for

smart planning. Sure, that’s easi-

er said than done. But the old say-

ing remains true – if you fail to plan,

you plan to fail. That makes solid

financial planning the most import-

ant point on this list, even if it’s one

of the least glamorous. It’s best to

find professional help, but there’s a

lot you can do to make sure your fi-

nances are doing the most they can

to help you succeed.

1. Sign up for daily alerts inform-

ing you of your account balances.

Debt doesn’t usually come scream-

ing up out of nowhere. Instead, it

slowly and steadily accumulates

over time. Daily alerts provide vigi-

lance so that if you start drifting to-

ward the red, it won’t ever come as

a surprise.

2. Set up an account exclusively

for major purchases.

It’s a fact of every practice – at some

point in the future, you are going to

incur a particularly large expense.

Whether that’s a new piece of equip-

ment or (heaven forbid) something

like a lawsuit, having a “rainy day”

fund to pad those costs is one of

the easiest ways to…

3. Avoid debt.

Ironically enough, debt is expensive.

So if you have loans, pay them reg-

ularly, and never borrow more than

you can actually afford. It’s much

cheaper to plan ahead and borrow

money from yourself than it is to

borrow from the bank.

and there you have it – our Web Presence advisors’ 7 best tips that will help you save money while managing your practice. Want more? Here’s a big one. officite can help you.

visit us at www.officite.comor view our packages and website designsby clicking here.

we offer web presence solutions for dental practices.

Reputation Tracker. Online and offline programs to protect and enhance your online reputation.

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NEW! Appointment Reminders. Completely automated appointment reminders that keep your schedule full without the headache.

Premium Websites. We’ll give you a personalized website made to attract new and returning patients.

SEO & PPC. Our search specialists make sure patients can find you on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Doctor Portal. Our exclusive Web Presence tool allows you to easily manage your entire online presence.

Mobile Responsive Design. Connect with new and existing patients from their smartphone or tablet.

Social Media. Expose your practice to new patients through this all-important referral generation channel.

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