By Ian Shapland
Do you think the look of your logo and overall branding is pretty irrelevant to the success of a privately owned dental practice?
Well, you may wish to think again.
It goes without saying that your personal reputation and the overall reputation of your practice remain the most important elements to running a successful dental practice. But in order to gain a great reputation you first need new patients to experience the care and skill you provide.
Today, the way your brand is presented is more important than ever. We are constantly bombarded with branded messages and rightly or wrongly we have a subconscious expectation of how brands should be presented. Get your branding correct and a potential new patient will continue along the journey of booking an appointment, but if your signally is not congruent with either their conscious or subconscious expectations they will simply pass you by.
Now, your branding is far more than just your logo, it is a tangible projection of who you are and what you are all about. It demonstrates you have taken great pride and care to craft brand values that you are prepared to be held accountable to. When a brand makes a statement about its values and these values hold true, trust is created and in the process patient loyalty.
Forging a set of brand values, not only helps the public understand who you are, but also your team. We are all drawn to aspirational values and when you have defined what these values are your team know what is expected of them and consistency of patient care is achieved. Strong brand values also helps with recruitment for the very same reason, a potential new team member who is looking for career advancement will gravitate to those environments who have defined and espouse the values they stand for.
But what happens when you get it wrong?
Well, I don’t think this dental practice in San Marcelio thought through their logo very deeply.
But all joking aside, back in March of this year, the Government had to remove the new logo for the Women’s Network when things other than what was intended were seen by many in the logo, so even government departments which are well funded can get their branding wrong.
There have been many books written on the importance of branding, most of which study the giants, McDonalds, Apple, Amazon, Google and the like and for this reason many small business owners tend to think such things as brand values do not apply to them. However, this is a mistake and you only need to drive through any gentrified suburb to see the evidence. Greasy Joe’s has been replaced by swanky coffee houses, computer stores are set-up like high-tech campuses and where I live, even the local fish and chip shop has gone gourmet and promotes ethical fishing, resulting in queues a mile long, whilst the ‘Battered Cod’ is like a ghost town.
Just like all businesses, there are many aspects to creating success and no business owner can be an expert in all facets of what is required, which is why many of us employ book keepers and accountants, financial advisors and send our staff on training courses. Branding and indeed your overall marketing is no different, it is a highly specialised area these days. Should you have any questions about any of your marketing needs, please do not hesitate to book a Zoom meeting with me as I am always happy to share strategies and insights.
To book a Zoom meeting with Ian simply call Sonia Kingman on 02 9211 1477 or e-mail ian@idm.com.au