[VOICE]: This [00:00:05] is Dental Leaders the podcast where you get [00:00:10] to go one on one with emerging leaders in dentistry. Your [00:00:15] hosts Payman Langroudi and Prav Solanki. [00:00:20]

Prav Solanki: Hello and welcome to the [00:00:25] Dental Leaders Podcast Prav Solanki here. 2nd of January, 6 a.m. 2025 [00:00:30] recording a solo episode. So this time [00:00:35] of year, beginning of the year, what is it that I’m thinking about? I’m thinking about the year ahead. A [00:00:40] lot of us take some time off between Christmas and New Year to reset, indulge, [00:00:45] spend time with the family, switch off from work and some of us have [00:00:50] been grafting all the way through. For me, it’s been a balance between the two. I’ve definitely taken [00:00:55] some time out. If I look back, I would have probably spent that time [00:01:00] a little bit differently, but hey, that’s life, right? So, um, probably overindulged a [00:01:05] little bit. Not trained as hard as I could have done, or as much as I would [00:01:10] have liked to have done. But no regrets. During the time between [00:01:15] Christmas and New Year, I usually spend that time planning. So as well as switching [00:01:20] off, I do do a little bit of work. I’ve caught up with a handful of clients who are also [00:01:25] planning for 2025, speaking to them about what their growth plans are, their marketing [00:01:30] strategy, what they’re looking to achieve, whether it’s a step [00:01:35] back from the clinic, sell the clinic, grow the clinic, campaign [00:01:40] driven open days, this, that and the other, everyone’s got a bunch of different goals [00:01:45] that they’ve got for the different practices that we work with. And I think [00:01:50] for me, I’ve spent that time doing what I do around this time.

Prav Solanki: I’ve [00:01:55] spoken about it before and I go through this exercise called The Wheel of Life, Zig [00:02:00] Ziglar Wheel of Life, and I rate myself from 1 to 10 in different facets [00:02:05] and areas of my life, looking at things like relationships with friends and family members [00:02:10] and where I score on those in terms of my effort and what I need to do to improve [00:02:15] them. And it might be as simple as a phone call, a lunch date, or something like that. Romance. [00:02:20] Health and fitness. Spirituality. Career and [00:02:25] personal development. What do I want to get better at this year for me? Definitely definitely [00:02:30] definitely. I want to get much, much better at public speaking and communication. [00:02:35] It’s an area of my career that has blossomed and grown over the last [00:02:40] 3 or 4 years. I’m getting better at it, but certainly this [00:02:45] time next year I want to be a much, much better speaker than I am today. And [00:02:50] so part and parcel of that will be a conscious effort to get somebody to help me with my [00:02:55] speaking presence. I’ve already invested in a couple of courses and also [00:03:00] a coach to help me with my public speaking, my articulation, [00:03:05] my stage presence. I just really want to hone that skill and get much, [00:03:10] much better at that. And then look at things like work, finance, [00:03:15] um, and all those sorts of things, business, the dental practice [00:03:20] and what I can do in those different areas to improve things [00:03:25] for me.

Prav Solanki: A massive focus this year last year was massively focussed [00:03:30] on work and growing the business, getting the business to the to the level [00:03:35] I wanted to get it to, and I think I’m at a comfortable place now where [00:03:40] the vast majority of my energy thought process is going to [00:03:45] go into health and wellness, and part and parcel of that is going to revolve around [00:03:50] actively taking a role in that. So the training, the exercise, [00:03:55] the routine of that and part and parcel of it is [00:04:00] going to focus around the habits around living a healthy life. [00:04:05] I like to do a lot of research in the science and the evidence [00:04:10] around health and wellness, whether that goes into what you put into your mouth in [00:04:15] terms of food, diet, training, methodology, supplementation, [00:04:20] and what’s out there in terms of information. And I usually find the [00:04:25] best way of learning is by sharing. So I’m [00:04:30] going to be spending quite a bit of time this year documenting my health and wellness journey. [00:04:35] Any research that I read or podcasts that I listen to, [00:04:40] and summarising that in a email that will go out [00:04:45] to my subscribers. Of those who’ve subscribed to my list, I’ll be sending an email out [00:04:50] to all my subscribers as well this time of year to just sort of ask them, do they still [00:04:55] want to be on that list? So loads of people have subscribed, they’ll have downloaded some [00:05:00] marketing guide or something.

Prav Solanki: They’ll be on my list and perhaps they don’t want to hear from me anymore. So [00:05:05] once a year I do an email cleanse and I invite my guests to unsubscribe [00:05:10] my subscribers to unsubscribe from my list if they don’t want to hear from me again. Um, [00:05:15] and those who want to stay on and engage, um, and listen to what I’ve got to say, [00:05:20] whether it’s about business growth, marketing campaigns, um, and [00:05:25] this particular year focusing on sort of health and wellness, really, that’s a big, [00:05:30] big focus for me. So having done the planning for 2025, [00:05:35] I’ve helped a lot of my clients plan for 2025. Um, big, [00:05:40] big area for me career wise is, [00:05:45] like I’ve said, the public speaking and presenting and getting better at that and then focusing on health and wellness [00:05:50] and sharing my journey with my audience at the same time. That helps me learn [00:05:55] as well. So what are the general conversations that I [00:06:00] am having with my clients at the moment when it comes to growth, [00:06:05] marketing, lead generation, sales, and [00:06:10] generally the issues that are facing? A lot of my clients, whether [00:06:15] they’re associates or dental practice owners. Certainly for [00:06:20] me, the general conversation that I seem to be having with a lot of clients [00:06:25] is it’s getting a lot harder. The last few months has been challenging. And [00:06:30] part and parcel of that has been a step up in competition. Right? [00:06:35] The cost of advertising has gone through the roof.

Prav Solanki: When we look at stats and we look [00:06:40] at marketing and advertising and we’re running, [00:06:45] let’s say Google ad campaigns, Facebook ad campaigns and things like that. I think [00:06:50] one of the things that’s really important is measuring the outcome of [00:06:55] the funds that you put into your advertising campaigns, and one of the ways in which we do [00:07:00] that is any campaigns that we’re running, we look at the cost per acquisition [00:07:05] or the cost per lead. Now, if we start at the beginning of that journey, you put some money into the machine [00:07:10] and from the other side you get some contact details of a prospective patient [00:07:15] who’s interested in treatment X, let’s call that dental implants. Now [00:07:20] the cost per acquisition or the cost per contact details at the moment is is [00:07:25] on the increase okay. So let’s say at the moment, you know a dental implant [00:07:30] enquiry might cost you, I don’t know, £15 to get a patient’s details. [00:07:35] And that might go up to over the course of the next 3 to 6 months, £20, £20, [00:07:40] £30, £50, whatever that is. But then following that, the [00:07:45] number of those inquiries that convert into consultation gives [00:07:50] you another metric, which is the cost per booking. So let’s keep the numbers [00:07:55] really simple. Let’s say you throw £100 into a marketing campaign and that [00:08:00] generates you ten inquiries. Then your cost per enquiry is £10. [00:08:05] But out of those ten inquiries, you only get one patient that [00:08:10] books in for a consultation.

Prav Solanki: Then your cost per booking is now £100 or [00:08:15] per patient sat on the chair. And if that, if you’ve got a 100% conversion [00:08:20] rate on that, then your cost per converted paying patient is £100 as well. [00:08:25] And you can work out those metrics. Tracking that is a really, really important [00:08:30] way of monitoring and measuring your advertising. Now, what we have noticed [00:08:35] over the last, say, 6 to 9 months is the cost per booking. The cost [00:08:40] per enquiry has gone up and why is that? I think there’s a few reasons, and [00:08:45] one of them is that the competition has gone up and the auction [00:08:50] has changed. So imagine we’re running some ad campaigns, and before we only had ten [00:08:55] competitors and now there’s 20 competitors. They’re all marketing [00:09:00] different things. Some of them are going in at price points that are just unimaginable [00:09:05] for some of my clients. And they can’t compete on price. So we need to compete on quality or a message [00:09:10] or experience or something like that. And some of them are coming in at a similar price point [00:09:15] with similar experience. So more and more clinics are getting savvy with advertising and [00:09:20] deciding to invest in their marketing campaigns and generate [00:09:25] the sort of inquiries that can grow their business. The other thing that [00:09:30] has shifted has been a massive shift is that a lot of associates within [00:09:35] dental practices have started to spend money on advertising. [00:09:40] I started to see this in 2023.

Prav Solanki: And in 2024, [00:09:45] there was an explosion of this, whereby about 30% [00:09:50] of the new inquiries that come into our business when clients are getting in touch with us to help [00:09:55] help them with lead generation, marketing and ad campaigns. About [00:10:00] 30% of those enquiries now are coming from associates. And I think it’s [00:10:05] this shift, this mindset shift with associates where they are realising [00:10:10] that they own a business within a business. [00:10:15] And the beauty of that is, as an associate, you haven’t got [00:10:20] the overheads of running the business, you haven’t got the fixed costs [00:10:25] of employing team members, QC, compliance, rent, [00:10:30] all of that sort of stuff. You just come in and you do your work and you get paid [00:10:35] a percentage of the profit that you generate, the net profit that you generate. [00:10:40] Um, all the gross profit should say that you generate. Right? You get a percentage of [00:10:45] that. Now, I think the key thing here is that if you understand [00:10:50] that and as an associate, if you’re investing in marketing, the [00:10:55] potential return is huge. But what that does for dental practice owners are a lot of [00:11:00] my clients is it’s increasing the competition. And let me quantify that with some [00:11:05] actual data. So one particular client, we were looking at their implant campaign [00:11:10] over the last nine months. The performance of that campaign has dropped. [00:11:15] And so when we did an analysis and we looked at that, one of the things that was really clear [00:11:20] is that the cost per enquiry had gone through the roof.

Prav Solanki: And so [00:11:25] the number of inquiries per, let’s say, thousand pound of media spend budget had [00:11:30] gone down dramatically. When you dig into the data a little bit [00:11:35] deeper, and this is referring specifically to Google Ads, the CPC [00:11:40] or the cost per click has also gone up. So that particular keyword and let’s [00:11:45] just say for argument’s sake, that keyword was dental implants plus location that they’re in. Okay. [00:11:50] So let’s just call that dental implants. Just call it dental implants. Birmingham for [00:11:55] argument’s sake. The cost of that click nine months ago [00:12:00] was about £1.83. The cost of that [00:12:05] click now. So nine months on is closer to £4 [00:12:10] right. Over double what it used to be. What does that mean? [00:12:15] It means there’s more competition in the auction. There’s more people bidding [00:12:20] on that keyword. And therefore the cost of that keyword has gone up, which then [00:12:25] has a knock on effect. Because if it used to take ten clicks to get an enquiry [00:12:30] and it still takes ten clicks to get an enquiry, it’s going to cost you twice [00:12:35] as much to get that enquiry. Now, if your competitors are coming in at a cheaper price [00:12:40] or they’ve got better offers or better deals than you, perhaps your conversion rate from clicks to [00:12:45] inquiries goes down so your cost per acquisition goes up even more. The [00:12:50] bottom line is there is a rising cost per acquisition of advertising, and [00:12:55] there’s a few things that we can do to counter that.

Prav Solanki: One change your advertising message [00:13:00] to improve your sales process. Three increase [00:13:05] your budget. And it’s a combination of those things that are going to help you win in 2025 [00:13:10] with the associates. I’m just going I’m just going to I’m just going to go back to that, [00:13:15] and then we’ll come back to the advertising and marketing and deal with those three points. But [00:13:20] with the associates who are now realising that they own a business within [00:13:25] a business, this is a game changer for a lot of our clients who are working [00:13:30] with, who are associates that are running their campaigns. But the one thing they’ve got to be mindful of [00:13:35] is this is that you can invest in the marketing and the lead generation and generate the enquiries. [00:13:40] But as an associate, unless you have that sales process buttoned down [00:13:45] when that enquiry comes in, who’s going to deal with it? If you’re hosted within a practice where they’ve got an [00:13:50] amazing sales team and they’re happy to convert your enquiries for you. Magic. If not, [00:13:55] what’s the next step? Are you going to employ somebody part time, full time, whatever [00:14:00] that is, to handle those enquiries, you’re going to use one of these third party call answering services [00:14:05] or um, lead handling services as well as advertising. [00:14:10] You’ve really got to think about the sales process. And sales and marketing go hand in [00:14:15] hand in harmony. Going back to what can we do in this rising cost [00:14:20] of advertising to improve what I call the overall [00:14:25] conversion rate, or to make sure you’re converting more of that business into [00:14:30] patients who are going ahead with treatment.

Prav Solanki: I think the key thing here [00:14:35] is let’s just look at all the different aspects, right? So the first part is what [00:14:40] is your marketing message. Perhaps you could get away with something a little bit weaker now. But if you’re [00:14:45] competing on price then make that clear and transparent. If you’re not competing on price, [00:14:50] what you’re competing on is experience. Have you got a certain number of Google reviews that you [00:14:55] need to sing and dance about? Have you got video testimonials that could be making it, making its [00:15:00] way through on the landing page? And when that inquiry lands, have you got [00:15:05] a decent automated email sequence that goes out to that patient [00:15:10] that really does tell them about what it is that you offer, who you are with [00:15:15] lots and lots of social proof. Let’s remember this, that every patient [00:15:20] that inquires with you, certainly those that are interested in any kind of cosmetic [00:15:25] implant, that sort of treatment on the whole, if they are online [00:15:30] searching, they will be doing their due diligence, and they will be [00:15:35] spending a lot of their time inquiring at multiple clinics, engaging with multiple [00:15:40] clinics. So your response is essential. It’s really, really important. [00:15:45] And the second thing is your response rate is important. So is the quality [00:15:50] of the response but the speed of the response as well.

Prav Solanki: So the conversation [00:15:55] that perhaps your team has with a patient and when your team speaks [00:16:00] to them, your three days or four days late versus the other [00:16:05] clinic, who’s jumping on that lead within, I don’t know, 15, [00:16:10] 20 minutes of it, inquiring, inquiring and getting them booked in straight away. [00:16:15] Lots of our clients have had their campaigns switched on over Christmas. Between Christmas [00:16:20] and New Year. Those that will be more successful will have had somebody during that busy [00:16:25] period getting back to patients, talking to patients, engaging with them, texting them [00:16:30] during that period of time. And it’s really, really important that your sales [00:16:35] process is absolutely on point. And what do I mean by that? I [00:16:40] think making sure in today’s age you have got a very, very good and robust [00:16:45] CRM system to manage and handle your enquiries. And that [00:16:50] automations are what I would call emotionally intelligent, [00:16:55] but also share all of your usp’s. I’ll give you a simple example. If [00:17:00] anyone inquires at my clinic and they’re interested in, let’s say, full [00:17:05] arch implant dentistry or same day teeth or implanted dentures, they’ll [00:17:10] receive a message along the lines of thank you for your enquiry. And I can see [00:17:15] that you’re interested in changing your smile and your exploring and implanted [00:17:20] dentures. Our implanted denture service is delivered by [00:17:25] master’s level implant surgeon, Doctor Suresh Chohan and Mark Northover, [00:17:30] who has got over three decades of experience handcrafting unbelievably [00:17:35] natural looking dentures that look and feel like natural [00:17:40] teeth.

Prav Solanki: I’d love to invite you to come in and meet Mark and [00:17:45] Suresh at a complimentary consultation, where they can learn about your smile, [00:17:50] you can learn about the costs, and they can also take you through examples [00:17:55] of previous patients whose lives we’ve transformed, giving them the gift of being able to eat whatever [00:18:00] they want again, smile with confidence and get a new lease of [00:18:05] life. We’re proud to have over 355 star [00:18:10] Google reviews from patients just like yourself, who are in a situation where [00:18:15] they were unsure of who they should choose to have their treatment with something [00:18:20] along those lines, and then we will respond to them within 15 minutes. They’ll also get a [00:18:25] text message at the same time, if we try and call them and we can’t get through to them in the morning, we’ll [00:18:30] try them again at lunchtime. We’ll try them again in the evening. But all of that process, [00:18:35] the entire process, the automation, the language, the emotional intelligence, all of that [00:18:40] is driven by our lead flow CRM system, right? Our CRM system [00:18:45] helps our team know what to send the patient and when. It automates [00:18:50] part of that journey, and it really does help us drive that sales [00:18:55] process really smoothly. So whatever system you’re using, [00:19:00] whether it’s Google Sheets, whether you’re using a different CRM system, it doesn’t really matter. Just make [00:19:05] sure you’ve got a robust process in place for sales.

Prav Solanki: So clients that come to me and say, hey, [00:19:10] we want to increase our marketing budget, or we’re looking at advertising now and growing our clinic. [00:19:15] The first thing I will ask them to do is spend some time nailing their sales process, [00:19:20] because you can rapidly increase your return on investment much, much quicker. [00:19:25] The other thing that I’m seeing in a lot of clinics is missed calls. [00:19:30] We do for a lot of our clinics, we record the phone calls, and we [00:19:35] put call tracking numbers on landing pages and advertising campaigns so [00:19:40] that we can see how many of those ads are creating phone [00:19:45] calls. But the benefit is we record the phone calls that have been skipped or answered, and [00:19:50] we can see there’s a lot of missed calls going on. And what is the biggest cause [00:19:55] of missed calls? I’ll tell you now, it’s an automated call answering [00:20:00] service. So if you’ve got one of these in your practice. Welcome to ABC Dental [00:20:05] Practice. If you’re a new patient, press one. If you’re an existing [00:20:10] patient, press two. If you’d like to change an existing appointment, press [00:20:15] three. So on and so forth. The number of patients that just do [00:20:20] not continue with those is It’s unreal. So if you’ve got something like [00:20:25] that in place and you don’t have to have that in place, it’s funny. [00:20:30] You know, a lot of practices offer three options or two options. Same pit, same person [00:20:35] who answers the phone irrespective if the reason for that call menu [00:20:40] is not to change the you know, it’s to deliver the same service at the end of the phone. [00:20:45]

Prav Solanki: Drop it. If you’ve got a human being answering on the end of that call and just put yourself in that position. [00:20:50] If you’re sitting waiting on a menu, whether you’re booking a restaurant or whatever it is, [00:20:55] you don’t want to be on hold. You don’t want to. You want to speak and connect to a human being straight away. [00:21:00] If you can make that happen, you will increase the volume of sales that you do. [00:21:05] So we’re seeing a lot of missed calls. Then the next thing we’re seeing or hearing [00:21:10] when we listen to those calls is transactional information. [00:21:15] Or you’re interested in dental implants or dental implants start from £2,800. [00:21:20] That doesn’t include any bone grafting, but includes the implant and the whole crown. To book you in for a consultation [00:21:25] or just need to take some details. Blah blah blah. But that call is [00:21:30] missing three key elements. And I see this all the time. Even with [00:21:35] clinics at the top of their game, they’re missing the why now. So [00:21:40] they’re not getting the information from the patient. Like what? What’s going on in your life? How long have you had [00:21:45] this problem and why now? The missing, the pain. They’re not understanding what the pain points [00:21:50] are of the patient and developing that rapport and connection on that call.

Prav Solanki: So they’re missing [00:21:55] those two things. And the third thing they’re missing is the why. Is there something memorable? [00:22:00] You can tell that patient the usp’s about your clinic, the experience of the surgeon, [00:22:05] the experience of your clinicians, the fact that you offer sedation, the fact that you cater for nervous patients, [00:22:10] the fact that you’ve got 505 star Google reviews and you’re going to be joining those patients, [00:22:15] the fact that you’re a multi-award winning practice, a lot of that is missing, [00:22:20] and a lot of these phone calls and conversations are transactional in nature. Now, when these patients [00:22:25] are speaking to three, four, five clinics at a time, you need to be sharing [00:22:30] something with them that makes sure that that call is memorable. [00:22:35] So that’s really, really important, right? Your sales process. And [00:22:40] one of the most popular courses that I deliver, or training sessions that I deliver, is [00:22:45] my Sales Mastery course that I run in collaboration with the IAS Academy. I think I [00:22:50] run 2 or 3 courses or events a year. And one of the things [00:22:55] that I really focus on when I’m delivering that course is tailored, [00:23:00] emotionally intelligent communication with every patient. [00:23:05] And unfortunately, I’m seeing a lot of copy paste. So when I go into a business and I analyse [00:23:10] how they respond to emails. So if a patient inquires [00:23:15] about Invisalign, they get the same copy paste template irrespective of whatever [00:23:20] they have said. Same copy paste template and sometimes it’s [00:23:25] just jarring because it’s not relevant.

Prav Solanki: So my advice [00:23:30] is that if you’re spending all this money on marketing getting these inquiries through, just take a moment [00:23:35] to read that patient’s inquiry in detail. Take a moment to specifically [00:23:40] answer that patient’s needs in the email, and take [00:23:45] a moment to address absolutely everything [00:23:50] they’ve asked so that they feel that it’s that it’s not a copy and paste, because [00:23:55] you can spot a copy and paste miles away. We’ve got an exciting offer this month [00:24:00] with Invisalign. We’re giving away this, that and the other, but the patient’s ask something a little bit [00:24:05] more specific. Answer that question first. Deliver the rest of the template, but [00:24:10] make it very, very specific and stop the copy and pasting. I’m seeing that [00:24:15] quite a lot. Um, so marketing and sales. Sales process is really important [00:24:20] when it comes to the marketing side of things. And you can drop your marketing [00:24:25] budget massively when you’ve got an amazing sales team in place. [00:24:30] The other thing that I’m asking a lot of practices to do is think about what data [00:24:35] is sat within their practice right now. And what I’m talking about are the quick [00:24:40] wins. So think about all the inquiries. Just look at 2024 [00:24:45] and take some time to look at every single inquiry that landed in your [00:24:50] practice in 2024 that never made it through to a consultation. If those patients [00:24:55] haven’t gone ahead somewhere else, they have still got that same dental issue.

Prav Solanki: Reach out to them [00:25:00] again. Reactivate them, pick up the phone, send them a text message. Send them an email. [00:25:05] Reactivation campaigns for our clients are one of the most cost [00:25:10] effective and highest ROI campaigns that we’ve ever, ever done for a client. In fact, when [00:25:15] we onboard a new client, it’s one of the first things that we can do, um, that can provide a high [00:25:20] level of ROI. So think about those. Think about every patient that you’ve [00:25:25] handed a treatment plan over to that hasn’t gone ahead. Reach out to them and reactivate those. [00:25:30] And a huge one is open treatment plans. Those patients [00:25:35] who perhaps you started treatment on. Right. Let’s say let’s say you’d prescribed [00:25:40] six crowns, but they’ve only had two and they haven’t got a next appointment. What can we do to wake them [00:25:45] up? Can we start speaking to them, engaging with them. Some people say, oh, you know, I haven’t got enough enough [00:25:50] work for a new team member. I’m going to hire a TCO or [00:25:55] whatever. There’s tons of data in your practice to keep team members busy, so open [00:26:00] treatment plans is a massive game changer. Works really well when we pick up the [00:26:05] phone and re-engage with them. And then some practices that have been going for such a long time [00:26:10] have got a Database of, should we say, patients who haven’t visited [00:26:15] the clinic in the last 12 months and don’t have an appointment in the next 12 months? Well, there’s [00:26:20] some low hanging fruit for you, and there’s a massive opportunity for you to just pick up the phone, [00:26:25] send an email and send a text message and say, I noticed you haven’t got an appointment booked in [00:26:30] and you haven’t been in for a while.

Prav Solanki: We’d love to just carry out an oral health check and make sure everything’s okay. [00:26:35] When can we get you fitted in? So that’s really, really important. [00:26:40] And the next thing that is working. But I think let me just, [00:26:45] um, take a couple of steps back. Everyone at the moment is doing [00:26:50] Invisalign, bonding and implants, and the advertising [00:26:55] platforms are absolutely cluttered with offers [00:27:00] for Invisalign open days, Invisalign deals. New year. [00:27:05] New year is around the corner, right? So everyone’s running campaigns, new year, new you. Best [00:27:10] offer of 2025. Get your teeth and get your confidence in 2010. All of this [00:27:15] is going out at the moment, right for our clients as well. But maybe think [00:27:20] about something different. And what’s bringing me [00:27:25] to this is towards the end of last year, I spent some time in [00:27:30] Aqua Dental Clinic. Um, if you were, if you ever new a new maney. [00:27:35] Um, one of my first clients met him maybe, what, 16, [00:27:40] 17 years ago at his clinic in central London at the time, before he sold that, [00:27:45] um, and launched his, um, his clinic in Hatch End, which was nearer to home. Um, [00:27:50] and he was well ahead of his time at the time when I met [00:27:55] him, he said, look, Prav, one of the things that I focus on is nervous patients.

Prav Solanki: And [00:28:00] he bought the domain name Dental dentists. Co.uk back then. Um, and [00:28:05] he was really, really big on the communication, the strategy, the campaigns [00:28:10] that we were driving focussed on nervous, patient campaigns. [00:28:15] And although Anoop is no longer with us, his wife Neera is still running that [00:28:20] dental practice and the emphasis there is still about [00:28:25] treating nervous patients. And what does Neera tell me about nervous patients? Generally, [00:28:30] they’re hard at work. And what I mean by hard work is you need to give them a [00:28:35] lot more time. But very, very rarely do nervous patients start [00:28:40] asking you for a deal, haggle about price, or say the clinic [00:28:45] down the road is offering free whitening with this, that and the other because you’re solving a [00:28:50] bigger problem. And that is the anxiety that they feel about coming into a dental [00:28:55] practice and be that through, um, simple communication, your patient [00:29:00] journey, when you get that patient through the door the first time and they don’t even step into the surgery or meet [00:29:05] the dentist. And then the second time to meet the dentist in the waiting area. And then the third time [00:29:10] they go and they’ve got a nervous patient program. They offer sedation. It’s the way they greet [00:29:15] and talk to patients and give them the time. And so a lot of our campaigns that we run for them [00:29:20] focussed on nervous patient dentistry.

Prav Solanki: Guess what. There’s [00:29:25] not a lot of competition out there for that because very, very few practices are pushing [00:29:30] that or sedation campaigns and those sort of things. And I spent some [00:29:35] time towards the end of last year videoing some of these patients. [00:29:40] So we did a videography day at near his practice, and I had the opportunity [00:29:45] to interview probably 6 to 8 patients that day. And I spent some time [00:29:50] speaking to them, learning about them and understanding why they chose [00:29:55] that clinic and what was really interesting. And it all goes back to a website [00:30:00] that I started back in, gosh, probably around Probably around [00:30:05] the time I started the bit, about 2008 2009 launched [00:30:10] a website called Dental phobia. Co.uk to help connect [00:30:15] clinics that offer. Shall we say, a service that’s dedicated [00:30:20] to nervous patients and also connect those nervous patients. If you type Dental phobia [00:30:25] into Google, it ranks number one. And we get thousands of patients every month coming to [00:30:30] that website looking for an appropriate dentist in their area who offers sedation [00:30:35] and whatnot. Having spoken to these patients, [00:30:40] the vast majority of them went to that website and looked for a [00:30:45] nervous patient provider. And what was really important to them [00:30:50] is getting some reassurance that there’s a community of these dentists. But then once again, once [00:30:55] they’d gone to the nearest website, learned about nerer, enquired, [00:31:00] sent an email, remember some of these nervous patients just [00:31:05] picking up the phone is a massive leap.

Prav Solanki: So a lot of them will email. Now what’s [00:31:10] the emotive response? What’s the emotional intelligence behind that email that goes out when [00:31:15] the nervous patient inquires? For a lot of them, they just want the reassurance [00:31:20] when they say they’re nervous, not the reassurance. They’re in safe hands and they want to learn about the process. [00:31:25] And some of them take weeks, even months to step through the door. [00:31:30] But let me tell you, a lot of these patients have got dental neglect. They need a lot of work [00:31:35] in terms of from a business point of view, if we look at it purely from that point of view, generates [00:31:40] a lot of revenue. And at the same time, um, you’re changing [00:31:45] someone’s life because you’re giving them the courage to be able to step through the door and [00:31:50] take things into their own hands. And often it’s a previous bad experience, whatever [00:31:55] that is, whether it’s a it’s a dentist who didn’t quite treat him with the respect, um, [00:32:00] and heart that they, that they wanted. Um, or perhaps it’s just this inbuilt fear of [00:32:05] needles pain for, for a lot of them it’s the not knowing, [00:32:10] um, and just communication and talking them through. One of one of the patients said that the main thing [00:32:15] is they didn’t even need sedation, was that Neera just told me step by step what she was [00:32:20] going to do and step by step, what she was doing.

Prav Solanki: And she did exactly what she said she was going to do. And that patient [00:32:25] felt in control. Um, so if you offer a dedicated cam, if you offer [00:32:30] a dedicated service for nervous patients, have a think about if you’re running [00:32:35] marketing campaigns to maybe push some of your budget into that. Another [00:32:40] area that’s working really well that not everyone offers is children’s orthodontics. So [00:32:45] children’s orthodontic campaigns generally the same thing. You don’t get parents [00:32:50] coming through the door haggling over price because clinic has got an offer on Invisalign [00:32:55] or whatever. Parents want the best for their children. They want to know Clinically, they’ve got [00:33:00] the right, um, practitioner, whether it’s a specialist orthodontist or a highly [00:33:05] qualified GDP. Um, really, really important, um, that [00:33:10] you communicate that in your marketing campaigns once again on social [00:33:15] media, on meta ad campaigns, Facebook and Instagram, we’re seeing really, really [00:33:20] huge success on children’s orthodontic campaigns, whether it’s an open day driven [00:33:25] campaign or an evergreen campaign that’s always running and having social proof of photographs [00:33:30] of mums and children in school uniforms and things like that works [00:33:35] really, really well. I think towards the end of last year as well. [00:33:40] One of the reasons why advertising campaigns or the cost of advertising [00:33:45] went through the roof was November month, Black Friday. Lots and lots [00:33:50] of practices who weren’t advertising before stepped up their budgets, started advertising, [00:33:55] and we entered this marketplace where patients were waiting for [00:34:00] the best Black Friday deal.

Prav Solanki: And now that’s passed and people have come [00:34:05] out of Christmas. Some people are going to be looking for the new smiles. Some people are going to be overspent. [00:34:10] But I think as we get into February, things are going to improve. I do think for dentistry, [00:34:15] 2025 is going to be better than 2024. Part [00:34:20] of the reason why I say that is the acquisitions market. So if I look at [00:34:25] 2024 and a lot of the corporates out there, they’d pretty much [00:34:30] stopped buying a lot of a lot of the practices that I was working with. [00:34:35] They were mid deal. Lots of deals were paused. And certainly we’re seeing [00:34:40] confidence in the market now. I’m speaking to some of the corporates who have [00:34:45] now said that we’re now back in the acquisitions game. [00:34:50] There’s some some corporates you can see like for example Deves Group Dental beauty [00:34:55] have made a few acquisitions towards the end of last year. I’m speaking [00:35:00] to some brokers who are more in the know of what’s going on in the marketplace and they’re [00:35:05] saying, look, lots of deals are coming on the table in 2025. So if 2025 is the year [00:35:10] where you’re thinking, you know what? I’m thinking about selling my practice or [00:35:15] taking some cash off the table, or it’s the right time for you. Retirement’s coming [00:35:20] close. You 3 or 4 years away from it might be worth spending some time figuring out. [00:35:25] What is your practice worth, what are your options out there and considering them? [00:35:30] Because I do think that there are going to be more acquisitions in 2025 [00:35:35] than there were in 2024.

Prav Solanki: At least that’s what I’m hearing close to the ground [00:35:40] anyway. And that just leads me to say thank you for your time and attention [00:35:45] today. I wish you all the best for 2025. And [00:35:50] if any of you need any help with practice growth, you guys know where I am. The health [00:35:55] information that I’m going to be either publishing on my site or pushing out through my [00:36:00] email newsletter is via Prav. Com so if you want to jump [00:36:05] on there, subscribe to it, then I’ll be sharing it with you [00:36:10] whenever I publish it. I think one of the first myths I’m probably going to dispel, I’ll talk [00:36:15] about it now, is red light therapy, because it’s the biggest load of [00:36:20] rhubarb I’ve ever come across. Um, there’s loads of people [00:36:25] promoting these red lights for muscle recovery and, um, [00:36:30] wellness and all the rest of it. But if you actually look at the evidence, right, [00:36:35] and you think about the science, right, think about the wavelength of red light and [00:36:40] how deep it can penetrate. Right? At the most, at the highest impact. [00:36:45] Right. Red light is going to go into penetrate maybe two millimetres, three millimetres at the most. [00:36:50] How on Earth, how on earth is that going to help with muscle [00:36:55] recovery? I have got no idea. Right. If you read the research and read the literature, everything [00:37:00] is so marginal.

Prav Solanki: Um. And what what really gets my goat [00:37:05] is when there is information about [00:37:10] this new found supplement or this new found therapy, like, [00:37:15] you know, training under red light or lying under a red light, and this does this and this does that for [00:37:20] you. For me, it’s all about the evidence and evidence based wellness. Right. So and I’m going to be sharing [00:37:25] my view on evidence based wellness not medical information. Not advice [00:37:30] for you to go and act or anything like that, which is going to be sharing the information that I’m learning with [00:37:35] my audience to hopefully educate you and make more of an informed decision [00:37:40] about your health and wellness, because it’s a big part of what I do. Right. [00:37:45] When it comes to supplementing, taking the right supplements, choosing the right brands that have been [00:37:50] lab tested and then training. But but but the key thing and [00:37:55] I’ll say this to anyone who asks me for health advice, you [00:38:00] can’t supplement your way out of a poor diet and a poor [00:38:05] exercise routine. You can’t ice bath your way out of a poor diet [00:38:10] and a poor exercise routine, and you can’t sauna your way [00:38:15] out of that. Do the basics first. Get that [00:38:20] right. Get that consistent. So many people ask me what, what brand of this vitamin do you do? And what [00:38:25] supplements do you take and which brand of or which type of magnesium do [00:38:30] you take, and so on and so forth.

Prav Solanki: Right. The reason they’re called supplements [00:38:35] is simply this. They are there to supplement what you are already doing. [00:38:40] Get the basics right, start training on a regular basis, regular exercise, [00:38:45] a combination of some sort of strength related muscle [00:38:50] building exercises and some cardiovascular work [00:38:55] as well. Eat healthily, whatever that is. I’m not. I’m definitely not going to be sat here advising [00:39:00] you on which diet is the best, because we could be debating forever whether it’s vegetarian, [00:39:05] meat eater, low carb, high carb, intermittent fasting, this, that and the other, there’s so much [00:39:10] out there, right? Just cut out the cut out the nonsense, reduce um, the [00:39:15] stuff that you know is harmful for you, right? The processed food cut the alcohol [00:39:20] if you can’t drop it completely. Um, and you know, the sweet treats, [00:39:25] the, the, you know, the chocolate bars, the pizzas, all [00:39:30] that sort of stuff, just cut it, cut it right back, get the basics right, then start [00:39:35] thinking about supplementation and then various bits of biohacking. Right. Lying [00:39:40] under a red light is not going to be a substitute for any of that. In fact, I don’t think it’s going to do anything. [00:39:45] And on that note, it just leaves me to say I wish you all the best for 2025. [00:39:50] Whatever your goals are, whatever your dreams are, I hope that you succeed and hopefully [00:39:55] see you on Dental Leaders more. I’m going to be interviewing a few guests, sharing [00:40:00] some amazing and exciting stories and journeys, and with some really cool [00:40:05] people.

[VOICE]: This is Dental Leaders, the [00:40:10] podcast where you get to go one on one with emerging leaders in dentistry. [00:40:15] Your hosts Payman Langroudi [00:40:20] and Prav Solanki.

Prav Solanki: Thanks for listening guys. Hope you enjoyed today’s [00:40:25] episode. Make sure you tune in for future episodes. Hit subscribe in [00:40:30] iTunes or Google Play or whatever platform it is. And you know, we really, really appreciate [00:40:35] it. If you would, um, give us a.

Payman Langroudi: Six star rating.

Prav Solanki: Six star rating. That’s [00:40:40] what I always leave my Uber driver.

Payman Langroudi: Thanks a lot, guys. [00:40:45] Bye.