About this Podcast
Episode Transcript:
Dean: Well, hello, everybody in Podcast Land. This is Dean Steinman, president of Ortho Marketing, and we are back with another podcast for. Hope everybody has a great summer. It is now fall 2022 and the jets are off to a good, you know, beginning of the year. That makes me smile and we're in the smile business here.
So, speaking of smiling, I have a very special guest back with us for a podcast today. Eric Ramen Kuwait. Eric has been with us before and. Eric's a great, great guy. He is a Niners fan, so anybody who is an old school Niners fan, his Eric Will, will tell you about his times with, you know, with Joe Montana and blah, blah blah, and how he, you know, he, they made his life happy and smiling and, you know, I always wish that I had the ability to see my team win some Super Bowls.
So Eric is pretty stoked about that. And Eric we're here, is here today to talk about the importance of following up after consults. and how, if done correctly, is a game changer for your, your practice. So Eric, how are you
Eric: today? Absolutely wonderful, Dean, thank you for having me. Looking forward to this.
Oh, my
Dean: pleasure. Thanks so much for joining us. So before we jump into it, let's, let's talk a little, let's, let's, you know, deviate a little bit. And so as I said, I'm a transfer, you're a Niners fan. Tell us what your expectations are for the Niners this year. We always like to talk a little bit about other things besides the world.
So you, you, you, you guys have optimism even though you lost your quarterback.
Eric: Oh yeah, absolutely. I think that it was, you know, the universe lined up, I think, I think at the 11th hour when Jimmy g renegotiated his contract down from 25 million down to 6 million, and then made it a clause that he couldn't be traded and he wouldn't be traded.
I think that was just a great deal for us. You know, I don't think that he expected to be in this position, but if there's anybody. That was ready to take over. It's definitely him because aside from his shoulder injury or his previous injuries, he's been a great quarterback and he's taken us there to a championship and to the Super Bowl.
So I think it's a blessing in disguise to have him there. That's
Dean: great. So anybody, that's the thing that they're a Niners fan, I always, you know, reach out to Eric. I'd love to hear what you think. And you know, hopefully that team is making you smile this year. Cause as I said, and once again, we're all in the smile business.
We all like to make people smile. So, speaking of making people smile Eric runs a company TX converter. And what, don't you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you. .
Eric: Sure. Well, after you know, serving in the Air Force, I went right into the automotive industry, started off in sales and worked my way through general manager, vp and ultimately managing partner.
And so, you know, obviously in the automotive industry, that is a retail sales industry, if, if, if nothing else, right? So um, I found myself, you know, and fast forward to 2011, I found myself, you know, talking with an orthodontist who needed it. who just purchased an orthodontic practice, a well established one.
But she needed help. You know, the previous team was still in retirement mode, like the previous owner, and she wanted to grow the practice. And I found myself asking, what do I know about running an orthodontic practice? Right? , you know, I spent all my years, you know, running a hundred million dollars.
Luxury automotive groups. So when I did my due diligence, I quickly found Dead, that, you know whether it's a hundred million automotive group or a million dollar orthodontic practice, you know, it's sales are all relative, right? So you've gotta put the right people in the right positions and give 'em the tools and training to set them up for success.
And, and that's what I found. works in the orthodontic world as well. So that's how I got into the orthodontic world and I spent seven years, you know, in the trenches and studying it and learning it and improving it. So that's what I do now, and I enjoy doing it.
Dean: Yeah, and we've got several clients that you, you work with and you, you're bringing in some great, great results.
You know, people who are listening, you'll, you'll basically be able to hear the passion of what we've got and, and how it's gonna be able to help you with, with your, your practice. Typically a journey for, you know, you know what? Anybody that's looking for orthotics, they're gonna find you online and refer to you, and then they're gonna come in and schedule an appointment.
And then obviously you, you or your, you know, TC does the, the appointment does the presentation, and hopefully you get them to start. But a big chunk of people don't start. They're not ready, they're gonna think about it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they go into recall. And that's unfortunately what we found to be a huge black hole.
Okay? Most practices don't have the bandwidth, don't have the technology, don't have the people to follow up. You might send one email or two or a phone call, and that's really it. This is a gold mine of, of potential business that you are losing out on. So now You know, we're able to close that gap.
You know, we're working with, with, with, with Eric on this, and we're bringing this to the, the, the market to help practices now be able to close up people that you don't have the bandwidth to do. And, you know, I guarantee you whoever's listening to this is thinking, Hmm, you're right. Well, we've, we saw last month, you know, we did 25, 30, 40 consults and 8, 10, 12 of them started.
So, about what happened to them. . Well, they go into the recall, but what is the process? And most of them forget or don't come back. And now we have, you have the ability to get them back in. So Eric, let's talk a little bit about that. What typically you have found is the reason why practices are not following up, may I Right, that they just don't have the bandwidth, they don't have the platform.
You know, what is the reason that after somebody comes in for the consultation, they don't start. Black hole begins.
Eric: Well great question, Dean. I think it's a multi-answer, you know, multiple answers to this, but it begins with, you know, I'm a firm believer the speed of the pack is the speed of the leader, and that begins with the doctor and the doctor.
In my opinion. A lot of doctors don't understand. The value of the follow up process. And the way I know how I can tell right off the bat, whether they do or not, is simply this, is that as we know for decades, you know, prior to the computer systems, you know, practices used manual charts to track the progress and keep their, their records on their patients, right?
And then obviously the computer systems came and all the patient management systems and there's probably not a doctor out there now, especially an orthodontist that's using paper charts. So because they've adopted technology to make their practices more efficient. However, when it comes to their tc, there's so many practices out there now, even today, that are using a manual system, a manual spreadsheet.
I talked to a doctor the other day who's there. Her TC uses a manual notebook to manage exams and follow up processes. So that to me, right off the bat tells me that the doctor doesn't understand the importance of the follow up process, and therefore the TC is quite limited to whatever they're using that manual system, a spreadsheet or a notebook.
So that TC really has to remember to put that person in this notebook and then use that notebook to try to follow up, use it for the pending exams, to manage the pending exams and the follow up process. And so, Today, everybody wants, you know, and needs starts. So that's where the focus is of the tc and it should be right scheduling exams, performing the consultations, hopefully asking for the same day to start.
and then following up with those that are ready to start sooner rather than later. And then obviously schedule them to start. So that leaves over very little time for them to actually have a true follow up process. And so in the TCS mind, whatever time they have left over, they'll attempt to follow up, right?
They might. And unfortunately today they're still probably using the phone. So they're leaving a voicemail and then they're moving on. They're going back to their day-to. Business, right. Of scheduling exams and, and creating starts. So that's the challenge right there, I think there are a few different reasons why, you know, there is, as you say, this black hole, but to us it's a huge opportunity for these, for these practices.
Dean: It sure is. You know, last, last time, looked, the orthodontic industry number is 60%, close rate. 60. So that mm-hmm. , that basically means 40. Are not starting. So when some, so 60%, if you get 10 people to come in for a consultation, six of them hopefully start four, don't. And what happens to them? Black hole. As I said, some, you know, you might send, you know, leave a voicemail, someone an email.
That's really it. And you gotta reach out and keep reaching and keep reaching. What have you found as far really takes us, how many reaches before somebody responds? , typically, how many times do you have to touch them in order for 'em to say, you know, red, green, yellow, you know? Yeah, no, maybe, or, yeah.
Eric: Well, obviously those that are ready to start now they get back to us right away. But those that aren't ready to start, maybe they're still interested and need more time. They need multiple touches and, and they need multiple messages, not just the same message. And what we've found, Dean, is that, you know, the average message that goes out is really one-sided because the TC is so busy.
So normally a t. Would send out a message saying, hi, this is Eric. I just want to follow up to see if you have any questions, or if you're ready to start, please gimme a call back. That's the general message there, right? And so to us, that's the wrong message cuz it's one-sided. So if somebody, for whatever reason, wasn't ready to start yet, when they see that message , they're not gonna respond back because they're not ready.
So if you send 'em a different type of message where, you know, gives them an option, if you're not ready, please let me know. Because we don't wanna bother you. But while at the same time, we don't wanna forget about you, the person feels good about that and says, okay, well, it's okay not to be ready. Let me let them know.
Let me respond back to them and let me know. Let them know that I'm not ready now. I just need a little bit more time, and then obviously you have those that are saying, Hey, I'm sorry I moved on. I, you know, went with another doctor, whatever. They tend to get back to you and let you know if that's what you're asking for.
Dean: Hmm. You know, and it's important for you, you know, for you as a practitioner to know what's in your pipeline. You know, the lifeline of any business is new business. And if you don't have the right protocol in place to follow up, and a huge, huge, huge majority of the practices don't have it, this is what you need to know.
This is the lifeline of a business. Eric, typically, we talk about some numbers here. What is the average number or dollar wise, that sends somebody's pipeline of follow ups that they're losing out on, you know, on average, you know, for the practices that we're working with, you know, what kinda numbers are we seeing in that?
Like, wow, this is Abel, this is your pipeline now because we jumped in it and
Eric: we're able to help. Yeah, I, I think that anywhere from, you know, when we, when we look. our clients and we look at all their pending at any given time. You know, they have anywhere from 300 to $500,000 worth of pending exams sitting there.
And that's the key. I mean, a lot of, see this is a K P I, in my opinion, that nobody looks at. And I, to me it's crazy, but you know, if you're a numbers person, I mean, in the orthodontic industry, I don't see anybody asking doctors to, let's see what's pending and then put a dollar value on that.
So like you said, if somebody, if they're converting six outta 10, that leaves four. Right? And if there's four and let's just say, you know, that's 5,000 a piece, then we know exactly how much is sitting. Of value would be potential income to a practice, but nobody looks at that, but anywhere at any given time, on average, I see all the time, 300 to $500,000 sitting there.
and their pending. Think about that.
Dean: You know, and those guys in roundabout numbers, you're looking at 20, $25,000 a month of money coming back that is just forgotten about. That's pig numbers, that's game changer numbers there. And a minimum, you know, just worst case scenario, you don't have, you don't have that big of a pipeline.
You look at 10, 15,000 coming, coming back in, and on high end you got 40, 50,000 a month coming in of money. Should be in your pocket, but you don't have the bandwidth or abilities to do it. And that's where, you know, we come in to help you with, with that there. And, you know, Eric's team is incredible.
Let's talk a little bit about the training that, that people have, because I obviously, if somebody does respond back there, but question or two you know, what kind of training or you know, background does, does you and your team have in order to answer the questions they have and get 'em back?
Eric: Well, first again, it starts off with me.
I spent seven years, you know, really learning the orthodontic industry by taking over the practice. Obviously I handled all the business aspects of it and the doctor handled all the patients, but, so it starts with me. I've had you know, again, seven years of taking practice, building up actually.
Taking on the challenge of building a brand new location four miles away, moving the practice, dealing with all that and the people issues that everybody is well aware of. So I have that background. Then I have the person who heads up the whole follow up team is someone who has been in the orthodontic industry as well.
She started off as a technician, a lab technician, and then worked her way up. She actually started going to dental school because she wanted to become a dentist and then ultimately an orthodontist, but, Car accident caused it. Sidelined her, her, her goals there, and she's my daughter. So she heads up the follow up managers that we have.
And so she has great training. I obviously trained her and we train everybody before we, we allow them to handle an account. And everybody that's on our team comes from the dental industry, whether they're business managers, tcs, or worked in the back as das or RDAs or what have you. They've all been in the dental industry.
So our team is pretty strong. If they don't know something, they'll come to me. If I don't know something, I'll go to the doctor and we'll figure it out.
Dean: In other words, we, we get it. We know how to talk the talk, we know how to walk the walk. We live and breathe this industry. And that's important. You know, it's not just some, you know, random company that is, you know, based overseas and blah blah blah's.
Gonna do this, don't get it or don't speak perfectly. You know, we, we get it guys. This is the industry that we're in, that we're in, you know, and you know, the journey is very important when it comes to marketing and, and understanding what needs to be done for, for a. You know, as an AIST dentist, your job is to make people smile, get them happy, get them the teeth they want, get them the smile they want.
Okay? Our job is for us to get you the patients, to get them in, in the seats, and then to get them to start and. Now we have the whole perfect platform available for you from get getting your website found with all the marketing and getting people, you know, to come into your consult for, and then from there to follow up and to pull 'em back in and to show you, you know, the revenue that, that you're bringing, that you're missing out is huge.
And now we have the capabilities to really close things up for you and make a difference in your practice. And, you know, and Eric said before, those numbers are nothing to sneeze about. You know, if you're looking at 10, 15, 20,000 a. That's a lot of money there. It's a minimum and it could be even higher depending upon your pipeline and how, and how many patients you're seeing, you know, per month.
So this, this is a big, big opportunity here for you to, to really take your practice to the next level on your bottom line as well, without much skin off on your, you know, offer you to do it. What's great about what we do also is we guarantee. this work. So, you know, typically, you know, we are gonna show you three or 400% return on your money, guaranteed after a couple of months.
Think about that. Three or 400%. All right? Where can you get that? You can't get that, you know, from especially the stock market down 28% this year, or your portfolio and the marketing is the number one way to make money in any. . And now that we have, you know, we have the platform to guarantee you the work that you, you were doing is gonna put, is gonna put money in your pocket.
Alright. And Eric, have we ever fallen short of our guarantee?
Eric: No, not at all. And quite frankly, you know, the guarantee is this is, we're either gonna get it or we're gonna keep going free of charge until we do get it. But we always get it and we get it in. Shorter timeframe than what's allotted. So it's, it's there.
It's, and doctors you know, I get so excited I get passionate about this Dean because this is what I did for years, you know? And so now, I did it for the practice that I ran. That's one of the reasons why we're so successful. But now I get to share it with others and. We're, it's really, really working and, and they're seeing the value that it's right there.
A lot of doctors are saying, well, I want more starts. Well, the more stars are right there in your practice. We just showed you how to get it. .
Dean: Right? And how much time could know when, you know, sometimes doctors, I don't have the bandwidth to do this. I can't train people. I don't, you know, I don't have the time to do this.
So realistically, let's walk them through the process. How much time do they need to invest in this to work with us here? What do they need to give us? You know, is it a, is it, you know, do they need to have a dedicated person to work with us? Do they just give us access? So what, so let's, let's walk through the process of how much time they need to put into it.
And you know what? Think about it. This is found money for you. Okay? So it might take a little bit of time to, you know, to work with us and to get us the data and stuff that we need, but at the end of the day, you're making huge returns on it. So realistically, how much time does a practice need to give us in order to work with us?
Eric: Well, not much at all. If anything, the biggest thing that takes more time is that they're either still using a manual system with their pending exams or it's sporadic, meaning they can run a report, but it may not be updated yet. So the biggest time consumption, whenever somebody's coming on board is getting their leads, their, their pending exams together.
And that's unfortunate, but it's also an eye-opener to doctors to see. There's no one place they can go to run and see a report to see how many pending exams, how old they are and how much they work for your practice. So the biggest time-consuming part of this is starting to generate the leads together for us.
So, we want all their pending exams. So let's say, for example, we want their pending exams from 30 days all the way out to 18 months. If they can get us a spreadsheet with the name, the contact information, the date of the exam. And the treatment fee. That's all we need. We take that, we download it into our system, and then we're able to go to work.
We can send out, you know, you know, text. Text or emails the next day. So for us it is just a matter of getting their data. Once we get their data, then it's a matter of a couple days and we're up and running. So that's the biggest challenge. And then once we're running already, Dean, it's.
It's really simple. Once we come across somebody who gets back to us, once we send out a text, for example, and they get right back to us and say that, Hey, as a matter of fact, thanks for following up. I'm ready to get started. Then it's the matter of contacting the point of contact, and it's usually the TC and the practice where we say, Hey, you know, Dean, we have Eric.
He's ready to go, you know, and he's ready to get scheduled next week. What, what kind of schedule do I have? So it's really, it's seamless, but the biggest amount of investment time investment is on their part on getting the leads together. Once they give us the leads, it's a couple days and we're ready to go.
Dean: And then after that, move forward.
Say we work with somebody and they give us, you know, from 30 days to 18 months then how often should they be getting us? Non-start, you know, how often they should be updating that and sending us more, more as of every month, every two months, you know, you know what, what, what should they be looking at as far as an.
Eric: Well, let's say for example, they start with us. That's why we have a couple programs, a 60 day program and a 90 day program. This gives us the opportunity to show this, this client what we can do, this doctor, what we can do. If they like what we've done for them in the 60, 90 days, which most people do, they sign on for our long-term project.
And what happens on our long-term project is we will. When do you want us to take over your follow up? Is it after 90 days? After 60 days, or after 30 days? And so once we hit, we look at the pending exams and once their aging becomes 96 or 30, that's when we actually just take over. So it's a seamless deal.
They don't have to keep giving us leads or anything like that because we're gonna give 'em, in the long term, we're gonna give 'em our software so that their tc, all they have to do is put in all of their pending. And then we know that once it hits 90, 60, or 30, we just take over the follow up from that point.
Dean: And they just upload a spreadsheet? Pretty much, huh?
Eric: They just, yeah, they just input all of their pending exams and that's it. And then once they hit a certain age, we take over with the follow up,
Dean: You know? And imagine that guy. Imagine being able to log into this place and seeing next to somebody's name, who's, who's a, you know, who didn't start as a prospect, a red, yellow, or.
Okay, red is lip, sorry, they're not interested. Yellow is here. They still are green and ready to go. A pipeline and to see how much money is coming or is now coming, gonna be coming in your pocket or soon that down the road for projection purposes as well. So it really gives you clarity as. The health of the practice as far as the business, the, the business that you're doing, and to see where the holes are and how we, we, we fix, we fixed them there.
And you know, we work on said, on, you know, success, we're gonna guarantee the work here, and then we're gonna quote, unquote, partner with you. We're going, you know, we're gonna be able to work with you on it, show you what we can do. And then we, you know, moving forward, you know, we'll be able to work with you.
And if you don't make, we don't make money, we're not making. You know, so we're going to put this together and we're gonna show you how we can take your practice to the next level as a part of the practice. As a partner here, you know, we have skin in the game. We are not going to make money unless you make money on it.
And we have this whole process in place and you know, so. We're gonna, there'll be a link in, you know, the podcast as far as how to get to it. But you know, anybody who's listening to this, if they go over to wealth of marketing.com/tx converter, you'll be able to see all the details of it and, and a form to fill out to request more information to schedule a, a appointment with us, a consult so we can walk you through the process and get you, and get you going.
Eric, typically, how long does it take for once we start talking to somebody and they're interested for us to start the process and, and to get the ball rolling?
Eric: Oh, just a couple of days, Dean. We can, we can have their account set up on the software. We can have their whole account set up within 48 hours.
And then it's just a matter of them, again, getting us the spreadsheet of, of all their pending exams. And within that 48 hours I can have it uploaded into our software system and ready to.
Dean: Terrific. You know, and this is all a hundred percent on, on board, you know, this is, you know, we, we'll give you tons of references of people that we work with.
A lot of our clients, you know, are, are, are using, working, doing this program. Eric's been doing this for years. You know, this, this works guys across the board. It works and I'm very excited to be able to close the gap that is not out there again. So, again, again if you go to or marketing.com/tx converter, you'll be able to get more information and you'll be able to.
To sign up, for us to talk to you and to schedule an appointment, to walk you through the process and go over it from there. So really excited about this, Eric. I'm really stoked that, you know, that we're, you know, we're taking this, this step together and I think it's gonna be, you know, it's gonna be terrific to offer this service to the industry that's never been out there before.
you know, obviously you're doing it now, but we're gonna be able to take it to the next level and close up practices and, and add in such a significant increase to the bottom line. It's, I know, I'm very, very excited about this here. So, you know, in, you know, what's the number, a couple panel questions.
What's the number one question or concern that practices have when they, when they, when they speak to you about, about coming aboard? What are they, what's the number one question that they ask you or. issue that they have before they say, yeah, this was great. What's the number one thing that people want to know?
Eric: They think that, or they question, how much time is this gonna take their TC to do? You know? Or, or be involved with. And that's, you know, it's a great question, but quite frankly, the TC is not gonna have to do any more work. other than maybe answering our email or our call or our text, because see, when we reach back out to the practice it's for, because nine times outta 10, we have somebody that's ready to start now.
So that's the only time that they're gonna have extra work to do, is to answer our questions that we have from somebody who's ready to start. Other than that, it's really seamless. , they don't have to. The other thing is, is that they were concerned with, you know, how much time is it gonna take their TC to input all of their data into our software?
Well, it's not gonna take any time at all. We handle all of that for them. So it really is, so they're really surprised after they find out how little time is required to get the ball rolling and, and to get results as well.
Dean: Not much. That was next. That's the next question of results. So once they come aboard and we get the data and they start working with us, when do they, how on average, when do they start seeing the activity and the action and they start seeing the results?
Eric: Well, let's put it this way, Dean, as you and I both know and everybody knows, we can't say exactly what someone will get, but what I can say is what people usually get results within the first. Because you know, like you said, the green, yellow, the red, the green is where we identify people that are ready to get started now, but they haven't been contacted.
They haven't been followed up with. There's quite a few people in that category, Dean, that what these doctors don't understand is that maybe the TC has followed up with them a few days after their exam, which might have been seven months. and they haven't communicated since. When we start communicating with them and they say, Hey, yeah, actually I'm ready to go.
You know, that could be within a few hours. Right. So just to give you a perfect example, as a recent client that signed up, you know, last month we had seven starts scheduled within the first two weeks. You know, so again, you know, everybody's results will be different. But I guarantee you you're gonna see results within the first couple.
Dean: And now of those seven people that, that, that, that started, how far back did they do their consult? Was it recent or, or are we reaching people that came in 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 15 months ago.
Eric: The, for this particular client, the one of 'em was seven months ago as a, back in February was the consult, the exam.
Think about it guys. And a lot of the other ones were about three or four months.
Dean: Well, this is found money. These are people that already have seen you with it. It's, you know, we're closing the gap. It's now, think about it's seven months sitting there Now all of a sudden they're back.
They're back in and they're putting money in your pocket. So,
Eric: Yeah, but see, Dean, it's not, it's really not, don't mean to cut you off, but I've gotta tell you, here's what, probably one of the biggest surprises for our clients is this. It's not uncommon for us to get somebody started after a. It's not uncommon and we can, you know, show all kinds of reports cuz we track the aging right of everybody that gets started.
It's not uncommon. That's why I tell people, gimme your leads as far back as 18 months because it's not uncommon to get somebody scheduled. Started a year or a little bit over a year out. Hmm.
Dean: It's incredible, you know, guys, and you think of, you forgot about that person, guaranteed after, you know, seven months ago you have like, oh yeah, that thing sounds, Amelia.
Boom, we get 'em back in. So I am very excited about this. So again, everybody, thanks so much for listening. Eric, thanks so much for joining and I really appreciate it. This is exciting. So exciting that we're, we're, we're shaking up the industry and bringing in a program that is going to help everybody across the board.
Make them smile. That's it. We're in the business of smiling. So we're gonna do that for you. We're gonna make you smile by bringing, you know, 5, 6, 10 new stars to you that you'd never had before. Okay? That we're just there. That just fell through. So again, thanks everybody for listening, and go to ortho marketing.com/.
TX converter and you'll be able to get more information and to sign up and request, you know, some more details and set up a schedule call with Eric to get the ball rolling. So Eric, thanks so much. Everybody on Podcast Plan. Thanks so much for listening and thank you. You're welcome. And once again, everybody goes Jets.
And now you can give one little push yourself there man.
Eric: banners, .
Dean: Everybody. Thanks so much. Thanks, Eric. Appreciate it. Bye bye.
Eric: Ortho marketing.com 360 degree Digital Marketing Solutions for your practice.
