Is Now the Right Time to Invest in a Remodel?
Here we are in the middle of summer and nine months since the market hit the skids. There is still not much but gloom and doom on the evening news about the state of the economy. I was reading an Op Ed piece yesterday in the Indianapolis Star from four economists and all of them are predicting that the unemployment rate will go higher before it starts dropping again. So, why would one invest in a new or updated dental office design right now? Well, your dental office is probably the most significant, and by all measures, the largest investment you have in marketing. The impression patients and prospective patients have when they first walk in and what they leave with has a direct bearing on how soon they come back, whether they tell their friends and family good things about you, and whether they become patients in the first place.
In an article published by the Wall Street Journal: “In an analysis of 600 companies in the ’81-’82 recession found companies which maintained or increased their marketing expenditures during this slow period averaged new sales growth of 275% between ’82-’85 during the recovery. Companies which cut back on their marketing averaged only 19% during the same time period.”
These statistics would suggest that now is the right time to be investing in updating your dental office design. Whether that is a remodel or a new location, as the economy improves your patients will be telling their friends and family how wonderful your updated dental office design is and, of course, what a great dentist you are! This will translate into both patient growth and reduced cancellations, both of which translate into a healthier bottom-line. Don’t let the gloom and doom of the news put you into a funk, but use this time to as Michael Gerber describes in his book, “The E-myth Revisited”, to work on your business, rather than in your business. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
