When a dentist sees a patient with disease or the need for a dental implant, they often refer that patient to a periodontist who specializes in those cases. How do you become the periodontist a dentist choses to refer his patients to?
Most periodontists believe you do this by dropping off a box of doughnuts, making visits, and networking at dental meetings. Problem is, everyone uses the same tactics that don’t work.
When Dr. Jeff Anzalone, a periodontist in Monroe, Louisiana, reached out to me for a consulting day, we took a different direction.
Dr. Anzalone created a one-of-a-kind training event for dentists and their staff within Monroe, Louisiana. This event featured a high-profile, in-demand speaker and a fun atmosphere — plus, Dr. Anzalone offered it for free to dentists who were referring a certain number of patients to his practice every month.
How did he know who those dentists were?
Dr. Anzalone studied his referral reports. He identified the dentists who were referring the most patients — five or more — and gave them instant access to the event. They were already great referring dentists and Dr. Anzalone wanted to give them the recognition they deserved.
Dr. Anzalone then identified the dentists who were referring between three and four patients to his practice every month. He made admission to his event free for these dentists and their staff members if they referred five patients within a month. For dentists who were referring between one and two patients a month, they were allowed to attend free if they referred three patients in a month. And, for the long list of dentists who were referring zero patients, they were told they could attend by referring one new patient to Dr. Anzalone.
The results were astounding. Dr. Anzalone had his two best months ever, increasing his revenue by more than 50 percent over previous years. Referrals were up and dentists and their staff were excited about the event.
Dr. Anzalone has since formalized his program into the Dental Prosperity Insider’s Circle where he provides monthly newsletters to his area dentists and their staff, together with a monthly interview call. Everything a dentist would expect to have to pay $99 or more for to receive from a dental marketing guru, Dr. Anzalone provides for free to dentists who refer patients to his practice.
Now Dr. Anzalone is duplicating his success by making the Dental Prosperity Insider’s Circle available to other periodontists to license within their own community. By ignoring conventional wisdom and building a membership — in this case, a membership of his referring dentists — Dr. Anzalone has transcended periodontal specialists throughout his area. And now, he’s showing other periodontists around the country how to do the same.
About Robert Skrob
4 Comments on “Transforming Referral Partners Into Proud Members of Your Exclusive Club”
Recently, i listened to Ben Glass’s interview with Robert. Very Good. I would like to institute for my law firm a VIP program for referring clients as well as for referring attorneys. My question is should those benefits be different?
Thank you for your comment and question.
Ben Glass has several examples of exclusive clubs.
Most people who create these clubs focus only on the “benefits.” And by benefits they focus on discounts or monetary, hard core, stuff for less value.
What’s more powerful is to give your members a sense of community. Make your club communication about your members. Talk about their accomplishments, build up their achievements and focus on giving the good news about what members of your club are achieving. Some of the stories can be about clients, the problems they faced and overcame. Other stories can be about referral partners and the wonderful transformations they create for their customers.
Think of it as the People Magazine of your community. Talk about what interesting things your “people” are doing.
Rather than talking about yourself or the law, focus your publication on profiles and success stories of the individuals within your community. The people who are featured will feel like celebrities and the other readers will love learning about their neighbors. In fact, they’ll feel special to be part of your community where such wonderful things happen.
This is a secret of building communities that hides in the open. I wish I could get associations to understand this. They focus so much paper and ink focused on talking about laws and lawmakers, or changes in regulation. When instead telling stories about members is so much easier and it’s what members love to read about.
I’m glad you enjoyed the interview. It makes me feel good that you took the time and energy to come visit my blog and comment to tell me. Thank you!
Sam, let’s talk. I am looking to do the same thing. We aren’t that far from each other. We can make a big community.
The strategy is brilliant
By providing the tools and resources to make his referral partners successful, he then by defacto realizes a substantial upside. Nice!