Ian Eslick, Business Development Consultant at DPAS, shares how Mikael Klockars made great changes…
Soon after becoming the owners of Plymouth City Centre Dental Practice, Mikael and Pia Klockars began planning the changes they wanted to make to grow their business. I have known Mikael for many years and I caught up with him recently to find out what he feels were the three most important changes he and Pia made and why. Below, is his story.
Mikael: ‘One of the challenges we faced from the start was that people didn’t know that the dental practice was here which is less than ideal in terms of attracting new patients – especially considering we are in a city centre.
Building brand awareness
When my wife Pia and I bought the practice in 2012 it didn’t have a website or any presence on social media. That was one of the first things we wanted to rectify, as what a modern practice in the 21st century really must have is a decent website and an engaging profile on social media.
We invested in creating a website that really works for the practice, with patient testimonials, videos, contact details and prices, etc and built up our online presence through social media. We wanted people to feel like they could get to know the practice before they even attended for their first appointment. Our social media pages now have over 4,000 followers and I would say the vast majority of enquiries come to us through the website and social media.
Switching our plan provider
The practice had been with Denplan (now Denplan from Simplyhealth Professionals) as their membership plan provider, however we very quickly knew we wanted to move to DPAS. We have known Ian for a long time through his presence in dentistry in the area and we, and any member of the team, know we can call or email and get a response straight away. We trust him implicitly and his knowledge and experience are a great asset that we make use of all the time.
Strengthening our brand was an important factor in considering a new plan provider – one that would allow us to develop plans that were branded to our practice, bonding our patients to our practice and not someone else’s. In addition to this, we wanted a more personalised support network we could easily tap into and as well as Ian, we have access to an entire DPAS team who are always on hand to advise, guide and support. The cost savings around administering our plan has freed us up to make other vital changes in the practice, including extensive refurbishment, which brings me onto my third point.
Improving the environment
It is extremely important to us that we create a practice that feels welcoming and positive to create the right impression and make patients happy to keep returning. The impact of the physical environment of the practice shouldn’t be underestimated. It can be one of the factors that influence a patient’s decision to choose your practice over another – who wouldn’t choose modern premises that look attractive and up to date over ones that have seen better days?
With the financial freedom we gained by reducing our plan administration costs, we were able to invest in completely refurbishing one of our surgeries and did cosmetic work on the other two. We also created a large staff room with a lunch area and changing rooms, one floor above the surgeries – so when on a break the team actually feel like they are physically getting away from work. We see it as a way of repaying our staff for their hard work – it’s also a real bonus that our patients have really noticed and appreciate the improvements we are making.
Heading in the right direction
These changes were our priorities from the moment we bought the practice as we knew they would set us in the right direction to strengthen and grow the business. We now have a strong identity both online and in the practice itself, which helps us to attract new patients and strengthen relationships with our existing list.’
Thanks to Mikael for sharing his and Pia’s experience and hopefully it has provided some food for thought, not just for other new practice owners, but also established owners seeking to make some changes to their business.
About Mikael
Mikael is the Practice Owner and Principal Dentist at Plymouth City Centre Dental Practice. He qualified at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden in 1998, and has had dental training both in the US, UK and Scandinavia. Mikael has worked in a dental implant centre and in a dental clinic for general anaesthesia.
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