I am certainly not a marketing consultant but I am becoming increasingly concerned with the commercialization of the orthodontic and dental world that is apparent as more and more doctors essentially give up their name by calling their practice by some “cutesy” (and not-so-cutesy) names. Are you “Dr. John Smith” or are you “Smile Shop 3 Mountain Dental Care?” Are you “Dr. Tom Jones” or are you “Smiling Faces Braces Place?” Am I “Salmon Stream Consulting” or am I “Zuelke and Associates?”
While writing this article I wanted to try and offend as few doctors as possible so I thought up ridiculous names for dental and orthodontic practices to use as examples. I then did a Google search for those names and, unfortunately, found almost every name I invented was already in use by a doctor in his/her practice.
What possesses a doctor to name the practice after a mountain near his/her town or the shopping mall in which he/she practices?
If you are looking to be a “commercial/corporate” type practice and wish to attract the masses to your practice then I suppose it makes little difference what the name of your practice is. However, if you are interested in being a fee for service practice and catering to patients/parents who do not seek discounts or “cheap” dental or orthodontic care, but rather are interested in having a quality relationship with their doctor and seeking quality care from their doctor, you are well advised to stay away from the commercial type practice names.
When moms are behind the backstop watching their kids’ T-Ball or Little League games, they don’t talk to their friends about “Mount McKinley Smile Place.” They talk about their doctor – by name! Attaching your personal name to your marketing and to the sign on your building and on your letterhead, etc., is far more attractive to the right kind of prospective patients than some impersonal corporate type name that does nothing to tell people who you are!
Just a short message this time because Betty and I are in the far Northwest to do some salmon fishing.
