Look around this morning…. How many of those things that surround you did you really need? How many were just wants? How did that want turn into a need? About 100 years ago, the following things were items nobody knew they “needed or wanted…” 1901 Vacuum Cleaners 1902 Air Conditioners 1906 Radio…. Ohhhh….. Nobody really KNEW about vacuum cleaners and air conditioners in 1901 and 1902. Some lonely inventor was running door to door and maybe opened a store and hired a bunch of people to run around and spread the word. You didn’t have to get all sweaty and stinky trying to sweep those cold floors! You could get a nice soft rug and vacuum in your comfortably air conditioned home. Everyone would want to hang out at your clean house!! Most people were like Pfffttt…a broom is just fine. Carpets are for ninnies. Besides, I don’t even have electricity. But a radio….oh boy. The first “social media” for those lonely people wanting to know what everyone else in the world was doing quickly! It was entertaining, but you started to hear about people getting stuff….like air conditioners and vacuums…. All of a sudden we wanted these things….when more and more people had it, it became a need. It was hard to ignore the radios blaring at the next door neighbours! You could hear them laughing, singing, seeming to have much more fun that you sitting on your lonely porch while the crickets played that monotonous sound….oh, how you started to want a radio….you NEEDED a radio!! Prior to “radio” these things didn’t even really exist!! In todays world, the moment someone farts out an idea in tim-buk-tu someone will snap chat it, share it, giffyit, youtube it, twitter and Instagram it and before you know it the farty idea has a market value of a Billion dollars. 120 years ago, it was the radio that helped drive the market for entertainment, fueled for free by ads from vacuums and air conditioners. In 1925 someone found a way to transmit images – much better way to entertain people! The fuel of the “free” entertainment of course paid for by advertisers of frozen food, iron lungs….a microwave. Isn’t it interesting that all the things we need come from developing technology? If the radio never came to be, I am pretty sure we would all be content trotting around with our horses and stopping to fill our canteens with a bit of fresh stream water while on our way to our jobs at the artificial intelligence cloud based autonomous bitcoin CBT oil factory…… How big is your television? Mine is 60”. Oh and a 40” too. Considering a new one because they are bigger, thinner and sexier and the image is now 8000 pixels better than the current image – so I must be missing something. The Taylor Made M4 in my golf bag is new this year because the technology I saw on youtube proved that my drives would now land 18” closer to the fairway, thus increasing my odds of finding the new “VICE” golf ball that I bought for half price because ads on Facebook proved that it was less than half the price of name brand balls but equivalent quality. Someone is watching me!! CRM – the future is here for all of us Customer Relationship Management is all about finding those customers that you can develop a relationship with. Learning what your patients really want can be mined in your data, the same way Netflix knows what you like to watch! Using data in your charts to understand which treatment plans are most successful helps you narrow your focus with your patients. Helps you deliver the treatment they need and now they WANT. In many aspects, our healthcare is taking a leap through technologies really fast! How to be the dentist everyone wants…and needs Hard to believe, but when I started many offices were JUST STARTING to hire hygienists. Many patients went to see a dentist only when it hurt. That’s’ in MY GENERATION and I’m only 52! We started hiring hygienists in full force through the 80s and reminding people about a yearly visit for checkups and xrays. We mailed out cards and tried to phone people hoping they would come back for the yearly checkup. Many people needed to be convinced to change from “only when it hurts” to “prevention”. Now most offices are automatically reminding and reappointing patients every six months using technology. ideas to consider…. Are you wasting time trying to get MORE PATIENTS when you already have a MILLION DOLLARS in your charts? #1 IDEA. Quit spending money on marketing to people who don’t know you or care, and invest in the people who already like you. The patients coming to see you that aren’t showing up again…why? Are you sure you educated them properly – the treatment is needed, but do they WANT it? Did you pull out your intraoral camera to SHOW them, engage them, educate them? What if I come to your office and just tell you that you need a digital scanner and the price is $50,000. That’s it. Hopefully you buy it. I am good at what I do, and I know you need it – so hopefully next time I see you I am installing a digital scanner. The system for success may involve the following: Invest in RECALLMAX (formerly Recall System Pro) to automate your recall program. Use your program to MARKET your TREATMENT!! Invest in Intraoral cameras in every operatory. Especially in your hygiene during every exam. Keep the images linked to the patient chart and show the patient progress #2 IDEA. Continue to educate yourself. Considering how hard our profession tries to present to the general public that all dentists are the same, are these limiting factors to your success? It’s not just dentistry! Not all coffee is the same, and Starbucks does a pretty good job marketing their product and has line ups out the door with people ready to pay 30% premium for their coffee…. Not all your employees are the same – and you will always tend to appreciate and pay more to those that go the extra mile. They don’t “market” themselves…they simply keep doing a good job and get rewarded. Over time those extra skills they have learned become very valuable compared to the people they are “competing” with for a job…. That extra education and effort will always pay off in the long run. #3 IDEA. Believe in yourself. Most successful people take measured risks. Measured means believing in yourself and continuing to educate yourself. Don’t give up on your dream just because others try to hold you down. They may only like Vanilla ice cream and you are willing to work a little harder to get some salted caramel…. There are still stories of people that create products and succeed in a very short time…..check out the story of Endy!! A company started in 2015 and recently sold to Sleep Country…. Where you are going next is up to you….what do you want, and what do you need?