How am I, a dental marketing consultant, like a smile makeover dentist?

I'll get to myself and smile makeovers by starting with story most dentists will recognize - how logos are like one tooth: A potential patient has explained on the phone that they have a tooth that hurts. The patient schedules an appointment and comes to the dentist's office. They are somewhat aware that the dentist has special skills. However, they really don't know what that means from a practical standpoint. Anyway the dentist does a complete assessment - and then proposes a treatment plan.

The dentist maps out for the patient that 10 posterior teeth and 8 anterior teeth will need to be restored to make that one tooth stop hurting. The dentist's expertise tells him or her to do this even though he/she could just "fix" (in quotation marks) this one tooth: like other dentists might or this expert dentist might have years ago before he/she got this expertise.

Then the dentist says it will cost $18,000. After overcoming sticker shock, the patient says, "No. I want this one tooth fixed and that is it and I want it in a hurry."

When a dentist calls me and says, "Give me a logo and how much does it cost?"  I can just give them what they want, even crank out a cheap logo. There is probably nothing unethical about it. However, I really don't do just logos anymore, which is one tooth of your marketing treatment plan. I create dental brands. That is my expertise. I say it will be X number of dollars.

Many dentists walk away and look for a marketing company that cranks out - one-tooth brands. The dentist feels good they got a logo at their price point. Does it do anything significant for them? Probably not - like restoring one tooth in a mouth in need of much more.

But just as your patients might walk in with expectations that are not based on your expertise, I ask that you have an open mind that I could have more to add to your concepts of dental marketing health than what you walked in with.

Obviously, you can go to most any design group online and get a logo, but we are not all designed equally. Just as other dentists tell me - not every dentist has the same level or kind of skills. For a logo you have many choices - for a dental brand, the choices are far fewer.

For more on dental brands, read my article, "Do you need a brand or a logo?"