-- A growing number of dental practices in the US and Canada have been forced to make some drastic decisions at an operational and business level to navigate through this pandemic, says Dentixtry, with a poll suggesting over 90% of practices either firing or furloughing their staff.
Small businesses have had no other option but to close temporarily to help curb the spread of coronavirus and flatten the curve, following local and state guidance outlined in late March and early April. Although dental practices could choose to remain open for emergency procedures, not all of them opted to do so. In fact, Dentixtry’s poll shows only 22,7% are temporarily closed, with the remainder 77.3% of dental practices choosing to take care of dental emergencies only.
Dental practices have been impacted by the pandemic as much as any other small business, a situation that is directly affecting their staff as well. Only 2.5% of dentists polled reported continuing paying a full salary to their team, despite the adverse economic situation. A further 5.9% fired their staff, while 13.2% furloughed their staff with a partial salary. The remainder 78.4% furloughed all or most of their employees.
It is not clear how much longer dentists can withstand this. In an effort to mitigate the economic impact dentists are currently experiencing, most dental practices have already cut back on business expenses, marketing being one of them. More than two-thirds of dental practices reported slashing their marketing budget during the pandemic by upwards of 60%. Some dentists even reported stopping all their marketing efforts during the pandemic.
For a complete summary and analysis of Dentixtry’s survey results, all interested parties can head over to the following webpage: Practicing Dentistry During COVID-19. To make the information more readily available and easier to understand, Dentixtry has also posted an infographic with its findings, which can be found on the same page at the end of the article.
A spokesperson for Dentixtry, Jorge Rodriguez, says “While this is a time where most businesses have to regroup and rethink their overall strategy, it’s certainly not a time to retreat and stop all marketing activities. Rather than stopping their promotional efforts altogether, dental practice owners should be decisive and strategic about where they invest their marketing budget.”
“Just think about it. Businesses that decide to stand still and drop their marketing efforts and wait for the pandemic to be over to turn their marketing back on will be miles behind those who stuck to their guns and kept promoting their brand despite the downturn. Then again, this is the best time to have a solid marketing strategy in place and you don’t have to break the bank to get a winning one at that.” Added Mr. Rodriguez.
Dentixtry, a boutique digital marketing agency, has been a provider of premium online marketing solutions for dental practices for over two years now. Its services portfolio includes everything a dental practice requires to effectively promote their brand to the right target audience, get a steady stream of new patients and get a positive return on investment.
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