What can Cecil the Lion teach Dr. Walter Palmer and the Dental Industry?

As most of you know the controversy around the hunting of Cecil the Lion has been flooding media outlets for weeks now. This is directly resulting in massive amounts of traffic around Dr. Walter Palmer and the dental industry. The articles, stories and opinions being put out there have had more of a negative impact on the industry than I think we all anticipated.

To outsiders this may be seen as a hit against the dental industry, the people in the industry need to see this as an opportunity. After seeing what kind of bad PR has been floating around about Dr. Walter Palmer, the quality of his dentistry and what his patients are saying about him has resulted in the River Bluff Dental Practice in Minnesota closing, temporarily and perhaps long term. This doesn’t mean that your patients are going to act out in the same way, keep in mind this incident has had nothing to do with the fact that Walter Palmer was a dentist. It could have been Justin Bieber, Jennifer Aniston, Michael Jordan or anyone else and the media would have taken to them the same way.

With that being said pick up your activity, not only because now more than ever your practice needs to be seen.

This is an opportunity for dental practices to step up and take to social media, talk with your patients about any concerns they may have not only about topics that are circling Cecil the Lion, but about anything else. Has this entire controversy resulted in some of your patients thinking that dentists over charge patients for their own guilty pleasures? These are some of the concerns that have been put in the forefront of the industry since the hunting of Cecil the Lion. If this is the case, as doctors you need to have a conversation with your patient let them talk about their concerns about costs, listen to them because committing to a case with a high dollar amount is a legitimate concern.

Allow yourself to be seen as vulnerable with your patients by asking them questions and having real conversations. Doing so will increase their trust in you! After these conversations ask your patients if they have 2 minutes to write a review about what their experience with your practice was today. AMP can promise you that actions like these will promote your brand image in a way that huntings and bad PR wont matter.

Bottom line, don't use bad hits against the industry as an excuse, come out from hiding and use this as an opportunity!