Finding your perfect target market

increase salesJonathan Fine explains how to increase sales at your practice by finding some extra curricular activities.

In this article I am going to describe an incredible opportunity to anyone selling luxury services including high-end dental work.

The opportunity comes in the form of a group of people who have begun to take their pensions while still earning, and earning more than ever. They have a double income and don’t know what to do with it – they are ‘double bubblers’.

Let the story begin

Here’s some context: my first job was in January 1976 and my salary was £2,250 basic, a £280 performance bonus, very tired company Ford Escort 1.1L and a weird thing called a final salary pension scheme, which I would become eligible for after three years’ service.

Now I am 58 and not surprisingly I have lots of pals of a similar age. Most expected to retire in their mid-50s and die before 75, so the very sensible and serious chaps were obsessed with building income for their last 20 years on earth.

These chaps – me among them – were Maggie’s boys. Many were remarkably successful at building their incomes to levels unimaginable to their parents’ generation as a result of Thatcher’s policies. As the 90s came and went and we entered the noughties, something else was happening.

We started taking care of our health. We became empty nesters and for most of us retirement was of limited interest. 

Maggie’s boys spent most of their lives scrimping and struggling to pay the mortgage and pay for the kids and holidays, then suddenly wham! No kids, no mortgage, and they’re at the top of their earning capability, plus they have a pension, quite possibly a final salary one! More income, less expenses.

Down to business

So what has all this got to do with dentistry and your practice? Well, we already know that 50 ‘plusers’ provide the majority of the lucrative restorative work in UK practices. What we perhaps have not focused enough on is the double bubblers and the opportunity is to engage directly with them.

The vast majority of double bubblers probably enjoy a stable relationship with a dentist of their own age and view the relationship as the same kind of relationship they have with their general practitioner. They go when and if they have problems or for check-ups. Few have the remotest idea what is available from a gifted dentist surrounded by 21st century technology.

The big opportunity here is to mobilise this wealthy cohort who have learned quickly how to become self indulgent and are now most interested in themselves and their health.

How to target double bubblers

  1. Understand their mind-set: these people have recently discovered that money can buy happiness! They are very keen to spend on the basis that it improves their quality of life or even extends their life – on both counts it does not have to be very much, it just has to be more. They are often reassured by a higher price; these guys are not hunting for bargains – they gave that up yonks ago – they want quality, superiority and confidence and are happy to pay for it, they actually feel very good about paying for it
  2. Become part of their world: join them at their golf and tennis and sailing clubs, make this environment your platform. Why? The kind of dentistry I’m proposing here must be seamlessly analogous with the values and attitudes of this exclusive club world. It should be dentistry that not only makes you look more attractive but is actually great for your overall health
  3. Forge strategic brand alliances: everything from your corporate identity to your website needs to look as though Louis Vuitton has moved into dentistry. Critically there has to be a high level of strategic alliances with retailers selling to the same segment.

If you can hit the right tone and deliver remarkable service delivery a fortune awaits you, I promise. If you would like to target this group please contact me, I’d love to help.       

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