Establishing a Clinical Advisory Board Is One of the Best Decisions I've Ever Made for My Business. Here's Why. I've always believed that you should surround yourself with people who have different skills and abilities than you do, and fortunately, I've been able to do that through the team we've built and our clients.
By Jackie Cullen Edited by Chelsea Brown
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Our marketing agency is anything but "average." We don't churn out content or try to sign anyone and everyone as clients. Instead, we value quality and only work with people who share our philosophy. I'm extremely proud of the relationships we build with our clients and the marketing we produce for their dental practices, but I'm constantly looking for ways to do more and be better. I've always believed that you should surround yourself with people who have different skills and abilities than you do, and fortunately, I've been able to do that through the team we've built and our clients. That is also the reason my agency has a Clinical Advisory Board.
Related: How To Create An Effective Advisory Board
Why we have a Clinical Advisory Board
Our Clinical Advisory Board, or "the CAB," as I like to call it, is made up of some of the most successful dental professionals in the industry who have agreed to share their experiences and expertise with us as well as with other practices that are interested in taking their marketing to the next level. The CAB allows me and my team to dig a lot deeper than some other marketing agencies are able to and really address the issues that dental practices in particular are facing in the marketplace.
While I have over two decades of experience in marketing for the dental industry, neither my partner Shawn nor I am a dentist in today's economy. When I was working in the corporate world, doing the marketing for a national dental laboratory, I noticed one lab was collaborating with a doctor as a resource. That partnership stuck with me, and when I started my own company, I wanted to recreate that same type of alliance, knowing that it could only be beneficial to me, my company and the dental practices I would be working with.
We started the Clinical Advisory Board at my agency because we wanted to relate to our clients, their experiences and their actual needs more fully, and we also wanted some oversight from real clinicians. We use the CAB as a sounding board and a resource to deepen our knowledge of the current state of the dental industry and what is happening in the various markets my company serves across the country.
Related: The Benefits of Bringing in an Advisory Board
How the Clinical Advisory Board benefits our business
To establish the CAB, we invited some of the most engaged and successful dentists we know to participate. It was important for me to have professionals in the field provide feedback on marketing. We wanted a group of dentists we could call on to answer clinical questions and to help us take our marketing beyond what is typically "expected." I knew that having this group of clinical advisors to work with would distinguish our agency from other marketing agencies that rely solely on their general marketing experience and don't delve deeper into industry specifics.
Having the CAB keeps us on the cutting edge of dental marketing. The dentists who participate give us information about what is happening right now and what trends they are seeing among their patients and within their individual markets. Not only is this valuable information from a business standpoint, as it allows us to be far more competitive than we would otherwise, but it is also valuable for the dental practices we work with. The information we get from CAB members helps us anticipate our clients' needs and gives us more authority in our decision-making.
I'm not the kind of person who settles for what is acceptable. I always want to strive for more. When it comes to my company, my team, and the way we do marketing, I'm not afraid to ask for a clinical opinion. It's the best way to perfect our craft and be more effective. Sharing the information I receive from our CAB members also keeps me accountable to my current and potential clients, because I cannot put something out there I don't fully stand behind.
There is always something new to learn in marketing and in dentistry, which makes the CAB an extremely useful resource. Without it, we would definitely have less of a competitive edge. Establishing the Clinical Advisory Board for our agency is one of the best decisions my partner and I have made for our business.
