Just as you take the time to carefully plan your treatments, we take the same approach and use a ten step plan to help you grow your private practice. You can implement the stages as quickly or as slowly as feels comfortable for you. We will work with you every step of the way ensuring you and your team feel supported as you make the changes necessary to grow your private practice.

Strategy

We start the process by looking at where you are now and exploring where you would like to be in the future.

Demographics

We take the time to understand who you are trying to attract and how your branding may need to change so your ideal patients find you and start treatment with you rather than your competitors.

Branding

Many people think branding is just your logo but it is not. Branding is all about the perception of dealing with you and the experience of treatment at your practice. It includes your logo, colours, typeface, brand voice and so much more.

Digital

Your website is a key part of your marketing but for many, their website has not been updated in a while and the message it conveys may no longer be relevant. We will support you to develop and update your website and to create an online presence you can be proud of.

SEO

Whilst we would all like to be top of page one for the services we provide, this is not always possible without paying for this coveted position. Optimising your website to improve how search engines list your site helps to put your services in front of more people.

Social media

Whether we like it or not, social media is an important part of your marketing strategy. We will help you to update and maintain your social media channels and to explore new ways to engage with more patients.

Community engagement

As business owners, we have the opportunity to work within our local communities to make a difference for something we find important. And in doing so, we increase the opportunities for people to encounter our brand and to learn about what services we provide.

Marketing

There is no one size fits all approach to marketing which is why we spend so much time with you and your team understanding your brand and how you provide your services. We will advise you on what approach will work best for you to achieve the objectives you have set.

Patient experience

It is important to create a fantastic patient experience, so much so, they tell everyone about it. We will help you to make some subtle changes to ensure your patients become raving fans for your business.

Patient advocacy

Who better to support the ongoing marketing of your practice than those who have experienced treatment with you. We will help you to find ways to encourage your patients to support your marketing.

Case study

We were delighted to receive this testimonial from Dr Robert Irvine, Specialist Orthodontist and owner of Borders Orthodontics

“I was happy with my level of income and my sphere of practice. I was aware we could do more private work and improve our profile but as a single-handed practice with a therapist, I was reluctant to be taken out of my comfort zone. I was happy with my staff and the good standard of service we provided. I was a Luddite to social media and marketing and was not into “ethical selling” viewing myself as an old school pre advertising professional. I was aware that my website was hopeless but didn’t care.

I was frustrated however at seeing adults who had had STO orthodontic options, provided locally, that was not up to the standard of care of a specialist orthodontic practice. I realised that I had culpability in this, as, how could I expect patients to know the difference if we didn’t tell them and they did not know we existed?

Being a predominantly NHS practice that provided some private adult orthodontic care it was clear that we just didn’t need internet traffic sent to a new website. We needed to change culturally as a practice and I needed to bring the staff with me, which would require them to feel involved and connected to the journey. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it but I knew that it was a change that I needed to take for the community at large, the longevity of the practice and provide a brighter more involving environment for the staff.

It was at Glasgow BOC 2019 that I bumped into Neil and Sarah from Hillyard MacDonald. I asked them to speak to my practice manager to get an idea of what she felt needed to change at the practice. We discussed our goals and their methods. They agreed to look at us and see if we were the type of practice they could work with and we arranged a follow-up meeting.

We have been in a partnership ever since with a shared goal of where we need to get to. We want organic growth of the private side of the practice, recognition and enhancement of our reputation as a friendly practice driven by quality clinical outcomes and a profile as the first place to come for orthodontic enquiries

This is exactly what Hillyard MacDonald deliver. Neil has immersed himself in the people and process of the practice identifying things we do well and areas that we need to address to improve patient enquiry and acceptance. We have had to ask difficult questions of ourselves. By putting the experience of the patient first and foremost we are moving to a position where our patients can do our marketing for us. 

Through the pandemic Neil was excellent in handling the comms of the practice enabling us to communicate with our patients making them feel valued and important to us, not abandoned. Despite most of our journey thus far being through a pandemic, the private income of the practice has doubled.

If you just want to drive traffic to your website then Hillyard MacDonald are not for you. If you want to improve the culture, turnover and pleasure of your practice life then give them a call.”