The Business of Dentistry – A Seven Part Series: Part 3

Positioning

Positioning your dental business is an important element to competing successfully in dentistry. There are 2 types of competitive advantage—compete on price or compete on perceived value. Competing on price typically occurs in mature industries where beneficial cost positions can be attained. Competing on price is great for consumers and bad for businesses because it drives down the price points for the industry and only those with a competitive cost position can survive. Competing on perceived value is simply about positioning and delivering on what you promise.

• What do you do best?
• What would you like to do?
• What will be important in the future?
• How do you want your practice to be perceived?
• High tech
• Cosmetic
• Fixed and removable
• Conservative full-mouth restorations
• One-stop shop
• Spa dentistry

How you position your dental business is your choice, but it is a choice that you have to make. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can serve everything to everybody; you can't. Don't make the mistake of positioning your practice in isolation. To mitigate the risk of intense competition, you should perform some competitive intelligence. You don't want to position your business as the high-tech dental practice, if there are 5 other high-tech practices in a 2 mile radius. Differentiation is the key to success.

When a market lacks differentiation, price becomes the only factor and commoditization and low profits are the result. Differentiating from your competition and delivering what you promise are the keys to your success.

Look for Part 4, Coming Soon: Segmentation!