LEADING THE RINGWAY

How Dr Stephen Dodd turned an outdated dental practice into a sought-after clinic

DR STEPHEN DODD

Dr Stephen Dodd is an award-winning and experienced dentist and owner of Ringway Dental, a luxury private dental clinic with a focus on cosmetic dentistry. With a special interest in cosmetic dentistry, specifically porcelain veneers and implant dentistry, the clinic also covers every aspect of dental care including hygiene, emergency dental care, orthodontic treatment, as well as crowns, bridges and fillings.

In February 2021, whilst the Covid-19 pandemic was still at large, I decided to take a risk and take over an outdated dental practice in the hopes of turning it into a place I’d envisioned ever since I started my career.

I wanted to create a luxury, state-of-the-art destination for dentistry, where your trip to the dentist felt less like a chore and more like a luxury VIP experience – something that people looked forward to, rather than dreaded. In just two years, Ringway Dental has gone from two members of staff (myself and a receptionist) to a team of over 20. We constantly have a waitlist and have people travel from all over the country to visit us.

Here are some of the reasons why I think we’ve had the success we have so far and my advice to those wanting to build a thriving clinic, whether that’s within dentistry or beyond.

1. WORK OUT YOUR VISION

The very first thing I would recommend doing is thinking about the long-term vision for your practice. What is your specialism? What do you do better than others? Who is your ideal patient? Once you have the answers to these, it’ll help shape and form every area of the business. For example, one of my goals when creating Ringway Dental was to treat our patients in the same way a 5-star hotel would treat their clients. I wanted to offer a first-class service and, as a result, that has influenced the way we do everything -from our branding design to all the different patient touchpoints, to technology investment, etc.

2. INVEST IN TEAM TALENT

It’s perhaps a cliché, but it’s with good reason – the number one factor behind our success is hiring and investing in the right people. Our team is passionate about what they do and will go above and beyond to ensure our patients receive the highest standards of care. We also have very high standards when it comes to the level of cosmetic dentistry we offer. We hire others who view it as an art and who understand our level of perfectionism with each case.

3. PRIORITISE THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY

With consumers being more careful than ever about how they choose to spend their money, ensuring they feel valued, comfortable, and welcome at your clinic is paramount. We’ve tried to ensure we deliver this to patients from the moment they touch base with us – whether that’s a speedy response on social media, a follow-up text/email to confirm their appointment details after they’ve given us a ring, or ensuring our reception staff greet every person walking into the clinic with a warm smile and offer them a drink. We’ve also implemented various patient feedback strategies so we’re continuously improving our service. For example, we encourage patients to leave their feedback on Google – it’s obviously public but it makes us accountable. We now have over 700 5* Google reviews, which has grown from around a handful when I first took over the practice. By putting patients at the heart of all we do – and making sure their best interests drive all we do – our satisfaction levels are high.

4. DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE LITTLE TOUCHES

Branding was a hugely important aspect to us when we developed Ringway Dental. We invested quite heavily in this area as we wanted a striking brand identity that truly reflected our premium offering – and that could transcend from bricks and mortar to online. We’ve utilised the design assets amongst lots of little touches throughout the clinic. For example, our reveal mirrors all showcase our logo (creating a perfect social media ‘moment’), our patients leave with a branded folder containing all the info about their proposed treatment plan, and rather than using the supplier’s branded bags for our aligners, we put these into a luxury branded bag for patients to take away with them. We’ve found that patients love these little extra touches.

5. COLLABORATIONS, CROSS-REFERRALS, AND NETWORKING

One of our big successes has been working with other local companies with a patient base like our own but are non-competitive. We’ve often set up free consultations in their offices so people can come down when they have a break and see what we have to offer. It’s working incredibly well and the subsequent patient bookings after these consultations have been brilliant.

6. ADAPT YOUR PRACTICE TO SUIT THE NEEDS OF THE PATIENT

Going back to point one of working out exactly who our ideal patient is, we used this information to inform certain practices within the clinic. For example, we’re actively targeting working professionals. These individuals often can’t come for their dental or hygienist appointments in the middle of the day, so we offer several late evening appointments each week so that it’s convenient for them. This is just one example of how we’ve adapted our clinic to suit the needs of our target patient. Being visible in the right areas, at the right time, has been instrumental to our success.

7. NEVER STOP LEARNING

As a clinic owner, it’s vital to stay informed about the latest developments and advancements in dentistry. The team and I are continuously developing our knowledge, whether that’s by going on courses to learn about the latest techniques or attending conferences to hear about new technological advancements. Education is key and ensuring we stay at the forefront of dentistry is vital to ensuring we continue to offer our patients the very best care. We also like to learn/take inspiration from outside of dentistry. For example, if we stay in a nice hotel, or if we have a fantastic meal at a restaurant, we think about what elements we can take from those experiences that we can apply to our own business model. Doing this has undoubtedly helped shape the company’s offering and ensures our services remain fresh and interesting.

8. LOVE WHAT YOU DO

Creating a thriving dental practice requires many things but at our core, the main reason behind our success is that we really love what we do, and we do it to a very high standard. Defining exactly what our vision was from the start of our journey has allowed us to actively work towards making this a reality. I think it also needs to be said that blood, sweat, and tears are required – it’s not an easy business and there are times when difficult decisions have to be made, but ultimately if you stay true to your original vision and have a very clear idea of where you want your business to get to, you’ll be successful.