Practice Of The Month - Lockney Dental

Congratulations to our Practice Of The Month!

This month, we’re proud to share with you the story of Drs. Dennis and Tyler Lockney and their comprehensive, family dental practice in Concord, NC.

 

Lockney Dental doubled their new patient numbers within the first 3 months of working with Firegang and have become one of our most successful new clients.

Lockney Dental has been serving the Concord, NC community since 1992 and Dr. Dennis Lockey has been practicing dentistry for 30 years. About 2 years ago, his son Tyler joined the practice as a dentist and also took over their marketing efforts.

Dr. Tyler quickly realized they were wasting money on marketing that wasn’t working, their website was too dated, and they weren’t able to get the new patients they needed. He tried working with other marketing companies but became frustrated with the continued lack of results.

Lockney Dental came on board with Firegang after Dr. Tyler read a copy of our book: Grow Your Practice Online.

“We decided to give it a shot with y'all and so far it has paid off and it’s awesome. We doubled our new patients and I’m pretty happy so far with Firegang.” - Tyler Lockney, DDS, PA

Success “By The Numbers”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first thing Lockney Dental did in order to double its new patient numbers was to completely redesign its practice’s website.

Before Firegang could run any other marketing campaigns for Lockney Dental, their website needed to be able to turn online visitors into new patient appointments.

Lockney Dental’s Old Website

 

Website Designed By Firegang

Lockney Dental homepage website designed by Firegang Dental Marketing

Firegang focused on adding “conversion elements” to the website. These are features of the website that showcase why Lockney Dental is different than their competitors and also make the process of scheduling an appointment easy for new patients.

“We still had a lot of word-of-mouth referrals, but even when you get that, people go to your website and they look at it. If it’s trash, they may not show up. Our website is worth something to us. It’s the face of our company.” - Tyler Lockney, DDS, PA

Prove You’re The Best Dentist In Town

As a well-known community dental practice, Lockney Dental had a positive reputation in their community and with their current patients. However, potential new patients didn’t know that.

Patients were leaving positive reviews for their practice using Dentrix, but since those reviews weren’t integrated with Google, all those positive reviews might as well have been invisible!

The key to being able to leverage their positive local reputation was by making sure their online reviews were shared through Google.

Lockney Dental now has a coveted 5-Star Rating on Google with more than 70 positive reviews - 60 of them have been added since they started with Firegang!

Having a high amount of positive reviews helps Lockney Dental rank higher in Google searches and on Google Maps than their local competitors. Potential new patients can easily find their practice and automatically notice their positive reputation.

“A lot of our new patients tell me that they’ve gone online to read our reviews and they’re just raving about us. It [reviews] are increasing our Google ranking and at the same time, people are coming in just because of our reviews.” - Tyler Lockney, DDS, PA

Attract & Schedule The Exact Type Of New Patients With Online Ads

Once Lockney Dental’s new website went live, Firegang started to drive more potential new patients to their website (and ultimately into their office) using both Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

Using pay per click (PPC) ads on Google and Facebook is the best way to make sure your practice is attracting the exact type of new patients you want.

Below you can see examples of the successful PPC ad campaigns we’ve been running for Lockney Dental. Their PPC ad campaigns have generated 44% of the new patient calls to their office.

Facebook Ad

Google Ad

“In the first 3 months of this year, we’ve already had the same number of new patients that we had in the last 7 months. So, I mean, it’s doubled our new patient intake. Our online presence is killing it. We’re at the top of Google now and our Google Ads are at the top of Google too.” - Tyler Lockney, DDS, PA

Q&A With Dr. Tyler Lockney, Lockney Dental

What caused you to start your search for an internet marketing company?

Our online presence was just lacking a lot. I work with my dad so I joined his practice about 2 years ago. The practice wasn’t getting the patient flow that I thought we should. We were doing some other random outreach things like symposiums and stuff, but I’ve always kind of been in charge of the online marketing scheme.

We tried Sesame and a couple other [marketing] companies and they just failed miserably. I actually got an email that said something about your book. It said hey here, have a free copy, so I ordered it and got it for free. I was like, “This guy knows what he’s talking about”.

So then we set up another meeting with y'all to see what you could do for us. Y’all killed it in that presentation. You showed us all the stuff that I feel like our other [marketing] companies weren’t doing, didn’t even understand the algorithms of Google and the importance of being a trustworthy website.

So we decided to give it a shot with y'all and so far it has paid off and it’s awesome. I mean we doubled our new patients pretty much and we’re just yeah, I mean, I’m pretty happy so far with y' all.

What did you think about the overall process of coming on board with Firegang?

It was pretty simple for me because I’m relatively young and I sort of get the whole technological necessities of today’s marketplace.

For my dad, it took a little more time. I think once he dove in with y'all and saw the numbers and y'all showed us sort of the years behind it, that’s what made him realize he needed to do something different.

But it was a relatively smooth process. Y'all obviously demonstrated what value you had and what you could change for us where we were lacking. For me, it was a no-brainer. For the other people involved, it took a little bit of time but they’ve seen the results.

You have been with other marketing companies before us. What big concerns did you have coming into this with Firegang?

You know, one of the best things y'all did for us was basically that presentation. Because you interact with us in a way that the other companies have not. So that was awesome.

You really made us feel like we were important to you and you had really done a lot of investigative work on our website and on our reputation. And that’s just something that other companies didn’t do. It was a mystery the whole way through. They never did anything like that or told us how they were going to change things.

We have one guy who comes in once a year and says, “hey you want to re-up and revamp your [marketing] whole thing?” and I ask, “ok, so how are you going to do that?” and he can’t tell me anything about it. So, that’s what it was for me. That’s what sold me on [Firegang] is that these guys know exactly what they’re doing.

What big red flags or concerns did you have coming in that were holding you back from starting with Firegang?

Nothing for me. I think maybe just being disenchanted by former companies was probably part of it for the other people [in the practice]. Having tried other companies, like Sesame, I don't’ think we even looked elsewhere. I was so impressed with your book and with Firegang’s presentation that I was very hopeful and thought I knew we would get results and we have.

What was the onboarding process like for you guys with us?

It was pretty grueling. We had a start date set for the first week of January and we had a lot to do as far as pictures and bios and all that stuff. Our old website was trash. We had to get the domain transferred over, so it took a lot on my end and on our office manager’s end and especially on Firegang’s end, but it all came together.

We didn’t have everything in place when it very first started - like LocalMed and Podium - it took another few weeks to get that up and running. But, we saw results even just after the website was revamped, so it was good.

Give me an idea of what you guys started to see when we launched the site?

We still had a lot of word-of-mouth referrals, but even when you get that, people go to your website and they look at it. If it’s trash, they may not show up. It was just assurance that we were legitimate dentists and our website is worth something to us. It’s the face of our company.

What services did you sign up for with Firegang?

We got LocalMed, Podium, Call Monitoring & Coaching added onto our overarching marketing program with y'all.

How have you been able to attribute it back to Firegang’s marketing for your practice?

A lot of our patients, especially recently, even just today, tell me that they’ve gone online to read our reviews and they’re just raving about us. Initially, I think we lost about 25 or so reviews because Dentrix didn’t have them integrated with Google.

So, we just kept at it for a few days until we got Podium up and running and since we got Podium, I think we’ve already gotten 40 more reviews. That’s been pretty helpful because #1 it helps Google My Business activity stay constant, so we’re getting that flow. And it is increasing our Google ranking and at the same time, people are coming in just because of our reviews.

Overall, what was the experience of re-working your website?

Our former website was pretty awesome...for the early 2000s. But I think they [my Client Success Manager] made a Google file for me and I just went around (we had just renovated the office right before we started marketing) and took a bunch of pictures on my iPhone and dropped them into the Google drive.

I sent Becky [my CSM] an example website that we liked that y'all had done for Anchorage Midtown Dental and I really liked that site, so I asked if they could make ours mimic that one. I gave them all the pictures, the bios, and all that stuff and they just made it happen. So, for me, it was relatively painless. All I had to do was submit a few things and tell you what I liked.

Has Becky worked with your staff on your phone coaching yet?

She has. As much as she listens to phone calls and we’ve had a lot of interaction with her, but she’s been very positive about our staff and the way they handle the phones. She honestly thinks we don’t need a whole lot of call coaching and she’s learned a lot of things from our front desk.

Kari [our Office Manager] has been doing it for almost 20 years now, so she knows what to expect when she picks up the phone and how to work with people. A lot of our patients know her, so they know who they’re talking to. But, yeah, I think as far as call coaching goes, it’s probably something we’re going to drop in the next few months because it’s pretty much there.

What’s been your experience with Becky, your CSM?

Oh, it’s been awesome, man! I remember when we were struggling with our last company there was at one point I got somebody on the phone - our rep - and told them, “I know you have like 5 different departments. Give me our point of contact for those departments, give me their emails and numbers”.

With Becky, it’s a whole different story. It’s so nice having just one point of contact and she does the rest. It’s a huge relief and it makes the work on our end so much less and we understand that y'all outsource certain things to certain people that you trust and they do a good job with it. So, we’ve been very comfortable with that. It has been really easy for us. I love it.

You mentioned this whole program [with Firegang] was a little expensive. Can you speak to that?

It takes money to make money baby! Sure, we got all the bells and whistles and that’s just part of it, so you know if you want to do big things you have to invest. You have to do your research and find a [marketing] partner that works with you.

I wasn’t worried about the price because we had been paying for yellow pages and other things that have not worked well. So, that was money wasted. This money [spent with Firegang] was going to be very well spent and it has been so far. I have no qualms with that.

What would you tell those that are on the fence [about Firegang]?

Keep struggling with the horrible companies you’re working with if you don’t want to see results. But, seriously, if you’re on the fence, just go for it. If it doesn’t work out you can always do something different.

But, I’m so happy that we moved forward because we’ve had fantastic results and we haven’t had to struggle and it’s not a mystery. It’s all been taken great care of. If you’re on the fence, just go for the presentation. I think it was like, $400-$600, whatever, and you get to keep that presentation so if you feel like you can do it yourself, then don’t hire Firegang.

But I’m telling you, you’ll get fantastic results if you stick with it and do what they tell you to do. We’re well ahead of a lot of other dentists in our area, probably most of the dentists in our area, because of the advice and work we’ve done with Firegang.

What would you say to a dentist who is considering a marketing company saying they can do what Firegang does for a lower cost?

I have personally worked with Sesame, Officite, and some of these other companies. They do not do what y'all have done for us. And y'all demonstrated your value from the start and you’ve executed on that value and you know, I’m just very pleased. I haven’t gone back and compared production, but it is definitely going to be a lot higher.

The service y'all provide for us has paid for itself easily. And we’re just building the practice, you know, for another dentist to be here. Hands down, the best experience we’ve ever had with any SEO company. I’d say your reputation proceeds you.

Anything else you want to add?

We haven’t been running any more new patient specials because of the volume we’re getting now. So, if we had more chairs and more dentists here, then we might add more new patient specials to our website. We just can’t handle the volume yet. If things slow down, maybe we’ll throw a new one in.

“The service y'all provide for us has paid for itself easily. Hands down, the best experience we’ve ever had with any SEO company.” - Tyler Lockney, DDS, PA

Thank you for your kind words, Dr. Lockney, we really appreciate your partnership. You have been an amazing executor of what we’ve asked you to do in your dental practice and that’s why you’ve seen such stellar results!

We value your trust and are proud to partner with dentists like you to help you attract and schedule the patients you need to continue to grow your dental practice.

Lockney Dental is one of our favorite examples of the exact type of partnership we look for in our clients and we look forward to seeing your practice continue to grow!

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