The Word of Mouth Podcast

Opkie
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  • Marketing

The dental industry is splitting. Routine care is facing an insurance squeeze, while the high-value digital dentistry market is exploding. If you want to stay ahead of the curve and grow a profitable practice, you need to know what’s actually happening in the market. Welcome to The Word of Mouth Podcast—your weekly newsdesk and strategy playbook for the modern dental practice owner. Hosted by Jeffrey and Sarah (with occasional drop-ins from Troy), we cut through the noise of the dental internet to bring you the business, tech, and macro-economic trends shaping clinical practice today. You don't have time to read every trade journal, so we do the heavy lifting for you. What to Expect: The Weekly Breakdown: Rapid-fire analysis of current events, ADA policy updates, shifting labor models, and the dental economy. The Tech & Trends: Deep dives into the clinical innovations driving practice growth, from AI diagnostics and 3D printing to the changing landscape of DSOs and private equity. Clinical Founder Interviews: Sit-downs with top-tier dentists to reverse-engineer how they built premium clinical brands, attract high-value cases, and create an unmatched patient experience. Whether you are looking to transition to Fee-For-Service, attract high-ticket implant and aligner patients, or simply understand where the market is heading next, The Word of Mouth is your trusted weekly briefing. Hit subscribe to join the conversation and build a practice that thrives in the modern dental economy. Topics Covered: Dental Practice Management | High-Value Patient Acquisition | Dental AI & Digital Dentistry | DSO & Market News | Dental Marketing Strategy | Case Acceptance | Clinical Leadership Connect with Us: 🌐 Website: https://opkie.com 📱 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opkie/ 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@opkiebiz 🎙️ Want to be a guest? Book an interview with us here: https://link.opkie.com/widget/bookings/wom-pod-interview

  1. 2 days ago

    The 4 Patient Levers That Actually Grow a Dental Practice | WOM 032

    Most dental practices already have the patients they need to grow. The real question is how much of that growth a practice can run by itself. Jeff and Troy break practice growth into four levers: getting patients to arrive, come back, say yes to treatment, and send their friends and family. You'll hear why that work falls through the cracks in busy practices, why one thoughtful reactivation campaign can replace months of paid new-patient acquisition, and how one reminder-text mistake cost a practice a family it had served for ten years. Want help building this for your practice? Book a call with Opkie: https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth

  2. 8 Oct

    The Good Neighbor Method: What Dentists Can Learn | WOM 031

    Six out of ten new dental patients never come back for a second appointment. Most practices respond by spending more on ads. State Farm responded to a similar problem a hundred years ago by doing the opposite, and it became the largest auto insurer in the United States. In this episode, Jeff and Troy trace the 1922 origin of State Farm to show why the referral model that built that company still outperforms paid acquisition for independent dental practices. You'll hear why independent practices can see 50 to 70% of new patients come from referrals, why DSO-style marketing strategies are structurally misaligned with what most dentists actually want out of their practice, and why the "just spend more" answer almost never closes the retention gap. If you want to talk through where your practice stands on the relationship-vs-acquisition spectrum, book a free call at https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth.

  3. 1 Oct

    How to Raise Treatment Acceptance, Retention, and Referrals WITHOUT Ads | WOM 030

    Most dental practices are chasing new patients online while thousands of dollars walk out the door every month. Trust is the one metric that fixes treatment acceptance, retention, no-shows, and referrals at once. Joe Girard holds the Guinness World Record for car sales, the least trusted profession in America, and he did it by refusing to sell. He built relationships so strong that at his peak, 13,000 past customers were getting his monthly note, and referrals were the only business he accepted. In this episode, Jeff and Troy break down exactly what Girard did, why it works in dentistry, and what the numbers look like when a practice actually commits to it. The gap between an average practice and a trust-built one is not a new ad campaign. It is a set of small, consistent behaviors most dentists are already positioned to do and simply are not doing. In this episode: 📊 Trust-built practices see treatment acceptance rates over 80%, vs. the industry average of 35-60% 📉 Average practices lose 43% of patients by the 18-month mark; trust-built practices hold retention in the 80s-90s 📨 Girard sent 13,000 monthly postcards at his peak, with one message: "I like you." No ask. No offer. 🤝 The average practice generates 25-40% of new patients from referrals; trust-built practices exceed 50% 📅 No-show rates average up to 15% industrywide; trust-built practices see under 6% CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction: the world's greatest car salesman 02:41 - Why trust beats tactics in dentistry 04:16 - Joe Girard's referral method: the 250-person rule 07:15 - The "golden moment" and how to earn referrals at the right time 09:34 - Consistent follow-up: the postcard strategy and what it means today 13:29 - What "extraordinary service" actually looks like in dental practice 17:06 - The numbers: trust vs. average practice benchmarks 21:44 - Why trust is becoming the defining dental practice differentiator in 2026 KEY TAKEAWAY: Dentists see patients 2-3 days a year. What happens the other 362 days is what separates a practice people recommend from one they simply return to. Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss an episode. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. Interested in talking with Opkie? Book a call here for a free practice market analysis: https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth #DentalMarketing #DentalPracticeGrowth #PatientRetention

  4. 10 Sept

    The 3 Lists Every Dental Practice Has (and Almost Nobody Uses) | WOM 028

    Your patient list is worth more than you think, and most practices barely touch it. Every dental practice has three owned lists by default: email, text messaging, and direct mail. Patients on those lists already gave you permission to reach them. But most practices only send appointment reminders and templated birthday texts, and then wonder why inactive patients don't come back. In this episode, Jeff and Troy break down what owned traffic actually is, why it outperforms paid and organic for relationship-building, and what it looks like when you use it well. One client ran a real reactivation campaign to their inactive list and generated 100 appointments and $100,000 in production without running a single ad. Want to see what this could look like for your practice? Book a free call: https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth

  5. 27 Aug

    People Over Algorithms: The Referral-First Marketing Framework for Dentists | WOM 026

    Most dental practices are stuck in a Sisyphus loop: pay for ads, get patients, stop paying, lose patients. There's a different path. Jeff and Troy make the case that sustainable practice growth comes from people, not platforms. You'll hear why dentists have a community advantage most businesses can't touch, how to identify the specific communities your practice already belongs to, and why the line between "marketing" and "advertising" is the most expensive blur in dentistry. From language communities to medical crossover interests to staff bowling leagues, the referral opportunities are closer than most dentists think. Ready to see what that looks like for your practice? Book a free call at https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth

  6. 13 Aug

    More Patients Won't Save Your Practice: The Numbers Behind Successful Marketing | WOM 025

    Most dentists chase new patient count. But that number won't tell you why your take-home pay keeps shrinking. Jeff and Troy break down the marketing metrics that actually matter: what your insurance write-offs are really costing you, how to measure patient lifetime value by segment, and why a single well-run specialty campaign can outperform years of volume-focused marketing. Plus: the one number every practice owner should be optimizing for, and it isn't new patients. Book a free practice market analysis at https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth

  7. 6 Aug

    Dental Insurance and In-House Plans | WOM 024

    Dental insurance annual maximums haven't moved in 50 years. Premiums keep climbing. And every write-off you accept to stay on an insurance panel is quietly functioning as a repeat marketing cost, one you pay again on every single patient visit. In this episode, Jeff and Troy break down why in-house dental membership plans are one of the most underbuilt tools in a practice's marketing strategy, and how to design one that works for both the patient and the practice. What you'll learn: Why the insurance model is your most expensive form of patient acquisitionHow to structure a membership plan that targets the patients you actually wantWhy cookie-cutter plans underperform and what to design insteadThe real math: a patient paying less out of pocket while you earn more per visitWant to talk through what this looks like for your specific market? Book a call here: https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth

  8. 31 Jul

    Google Ads are the New Yellow Pages for Dentists | WOM 023

    Most dentists know Google Ads aren't working the way they used to. Costs are up, patient quality is down, and their agency keeps saying the same thing: refine the keywords, spend more. Jeff and Troy have heard this from every dentist they've talked to. And they've heard it before, just with a different channel. That's the Yellow Pages story, and it ends the same way. In this episode: why the Google Ads model is following the same collapse arc as Yellow Pages, how the "sameness trap" makes every practice look identical online, and what the practices that are actually growing are doing instead: relationship-driven, non-scalable strategies that compound over time instead of stopping the moment you pause the campaign. One practice. One patient. Twenty-three referrals. All staying long-term. That's the model. Want to talk through what this looks like for your practice? Book a free market analysis at https://opkie.link/Word-Of-Mouth

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About

The dental industry is splitting. Routine care is facing an insurance squeeze, while the high-value digital dentistry market is exploding. If you want to stay ahead of the curve and grow a profitable practice, you need to know what’s actually happening in the market. Welcome to The Word of Mouth Podcast—your weekly newsdesk and strategy playbook for the modern dental practice owner. Hosted by Jeffrey and Sarah (with occasional drop-ins from Troy), we cut through the noise of the dental internet to bring you the business, tech, and macro-economic trends shaping clinical practice today. You don't have time to read every trade journal, so we do the heavy lifting for you. What to Expect: The Weekly Breakdown: Rapid-fire analysis of current events, ADA policy updates, shifting labor models, and the dental economy. The Tech & Trends: Deep dives into the clinical innovations driving practice growth, from AI diagnostics and 3D printing to the changing landscape of DSOs and private equity. Clinical Founder Interviews: Sit-downs with top-tier dentists to reverse-engineer how they built premium clinical brands, attract high-value cases, and create an unmatched patient experience. Whether you are looking to transition to Fee-For-Service, attract high-ticket implant and aligner patients, or simply understand where the market is heading next, The Word of Mouth is your trusted weekly briefing. Hit subscribe to join the conversation and build a practice that thrives in the modern dental economy. Topics Covered: Dental Practice Management | High-Value Patient Acquisition | Dental AI & Digital Dentistry | DSO & Market News | Dental Marketing Strategy | Case Acceptance | Clinical Leadership Connect with Us: 🌐 Website: https://opkie.com 📱 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opkie/ 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@opkiebiz 🎙️ Want to be a guest? Book an interview with us here: https://link.opkie.com/widget/bookings/wom-pod-interview

Information

  • Creator
    Opkie
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Opkie