Shownotes
Let's flip the script! Typically, Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein pose the tough questions, delving into the latest trends and innovations that shape the world of orthodontics. But on this special episode of The Golden Age of Orthodontics, they're in the hot seat! With their podcast nearing an incredible 1.5 million views, they've invited Alison Werner, the sharp editor-in-chief of Orthodontic Products, to turn the tables and get their story.
Tune in as Alison uncovers the journey of "People in Practice" and how this father-daughter duo built a platform dedicated to helping orthodontists not just survive, but truly thrive in this golden age. Remember, as Dr. Leon always says, “There has never been a better time to be an orthodontist!”
IN THIS EPISODE:
- (00:00) Intro: Let's Flip The Script!
- (03:30) Meet Alison Werner
- (05:00) The genesis of starting the Golden Age of Orthodontics, renaming it to reflect a thriving industry and achieving nearly 1.5 million views
- (10:33) Father-daughter duo in business and the dynamics of family working together
- (14:03) Differentiating client practices with digital tools, focusing on patient benefits and favorite guests
- (26:02) The different types of orthodontic practices that People + Practice serves
- (30:03) The shift from DIY marketing to professional guidance
- (32:23) Subscribe to Orthodontic Products magazine
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- The podcast's shift from "Survival Guide" to "Golden Age of Orthodontics" signifies a reframe from merely coping with industry changes to recognizing and leveraging opportunities for growth and prosperity.
- Effective orthodontic marketing hinges on highlighting patient benefits derived from technology, not just the technology itself. The focus should be on the improved experience, not only the advanced equipment.
- People + Practice offers specialized digital marketing strategies designed to meet the distinct needs of orthodontic practices at every stage—from startups and those undergoing transitions to established practices seeking renewed growth and even those preparing for sale. In today's rapidly evolving orthodontic landscape, professional guidance is essential as relying on outdated methods or untrained staff is no longer sufficient to compete and ensure sustained growth effectively.
RESOURCE LINKS
Ep. 67 - Is Align Technology Still Committed to Orthodontists
Ep. 72 - Protect Your Practice With Trey Lawrence
Ep. 63 - Practice Embezzlement, What You Need to Know With Financial Forensic CPA David Harris
Ep. 59 - The Past, Present and Future of Orthodontics with Chris Benson
Orthodontic Products - Website
Orthodontic Products - Facebook
Orthodontic Products - LinkedIn
Unlocking Your Orthodontic Practice's Marketing ROI with Dr. Leon Klempner
KEYWORDS: Orthodontics, Golden Age Of Orthodontics, Orthodontic Products, Father-Daughter Duo, People In Practice, Dr. Leon Klempner, Amy Epstein, Alison Werner, Digital Marketing, Practice Growth, Business Of Orthodontics, Patient Experience, Emerging Technologies, Digital Footprint
Transcripts
[00:00:22] Shout out to our loyal listeners. In this episode, we decided to turn the tables. We invited a special guest to interview us. Allison Werner is joining us today. You may know her as the editor in chief of Orthodontic Products, and she's someone who knows our industry inside and out. Stick around in this episode where we pull back the curtain and let you in on our story.
[:[00:01:15] It's custom done right so you can focus on delivering amazing smiles. Find out how KL Owen can modernize your practice. Book a demo today and get $250 off when you mention people in practice to your representative Created by an orthodontist grin is redefining remote monitoring with a cost-effective solution that boosts practice efficiency while delivering personalized care for each patient.
[:[00:02:10] Intro: The future of orthodontics is evolving and changing every day, but although the way to achieve practice growth has changed, there's never been a better time to be an orthodontist. Let's get into the minds of industry leaders, forward-thinking, orthodontists and technology insiders to learn how they see the future of the orthodontic specialty.
[:[00:02:50] And now welcome to the Golden Age of Orthodontics with the co-founders of People and practice, Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein.[00:03:00]
[:[00:03:20] As usual, I'm joined by my partner and daughter, not in that order. Amy Epstein, Amy. Are you ready for the hot seat?
[:[00:03:47] And Alison Warner, a little bit about Alison. She is the editor of Orthodontic Products Magazine, both its uh, print and its digital editions where she has been covering the business and clinical [00:04:00] sides of orthodontics for more than a decade. She's interviewed just about every major player in the field of orthodontics, written extensively on the trends, shaping the industry.
[:[00:04:29] Thank you so much for being here.
[:[00:04:38] Amy Epstein - Host: Well, welcome. So with. Without further ado, we'll flip the mic over to you and, uh, and I guess, we'll, we'll answer honestly, whatever you have to throw
[:[00:04:53] Well, okay, so let's get started. How did the two of you decide to start a podcast? Where did that idea come from? [00:05:00]
[:[00:05:17] And at the time I was, uh, one of the state representatives for our, uh. Orthodontic society. So I decided to have like a town meeting and I brought together a few dozen orthodontists, all competitors, but we're all sat, played nicely together and, and shared our thoughts and ideas. And what I came away with is that everybody was nervous about their future.
[:[00:05:59] Amy Epstein - Host: [00:06:00] And I said, sure, let's start a podcast. And interestingly it was, um. It's the Golden Age of Orthodontics podcast.
[:[00:06:28] Oh, wow. Like people don't do that. Right. You know, because, uh, you know, baby has a name, whatever. Mm-hmm. But nine months in, she's like that baby and that name do not fit. And that's sort of what happened with us. We were, it was called the survival Guide for Orthodontists, bought the domains and every version of the domain or whatever.
[:[00:07:09] Alison Werner: Okay. Well, so now you've actually hit a major milestone. At the beginning of this year, you hit 1 million views on the podcast. So tell me, what does it mean to you to have what. Might be one of the most successful podcasts in orthodontics right now.
[:[00:07:35] To be honest, truthfully, I never expected it to be this popular. Um, so I do wanna give a shout out to, uh, our sponsors. We, we really couldn't do it without them, but, you know, we didn't, we didn't think it was gonna be like this, put it that way, Alison.
[:[00:07:55] He said, let's start a podcast. And I was like, you know, [00:08:00] okay. Like, uh, you know, we'll start a podcast. It'll be fun. We'll do it from our, you know, the basement. We'll have two listeners. You know, my mom and my husband probably. Um, no,
[:[00:08:15] Amy Epstein - Host: How family doesn't listen. But, you know, I think we, I, he didn't, he, he definitely had a vision for it.
[:[00:08:51] We can say, oh, we're seeing this here, or we were just at this, uh, trade show or whatever, and we're, you know, we're bringing that information in. And I think I took for [00:09:00] granted that, um, there was more cross communication among orthodontists than there actually is and it. Can be. It's such a demanding profession and there's so much going on in your own practice that getting information from the outside is not as easy as you'd think it would be.
[:[00:09:39] Mm-hmm. Um, and people were. Stopping us and, and like, you know, saying things, right. Doing the podcast mm-hmm. And asking questions or what, and I was taken aback because, you know, he's been around for a while. He's, if, if you, you've met him in person, but Yeah. Mm-hmm. My dad is very, very tall and he's also like easy to spot.
[:[00:10:17] Alison Werner: Well now I'm kind of curious, what's it like working together as a father and daughter and kind of hosting this as a team, and how did your collaboration come about initially?
[:[00:10:33] Amy Epstein - Host: Yeah, the agency came first. Okay. Um, the. The partnership, the skill partnership bit was an easy, um, logical thing, you know? Mm-hmm. He's got the clinical side and the business of orthodontics, and I've got the marketing and public relations side and running an agency side of the business.
[:[00:11:13] It's a balance. Yes, yes. This is the C-E-O-C-O-O dynamic. Um. But you know, we, we get along. Mm-hmm. Actually, my, my nuclear family, like my, my sisters, my parents, like, we get along. Mm-hmm. We're, we're like very lucky and I think among the rare groups of family as adults that, that really get along. Yeah. And so for us it's a, it's easy.
[:[00:11:41] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: So, I mean, you know, we have a lot of clients that are, uh, legacy practices where dads work with their sons and daughters, so they could relate to what I'm gonna say. Uh, but I can tell you it doesn't get any better for a dad to be working with.
[:[00:12:25] They're gonna come into the practice, we'll practice together. Uhhuh. So it started with Amy who decided No,
[:[00:12:38] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: no, no. Um, my, my youngest daughter, Jody. Wanted to go be a speech therapist, which she has become. Uh, but my middle daughter had some aspirations, didn't last that long.
[:[00:13:12] For us was we wanted to help orthos grow their practices with state-of-the-art marketing. And Amy came from a background of, uh, working with these large corporations that I. Did digital marketing and, and she showed me how to do it in my own practice. So we wanted to create something explicitly tailored to orthodontists.
[:[00:14:03] Alison Werner: Yeah. Well, okay, so now let's talk about the agency. So you've worked with practices, kind using a number of different digital tools. How do you use marketing? How do you use marketing, these digital tools to differentiate your client's practice from their competitors?
[:[00:14:30] And, um, you know, the Golden Age of Orthodontics podcast, we bring on a lot of technology providers and we try to talk about the tools available and that's why we think it's the golden age, right? We more than ever before, there's so many opportunities. Yeah. To be able to like, be an orthodontist in a really innovative, patient-centric mm-hmm.
[:[00:15:18] Yeah, exactly. And like, you know, the ones that have the gag reflex mm-hmm. A better patient experience. Right. So, um, my dad mentioned I came from, um, you know, working with large, large, you know, multinational firms and digital marketing. My, the first agency I ever worked at, I'm gonna give a shout out to Alan Isaacson, who was my boss and the, you know, um, CEO of a BI, which was my first job.
[:[00:16:07] Do not write about it. The media doesn't wanna hear about it until you can clearly articulate what the benefit is to the people you're trying to attract. Right? So it that, that, uh, forced me to rewire my brain where I constantly am like, it's like, okay, it's features and then benefits. Features and benefits.
[:[00:16:56] We need to highlight them, but mm-hmm. You know, first and foremost is [00:17:00] like, what is this going to do for you if you become a patient of ours? Right.
[:[00:17:21] Hmm. And, um, as Amy said, it, it's not the technology. It's the experience it creates for whoever you're looking to attract for those new patients. So, you know, our job is to, number one, help a a, an orthodontist, understand what they're good at and what their differentiator is, and then we can create the story.
[:[00:18:09] Alison Werner: Absolutely.
[:[00:18:24] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: Oh, Allison. So many. You know, I mean, I really feel so, uh, honored to be in a position to speak with such.
[:[00:18:51] Amy Epstein - Host: we had him on the show? Hmm. Work. It was in like, uh, I don't know.
[:[00:19:22] Oh my goodness. I can still remember everything about that recording. It's funny how those things stick with you. Yeah, they do, they do. It stuck with me, but, you know, for a different reason.
[:[00:19:39] He happens to be a real nice guy. Mm-hmm. And he is interesting to speak with and he's open to, you know, when, when I, when I brought him on, on, on this last episode, I, I always ask, is there anything that you don't want me to talk about or don't ask you? And, and he said, no, you could [00:20:00] ask me anything. And in this.
[:[00:20:27] Amy Epstein - Host: Yeah. Yeah. What about you, Amy? It's Trey Lawrence every time. He's just, he's
[:[00:20:35] Amy Epstein - Host: I mean, you know, he's so accessible. Mm-hmm. He's so knowledgeable. Uh, he, you know, general counsel and now the CEO of, of a mm-hmm. What you, there's, there's so much in there. He is, and he just, he's also. Similar to how we try to democratize the information that we're collecting.
[:[00:21:11] But it's always something new and always something valuable. Because if he says it, like, write it down man. 'cause it means something by,
[:[00:21:28] Amy Epstein - Host: Right, exactly. So we're gonna get it. We're getting it right from now on.
[:[00:21:34] Amy Epstein - Host: to Rey. Um, but you know, we, so Trey always, um, but you know, some of the other memorable episodes, at least on my side, um, have been ones that, um, are, are with less well known people in the orthodontic industry, let's say, but have very deep insights. Um, we talked about practice embezzlement once with a forensic, CPA, David Harris.
[:[00:22:20] Yeah. Um, so those, those always stick with me.
[:[00:22:26] Amy Epstein - Host: yeah. Yes.
[:[00:22:40] Alison Werner: Yeah. Well, you mentioned that getting a front row seat to all the news in orthodontics helps you be a better marketing company for your clients.
[:[00:22:55] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: Well, let me take that one. Um. First of all, we're not just [00:23:00] any marketing agency.
[:[00:23:04] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: Well, I'm not gonna say that, uh, you said that, not me. Send your emails to Amy at DP practice. Look, a, as much as it's hard for me to say, I've been in this industry for almost 50 years.
[:[00:23:39] Um, we, we stay connected and then we use, this is important that we use what we learn to promote our clients, highlighting their consumer value, tapping into trends around growth and scalability, and translating insights into effective practical marketing strategies.
[:[00:24:02] This happens to be the thing that I, that I was trained in and that like, I kind of, um, I just, I do, and now we do as an agency with every client is what makes us stand out is how we focus on making our clients stand out from their competitors in their community. So. You know, one, we, one thing we always do before we do any marketing for anybody, we don't run one ad until we figure out what the practices differentiated value is.
[:[00:24:55] Yeah. And we take that little nugget and we flesh it out and, and into [00:25:00] words. And those words are at the, uh, they're foundational to any advertising or social media or communication to patients in the office, whatever it is. It sort of speaks to that. North Star and which is usually very much a function of like the technology that they use or the culture in the practice or, and the culture in the practice.
[:[00:25:51] Alison Werner: Yeah. Well, you talked there about how every practice is different, so I'm kind of wondering what, how would you de, how would you describe the kinds of practices you do work [00:26:00] with at people and practice? Yeah.
[:[00:26:16] 'cause I just want to add that we spend a lot of time upfront before we. Put one, uh, ounce of energy into creating an ad or creating a logo or creating a website, because we first have to determine that proposition value and, and what that story is going to be. And the other part that is important is the competitive analysis.
[:[00:26:58] Uh, we're seeing a lot of startups [00:27:00] now. Um, they have, uh. You know, limited budgets. Some of them have, you know, coming out with considerable debt. Yeah. So we're very sensitive to that. So, you know, we have special programs that are designed to help practices get off the ground. 'cause we're looking for long-term relationships.
[:[00:27:19] Amy Epstein - Host: And those startups, you know, sometimes they're, they're ground up startups and sometimes they're starting out buying somebody's practice, but under a new brand or whatever. Right. But either way, they're, they're just starting their career and it's a different mm-hmm. Flavor.
[:[00:27:33] Amy Epstein - Host: Absolutely. Service opinion.
[:[00:27:35] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: So from there we work with, uh, all sorts of transitions. So let's say you're buying an existing practice, right? Or you're bringing on a new associate. So it could be very disruptive and very costly if the p uh, to the practice, if the communication. Isn't appropriately managed, and this is an area that Amy has a lot of expertise in.
[:[00:28:09] Amy Epstein - Host: Yeah. And our program, by the way, the, the transition, we have a lot. Transitions, they're, they're what happens in orthodontics, right? Yeah. Like people coming in, people going out.
[:[00:28:40] There was no better way, I think, to consider everything than to be personally invested Right. In the whole thing going well. It was like no stone unturned, no audience member, whether it was referring doctor, whether it was like, you know, the local pediatricians or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. What do they need to [00:29:00] know?
[:[00:29:18] Mm-hmm. That then led to like a very, very comprehensive. Program that then we could, you know, it's evolved over the years, but that was the, the genesis of the transitions communications programs that we do.
[:[00:29:37] Practices that are, are running, uh, at full steam. They've got their debt paid off. They've got some money in the bank and, and what they're seeing is their practices are leveling off or not growing the way they used to. And you know, I, I always counsel a lot, uh, a lot of new, new or perspective practices that, you know, [00:30:00] what got you here won't necessarily get you there.
[:[00:30:22] Alison Werner: Yeah.
[:[00:30:26] Alison Werner: that's a side of how times have changed.
[:[00:30:33] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: That was the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, now, you know, we have ai, we have all sorts of Yeah. Changes in the orthodontic business landscape. Things are moving. Quickly and, and, and fast. So, you know, you need some professional guidance just like you would in any other field.
[:[00:31:16] Your website, your Facebook page, things like that. So, uh, we help those, uh, practitioners that are looking to exit, uh, to shore up their numbers, to spiff up. Uh, they're digital assets to, uh, make it more appealing, uh, for sale and frankly, to get the most multiples if they're going to sell to a, uh, a corporate entity.
[:[00:31:41] Alison Werner: Well, I'm going to wrap it up there on my end. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to interview you guys. Um, Leanne, I've interviewed you for the Orthodontic Products podcast, so it's kind of nice to come over and play over here in your, your backyard, and so thank you. So much for having me. Yeah.
[:[00:32:05] Dr. Leon Klempner - Host: you, you, you made it very comfortable. Yes.
[:[00:32:16] Um, what is the best way, Allison, for a, one of our podcast listeners to subscribe to OP if they haven't? Yet done. Uh, so if
[:[00:32:39] And you can find all that on our website. Uh, we also have social media, LinkedIn, uh, Facebook, and then we also have the. Print magazine, uh, and you can subscribe to that as well on the, uh, on the website. And that comes out. We have nine issues a year and we cover everything from clinical to practice management and kind of how the [00:33:00] products that are coming out and are on the market affect your practice.
[:[00:33:23] And we have now one on the issue of Invisalign trademark and what that means for your digital marketing. So. Definitely check it out and you could subscribe to us on all your major platforms. Apple, YouTube, Spotify, and what's the other one? Amazon. So thank you so
[:[00:33:42] Um, you just like, you can subscribe to the OP podcast on all those platforms. You can likewise find us on them. And if you enjoyed this episode, we appreciate you telling a colleague about it. Um, and if you're listening and interested. In people in practice as a [00:34:00] marketing partner, we're offering something special, um, to new clients.
[:[00:34:27] You guessed it. PPL for practice.com
[:[00:34:55] Never been a better time to be an orthodontist. We're currently [00:35:00] in the Golden Age, so please take advantage of it. Thanks again, Allison, and bye for now. Thanks.
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