On the party being over....

It's time to dig deep.

During the pandemic, many dentists have never had it so good.

For those suffering from burn out, that may sound surprising - even offensive.

The reality is that it has been raining patients for a good 11 months now and you have been getting paid extraordinarily well for the work that you do, NHS, plan or fee per item.

People have had scant choice on how else to spend their money - there's only so much DIY and gardening that you can do.

A dentist friend of mine observed recently that most of his Principal friends "are loaded at the moment" (his words, not mine).

As restrictions lighten, your patients are taking holidays and emerging from their domestic rabbit holes back, into hospitality, leisure, entertainment, sport, fashion, food etc.

Two points to make:

1. Less money for you as consumer spending is spread more evenly;

2. A likely increase in the quality of customer service overall, as businesses compete with each other for the consumer pound.

I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad when I suggest that we are heading back to the old days, when you have to compete in a tug of war for attention.

Can you even imagine how much advertisers and marketers are is going to invest between now and Christmas?

So now is the time, even when you are being advised to hold the line on SOPs, social distancing and Covid self-care, that you are also going to have to think about.....

MARKETING and THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE

Yes - they are back.