Dental Marketing Goat

Hosted by Gary Bird

Business Marketing Health Fitness Education

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Episodes

288

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to the Dental Marketing Goat Podcast, where we discuss proven dental marketing strategies that consistently attract predictable new patient flow to your practice.Whether you're a solo practitioner or part of a larger group, we'll provide valuable insights and actionable tips to help your dental practice thrive.Tune in as we explore the latest trends and techniques in dental marketing and how you can use them to drive predictable, sustained growth for your business.

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60 recent

August 12, 20263 min

#286 Leadership Layers is KILLING your Dental Marketing

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/48RHMt2🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/4p48qoC➖➖➖➖ Too many layers of management can quietly disconnect you from your patients and kill practice growth. Gary Bird breaks down how having four layers between leadership and the client created confusion, why removing just one layer made problems dramatically clearer, and why dentists should build working systems before adding more management. You’ll learn how organizational structure affects dental marketing, new patient growth, phone conversion, treatment presentation, pricing, and patient financing. Subscribe to Dental Marketing Goat for more tactical dental marketing and practice management strategies from Gary Bird and SMC.Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4jFhb5TPersonal: https://bit.ly/3SCEQZyWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://hubs.la/Q0436vZG0➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4jFhb5T🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

July 13, 20268 min

#285 Ten Ways to Be a 10 Out of 10 Dental Office...That Patients Will Love!

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/48RHMt2🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/4p48qoC ➖➖➖➖ Most dentists focus on clinical excellence while overlooking the patient experience, which is quietly costing them new patients and treatment acceptance.In this episode, Gary Bird shares 10 practical ways to build a practice patients genuinely love, including reducing the 28-day wait, improving front desk performance, using patient financing to increase treatment acceptance by 30%, and earning more Google reviews. Drawing from the systems SMC has implemented across more than 1,195 dental practices, Gary explains how these simple operational changes drive better dental marketing results, stronger practice management, and sustainable new-patient growth for fee-for-service, PPO, startup, and DSO practices.Subscribe for more tactical dental marketing strategies, patient growth systems, and proven practice management insights every week.✨ Timestamps ✨00:00 - Ten ways to be a 10 Out of 10 Dental Office that patients will love! 01:39 - 1. Don’t filter out patients.02:46 - 2. Don’t make patients wait 28 days to come in.03:45 - 3. Use patient financing with every patient.04:27 - 4. Don't make people wait in your lobby; have them wait in the chair.05:26 - 5. Don't treat insurance, treat the person.05:56 - 6. Train your team on customer service.06:25 - 7. Don't use a temp hygienist.07:14- 8. Treat your team well, so they'll treat your patients well.07:21 - 9. Get as many Google reviews as possible.07:58 - 10. Make sure you make your patients feel good.Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4jFhb5TPersonal: https://bit.ly/3SCEQZyWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://hubs.la/Q0436vZG0➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4jFhb5T🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

July 8, 20267 min

#284 Why We Charge 2X Our Competition

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/48RHMt2🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/4p48qoC ➖➖➖➖ Most dentists aren't losing money because they spend too little on marketing. They're losing money because they're paying for websites, SEO, and ads instead of buying predictable new patient growth.In this episode, Gary Bird breaks down the math behind successful dental marketing, including the marketing budget percentages that drive growth, why 45–55 qualified leads can become 30 new patients, and how phone conversion, show rate, and referrals determine your real ROI. You'll also learn why the cheapest marketing option usually becomes the most expensive mistake.At SMC, we've helped 1,195+ dental practices build predictable growth using real-world data, proven systems, and outcome-focused marketing strategies, not just deliverables.If you're serious about new patient growth, practice management, fee-for-service dentistry, DSO growth, or building a smarter marketing strategy, this episode is for you.Subscribe to Dental Marketing Goat for weekly, no-fluff strategies that help dentists grow faster and market smarter.Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4jFhb5TPersonal: https://bit.ly/3SCEQZyWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://hubs.la/Q0436vZG0➖➖➖➖ Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape. Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow? 📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4jFhb5T🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

July 1, 20265 min

#283 40% to 74% Conversion: Why We Switched AI Receptionists

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/48RHMt2🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/4p48qoC➖➖➖➖Most dentists assume an AI receptionist is either working or not working. The reality is that not all AI platforms perform the same.In this episode of Dental Marketing Goat, Gary Bird sits down with Dr. Jancy Parkerson to break down why they replaced their original AI receptionist and what happened next. You'll learn how one system converted around 40% of missed new patient calls while the replacement converted 74%, resulting in 17 scheduled new patients from 23 calls in a single month.If you're focused on dental marketing, new patient growth, phone conversion, practice management, fee-for-service dentistry, or scaling a startup or DSO practice, this episode provides a real-world case study with actual numbers and lessons learned.Gary and the SMC team work with dental practices across the country and continuously analyze what drives patient acquisition, phone conversion, and sustainable growth.Subscribe for more real-world strategies that help dentists grow faster.Connect with our Guest Here ⤵️Website: https://chattanoogadentalarts.com/Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4jFhb5TPersonal: https://bit.ly/3SCEQZyWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://hubs.la/Q0436vZG0➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4jFhb5T🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

June 29, 20263 min

#282 One AI-Scheduled Patient Paid for the Entire Year

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/48RHMt2 🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/4p48qoC ➖➖➖➖What happens when your practice stops sending missed calls to voicemail?In this episode, Dr. Shane Wingler shares how his practice implemented an AI Receptionist and what happened next.Over a five-month period, the AI answered missed new-patient calls, scheduled after-hours appointments, and helped recover opportunities that would otherwise have gone to competing practices.One patient scheduled through the AI Receptionist paid for the platform for the entire year. Then that patient scheduled their entire family.In this conversation, Gary Bird and Dr. Shane discuss:📌How the AI Receptionist handles missed calls automatically📌Why 19 out of 28 missed new patient calls still got scheduled📌 The real ROI behind AI phone answering for dental practices📌 How the AI supports front office team members during busy times📌 What patients experience when calling after hours📌 Why are practices using AI to eliminate lost opportunitiesIf your practice struggles with missed calls, limited front-desk capacity, or after-hours patient inquiries, this episode shows what is possible when every call is answered.Connect with our Guest Here ⤵️Website: https://carolinapinesdentistry.com/Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4jFhb5TPersonal: https://bit.ly/3SCEQZyWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://hubs.la/Q0436vZG0➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4jFhb5T🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

June 26, 202629 min

#281 How a $39 Patient Special Boosted New Patient Conversion and Treatment Acceptance

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/4vuWz6v🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/43lY2Ai➖➖➖➖Dentists don’t realize how many new patients they’re losing before the front desk ever picks up the phone.In this episode, Gary Bird sits down with Dr. Jancy Parkerson to break down how her practice booked 17 of 23 missed new patient calls using an AI receptionist, how a $39 new patient special led to a $10,000 cash case, and how membership plans are helping retain more fee-for-service patients long-term.You’ll learn how to improve phone conversion, optimize new patient specials, reduce missed-call losses, and create a better patient experience without adding more pressure to your team. Gary shares real-world data from SMC and tactical strategies dental practices can use right now to drive new patient growth.Subscribe to Dental Marketing Goat for more dental marketing, phone conversion, practice management, and fee-for-service growth strategies every week.Connect with our Guest, Here ⤵️Website: https://chattanoogadentalarts.com/Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4fxFOTIPersonal: https://bit.ly/4vAdu7FWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://bit.ly/4uku2zu➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4aAtM8x🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

June 22, 202617 min

#280 5 Ways AI Helped This Practice Grow

Send us Fan Mail🚀Free Resource: https://dentalmarketinggoat.com/resources/the-dental-practice-ai-operating-system/🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/4vuWz6v🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/43lY2Ai➖➖➖➖Most dental practices don’t realize how many new patients they’re losing to missed calls.In this episode of Dental Marketing Goat, Gary Bird sits down with Dr. Shane Wingler to break down exactly how AI is used in a real dental practice to capture missed calls, improve diagnostics, automate patient communication, and reduce front-desk overload.You’ll hear how AI converted 19 out of 28 missed new patient calls into booked appointments, how the team is using AI for x-ray diagnostics and insurance verification, and how simple automation is helping drive more new patient growth without adding more chaos to the schedule.Gary shares real strategies SMC is seeing across dental practices nationwide around phone conversion, AI receptionists, dental marketing, and practice management.If you want more new patients without overwhelming your team, this episode is for you.Subscribe for more tactical dental marketing strategies, real case studies, and growth systems from Gary Bird and SMC.✨ Timestamps ✨00:00 - Introduction to AI & Automation in Dentistry02:04 - Enhancing Diagnosis & Calibration with Overjet AI07:12 - Automating Back-Office Tasks with Overjet (Insurance, Charting, Notes)10:00 - AI for Internal Processes & Document Optimization12:32 - AI Agents for New Patient Acquisition14:22 - Team Empowerment & Personal AI ProductivityConnect with our Guest, Here ⤵️Website: https://carolinapinesdentistry.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwinglerdds/Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4fxFOTIPersonal: https://bit.ly/4vAdu7FWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://bit.ly/4uku2zu➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4aAtM8x🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

June 19, 202610 min

#279 AI Slop Is Destroying Your Marketing

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/48RHMt2 🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/4p48qoC ➖➖➖➖ Most dentists are using AI the wrong way, and it may be hurting their marketing more than helping it.In this episode, Gary Bird breaks down why AI-generated marketing content, graphics, website copy, and strategy often fail to attract new patients. You'll learn how to avoid AI slop, improve your dental marketing, create better ad creatives, upgrade website content, and use AI as a productivity tool without sacrificing performance.Drawing from real-world experience helping over 1,195 dental practices through SMC, Gary explains where AI works, where it fails, and why current AI tools consistently struggle with dental marketing strategy. He also shares practical ways to turn one photo into multiple ad assets, create AI-assisted visual content, and improve your marketing without damaging patient trust.If you're a dentist, practice owner, startup, fee-for-service office, or DSO looking to grow new patient flow, this episode will help you avoid one of the biggest marketing mistakes happening right now.Subscribe to Dental Marketing Goat for more tactical dental marketing, practice management, Google reviews, patient acquisition, and growth strategiesConnect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4jFhb5TPersonal: https://bit.ly/3SCEQZyWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://hubs.la/Q0436vZG0➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape. Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow? 📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4jFhb5T🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

June 15, 20266 min

#278 Negativity Gets 13x the Clicks as Positivity

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/4vuWz6v🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/43lY2Ai➖➖➖➖Most dentists think a negative Google review hurts their growth. The reality is that negative content gets about 13x as much attention as positive content, which creates an opportunity if you know how to respond correctly.In this episode, Gary Bird breaks down the psychology behind online reviews, why prospective patients read negative reviews first, and the exact response framework that turns criticism into trust. You'll learn how to stay HIPAA-compliant, avoid defensive responses, and use negative reviews to strengthen your reputation and attract more patients.Drawing on real-world experience at SMC and insights from working with 1,195 dental practices, Gary shares a practical strategy that every dentist can implement immediately to improve patient trust, online reputation, and new-patient growth.If you're serious about dental marketing, Google reviews, practice management, fee-for-service growth, and building a stronger practice, subscribe for more Dental Marketing Goat episodes every week.Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4fxFOTIPersonal: https://bit.ly/4vAdu7FWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://bit.ly/4uku2zu➖➖➖➖Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape.Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4aAtM8x🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events

June 12, 20264 min

#277 The Reason General Dentistry Mathematically Doesn't Make Sense in 2026

Send us Fan Mail🚀Check out our new Dental AI Receptionist! It schedules better than humans: https://bit.ly/4vuWz6v🚀Grow Your Practice with Cherry Payment Plans: https://bit.ly/43lY2Ai ➖➖➖➖If you're running a pre-COVID model, the math doesn't add up.Here's why it used to be easier pre-2020:• Fewer people were marketing.• Easier to drive new patients.• People had more money to spend on treatment.• Labor was a smaller percentage of the PNL.• Insurance reimbursed more; in-network actually worked.• Everything used to cost less. We've eaten about 29% of cumulative inflation since 2020.Here's what you have to do now:• Market aggressively; it's way more competitive, and your dollar doesn't go as far.• Build a real culture in your office. Your team will treat patients exactly as you do.• Go out of network in most cases, not everyone, but if you're trying to make the math work, staying in-network on every plan won't add up.• Present patient financing to every patient, every time.Dr. Blake Hamblin walks through exactly how to present patient financing without it feeling salesy in his CE course on My Dental Playbook:https://mydentalplaybook.com/courses/ce-series/patient-financing/Subscribe for more Dental Marketing Goat episodes covering dental marketing, new patient growth, Google reviews, phone conversion, practice management, and the real issues impacting dentists today.Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️SMC: https://bit.ly/4fxFOTIPersonal: https://bit.ly/4vAdu7FWant the strategies we talk about delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to Dental Marketing Digest: https://bit.ly/4uku2zu➖➖➖➖ Dental Marketing Goat is the go-to podcast for dentists who want to grow faster, market smarter, and build practices that thrive in today’s competitive landscape. Hosted by Gary Bird, the Dental Marketing Goat himself and founder of SMC National, recently named Best Dental Marketing Agency by over 60,000 dental professionals. Each episode unpacks the real strategies, marketing frameworks, and operational shifts that high-performing practices use to attract more patients and increase production. Whether you're a solo practitioner or scaling a DSO, you’ll learn how to align your marketing, team, and systems to drive predictable growth.🚀 Want to see how SMC can help you grow?📱 Book a call here:➡️ https://bit.ly/4aAtM8x🎙️ Check out our 3 Dental Podcasts ➡️ https://smcnational.com/podcasts/📅 Upcoming Events ➡️https://smcnational.com/events