Lin-Manuel Miranda concludes his iconic musical ‘Hamilton’ with a piece titled, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.” The song causes the audience to reflect on why certain people in history are remembered, while others are forgotten. It draws them in, and includes them in the drama and to discover personal meaning through the experience.
One of my favorite quotes from Peter Drucker is, “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself… The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous”.
When I first read this quote, is was a true “a-ha” moment for me; it completely shifted my paradigm about marketing while simultaneously connecting it to L. D. Pankey.
And then the light went came on: L.D. Pankey was one of the greatest marketers in the history of all dentistry. Ditto Pete Dawson. Ditto Frank Spear, and others who never ran a single ad or hired a “image consultant”.
They simply were who the were, and they clearly communicated it -in person. And always consistently and in a fashion that many others eventually wanted to hear what they had to think- and after that- to see what they could do.
in other words, they were very good at telling their own story, and through that narrative others learned, grew and repeated it in their own ways. Dentists, patients, community leaders, and others did this over and over because they, as Drucker said, “knew their audience” and therefore made “selling superfluous”.
So, that needs to be our goal as well, if we are to thrive in this rapidly-changing marketplace. Our story must be told by ourselves, by our Care Team, by our patients, and by those who have heard about it second hand.
How will this be done? By first clarifying our philosophy and Vision to the level that it is “in our tissues” as L.D. used to say. And then, by breaking down barriers to honest authentic communication, by being patient, and by caring enough to wait for the teacher to appear for each and every person.
So, ‘Who tells your Story’ is ultimately up to us.
Are you ready?
Paul A. Henny, DDS
Thought Experiments LLC, ©2018
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