Gain Power in Your Business Through Your Moral Authority

As more and more professionals, such as doctors and dentists, get introverted into the mechanics of how to have a successful practice, and thus engaging in all kinds of healthcare and dental marketing, they have forgotten the most important power of their business: Moral Authority. Real power in the world or workplace is not the technology or the weapon power you possess but the moral authority that you possess. It’s understandable why business owners forget this. I know that it’s easy to forget, since it seems so important to have the best technology and professional skills in all businesses.

It is the ‘moral authority’ that has more power than all the technical skills and years of experience a person has. What is moral authority?  It just means that your moral image that you portray to the world is strong and unbending. Being known for a person who stands for certain virtues, being known for a person who gives help with no vested interest in mind, being known for a person with certain ethical standards – this perceived image alone will attract enough people to you and your business and thus make it safe for people to trust you with your recommendations.

While there are many ways to portray this image inside your business by a great customer service department, the most important way to portray it is outside your business by getting involved in your community.

I have been advising dentists and doctors to not try to put out ads that talk about their diplomas. People aren’t looking for the dentist with many diplomas or the sales person with 50 years of experience. People are looking to do business with people they can trust and they can like.

Begin by doing something to improve your community.  Whether it’s helping the elderly, the poor, supporting schools and children, anything that makes a positive impact on your community will make a big difference for your business. (This article is not here to sell any program but you can find some free ideas at our Un-Advertising blog.)

The personal likable dentist will always get more business, will always be able to charge more for his service than the technically perfect, but socially not well-known ( and thus not well-liked) doctor. And that’s the way it is. Even if this dentist does online dental marketing, he still needs to portray through his web sites or videos etc that he is not only into ‘making money’ but he is there to provide real education to the public on dental health (not just superficial descriptions of what he is selling.)

It is all about perception. It is the perception people have about you that counts, and this perception must be about 5,000 times stronger than you think it should be.

If you think that your authority, your reputation, your being recognized is great, but you are not having all the good paying customers to fill your business to the rim, then the perception of the people around you about you being an authority is not strong enough.

People elect presidents of countries, choose doctors, lawyers, car mechanics, and spouses, etc. by personal liking of their character – by what is the perceived moral image.

It may surprise you to know that Harvard’s MBA program doesn’t even admit students who don’t actively participate in their communities and social events.

Check it out – the Dean of Harvard has talked about this in an interview on a Charlie Rose show.

Remember: In any profession like a dentist, for instance, do not depend only on traditional dentist marketing to ‘convince’ a prospect to come to you. Establish a strong moral authority in your practice through letting the community know about your good work and let them spread the word-of-mouth for you. We called this ‘Un-Advertising’. You will see that attracting a higher quality customer pool would not be so difficult once you have established that moral image through the help of other powerful entities around your business.

Tags: dental marketing, dentist marketing, online dental marketing, un-advertising