The typical dentist has a typical office in a typical building. Not Dr. Roemer, who's one-man dental practice is inside the Iowa 80 Truckstop, at Exit 284 of Interstate 80. A complex which claims to be the world's largest truck stop.
Dr. Roemer - truck stop dentist - did what we all need to do. Realize that in desperate times, creativity and innovation is the only way that we'll survive and succeed. His actions provide lessons that any marketer would be proud of:
• observe and learn from your customers - the doctor noticed that many of his patients from his former practice called from the Yellow Pages ad he ran, and were in the phone booth from the Iowa 8 Truckstop.
• make it easy and convenient for people - there's a steady flow of 35,000 people who pull into the truckstop each week
• be the solution they turn to when they need you the most - for his patients, treatment isn't an option, they need to see a dentist right away.
• create a new business model - away from the traditional practice built around cleaning the family's teeth, to providing immediate relief
• get people talking about you - word-of-mouth is the primary way truckers learn about the doctor (more credible, and a lot less expensive, than advertising).
I'm thinking "Truckstop Doc" franchise.
Farewell to Twitter
4 months ago
Cool idea. Google has to be one of the most innovative companies out there. Love their description of Google labs - Google's technology playground.
ReplyDelete"Google labs showcases a few of our favorite ideas that aren't quite ready for prime time. Your feedback can help us improve them. Please play with these prototypes and send your comments directly to the Googlers who developed them."
They're not only listening to feedback, they're encouraging it.