We can do for any business what we do for orthododtists' and plastic surgeons' practices, but we don’t proactively seek other businesses as clients. I spent many years working for clients like The Coca Cola Company, Nokia, General Electric, Exxon, Time Warner, Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and  General Motors  just to name a few.  The work consisted of relationships with employees that you would know from a distance and that at anytime could and would be replaced by someone new. You never got to work with the person behind the mission and strategy of the company. 

When we started Ascendgence we naturally started working with businesses that we were close to like our dentist and our lawyer.  I immediately felt the difference in excitement and passion that the small business owner /practitioner had over the big corporate employee.  It wasn’t like “real work“  for us.  It was a partnership that we both had a real stake in. The practice was an extension of the practitioner and it was personally important to them.  It was their passion. This was very much different than working with a single cog in the big machine of a large corporation.  I worked with very good and conscientious managers, who did their best to do what was best for the company, but the passion wasn’t there. Now we only work with passionate people.

As a matter of efficiency we could work for a year or two on a few corporate clients, land one and be profitable instantly.  Five to ten Fortune-500 clients would make us very profitable.  However, the desire and our decision to work with small businesses/practices meant that we would need to have many clients to become successful.   Why did we decide to focus on orthodontists and plastic surgeons?  There were a few reasons:

1. The $5000 patient.  A new orthodontic patient represents $5000 revenue on average. Orthodontists get referrals but not much return business. Braces are a onetime deal.The plastic surgeon, for the most part is in the same boat. Most patients are interested in fixing a particular problem. They want a breast augmentation (boob job), a rhinoplasty (nose job), an abdominoplasty (tummy-tuck) or other types of facial surgery.  While facial surgery can go into the $15,000 to $20,000 range, most of the plastic surgeon’s procedures are in the $5,000 to $8,000 range. So, the reason this is attractive to us is that we can easily prove our worth.  If we increase new patients per month by 2 or 20 it is accountable to us.  If we can bring 1 new patient to our orthodontist client each week, that’s 52 new patients a year and an increase in revenue of $260,000. The ROI we provide the practice and our value? – It’s a “no-brainer!”
2. Another reason is that these practice areas are both involved in elective procedures, at least for the most part.  The clientele is typically middle class or higher and educated.  This demographic also represents a high density of search engine users.  That means that we can affect this group’s decision making more effectively than any other demographic.
3. The top professionals in these practices work in very competitive markets, where fun, flash and impression are very important.  The dashing plastic surgeon and the fun orthodontist have to think out of the box to maintain top of mind in their markets.  They have to push the envelope to take market share. Regardless of their politics, these two practice areas are not conservative about their promotions and public relations, at least the practices that are leading in these markets.  If an orthodontic practice is a very quiet “coffee table and magazines” kind of office, they may not be  competitive today.  The most successful orthodontist I know has a full blown movie theater in his office, in addition to the wide screen TV/game room his staff bake the most incredible chocolate chip cookies all day long. He makes it “a blast” to go to the orthodontist.  When you walk into a plastic surgeons office, it better look sophisticated. You want to know that your doc understands beauty, fashion and is very detail oriented.  Nice art, expensive knickknacks, the finest fashion and health & beauty magazines are available. The furniture is very nice – very “now.”   At the plastic surgeon my family member used for her breast augmentation, there was a dimly lit room off the waiting room with free pedicure, manicure and waxing services. Patients came early and bragged often. This is one of the highest volume breast augmentation specialists in Houston. He is far from the cheapest but is considered one of the very best.

We at Ascendgence are marketing people at heart.  We work with people that are willing to shred the envelope; ready to leave the box behind and never look back and who are fearlessly resistant to the comfort of conformity. The high rollers in these two practice areas are just great people to work with.  We work with the best professionals of these two practice areas, orthodontists and plastic surgeons, because it’s fun, it’s energizing, it’s non-stop, and rewarding in every way.