An Opportunity Too Big To See

If you go anywhere in Africa, even to some of the most remote areas, you’ll find signs for Bata shoes. In fact, in many places, their market presence is greater than that of any other retailer or product. How did this European company come to be so successful there, to the point where Bata shoes are known as “the shoes of Africa”?

The story behind how that is an interesting lesson in perception. The details vary, depending on which source you go to, but the main part of the story is that in the late 19th century, just as colonial Africa was opening up as a marketplace, a number of manufacturers and retailers — including many providers of shoes — sent representatives to the continent to assess the potential market.

Practically all the shoe sellers came back with the same report: “There is no market in Africa. The people don’t wear shoes.” All except the rep from Bata, who reported, “There’s a huge potential here. Nobody wears shoes!” To this day in Africa, the name Bata is synonymous with “shoes.” Talk about capturing mind share!

This is an example of a lot of people missing a tremendous opportunity because it was too big and too obvious to see. I’m reminded of this whenever I hear a dentist say he or she just doesn’t have the right patients or team for doing a lot of comprehensive dentistry. In other words, they’re saying, “There’s no market for comprehensive care. My patients just want what insurance covers.”

However, the patient who only values tooth-based dentistry is exactly the kind of patient who needs to learn more about the value of comprehensive care. This is exactly the kind of patient who represents your greatest opportunity to be more effective as a dentist.

Of course, you’re not going to get every patient to accept better care every time, but if you’re committed to the idea of always diagnosing and presenting at your highest standard to every patient, regardless of what preconceptions you have about whether they’ll accept, you will eventually see movement. Many patients will start to revise their idea of what dentistry is and you will see acceptance rates rise.

Being thorough and uncompromising with the patients who don’t (yet) value dental care highly is probably the biggest opportunity every dental practice has. It’s so big, you may not even notice it’s there, but it is your Bata.