“We Ought to Lean Into Partnerships”: How Josh Rich’s Reveals Why Dental Practices Need Clerri to Win
What happens when a health tech executive laid off abruptly from his job tries to do the right thing by getting dental coverage for his family through the insurance exchange, spends extra on premiums for what he thinks is robust coverage, shows up for his dental appointment with his wife and four kids only to discover that his insurance has a six-month waiting period that means all five family members’ visits are out-of-pocket, stands at the front desk as a puddle on the floor realizing he just got bills for thousands of dollars he can’t afford to pay, and then hears the front desk lady almost whisper “we have this thing called a membership plan that would save you a lot of money”?
Josh Rich does exactly that, and the moment he learns that a membership plan would have cost less per month, provided more value, included everything immediately with no waiting period, and applied all discounts right away, he can’t believe he’d never heard of it before—and realizes that this is exactly why membership plans matter. Over 70 million Americans don’t have any dental coverage at all. Membership plans are cheaper and better than individual insurance plans for uninsured and underinsured patients. And they’re far more profitable to the practice than PPO patients or cash-pay-only patients. That personal experience becomes his north star when he joins Clerri, the dental industry’s leading membership platform, after 15+ years in health tech (starting at Solution Reach as employee 106 at a company that grew to 800 employees, learning the dental and eye care markets, and watching firsthand how the right technology transforms provider practices).
In this transformative conversation, Josh reveals the staggering financial impact of converting cash-pay patients to membership patients: a 76% increase in visit frequency, 176% increase in treatment acceptance, and 2.6 times fewer no-shows. He walks through why Clerri’s multi-layered team approach (dedicated onboarding specialists, long-term support reps, patient-facing renewal teams) drives higher enrollment and renewal rates than competitors. He shares the most underutilized membership growth strategy: positioning the membership plan as an employer benefit for small businesses in your community (retail stores, coffee shops, trade companies) who aren’t offering dental to their employees—creating a pipeline of highly profitable, loyal patients. He explains Clerri’s groundbreaking integrations coming soon (including a native partnership with Cherry Patient Financing that shows pre-approved financing amounts in real-time so practices can help patients say yes to treatment), and most powerfully, his golden nugget: don’t do practice ownership alone—lean into partnerships, relationships, and advisors who’ve been down the road before, because getting to where you want to go is best done surrounded by people who believe in you, not in isolation.
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Key Moments
- 02:00 – Josh’s personal membership story: Laid off, needed family dental insurance, discovered membership plan after getting socked with out-of-pocket bills
- 06:00 – Aha moment: Membership plan would have been cheaper, better, with no waiting period—why didn’t he know about this before?
- 07:30 – Josh’s background: 15+ years health tech at Solution Reach (employee 106 to 800-person company), now Head of Partnerships at Clerri
- 15:00 – The numbers: Cash-pay patients to membership = 76% more visits, 176% more treatment acceptance, 2.6x fewer no-shows
- 17:30 – Clerri’s multi-team approach: Onboarding specialists, long-term support reps, patient-facing renewal teams driving higher enrollment and retention
- 19:00 – Most underutilized growth strategy: Position membership as employer benefit for small businesses (retail, coffee shops, trade companies)
- 23:00 – Game-changer coming: Clerri + Cherry Patient Financing integration shows real-time pre-approved financing amounts so patients can say yes to treatment
- 26:00 – Golden nugget: Don’t do practice ownership alone—lean into partnerships and relationships with people who believe in you and have been down the road before
Episode Summary
Josh Rich’s path to understanding the power of membership plans started with personal crisis. He was laid off from his long-time employer and needed to get health insurance for his family on his own through the exchange. Not wanting to cheap out, he spent extra on premiums for what he thought was a robust dental plan. Two and a half months and several premium payments later, he scheduled dental appointments for himself and his entire family—only to have his hygiene visit go perfectly (no cavities, everything looked great) before discovering at the front desk that his insurance had a six-month waiting period. That meant every single visit—his wife’s, his four kids’—would be completely out-of-pocket. Here he was, unemployed with limited money, standing at the front desk of a puddle on the floor realizing he owed thousands for five family members’ dental visits. Then the sweetest front desk lady leaned over and almost whispered “we have this option called a membership plan that would save you a lot of money.” Josh was shocked—why wouldn’t that have been the first thing offered? He quickly learned that the membership plan would have cost less per month for his entire family, provided more value, included everything immediately with no waiting period, applied all discounts right away, and had no out-of-pocket maximum where he’d have to cover the rest himself. He realized he’d never heard of dental membership plans before, and it changed his perspective entirely on why they matter.
This experience informed Josh’s entire career trajectory in health tech. He had spent 15+ years in the space, starting at Solution Reach as employee 106 at a company that grew to 800 employees. He started as a business development executive creating partnerships with industry leaders and driving brand awareness and sales. He also worked in the eye care market, learning how similar practice formats (appointment-based) could function quite differently in reality. When Jim Higgins, the founder of Solution Reach, became CEO of Clerri, Josh saw the opportunity and knew he wanted to be part of it. He understood firsthand that there were over 70 million Americans without any dental coverage, a growing need for consumers losing insurance or unable to afford it, and a tremendous opportunity to help expand access to care through technology. The context matters: membership plans are far more profitable to the practice than PPO patients or cash-pay-only patients, and they provide better value to patients. For Josh personally, the membership plan was cheaper and better than his individual dental insurance plan, and it would have been an infinitely better situation than having no coverage at all.
At Clerri, what makes them the leading membership platform is their people and their segmented team approach. Josh emphasizes that while it sounds cliche to say “we have great people,” Clerri really does go over the top in taking care of practices. They have teams segmented based on stage of implementation and practice size, with dedicated functions so they understand the nuances of what individual practices need. The onboarding team is dedicated just to helping practices navigate decisions about customizing membership plans, providing guidance and best practices specific to their region, market, and goals—helping practices determine which types of plans will be most effective, what price points make sense, what benefits drive patient retention, and how to maximize profitability. Once onboarding is complete, practices work with a long-term support rep who helps them make changes as needed and knows all the best ways to drive enrollment. There’s also a patient-facing team dedicated to answering patient questions about the membership plan and reaching out at renewal time to make sure patients understand the value they’re getting so they choose to renew. The result is higher enrollment rates, higher renewal rates, and a customized approach that adapts as the practice evolves through different stages (growth mode versus maintenance mode).
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
- Clerri:Dental industry’s leading membership platform with dedicated onboarding, support, and patient-facing teams
- Josh Rich’s LinkedIn Profile: Find Josh on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram
- Solution Reach: Josh’s former employer (15 years), health tech platform that grew from 106 to 800 employees
- Last Week’s Episode with Erin Glending: : Previous Marketing 32 Show episode
- Marketing 32: Performance-based dental marketing agency with growth guarantee
Quotable Moments:
“I’m standing at the front desk and the sweetest front desk lady leans over and almost whispers, ‘We have this option called a membership plan that would save you a lot of money.’ I said, why didn’t you start with that?” – Josh Rich
“There are over 70 million Americans without dental coverage. And membership plans are far more profitable to the practice than PPO patients or cash-pay-only patients. It’s a win for everybody all the way around.” – Josh Rich
“Cash-pay patients that move to a membership plan see a 76% increase in visit frequency, 176% more treatment acceptance, and 2.6 times fewer no-shows.” – Josh Rich
“Clerri has teams segmented by stage of implementation and practice size so we understand the nuances of what individual practices need.” – Josh Rich
“Most practices focus on converting existing patients to memberships, but the most underutilized approach is positioning the membership plan as an employer benefit for small businesses in your community.” – Josh Rich
“Membership plan patients feel more invested—they behave like PPO patients because they have something unique to the practice driving retention and visits and case acceptance.” – Josh Rich
“We’re rolling out patient-facing tools to help patients understand the value of recommended treatment and how the membership plan helps them access that care affordably.” – Josh Rich
“Clerri’s native integration with Cherry Patient Financing shows pre-approved amounts in real-time, so practices can have confident conversations about treatment financing without guessing whether patients can afford it.” – Josh Rich
“Practice ownership is especially a lonely proposition. Dentists research shows can feel very lonely, isolated, or siloed. There’s value to be had in not going it alone.” – Josh Rich
“We ought to really lean into the relationships and the partnerships and the individuals in our lives that can help us be our best selves. Getting to where you want to go is best done surrounded by people who believe in you.” – Josh Rich
Key Action Items:
- Understand your patient mix: How many cash-pay patients do you have? How many are on PPO plans? What percentage have no dental coverage at all?
- Calculate potential upside: If even 50% of your cash-pay patients converted to membership, what would that mean for your visit frequency, treatment acceptance, and profitability?
- Research membership platforms: Clerri is the leading option, but understand what they offer: onboarding support, long-term support reps, patient-facing renewal teams, integrations with financing partners
- Talk to Clerri: Contact josh.rich@clerri.com or visit clerri.com to discuss whether memberships make sense for your practice
- Map your local employers: Identify small businesses within 10-15 miles of your practice (retail, coffee shops, trade companies) who likely aren’t offering dental benefits—these are your employer membership prospects
Episode Sponsor:
This episode is brought to you by Marketing 32—the only dental marketing team with a performance guarantee where if you’re not growing, you don’t pay. Marketing 32 is truly invested in adding value to your practice and working with doctors they know they can over-deliver for. Marketing 32 helps you build the patient acquisition piece of that vision through strategic online presence, content creation, and growth campaigns. If you need help with marketing and growth, reach out at marketing32.com for a quick 15-minute discovery call to see if it’s a good fit.
Episode Transcript:
Brett Allen (00:24)
Hi, Brett Allen here, host of the Marketing32 Show, where I connect with leading dentists, dental influencers, and industry experts to uncover the latest and greatest for your practice to help you guys grow and thrive. This episode, as always, is brought to you by our team here at Marketing32. We’re the only dental marketing team that I know of that’s truly invested in your growth, and we have a performance guarantee that if you’re not growing, you don’t pay us. it’s really that simple. We
like to pride ourselves on being the most ethical and honest in the marketing space for Dennis. And everything we do is tied to how we can help you grow. ⁓ that said, we don’t work with everybody. And so we do qualify and find a good fit to see if it’ll be a good fit for both of us. And if you need help with growth, head over to Marking32.com, set up a call, and we’ll have that conversation. Quick shout out to Erin Glending, recently had her on the show. We had a
Fascinating discussion about the principle of reliability in business and how the weak points ⁓ in your operations can erode ⁓ profitability and your team. That’s a really awesome thing ⁓ concept that she helped us uncover there from her background in corporate America and how it can impact dentistry. So check that episode out. Excited to have a new friend on the show, Josh Rich. He is the head of partnerships at Clerri.
The dental industry’s leading membership platform. Josh has fifteen plus years of leadership experience in the health tech space and has seen firsthand just how impactful the right technology can be for providers of all specialties. Josh loves to spend time with his wife and four kids exploring the amazing mountains of Utah. Welcome to the show, Josh. Excited to talk with you about memberships.
Josh RIch (02:10)
Thanks, Brett. Really great to be here.
Brett Allen (02:13)
Yeah, we’ve had a couple others on the show and I think it’s it’s a big thing in dentistry, this whole concept of adding memberships as a revenue stream for the practice and having more control ⁓ and and predictability with your revenue. So ⁓ excited to go deeper with you and learn more about Clerri.
Josh RIch (02:34)
Yeah, no, I appreciate that. And it is it is a topic of discussion ⁓ that we hear more and more all the time. And ⁓ I if it’s okay, I would love to just share my story of how I learned about membership plans in the first place. Like long long before I was Yeah, long before I was ever with Clarity. Yeah. So some time ago I was unfortunately laid off abruptly from
Brett Allen (02:50)
Yeah. Yeah, let’s start there, for sure.
Josh RIch (03:02)
my employer that I’d been with for a long time and found myself needing to get insurance for my family, not through my employer, but on my own through the exchange. So wanted to do the right thing and not just get health insurance, but get dental coverage as well through the exchange. So I looked for a plan that I thought was going to be a good fit. I wanted to make sure that we didn’t get something too cheap. So I
Brett Allen (03:14)
Yes.
Josh RIch (03:32)
Decided to spend a little extra on premiums for a plan that I thought would be robust for our family. Well, fast forward maybe two or three weeks, I had a dental appointment that I needed to go to. ⁓ by the time I had my appointment, my wife had had her appointment there already, and my my ⁓ four kids. So
After my exam is over, my hygiene visit, which went well by the way, no cavities or anything like that. I’m standing at the front desk, and the sweetest front desk lady you’ve ever met in your life is shuffling some papers and ⁓ has kind of a confused look on her face and keeps going back into an off, you know, into a room ⁓ behind her desk, and and then finally she says, you know.
Brett Allen (04:02)
Nice.
Josh RIch (04:25)
Josh, it looks like the insurance that you have has a waiting period ⁓ that doesn’t kick in for about six months. And I said, well, can you explain that to me? And she said, Well, basically that means your dental plan is no good for six months. And I said, Well, well, I said, hold on for second. I’ve been paying premiums for, you know, two and a half months, so there’s there’s no
Brett Allen (04:44)
you had to like await from
Josh RIch (04:54)
benefit at all to the my visit and she says, Well, Josh, not only is there no benefit to your visit, but your wife’s previous visit and Blake’s visit and Bennett’s visit and Cooper’s visit and Lucy’s visit, you’re gonna have to pay out of pocket for. And so at that point
Brett Allen (05:05)
And you kids?
Like it would have been great
to know this before I scheduled the appointment.
Josh RIch (05:19)
And keep in mind, keep in
mind, like I’m unemployed, so you know money’s money’s limited at that time. So I’m a I’m a puddle on the floor at this point. And she leans over the desk and almost in a whisper, almost like she wasn’t supposed to tell me this, she goes, you know, we do have this option called a membership plan that would save you a lot of money.
Brett Allen (05:24)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Josh RIch (05:49)
And I said, Why didn’t you start with that? Why didn’t you leave with that? So, anyway, she introduced me to the concept of a membership plan. For my entire family, it would have been less expensive per month. I would have gotten more value, more would be included, there would be no waiting period, there all the discounts would apply immediately.
Brett Allen (05:54)
Right.
Josh RIch (06:14)
There’d be no out-of-pocket max that once I hit, then I would have to cover the rest of the cost of care. ⁓ and I could I I had I couldn’t believe I hadn’t ever heard of a dental membership plan before. And in my circumstance, with an individual dental plan, it was cheaper and better. And that is the case for a lot of folks who are on an individual plan, not an employer-sponsored plan, but an individual plan.
And certainly a better situation for those that don’t have any dental coverage at all. There are over 70 million Americans today without dental coverage. Anyway, I I thought that that would be helpful context for understanding why membership plans matter. And by the way, membership plans are far more profitable to the practice than a PPO patient, than a cash pay-only patient. So it is just
Brett Allen (06:49)
There’s something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Josh RIch (07:13)
A win for everybody all the way around.
Brett Allen (07:16)
Yeah, and and I think it’s a I think it’s a great thing in the industry and I think it’s a great tool to switch off of insurance for those that are wanting to go to fee for service. ⁓ so let’s before we kind of dive into the benefits of membership, tell us your background and how you got into dentistry. You’ve been in health tech for a while, but walk walk us through that journey a little bit and then and then tell us more about Clerri.
Josh RIch (07:41)
Yeah, you bet. So ⁓ about a decade and a half ago, I started at a company that was growing quickly called Solution Reach. I was, I want to say, employee 106. And by the time I left, five years later, we had around 800 employees there. So ⁓ got to be a part of pretty expon exponential growth there. ⁓
Brett Allen (07:51)
Okay.
Josh RIch (08:09)
I started in dentistry as a business development executive. So creating partnerships with industry leaders and influencers and helping grow brand awareness and drive ⁓ sales opportunities for the platform. ⁓ I moved over to the eye care market at at a certain point while at Solution Reach. So very similar practice format, right? Appointment-based. ⁓
On paper, they’re very similar industries. In reality, they’re quite different in terms of the influencers in the industry and how they run their practices. And so I had the chance to learn a lot about those two different specialties at that time. The founder of Solution Reach, Jim Higgins, became the CEO of Clerri last December.
Brett Allen (09:06)
⁓ okay.
Josh RIch (09:07)
And so if we fast forward to just early this year, when I saw that announced, I knew that there were going to be some big things happening at Clerri and wanted to be a part of it. I just knew that ⁓ there was so much opportunity to expand access to care in dentistry. I knew there was a growing need for for consumers who are losing insurance or can’t afford insurance anymore.
Brett Allen (09:36)
Mm-hmm.
Josh RIch (09:37)
And this was an opportunity for me to kind of blend the two things that I love most, which is technology and healthcare, but also making sure that people get the care that they need. And so over the you know, 15 or so years between my start at Solution Reach and where I am today, I have had the opportunity to see firsthand just how impactful the right technology can be for practices in dentistry and and other specialties as well.
⁓ but I just loved what Clerri was doing and who was on the team. And since I joined, I’ve just fallen in love with the approach to the market, how well the team takes care of our customers, and have been having a blast ever since.
Brett Allen (10:10)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. I know s some people at Solution Reach. I think we were talking about this when we were together in S Santa Barbara at the Speakers Consulting Network event. Abe Nell was my first boss out of college and he was he’s you know ⁓ he was he was awesome. He was you know, this was at At Task, which was a software company in Utah, ⁓ now workfront. ⁓ but
Josh RIch (10:40)
Okay. That’s a good first boss to have.
Brett Allen (10:53)
Yeah, and I think Adobe bought them out recently. But yeah, Abe was an awesome guy. And so Solution Reach, I’ve heard great things from the people there. ⁓ and so l tell us more about Clerri, though. We’ve we’ve had a couple, like I mentioned, we’ve had some membership people on the show. Every software is different in terms of the value they provide and how they approach ⁓ solving the solution. and memberships are no different. So
Walk us through what makes Clerri so awesome and why you guys are the leading membership platform in the industry.
Josh RIch (11:29)
Yeah. so I I’ll start with our people. I I think that’s really important. And I know it can sound kind of cliche in the industry to say we have great people, a great support team, that kind of thing. But Clerri really, really is over the top when it comes to making sure that we take care of the practices that work with us. We have teams that are segmented based on ⁓
Brett Allen (11:41)
Mm-hmm.
Josh RIch (11:57)
stage of implementation all the way to the size of the practice and teams that are dedicated to those functions and those types of practices so that we understand the nuances of what the individual practices need. So for I’ll give you some examples. So we have a team that’s dedicated to just the onboarding process of helping a practice
To navigate the decisions that need to be made about customizing their membership plans, providing guidance, best practices, ⁓ helping the practice know for their region, their market, their goals as a practice, what types of plans are going to be most effective, what those price points might look like, what could be included in those plans to really drive retention for patients?
Brett Allen (12:29)
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Josh RIch (12:53)
And what’s going to help maximize profitability. So just the onboarding process and that plan design step is something that we believe in strongly enough that we have an entire team dedicated to just that piece of the practice working with Clerri. And then the practice moves on to ⁓ their long-term support rep, who is going to be there to help them make changes when necessary. It’s going to be there to help them know.
Brett Allen (13:10)
Mm.
Josh RIch (13:23)
All the best ways to drive enrollment. And then we have another team that’s dedicated to the patient that is patient-facing. And their role is to help answer questions that patients might have about the membership plan or to reach out when it’s time for renewal and make sure that the patients are understanding the value that they’re getting from the membership plan. So they choose to renew with the practice. And so we tend to see as a result.
Brett Allen (13:48)
Mm-hmm.
Josh RIch (13:53)
compared to other options in the market, a higher enrollment rate ⁓ among practice among patients at the practice, a higher renewal rate among those patients that are on the plan to stay on the plan, and just a more customized approach to what the needs are of the practice. And those needs change over time. I’m sure as you’ve talked with other guests about practice consulting or or you know ways to grow practices,
Brett Allen (13:57)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josh RIch (14:22)
Depending on the stage of the practice, it it’s different. And you know, the practice today, its needs as it’s it’s as it is in growth mode might look different as it’s in more maintained mode. ⁓ and so our team is there to help the practice adapt the plan based on their stage, age, size, all of those factors.
Brett Allen (14:33)
Mm-hmm.
That’s awesome. Yeah. I I imagine the team is a big part of the value that Clerri brings. Can you talk to us more a little bit about some numbers of the benefits of having ⁓ a membership in in the practice and how do we how do we get more members? What are what are some techniques to get people to say yes to a membership? Yeah.
Josh RIch (15:08)
Yeah,
great, great question. So let’s yeah, so I’ll address the kind of the why in terms of of the financials for a practice to consider membership plans. Let’s compare cash pay patients to membership plan patients for a second. So and this is data based on ⁓ Clerri customers. So practices that have been with Clerri over a number of years, and the data that we’ve looked at in terms of production for
For those offices. And what we’ve found is a cash pay patient that moves over to a membership plan powered by Clerri, the practice is going to see a 70% 76% increase in terms of the frequency of visits of that patient. They’re going to see those patients say yes to treatment 176% more often. They’re going to see that.
Brett Allen (15:55)
Hm.
wow.
Josh RIch (16:04)
That membership plan patient compared to the cash pay patient, no show and appointment, 2.6 times less often. So there’s there’s significant opportunity for the practice to drive production, engagement, retention, just by moving those cash pay patients over to membership plan patients. And the value to the to the patients tremendous. They typically
Brett Allen (16:12)
wow.
Josh RIch (16:34)
Are going to end up spending less per interaction or patient visit than they otherwise would. They behave a lot more like a PPO patient, right? They feel more invested, they feel like they have something from the practice that is ⁓ unique to the practice that’s that’s driving those retention, ⁓ those visits, the case acceptance, all of those kinds of things.
Brett Allen (17:01)
Yeah, that’s good. Number I mean, ⁓ and we talked about this in other episodes, but memberships, there’s it it seems there’s a huge benefit to the practice to get this set up and rolling and implemented. ⁓ talk to us more a a little bit about from your background in Clerri, I know you’re more of a recent team member there, but what are some tactics that a practice can deploy to get more patients to say yes to a membership plan, ⁓ or even maybe use it as a marketing tool to get
more patients in the community to find out about them. Do you guys have some guidance when it comes to that or some techniques that you deploy to help?
Josh RIch (17:40)
Yeah, for sure. So in terms of driving enrollment among existing patients, there’s a lot that can be done. And and this is where our team is very helpful, right? They they can make recommendations that are specific to the region the practice is in. But I would say some tactical examples would include ⁓ doing including some some enrollment benefits that are exciting, right? Like
We’re in conversations with some really interesting ⁓ companies right now that are going to drive down the cost of including some pediatric specific mouthwash or an electric toothbrush that we can we can help ⁓ what we call SMB practices ⁓ get at DSO prices and and be able to include those as part of the membership plan.
Brett Allen (18:22)
Mm.
Josh RIch (18:37)
or or as a way to give, you know, provide something tangible at sign up so that it’s more compelling, more interesting for for their ⁓ for their patients. Also to position the membership plan not as a last resort, like like my experience was, but to position it in the practice a as more of ⁓
Brett Allen (18:55)
Yeah.
Josh RIch (19:01)
as a VIP program. Think of like your loyalty program for an airline or for a hotel and and some of the benefits that that unlocks. Those kinds of things go a long way in driving enrollment for ⁓ existing patients. For leveraging the membership plan as a way to drive or acquire new patients, I would say the most underutilized approach
Brett Allen (19:08)
Mm.
Josh RIch (19:28)
Is to position the membership plan as an employer plan, to be able to go to small businesses in in within 10, 15 miles of the practice and talk to those business owners who likely aren’t offering a dental plan to their employees. So think of retail stores and coffee shops and trade companies and those kinds of employer groups.
Brett Allen (19:32)
okay.
Josh RIch (19:57)
And they’re they’re gonna welcome a less expensive, more robust dental plan option that they could potentially provide to their employees. Even if they don’t cover the the whole amount of the plan and there’s some you know out of a little out of pocket for the employee, it’s still going to be a much better option than no coverage at all. So I think that that’s an
Brett Allen (20:17)
Yeah, much better.
Josh RIch (20:22)
underutilized opportunity for a lot of dental practices to position their membership plan in that way.
Brett Allen (20:28)
I think that yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. I had recently Dr. Rehan Shahid on the show. ⁓ he’s he’s got multi I think he’s got four offices out of Dallas. ⁓ but one of his big strategies for growth is he has ⁓ a dedicated team member in charge of marketing that’s doing ground marketing initiatives where they’re going out and meeting with business owners, creating relationships, ⁓ creating commu participating in community events, right?
I think a lot of practices make that effort where they try to get involved with the community, but they don’t take that extra step of going and individually creating relationships with business owners in their community. And I think a membership to as a as an offer, a membership plan is a great way to get in and and not just say, Hey, I’m the local dentist, but hey, this is of something, you know, that we can offer your your team members, your employees.
Josh RIch (21:10)
Yeah. Yeah.
That’s right. That’s right. And s and something exciting that you’ll be seeing coming down the pipeline at Clerri very soon. I won’t give away all the details. We’ll leave a cliffhanger, but we’re going to make it very easy for the practice to automate largely that outreach effort to small businesses for their practice. So some really cool partnerships that we’re that we’re moving forward very soon that are gonna
Brett Allen (21:42)
⁓ awesome.
cool.
Josh RIch (21:53)
really equip the practice with some firepower in that way. Especially for those, you know, de novo practices or practices that are really looking for ways to grow and and ⁓ and bring and not just not just volume, but but ⁓ from among patients that are gonna be very profitable and loyal. And that’s what membership plans can help them do. So really excited about some of those things coming up.
Brett Allen (21:56)
That’s awesome.
Yeah, they need more volume quickly, yeah.
Mm.
Interesting. I’m Yeah.
Yeah. Thanks for dangling the carrot a little bit. I’m excited to hear about that. As a marketer, we we try to work with our practices to to come up with strategies for growth and be creative and f ⁓ proactive with new ideas, ⁓ innovative. ⁓ and we’ve we’ve seen some great results when it comes to memberships utilizing text marketing as a form of reaching out to their existing patients.
offering that, creating personal one on one connection through that, not just a blast, but there’s a way that our pipeline team at Marketing Thirty Two helps the practice do that and stay on top of all of that versus having somebody at the front desk just wear that as another hat and try to do that. ⁓ and and how do you say it and what do you say and how do you position it so that you get the right kind of ⁓ response and ⁓ people replying and taking action on it. So
Yeah, I love I love that kind of stuff. I’m excited to hear what Clerri’s coming up with. So you’ll have to keep me posted. ⁓ cool. Well, I mean, this has been a fascinating conversation. We’re almost out of time. ⁓ is there anything else you want to tell us about Clerri that you’re itching to like something of value that you think would be helpful or on your mind?
Josh RIch (23:23)
I will.
Yeah, I think that what I’ll end with is Clerri’s commitment to helping the practice ⁓ drive case acceptance. I think that membership plans in particular are in a really unique position to help the patients understand the value of the treatment that’s being recommended. And we’re gonna be rolling out some things this year that are s are patient-facing specifically that that help the patient.
Brett Allen (24:00)
Mm.
Josh RIch (24:08)
To number one, keep top of mind the treatment that’s being recommended by the provider and how the membership plan paves the way for them to get that care ⁓ to apply the discount, but also to make make the cost of the care more affordable. And one way that we’re doing that now ⁓ is a partnership that we have with Cherry Patient Financing.
Brett Allen (24:38)
Yeah, I’ve heard good things about them.
Josh RIch (24:38)
So not not to be
not to be confused with Clerri, but yeah, it’s a match made in heaven, right? But what what that looks like in Clerri’s platform is a native integration with Cherry that shows the pre-approved amount of every patient that’s coming in that day, regardless of whether they’ve signed up with Cherry in the past or not. So
Brett Allen (24:42)
Clerri and Cherry.
Yeah. ⁓
nice.
Josh RIch (25:05)
That means that anything that falls outside the scope of the membership plan, as far as you know, the included hygiene visits, ⁓ the out of pocket for the treatment that’s being recommended after the discount, ⁓ the practice is able to see in real time what that patient would ⁓ the range that patient would be eligible for in terms of patient financing. So they can have that conversation with the patient.
Brett Allen (25:12)
The out of pocket part of it.
Josh RIch (25:33)
Knowing already that that patient is going to be able to get qualified for an amount that can help them with covering the cost of treatment or breaking that treatment up into smaller bite-sized pieces and s and you know, thereby helping the patient say yes to the treatment that that they need. So you’re going to see some additional ways that Clerri is helping patients say yes to treatment more often that I think will be really compelling, both for the patients, but
Brett Allen (25:51)
Right.
Josh RIch (26:02)
Certainly for the practice as well.
Brett Allen (26:05)
That’s awesome. That’s great. Well, Josh, this has been a great conversation. I always close with what’s that one golden nugget, that one piece of advice that could help our listeners have an epiphany or unlock something for them that they maybe haven’t thought of or could really have an impact for them. Do you do you have any advice that comes to mind?
Josh RIch (26:26)
Yeah, that’s a that’s a great question. ⁓ there’s a lot of things I’ve learned along the way that have helped me in my career and my personal life. But I think that for our conversation, one of the most relevant is that we we would be wise to not do it alone. We we ought to really lean into the relationships and the partnerships and
Brett Allen (26:47)
Yeah.
Josh RIch (26:54)
The individuals in our lives that can help us be our best selves, that can help us learn and grow, that can support us when times are getting tough or big decisions need to be made. And maybe it’s just the strategic partnership guy in me from you know the last decade and a half. But I just I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with people that ⁓ are there to support you.
Brett Allen (27:05)
Mm-hmm.
Josh RIch (27:23)
That are there to ⁓ be real with you and help you know when you need to make a change. Those that have been kind of in the thick of things for a long time that maybe you’re new to, just making sure that you have that support system in your life that can that can accelerate your path to where it is you want to go. I I think that getting to where you want to go.
can be very lonely and it is best done with people surrounded by the people that ⁓ that believe in you and that and that you believe in them and ⁓ and it it it makes all the difference. I think practice ownership is especially a lonely proposition. ⁓ a lot of research shows that dentists can feel very lonely or isolated or siloed and whether it’s a vendor, whether it’s
Brett Allen (27:57)
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
Josh RIch (28:22)
a a a colleague, whether it’s a an alliance, whatever that looks like for the dentist, I think that there’s a lot of value to be had in not going it alone.
Brett Allen (28:33)
Yeah, I can ⁓ I can wholeheartedly support that message. ⁓ there are experts out there who have been down the road, been down the journey a little bit ahead of you, ⁓ or people who specialize in a particular field or area of practice management or things in the practice that are y that will help. And if we if we have those relationships and lean on those and those advisors, if you will, and those people that are in your network that can help you in one area, I think
I think that goes a long way. Well, ⁓ this has been great, Josh. Thanks for coming on the show. I’m excited for what’s ahead for Clerri. Keep us posted on that. And ⁓ what do we what do we tell people if they want to get connected with you? How do they get connected with Clerri? What where do we send them?
Josh RIch (29:20)
Yeah, I mean you can just go to the website Clerri.com, C-L-E-R-R-I.com. You can reach out to me anytime, josh.rich at Clerri.com. ⁓ and we’re all over the the industry. We’re at lots of trade shows. Come and talk to us at the booth. Come talk to, you know, some of our consultants in the industry and other partnerships. ⁓ we can we can point you in the right direction for sure.
Brett Allen (29:36)
Yeah.
Well, thank you. We’ll we’ll put that email in the the website in the show notes. ⁓ and and yeah, thanks again, Josh. This has been great conversation.
Josh RIch (29:58)
Absolutely, Brett. Appreciate the time. It’s been great to be with you.
Brett Allen (30:02)
All right, everybody, until next time on the Marking thirty two show. Have a great rest of your day and a great rest of your week. Take care.
