Online resources, word of mouth, email and old-fashioned handwritten communication all play a part in why Michael Payne is my dentist. It's a story worth relaying because of how effectively he uses various marketing techniques. Here's how it unfolds:

A coworker of mine was looking for a local dentist and found Michael J. Payne, DDS on DexKnows.com. He went to Dr. Michael, as his staff calls him, and was impressed with the service he received. He proceeded to refer three of his colleagues to him, myself among them. When I went to Dr. Michael, I too was impressed. The office used technology I had never seen in a dentist's office  and the entire staff was friendly. The experience was surprisingly pain-free in every way.

Dr. Michael and his staff had made such a positive impression -- I even received a handwrittten letter a few days after my visit thanking me for my business. It's a personal touch we rarely see these days.

If that handwritten note wasn't enough, I've since received thank you notes for referring friends to his office, as well as a birthday card. And after six months had passed and I was due for my next appointment, his office sent me an email with a reminder and a link so I could easily set up an appointment for my next checkup. I was officially won over.

I had long ago become weary of dentists after a bad experience where I had asked a dentist not perform a procedure on me, he did it anyway, and charged me a great deal for it. Basically, I was always expecting to be conned. I did hit a glitch when my insurance company this time too, but it was due to my lack of understanding of my plan. So Michael Payne has remained my dentist.

What's really noteworthy is how my dentist uses both new technology and old-fashioned techniques to keep clients happy. Even I, someone who was looking for problems, was happy. None of these approaches were hard or time-consuming. And they made all the difference.