Episode 19 features Xana Winans with Golden Proportions Marketing. Xana and I sat down for the first time ever and discussed the story behind starting GP, how they are helping their clients through this time and her thoughts on the dental profession post-COVID.

Working in the dental industry wasn’t what Xana had planned on doing, but when she met her husband while he was in dental school, she did what she’d been trained to do - marketing. But in the early 2000’s, the company she worked for went bankrupt.

“It has been one of the best lessons, looking at what they did wrong to make sure I never do those things in my company.”

While home with her kids, she was getting phone calls from other doctors wondering if she could do for them what she’d been doing for her husband and Golden Proportions was born. It’s both encouraging and challenging to hear a story that is so based on a “yes,” Xana could have declined the doctor’s who’d called her up and explained she didn’t have a computer yet, but instead she said yes and got to work making things happen. Sometimes, you have to be willing to take that first step through the open door.

More than that, it takes having a solution to the problem your customers and clients are facing. Josh asks if Golden Proportions had always been a full-service agency or if that was a goal they built up to and Xana answered with this quote -

“Never in a million year would I go pitch Ford, Pepsi or a major university and say ‘I have all of the answers to your problem with one product.’”

You’ll find doctors working with 4, 5, or 6 different companies to cover their marketing needs and what do you find? Zero brand consistency. Confusing messaging. Annoyed doctors. The marketing service being provided by the dental space needs to up-level and serve those dentists well. Xana built the answer to this need into her company at its earliest stages setting them up for success down the road.

When it comes to the aftermath of COVID-19, Xana’s advice is to pay attention knowing that consumer behavior is going to shift. The trick will be to see how and what you can do to run alongside and not get left behind.

A common thread of Xana’s story is the willingness to change and adapt to opportunities, the environment, and challenges presented - her mind is working strategically to make sure her clients are being served well and weathering the storm as best they can. We could all take a page from her book - pay attention to your surroundings, take opportunities, and adapt well.