The dental equipment repair industry may not be a top-of-mind concern for most people, but mending broken gadgets in dental offices across Central and Northern Arizona keeps one local business owner busy every day.
Clint Rucker, the local franchise owner of a Dental Fix RX van, finds himself in dental offices four to five times daily.
Dental Fix RX – based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida – sells franchises of mobile service vans that specialize in repairing dental equipment. Since its inception in October 2009, Dental Fix RX has sold more than 195 franchises in the United States and Canada combined.
Rucker, one of their newest franchise owners, services an area of nearly 350 dental offices in Central and Northern Arizona. With his background in repair and maintenance, opening a Dental Fix RX franchise seemed like a perfect fit.
“I was looking for something different to do,” Rucker said. “I wanted to start my own business and I wanted to live in Northern Arizona for a long time, and I found Dental Fix and decided to go for it.”
After purchasing a franchise, all new owners are required to complete six weeks of training at the headquarters in Florida. Andy Cohen, director of sales and marketing at Dental Fix RX, believes the training thoroughly prepares franchise owners for anything they will come up against in the field.
“Once a franchise is sold, we bring the owner in to do technical training,” Cohen said. “The franchise owners are usually tinkerers and have a background in machinery, so they’re generally going to have a base knowledge of repairs. Once they come in, there are a couple weeks where they learn about all of the different equipment in a dental office. They have to pass the final exam to be qualified to open their franchise. After they pass the exam, they ride around with a successful franchisee and shadow them. Then, they launch their franchise and we ride with them for a week.”
The training also includes an in-depth sales and marketing seminar, where technicians learn how to grow their relationships with dental offices. However, Cohen explains that the value of their services makes Dental Fix RX an easy sell.
“The beauty of it is that you don’t really have to be a salesperson to be a successful franchisee,” Cohen said. “We have such unique advantages over our competitors, so therefore, the franchisees don’t necessarily have to be great salesmen.”
Some of their competitive advantages include complimentary travel time, estimates and loaner equipment.
“We’re going to reduce the downtime so doctors can keep their chairs running and make more money,” Cohen said.
Dental offices across Northern Arizona were instantly attracted to Rucker’s repair services.
In fact, Camp Verde dental office Verde Smiles had heard of Dental Fix RX before, and was thrilled to learn about Rucker’s new business.
“We had heard of Dental Fix before, but it wasn’t in our area,” Office Manager Brooke Harvey said. “Clint stopped by the office and gave us one of his cards. His services have been wonderful. Having someone actually come to the office to fix anything that needs to be fixed instead of sending it out and then waiting for it to get sent back saves us a lot of time and money.”
Our Family Dentistry in Dewey was looking for a reliable dental repair company for several months before Rucker walked into their office.
“We asked him if he could check out a few pieces of equipment for us on the spot and he said yes,” said Our Family Dentistry Office Manager Katie Hyde. “He got right in there and fixed our problems within about a half hour. He also gave us a list of all of the things we’ll need to have done in the future, and then he let us know about things we could fix on our own.”
Both dental offices usually have three or four repair needs each month, and are grateful for Rucker’s ability to fix equipment on the scene.
“He’s actually very personable,” Harvey said. “He has a great demeanor, he’s able to take on any task the doctors ask of him and get it fixed, a lot of times, that day. He checks in with us regularly to see if there is anything that needs to be done.”
As a new local business owner, Rucker is looking forward to becoming involved in the community.
“[Repairing dental equipment ] is how I can give back to the community,” Rucker said. “I love Prescott and I love Northern Arizona, and people need to get their teeth fixed and the dental offices need to be up and running. It’s a unique way to help people.” QCBN
Dental offices interested in learning more about Dental Fix RX and Rucker’s services can visit www.dentalfixrx.com.
Written by Maria DiCosola for Quad Cities Business News
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