bestsmile makes dental treatment more affordable for more people with Salesforce

Since it opened its first boutique in Zürich in 2018, bestsmile has been on a mission to disrupt the cosmetic dental sector with its digital approach. From 3D printers and robotics to analytics and apps, it combines the latest technologies with a culture founded on fairness and wellness. bestsmile also offers different payment methods, such as monthly instalments, which has enabled it to reach a broader audience.

Its approach has been a massive success. In just two years, bestsmile has grown its team from two people to 280 and opened 30 boutiques across Switzerland. And Salesforce has been there every step of the way. “Salesforce has been part of our operations from day one,” explained Kubli. “It helped us become number one in the Swiss market within a couple of months.”

And bestsmile plans to stay number one. By optimising its sales funnel and unlocking customer insights, bestsmile expects the revenue generated from a single lead could increase by as much as 20%. 

Rapid growth can often result in added cost and complexity for a startup - but not for bestsmile.  “With Salesforce, we can onboard a new store or team member with just a few clicks,” said Julien Montier, Salesforce Consultant at bestsmile. “It makes us more agile and scalable by helping to keep our costs low and our operations lean.”

From scheduling appointments to tracking treatment plans, Salesforce underpins every stage of the customer journey, providing bestsmile’s teams with 360-degree visibility. Every interaction is captured on Sales Cloud, which makes it easier for bestsmile to track new prospects and support existing customers. “With Sales Cloud, we can automate tasks, reminders, and reports, which means our people can spend more time with customers,” added Kubli. 

To ensure it has sufficient resources to support its growing customer base, bestsmile uses flair, an HR app sourced from the Salesforce AppExchange. “Making sure we have the right skills available in the right store at the right time is very complex - and impossible to manage manually,” explained Kubli. “With Salesforce, we can maximise how we utilise our dental rooms and teams.” bestsmile can also better understand the performance of different dentists and identify if additional training is needed.

By tracking all customer appointments and internal resources centrally, bestsmile can analyse availability across its store network and forecast when it needs to increase capacity to meet demand. But this is just the tip of the analytics iceberg at bestsmile. From the most popular appointment slots to the best store locations, the startup is constantly unlocking new insights. For example, it can optimise customer no-show rates by using location-based data to better manage appointment scheduling. “With Salesforce, we can analyse every stage of the customer journey and become more predictive and proactive,” said Kubli

bestsmile will also be able to tap into customer insights through its mobile app, which is integrated with Sales Cloud and Service Cloud using Heroku. “Every time a customer interacts with the app, it feeds data back to Salesforce,” explained Montier.

The app uses treatment plans captured in Sales Cloud to send customers reminders and reports about usage of their aligners to ensure they get the best outcome from their dental therapy. Customers can also share photos, request an appointment with a dentist, and submit questions to the service team via the app. In the future, bestsmile plans to add live chat capabilities to the app to further enrich customer engagement. 

bestsmile already connects with its customers across a number of channels, including email, telephone, and social media. Interactions are logged in Service Cloud, which means the customer service team can provide a consistent omnichannel experience. “By empowering our people with 360-degree visibility of customer interactions, they can respond more quickly and easily to queries,” added Montier.

This visibility also helps to inform bestsmile’s customer communications. For example, it uses Marketing Cloud to schedule follow-up emails that map to the length of the typical sales cycle. “Thanks to the data captured in Salesforce, we know how long on average it takes a customer to decide to proceed with treatment after an initial meeting,” explained Kubli. “This means we can reach out to them at the right time with the right content to optimise conversion.”

To ensure customers are satisfied at every stage of their journey, bestsmile has integrated a survey app with Salesforce. “We want to be able to correlate customer satisfaction with other key operational factors, such as staffing levels and morale,” added Kubli.

bestsmile is constantly adding new features and processes to Salesforce; eventually it will encompass every business function. It has already plugged in its automated production facility, which uses robotics to manufacture more than 30,000 aligners per month. “With Salesforce, we can send information seamlessly to our production robots, which means we can scale our manufacturing operations quickly and easily as we grow,” said Kubli.

And growth is still very much on the agenda despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With backing from Switzerland’s largest retail company and an entrepreneurial award from the Swiss Economic Forum, bestsmile is on track to open more stores across the country as well as expand its product range. “We have a great brand that people love and trust,” commented Kubli. “We want to keep growing our business while retaining our commitment to quality and affordability.”