Case Study: PE-Owned Jefferson Dental Triples Marketing ROI with Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO

“One year ago, we were spending three to four times more on marketing as we are now and getting roughly the same results. The marketing refresh has been a success from a business perspective. And that's where the efficiency we needed comes from.”

Geoff Wayne, CEO, Jefferson Dental

Through a network of 60 Texas offices, Jefferson Dental provides high-quality, affordable dental and orthodontic services to a mostly low income and Hispanic patient population. Looking to create efficiencies, Jefferson’s private equity owners brought in Chief Outsiders Fractional CMO, Jon Rice, on a flexible engagement. With dentistry-specific go-to-market experience, Rice refreshed Jefferson’s entire marketing operation. The company is now spending less than one third on marketing expenses while getting the same results. CEO, Geoff Wayne, sleeps better as his mentored marketing leader now excels in the role.

Business Background

High-Quality, Affordable Care

Jefferson Dental (Jefferson) provides compassionate, high-quality, affordable, and convenient dental and orthodontic care at more than 60 offices throughout Texas. With advanced technology, they create comprehensive oral health plans for each of their patients.

“All the locations fall underneath one brand,” reported Geoff Wayne, CEO. “This is not always the case in Dental.” Wayne, who’s been around for 58 years, has seen a lot of evolution in the industry during that time.

“We’re facing some headwinds now because of our patient population,” he continued. “Based on our locations, we service primarily a lower income and heavily Hispanic demographic. And for that group of patients, dental care can be viewed as somewhat discretionary.”

Marketing Refresh Needed

Wayne was hired in January 2024 to reset the business and the team. “The company had experienced some performance challenges for several years,” he related. “And so, we went through a total remake of the business in the last 12 months.”

Prior to 2024, the company had spent large amounts on marketing relative to its revenue. “We were not able to clearly identify the return on that spend,” Wayne explained. “We needed a total refresh—let's look at everything we're doing, all the systems, and all the people.”

As he suspected, Wayne learned that Jefferson was spending way too much money on marketing for the return it was getting. “And, we had to make that return on investment proposition much clearer,” he explained.

PE Owners Bring in Chief Outsiders

Wayne acknowledged a private equity firm as a significant owner in the business. “Their DNA is to be quite marketing forward,” he reported. “They brought Chief Outsiders to me as an option for some interim Chief Marketing Officer assistance.”

“I met with several members of the Chief Outsiders team and decided that the people were a good fit for our culture. Jon Rice also had a lot of relevant experience with companies of our size and dentistry-specific go-to-market strategy. So, it was a good fit.”

Growth Strategy

Embedded Within the Team

Starting immediately, Fractional CMO, Jon Rice, didn't assume he knew all the answers. “He took his time to methodically assess everything we were doing and was very proactive and communicative with our team,” reported Wayne. “He is a knowledgeable and easy to work with personality.”

“In fact, he embedded himself within our team, to the point where people didn't view him as a consultant. On the contrary, we needed someone who would assess, help us make improvements, and work with us accordingly.”

Rice did everything Jefferson asked him to do in a way that was thoughtful and not disruptive. “He was open to feedback, making sure that his priorities aligned with ours, and continually calibrating on that,” explained Wayne. “It was a real pleasure working with him.”

Challenged Marketing Assumptions

Along the way, Rice taught the organization to challenge assumptions about marketing and to make sure that they knew instead of just believing things were working a certain way. “In other words, let's make sure the data backs that up,” explained Wayne. “Jon was instrumental in bringing to the forefront the right metrics to be tracking and managing.”

CMO Mentoring

Prior to engaging Rice, Jefferson had hired a director of marketing, and through some turnover, the marketing department shrunk significantly. And they found themselves with a department leader who was hired to be the number two person.

“Jon was a great mentor, giving her exposure to a Chief Marketing Officer level talent that she wouldn't have had in another situation,” Wayne reported. “We owe him credit for getting her to the point where she could run the marketing department properly on her own.”

Responsive and Worth It

Participating in Jefferson’s weekly management meetings, Rice was very responsive. “My sense is there were many weeks that he worked more than we were paying him for,” Wayne related. “We had a lot going on and a lot of needs and so, the return on the Chief Outsiders investment was certainly worth it.”

Rice’s top priorities for Jefferson Dental:

• Manage the marketing team and help onboard the new marketing director to maximize effectiveness asap

• Review spending overall and relationships with outside resources/agencies

• Refine the business model for revenue and LTV while further defining high-value patient segments to ensure effective targeting

• Establish clear roles and responsibilities and performance goals for agency partners and other marketing resources

• Increase revenue by “evolving the marketing engine to fill the clinics with patients”

Flexible Engagement

As the engagement progressed, Rice had less to do. Because the new Marketing Director became more familiar with the business and more confident, she was able to take on direct ownership of some of the things that he was doing. Consequently, he reduced his fee.

“He was the one that suggested it,” remarked Wayne. “He could see this taking off on its own and knew he didn’t have to be quite as involved. That's a great mindset. He viewed his role as to come in, make things materially better, execute on the priorities, and then move on.”

Results

3X Marketing Efficiency Savings to the Bottom Line

One year ago, Jefferson was spending three to four times more on marketing than they are now and getting roughly the same results. “The marketing refresh has been a success from a business perspective,” reported Wayne. “And that's where the efficiency we needed comes from.”

“The difference is quite material,” he continued. “And given the financial performance of the business, we needed to take a significant amount of savings down to the bottom line. With Jon’s help, we were able to do that.”

Music to CEO’s Ears

As the Jefferson team looked at the way they were spending money, Rice was very cost conscious. “He's very scientific and analytical,” Wayne explained. “And if you're going to spend money, he says you need to be able to see a return for it. That's music to our ears.”

“If you're a middle-market firm with modest resources looking at how to change your existing systems to become more efficient and effective,” continued Wayne. “Jon is very good at that! I would be very comfortable hiring Jon Rice.”

Sleeping Better at Night

Reducing Jefferson’s marketing spend by two thirds was achieved confidently. “Jon repositioned our entire marketing organization to be materially more effective and efficient,” confirmed Wayne. “And his experience gave us the confidence and comfort that making these changes would not be detrimental to our business.”

“As somebody who's trying to improve a business, it gave me permission to not worry too much about what we were doing in marketing because Jon had it,” concluded Wayne. “He gave me the ability to sleep a little better at night knowing that he was going to figure out where we needed to be on the marketing side.”