What happens when a health tech executive laid off abruptly from his job tries to do the right thing by getting dental coverage for his family through the insurance exchange, spends extra on premiums for what he thinks is robust coverage, shows up for his dental appointment with his wife and four kids only to discover that his insurance has a six-month waiting period that means all five family members' visits are out-of-pocket, stands at the front desk as a puddle on the floor realizing he just got bills for thousands of dollars he can't afford to pay, and then hears the front desk lady almost whisper "we have this thing called a membership plan that would save you a lot of money"? Josh Rich does exactly that, and the moment he learns that a membership plan would have cost less per month, provided more value, included everything immediately with no waiting period, and applied all discounts right away, he can't believe he'd never heard of it before—and realizes that this is exactly why membership plans matter. Over 70 million Americans don't have any dental coverage at all. Membership plans are cheaper and better than individual insurance plans for uninsured and underinsured patients. And they're far more profitable to the practice than PPO patients or cash-pay-only patients. That personal experience becomes his north star when he joins Clerri, the dental industry's leading membership platform, after 15+ years in health tech (starting at Solution Reach as employee 106 at a company that grew to 800 employees, learning the dental and eye care markets, and watching firsthand how the right technology transforms provider practices). In this transformative conversation, Josh reveals the staggering financial impact of converting cash-pay patients to membership patients: a 76% increase in visit frequency, 176% increase in treatment acceptance, and 2.6 times fewer no-shows. He walks through why Clary's multi-layered team approach (dedicated onboarding specialists, long-term support reps, patient-facing renewal teams) drives higher enrollment and renewal rates than competitors. He shares the most underutilized membership growth strategy: positioning the membership plan as an employer benefit for small businesses in your community (retail stores, coffee shops, trade companies) who aren't offering dental to their employees—creating a pipeline of highly profitable, loyal patients. He explains Clary's groundbreaking integrations coming soon (including a native partnership with Cherry Patient Financing that shows pre-approved financing amounts in real-time so practices can help patients say yes to treatment), and most powerfully, his golden nugget: don't do practice ownership alone—lean into partnerships, relationships, and advisors who've been down the road before, because getting to where you want to go is best done surrounded by people who believe in you, not in isolation. This episode is brought to you by Marketing 32—the only dental marketing team with a performance guarantee where if you're not growing, you don't pay. Marketing 32 is truly invested in adding value to your practice and working with doctors they know they can over-deliver for. As Denae powerfully illustrates in this episode, having a clear vision for what you're building—both personally and professionally—is what separates practices that thrive from practices that just react by default. Marketing 32 helps you build the patient acquisition piece of that vision through strategic online presence, content creation, and growth campaigns. But as Denae emphasizes, marketing is just one lever to pull. You also need leadership, systems consistency, and communication frameworks that empower your team to make your practice work for you instead of you working for it. If you need help with marketing and growth, reach out at marketing32.com for a quick 15-minute discovery call to see if it's a good fit.