Relationship-Focused Dental Marketing

Posts Tagged ‘Dental Marketing’

When was the last time you heard a patient complain?  We all know that too many complaints are a sign that things aren’t going well.  However a practice that never hears complaints, or never hears much feedback at all, may not be in good shape either.

Periodic surveys are an important component of any services marketing plan—especially a relationship-focused practice.  Consider a third party service, like Dentra, that will allow people to feel they can share openly and honestly.  In general, electronic surveys seem to produce more detailed comments.  Once you learn what patient’s value and enjoy most about your practice, you can leverage the information within your marketing plan.

Surveys allow you to learn what you are doing right, and what you may be doing wrong.  What was the most valuable thing you’ve learned from surveys?

Despite the internet, social media and all of the wonderful technologies we enjoy in dentistry, it’s the soft skills that still reign king.  Dr. Barry Polansky, author of the book “The Art of the Examination“, explains that people skills are a prerequisite to a successful private practice and that trust is the highest form of human motivation.

Read more in Dr. Polansky’s “Ask the Expert” column in Dental Economics. Explore Dr. Polansky’s coaching services in his Academy of Dental Leadership.

At the 2009 ADA meeting in Hawaii,  Kevin Henry, managing editor of Dental Economics and Dentistry IQ blogger, and Rita Zamora discuss word of mouth referral marketing …

Key points are:

1)  The stronger your referral flows are, the better your return on all marketing investments.

2)  Increase referrals via quality patient relations and communication  (consistent contact with patients more than twice per year).

3)  If you don’t already have a referral system for your dental practice, now is a great time to start.

Aloha! Just spent the last week in Honolulu at the Academy of Dental Management Consultants (ADMC) annual meeting and visited the ADA meeting as well.

Despite the economy, I saw many dental teams in attendance. It was great to see dentists investing in enhancing their own, and their team’s, skills to continue to grow and flourish.

Many exciting changes occuring in dentistry. More later … Aloha for now!

A recent Denver Business Journal article Study: Stay-at-home moms dominate social media stated that more than 60 percent of stay-at-home moms are more likely to use Facebook, compared to average adults at 50%.

The article also said, “Nearly 94 percent of the moms surveyed said they seek advice before buying products or services and more than 97 percent said they give advice on products or services purchased”.   This article is a timely reminder of where potential new patients are–online and interacting on social media.

Are you, or is your practice, participating in these online conversations?

Motivate patients to refer by providing positive, memorable service experiences.  You can help your referral invitations to stick, even long after the patient’s last check-up, by making your message tangible.

Experts agree about 60% to 65% of the population are visual learners. Visual learners relate most effectively to written information, diagrams and pictures. Whether you illustrate your referral request in letters, postcards, business cards or emails, the moment you make your message visual or tangible you’ll increase your effectiveness and your referrals.

When was the last time your patients heard from you?

This video by Erick Qualman on his term, Socialnomics, is informative– a bit fast, so don’t hesitate to hit the pause button if you miss something.  Of particular interest is the comparison of time it has taken for various mediums like radio and TV to reach 50 million users when compared to today’s mediums.  These stats are representative of the viralness of Social Media.

Consider then the benefits (and risks) of this amplified word of mouth for you and your dental practice …

Why do some marketing programs work for one practice and not others?  If your practice has better technology, nicer referral cards and the best website … How can another practice that has none of those be more successful?  The answer lies not in the marketing tools, strategies and tactics, but in the people who use them.

The dental team, armed with exceptional people skills and genuine interest, can out-relate—and outperform any marketing secret.  Whether it be Facebook, a referral card or a personal follow-up call … the way in which the socializing, relating and interacting is done is key.

When a team member inherently enjoys what they do in your practice, the benefits are immeasurable. They interact with patients, genuinely, because they like to.

Customer service (patient relations) and marketing are one.  If patients feel a disconnect between what brought them to your practice and the experiences they have once there, it is a make or break point.  You and your team have the power to fuel Facebook activity, word of mouth and referrals—or not.

If your practice Facebook account is stale, referrals are flat and phone calls are unreturned, it may be time to review the motivation and energy behind the effort.  Remember, people don’t interact with Facebook, they interact with other people.  Likewise, patients don’t refer to a “practice”, they refer to people.

Good marketing plans are important; however the people that act upon the plans day-to-day are most important.

The first thing to consider before investing in marketing is, “How well are you doing with the patients you already have?”  If you cannot answer this question, then you may be making a mistake by marketing.

For example, let‘s say you have a case acceptance rate of 35%.  Wait. Before you criticize this percentage, can you say exactly what your acceptance rate is?  Many practices have no idea how to begin to track and determine this crucial marker.  Instead they look externally for solutions that will “Bring new patients in the door and solve everything”.

When practices pull in new patients, without fully treating the patients they already have, the result is wasted marketing dollars.  In contrast, it’s a win-win when patients accept treatment … Patients get healthy and dental practices flourish.

So what happens in situations with low case acceptance and continuous numbers of new patients?  The practice stays busy, yet many times is unsuccessful.

Remember, “The fortune is in your follow-up!” Don’t wait for down-time to do your recall.  Call patients, and continue to follow up with them over many months. In today’s economy, follow up needs to be extensive.

-          Follow up with the patients you already have in your practice.

-          Track your case acceptance and learn your conversion.

-          Make sure you are fully optimizing the practice you already have before launching external marketing of any kind.

The only way to determine if you are a good candidate to proceed with marketing is to currently know:   1)  How many of your patients accept treatment?  2)  For patients that didn’t accept treatment, where are they with their decision?  3)  When was the last time you followed up with patients?

Where does your case acceptance stand today?  Are you a candidate for dental marketing?

The fastest way to halt future patient referrals is to do nothing. When patients receive no recognition or response from you, they wonder if they sent you a “bad” or unwanted referral.

Be sure to say thank you to patients who take the time and energy to refer friends, family and colleagues to you. Sustainability of any referral program relies directly on acknowledging quality referrals.

• Express your thanks in writing with handwritten “Thank you for your referral” notes.  Show gratitude in a timely manner.

• Consider extending referral gifts when appropriate (note, always check with your local dental regulators before issuing referral gifts or rewards).

Offer extraordinary thanks for extraordinary referrals. If you have a patient who refers a lot of quality referrals to you, deliver an extraordinary expression of your appreciation back to them.