Dental Relationship Marketing

Posts Tagged ‘dental referral marketing’

Convert your website visitors into patient appointments and referrals… LinkboxTM is a website add-on that provides valuable marketing tools to any existing website. LinkBoxTM encourages website visitors to contact your practice, as well as refer friends. And because it’s a stand-alone product, LinkBoxTM doesn’t integrate with your current practice management systems in any way – so it’s simple to set up and start using right away.

I especially like the way the product opens the door for dialogue. Consumers today have become so accustomed to sharing their thoughts, opinions and requests through their computer keyboards… This tool gives potential new patients one more way to explore you, and gives existing patients one more way to refer you.

Watch a demo and learn more about their terrific no-risk 30 day trial here.

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1) Know Your Numbers- Specifically your case acceptance numbers. How many cases of orthodontic, periodontal or dental implant treatment plans did you present during a period of time and how many were accepted/completed for that same amount of time? Simple question right? You tell me… definitively in black and white, do you REALLY know what your numbers are? Guesses, estimations and hunches don’t count here. What matters is the concrete evidence. I’m really passionate about this, as I still run across many practices that are unaware of their numbers, not sure how to get them, where to get them or who wish they could avoid the topic altogether. These numbers are critical to diagnosing one of the major business-health aspects of your practice. This report can either give you peace of mind, or indicate where you might need help.

2) Your Fortune is in Your Follow-Up – This phrase is one of my favorite mantras. Especially in this economy when patients may put treatment off longer than usual. In some cases it is worthwhile to follow-up with patients for up to two years. If you don’t already have an efficient follow-up system, implement one right away. Most importantly, don’t wait for a “slow day in the office” to handle the task, make it a priority- and keep up with it on a consistent basis. Follow-up is like the faucet for your business… open it up with good follow-up practices and you’ll continue to see a steady flow of production.

3) Think Face to Face – The best way to generate referrals for your practice is through face to face meetings. Whether you choose to do lunch, perform a presentation or make marketing visits, your referring practices need to see you. Face to face or in person meetings are the most effective way to generate referrals because it is active marketing (or sales) versus passive marketing such as direct mail. Active marketing is a two-way exchange meaning you not only get face time, you also get to listen and hear what the other person shares with you. Unlike mailing a letter where you state written information, however you don’t get to immediately hear from the other person, see their body language, read their expressions, etc. Start planning now for your 2009 face to face strategy and make your marketing more effective.

Need help? Call Rita at 303-807-3827 or email rita@tangiblemarketing.com

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1. NEWSLETTERS – Quality not quantity is the key. Don’t put off sending out a newsletter because you think it has to be four tedious pages long. The most important elements are to be consistent, interesting, and unique-to-your-practice.

2. REFERRAL PROGRAMS – Make sure you have a turn-key system in place. Be sure to say thank you for each and every referral and consider rewards or incentives when appropriate.

3. CHASES CALENDAR OF EVENTS – Reference this book and find ideas to celebrate any meaningful day of the year with your patients.

4. EMAILS – Send out e-news, greeting card, special offer, promotion, announcement or invitation.

5. CONTESTS – This can be something patients actively enter to win, or are automatically entered into when they refer, elect to receive your emails or complete surveys.

6. POSTCARDS – Get creative! Personalize a custom postcard with a team photo or use a non-dental related theme to get more attention.

7. SPECIAL EVENTS – Picnics, barbecues, pumpkin patch hunts or patient appreciation open-house parties.

Finding effective referral marketing activities doesn’t mean you have to re-invent the wheel or bust your marketing budget. If you forgot to plan, simply choose a few tactics you can implement today.

Want to know more? Get your complete Referral Marketing System How-To Guidebook now.

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Some dentists use their new patient “numbers” as a gauge to determine how healthy their practice is. However they don’t always realize that in some cases marketing can attract the wrong type of new patient. Especially when marketing is rushed, it can sometimes cause businesses to throw their standards out the door. In other words some practitioners may just want people who need dentistry to flow into the practice as soon as possible -instead of considering the “qualities” of potential new patients, ie: do they live within your area, are they interested in the highest quality dental care that you offer, do they have a fairly high dental IQ, are they open to investing in cosmetic dentistry or whatever your ideal patient qualities are.

So, why does it matter whether new patients are ideal or not? Because your success and more importantly, your peace of mind ultimately depend on the type of patient you attract. When you attract patients that are less than ideal into your practice, you make it more difficult to harvest quality referrals – and worse, you risk attracting patients who may not have interest in the type of dentistry you offer, who only want to take advantage of a savings offer or who don’t trust you much. So, if you dream of someday having a practice filled with great patients, where you may not need to do external marketing because your referrals nourish the business… then start taking steps today to fulfill that vision. Step one is identifying your ideal patient, stay tuned for more about this later.

Want to learn more now? Get a copy of our dental marketing referral guidebook.

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Many dentists realize the value of referrals, yet few communicate with their patients on a regular basis… This results not only in lost referrals, but also in lost case acceptance and sometimes lost patients.

Your patients are regularly receiving generic postcard offers from neighboring dental practices, each promoting a new special service, new technology or better location. The best way to ensure your patients are loyal, motivated and referring regularly is to keep in touch with them. Yes, excellent patient care is vital, but how often are you permitted to make someone’s day? Once or twice per year is not enough. Here are a few effective tips to follow up throughout the year:

• Email- few practices are collecting email addresses. While not every patient will elect to receive email from you, many will and this will allow you to communicate with patients inexpensively and quickly.
• Postcards- don’t bother sending patients a generic dental postcard- remember, they’ve likely already received dozens in their mailbox- instead, why not pick up colorful postcards from your favorite local town and have someone from your team write out a seasonal greeting (think summer destinations or great fall color drives).
• Newsletters- not your father’s newsletter! Despite our desire to interest patients in cutting edge dental technologies, most patients would rather read about you. More personal touch articles and less dental procedure will allow patients to feel like they have a real relationship with you.

The key to winning more referrals is to keep in touch with your patients, one quality follow up at a time.

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