To Move the Numbers, You Have to Do a Number of Things
Of course, almost every dentist wants more new patients and everyone is looking for the quickest, fastest way to do it…the “Silver Bullet”. As you probably have heard Bill say many times before, “It is possible to get more new patients but you have to actually do something.”
Let’s talk about a recent case history—by recent I mean over the last 2 years. This practice has worked hard on a number of fronts: they polished up their website, got updated photos, made sure their online directories were straight, kept somewhat active with Facebook, experimented with Pay per Click and “Conversion Factors” on the website (e.g. offers and testimonials).
The staff was coached on “New Patient Readiness” making it more likely that patients’ phone calls or website visits turned into patients inside the office.
They even did call tracking to find out when new patients were calling in and the success rate in converting them.
They also used all the features on their digital communication system (in this case Demand Force).
The net result was the patients increased enough that now they’re getting over six months “extra” new patients per year (and their Continuing Care numbers are going up too). Practice production is up over 15% this year.
For most solo practices, an increase of 6-10 new patients a month is all they want or need to keep their practice cruising. For this Doctor, it wasn’t just one thing. It wasn’t all that expensive or hard though either.
That’s why we believe in “Checklists”. We use Checklists to insure Continuing Care effectiveness, Collections effectiveness and so on. When our clients work with our “New Patient/ Marketing Checklist” and complete it each month, we see the best results. Every office should have a person in charge of their marketing efforts—if you’re serious about bringing in new patients, you have to designate a person to be in charge of that, just like there should be a specific person in charge of Continuing Care, Collections, etc. That’s how you insure that those advances on many fronts actually happen. Otherwise, they’re just good ideas (Thank you notes aren’t sent, reviews aren’t tracked or added to, website visitors aren’t converted into patients, etc.).
Are you serious about giving your marketing a push? Call me and we’ll come up with a specific plan for your office. It’s my job to support your staff, coach them and give them the advice they need to be successful. I also keep them accountable but I’m accountable too. Together we can make things happen.