Tag: dental case acceptance

Marketing Your Dental Practice in a Recession

At least his teeth look great.

According to a recent poll, 70% of Americans believe the economy is still in a recession. Dental practices nationwide report decreases in production, most notably in the number of new patients. Clients come to us with concerns about losing patients to rival practices, but dentistry in a recession isn’t always about competition among dentists. As patients tighten their purse strings, you’re far more likely to find yourself competing against rent, groceries, and debt. The solution? Internal marketing.

What Is Internal Marketing?

Internal marketing capitalizes on two of your most valuable assets, your staff and your current patients. Its main objectives are:

  • Retain existing patients
  • Increase per-patient value
  • Generate referrals

Basically, it’s your dental practice’s calm in the storm, a marketing function that focuses on aspects over which you have a good degree of control. You can’t change the economy, you can’t change minimum wage, and you can’t give every patient a job. What you can give them is information, kindness, value, and dental health solutions.

A Satisfied Patient Is a Loyal Patient

On what factors do consumers base their buying decisions? If we’re talking about tangible goods, the answer is usually price. Dentistry, on the other hand, is a service. A practice that caters primarily to insured patients cannot effectively compete on the basis of price alone. All things being equal, a patient with dental coverage will pay the same copay at your practice that he will at the office up the street. It’s up to your team to create a patient experience that goes above and beyond the typical dental experience. Consider developing your practice’s personal signature, something your patients can look forward to. For example, we have a client who offers scented neck wraps, and another who eases patients’ anxiety with guided imagery and chairside meditation. There’s little margin for error here, which explains why so many practices are now investing in staff development and training. The economy will improve, and your patients will know exactly who to call when the time comes.

Convert More Patients With Stellar Case Presentations

When money is tight, patients reassess their ideas of what constitutes an elective procedure. For a financially secure patient, preventive and restorative dentistry are non-negotiable. Unfortunately, stability isn’t par for the course these days. Dentists are finding that many patients think of preventive as the new elective. In other words, if it isn’t causing excruciating pain, it’s elective. Practices nationwide report a larger number of fix-it and single-tooth treatments, many for patients who disappear forever after—no checkups, no professional cleanings. Nothing.

Money talks, but value explains. During your case presentation, a cash-strapped patient will focus primarily on the price tag. It’s up to you to present the value of the proposed solution in terms of their health. Touch on the basics of the procedure, but spend more time communicating the nature of the problem and the benefits of the treatment. Because money matters are now the crux of many patients’ healthcare spending decisions, your patient will be more protective of his finances. If a patient perceives that you are selling a solution for a problem that he doesn’t really have, you can be certain that he won’t return under more favorable economic conditions.

Leverage Existing Patients’ Connections With Referral Programs

Referral programs are a win-win solution. Your practice wins by gaining direct access to prospective patients, who receive the recommendation from someone they already know and trust. Patients win because they get an opportunity to enjoy “something for nothing,” so to speak. Making recommendations to friends takes five seconds on social media, and social media analytics make building awareness, monitoring success, and measuring engagement a no-brainer. However, referral programs are not an option in some states, which forbid remuneration for soliciting referrals. Check with Jill or myself before implementing a program.

Example 1: Each time a patient refers someone to the practice, both patients’ names are entered into a drawing for gift cards, an electric toothbrush, complimentary teeth whitening, etc.

Example 2: For every X number of new patients referred, the referring patient receives a reward or credit toward future dental work.

As always, you are welcome to contact either myself or Jill with questions about program design and social media.

New patients are hard to come by these days, but things are looking up. Internal marketing presents incredible opportunities to grow your practice at a time when most are desperately marketing to patients

About the Author: Jill Nastasia, CEO and Director of Business Development, is unsure of which type of recession is worse, economic or gingival. To learn more about our dental marketing solutions, contact Jill at 972-781-8861, or email her at jill@moderndentalmarketing.com.

Case Acceptance by Mayer Levitt of Jodena Consulting

Today’s guest blog is by dental consultant Dr. Mayer Levitt of Jodena Consulting. A former dentist himself, Mayer has helped tons of dental practices to achieve better profits, retention, and publicity since 1989. You can learn more ways to improve your practice by subscribing to Mayer’s blog.

Needless to say, it has been tough sledding for any business owner battling the effects of the “great recession”. But lately, everything I read is predicting a moderate rebound in the economy with job creation and less  unemployment. Up until now, people have been understandably cautious with their discretionary spending, so there is a lot of pent-up demand for nonessential services. Thus the environment for promoting comprehensive and cosmetic dentistry is probably the best that it has been in almost three years. How can you take advantage?

1. You need to promote “wants” based dentistry instead of “needs” based dentistry. Patients will pay out-of-pocket for what they want, yet will continue to depend on insurance to pay for what they need. Your mission is to get patients excited and emotional about what dentistry can do for them. Please take the time to schedule treatment consultations where you offer choices. Choices empower patients. Remember that people like to buy – but they don’t like to be sold. I am very excited about how dramatic case presentation can be by using an I-Pad.

2. You need to realize that your fees are not preventing people from accepting comprehensive dentistry but rather a lack of flexibility in payment options that you currently offer. If you can give someone a way to budget their payments for the dentistry, and they really want the dentistry, they will accept the treatment.  Re-examine how well your financial coordinator is presenting Care Credit or other outsourced arrangements. Scripting and verbal skills are so important. Outsourcing should be a first choice rather than a last resort. You can’t afford to be the bank. By outsourcing financial arrangements and offering extended payment plans, you give your patients the opportunity to pay for the dentistry on a monthly basis, yet you get paid right away. Read More

Educating the Dental Team for Patient Retention

I’m a mom, and moms talk. The very best marketing you could ever hope to have is word of mouth. So I want to share with you a dental visit I had and two reasons that I did not give the practice a good word-of-mouth referral. My review, when asked (and I was asked), was that it wasn’t the right place for my family.

A few years ago, I made an appointment at a very well publicized dental center that had opened a new location in my neighborhood. When the assistant was taking me back for X-rays, I asked if the center used digital X-rays. She asked me what that meant. Hmmmm. All that fancy decor in the lobby, and the assistant doesn’t know what a digital X-ray is. As I explained it to her, she seemed completely disinterested. It really made me see where the priority was in that office. All appearances pointed to just that — appearances.

Please do not let your team wander around your beautiful office with no idea what a digital X-ray is.

Another instance that was quite a put off happened during the same visit. I was told that I needed my wisdom teeth removed. Now I don’t mind getting a filling, but oral surgery is another story. I asked the associate doctor if he did extractions in the office. He said maybe… Read More