What My Dentists Can Teach You About Thriving In Practice (Part One)

I have two dentists.

Now I’m not trying to brag (some of you may not even want to go to one!) but there is a reason for it. Let me explain…
The first dentist who I visit works about 20 miles / 30 minutes from where I work and live and I see her for my regular check-ups, fillings and to visit the hygienist. She is very good and none of the work she ever carries out has hurt, I usually only have to wait a little while to be seen and the fillings stay in and look good. When you put it like that really what I am saying is that she does everything that a dentist should do…

…yet I still travel past 14 other dentists to get to her practice!

It is because I know her, the quality of her work and it is far easy to keep seeing her than go to the hassle of finding another dentist (who may not be as good) and going through the initial joining process, form filling, re-X raying carry on, building rapport with them etc.

Much the same as it is with a lot of your clients and patients.

The majority of your clients cannot be bothered to move to another clinic or practice – they would much rather stay with you which is why if they don’t show up for their maintenance and preventative treatments it is a lot easier than you would expect to get them returning to your clinic once again for care.

You just need to chase them up (gently) and encourage them to return!

This week I want you to look through your records and list those patients who have not been in to see you for at least 12 months and send them a letter or postcard. Use this letter to explain that the reason you are writing is obviously you didn't make it clear in your initial examination or the last time they saw you just how important it is for them to continue to receive regular care because of the demands placed on them by their activity level (both work and hobbies), their age, their lifestyle in general or any other daily stresses they may be placing themselves under.

I can’t stress enough that your inactive list is a gold mine and if you have been in practice for a year or longer you already have a group of past patients who fall into this category. If you aren’t doing so already you need to start mining this rich seam of potential patients and get them returning for care once more…

…the easiest type of patient to start undergoing treatment is one who has already been to you before and if you were able to re-establish contact and just get 3%, 5% or 10% of these back and undergoing regular treatment and maintenance with you how much fuller would your appointments book be?

In part two I will tell you about my other dentist – and how his style of practice will have an amazing effect on your own clinic and patient numbers.