A usual day for a dentist sounds like wearing a white coat and mask, sliding hands in a pair of medical gloves, peeking into patients’ mouths, taking the impression, fixing implants, scaling, or anything in between that is a must to treat oral health problems.
As a dentist, you might think that you are not running a business, so you do not need to get your head around marketing tactics. People who need you will find a way out to your clinic. Well, you are not in a monopolistic market.
A large network of dentists is established out there, and if you do not let people know about your dentistry business, they will never get to your clinic. So, what should you do? Communication is the key to keeping your dental practice growing.
Here are some proven tips that help your practice flourish:
Go digital
Online presence is a must to communicate with people about your practice. Social media is the best platform to do so. Encourage people to follow you and use that platform to share valuable tips, suggestions, news, and the latest updates about your practice.
YouTube is also the best platform to build your customer base. You can create small videos discussing tips to maintain oral health, like the proper technique of brushing your teeth, the importance of gargling and rinsing after every meal, how to improve your gum health, and the like.
Send such small videos to your customers. When they get some insight from such videos, they will certainly like and comment, not to mention you should encourage them to do so as well. When the number of viewers increases, your videos’ ranking will boost, and more people will get to know about them.
This builds trust and engagement in users. You can share videos on your website and social media accounts as well. Facebook allows you to conduct a live session. This is also a great way to build your audience.
Encourage online reviews
Online reviews reflect your online reputation. Do not forget that most people consult an in-network dentist. However, they would still want to know what people have to say about your services. If a new patient comes to you, they must check reviews online before.
Therefore, it is crucial that you have balanced reviews on the internet. No patient would like to visit you if you do not have an online reputation. Getting reviews from patients is quite challenging. Make sure that you do not write fake reviews.
People are smart enough to detect if it is a fake or a genuine review. Encourage your patients to put positive reviews. It might be hard to bring them around to do so. Still, if you try to offer them an incentive, they will be more than happy to write a good review about your service.
For instance, you can offer them a voucher, a gift card, or a 5% discount on your service in exchange for a review. New patients decide by checking online reviews on whether or not they should visit. If you have negative reviews or no reviews, chances are no one will come to you.
Make sure you use advanced technology. The latest technology could be expensive, but it yields better results. Try to invest in the latest techniques. If you lack money, you can use dental equipment finance.
Send reminder messages
Consider implementing an SMS-based reminder system. This will help you send reminder text messages and emails to your patients to confirm or reschedule appointments. Such reminders will also help them visit your clinic timely, so you do not juggle between patients.
It is hard to conclude whether a patient will get frustrated by receiving such messages, but you can get to know about it when they visit your clinic the first time. You should politely ask them how they would prefer to receive reminders – text, mail or email.
Your patients may have different choices, so make sure you can communicate with them properly.
Expand your services
To grow well in your dental practice, you should consider how to beat out your competitors. Think about how you can attract new patients. Of course, one way is to offer your services at affordable prices. However, it is not always possible to do so.
This is because you may need help to meet the current cost. You should think of other ways as well. Try to expand your services. People may have different dental problems, and if you do not target all of them, you may lose patients with problems to your competitors just because of the absence of your services.
While it is crucial to expand your services to have money coming in, you should also ensure that you charge the right price. Make sure that you do not charge too high that your services seem very expensive, nor do you charge too low that you fail to meet the operation overheads.
Do not be too over promotional
You are not running a business, so you cannot promote your services aggressively. Remember that people are coming to you as they have dental problems. Nobody wants to go through with such issues, so do not drop an email or message that seems like you are openly inviting them to try this or that service.
For instance, you cannot send them a newsletter on scaling services available at a 10% discount. Instead, you should send them an informational newsletter on how scaling can help prevent tooth decay. Ensure that your communication emails are informational and not too frequent.
The final word
If you are looking to grow your dental practice, you should keep the aforementioned tips in mind. Use the latest technology and establish the right way to communicate with your patients. If you need money to buy equipment and do not have enough money, you can borrow from asset finance brokers in the UK.
These loans can help fund the gap to help you keep the ball rolling.
Harry Kane is a financial writer and author who has covered wide topics related to business loans and finance for the last decade. He has been working as the Chief Contributor in finding out deals on various business finance products covered by Thebusinessfunds, a reputed business loan broker firm in the UK. The primary work of Harry is to analyse the loan requirements of various businesses according to their circumstances and affordability. He directly communicates with the loan aspirants and guides them to get the right loan matching their needs. He has a vast experience in finance writing, working with many major business firms in the UK. At Thebusinessfunds, Harry also used to write well-researched blogs covering the financial problems of business loan aspirants and providing relevant solutions. He is a postgraduate with MSc. in Banking and Finance.
