How To Attract Patients To A Dental Practice?
by Sumona Business Development 24 August 2022
What customers are to businesses, patients are to dental practices.
The patient inflow dictates the growth and survival of every dental practice. No matter how stellar and exceptional your services are; if you can’t manage to attract patients and retain them, it is all futile.
With 191,497 dental offices in the US; patients never fall short of alternatives to choose from.
However, the wide availability comes as a huge challenge for dental professionals, and whilst dentist marketing will help dentists to play the field more competitively, it’s also important for dentists to really put their best foot forward so that the patients choose them over the rest.
5 Ways To Attract Patients to a Dental Practice
If you are a dental professional who has been struggling with drawing in patients; you are at the right place. Here we shall talk about a few successful ways of attracting patients to a dental practice.
1] Create an appealing online presence
Don’t we all open our devices and surf the internet every time we want to avail of a service or buy a product? This holds true for patients wanting to approach a dental service too. Today, if you are not present online; your presence is completely veiled.
Therefore, if you want to attract patients to your dental service; you really need to augment your digital presence.
Focus on designing a responsive, user-friendly, and unique website since it greatly reflects your practice and is often the first point of contact for the patients.
Work on developing your marketing strategies. Utilize social media marketing. Social media can give your brand a human element.
It has the potential to actually engage an audience and build a rapport. Consistently engage in research, analysis, and monitor the market which is constantly evolving. Adopt what is trending and upgrade with the market if you want your dental practice to stay afloat.
2] Stand out from the crowd
With intensive competition; driving traffic to your practice is no easy task. You need to offer something distinctive and rare that makes you stand apart from your competitors.
It is a good idea to incorporate a unique selling proposition (USP) for your brand. You can focus on your specialties like Sedation dentistry, Oral sleep appliances, Invisalign, Veneers, Implants, etc. You can also offer after-hour or emergency services.
For example, you can make some great informative videos wherein your dentists can be shown fixing crooked teeth with veneers. The more you let the audiences into the practice and what they can expect when they walk in with their problems, the better will be the response in terms of lead generation and sales.
If you are using advanced instruments and machinery or offering the latest, relaxing amenities, mention these when advertising your brand. Make sure the unique aspects of your business are highlighted at every spot where your practice is being publicized.
3] Retain the existing and past patients
When you focus too much on attracting new patients, retaining the existing and past patients is often overlooked. This is a huge blunder and needs to be taken care of.
Retaining your patients is an efficient way to attract new patients as they can provide referrals and reviews. Most people trust their close ones when they want to avail themselves of healthcare services.
Your existing patients when satisfied can refer you to their relatives and friends thereby getting you new patients. Online reviews of patients also serve as an authentic source of information for the needy and are taken into account when people approach a new service. You can seek reviews from the existing patients and gain new ones.
4] Add a dental membership plan in dentistry
Oral healthcare is often expensive which is why most people don’t go for it until absolutely necessary. Especially for people who do not have insurance; dental care becomes an exorbitant affair. Flexible payments, therefore, come in as an alluring aspect for potential patients.
One way to offer flexible payments which are also lucrative for the dental service is adding dental membership plan. Dental membership plans require the patient to pay in advance for annual dental care.
Dental membership plans often comprise preventive exams, regular dental check-ups, and 10-20% off on other dental treatments. The exact features of a dental plan differ from one practice to the next. Although the price might sound a lot in the first instance; in the long run, it is way more affordable.
5] Offer Teledentistry
With a jam-packed schedule; even if people want to access dental care; they cannot find time for it. Taking out time to commute to a location and get treatment often gets difficult, which is why many people completely skip out on oral care.
When you offer teledentistry, you are opening doors to a large population, which is struggling with time management. This increases your patient population and is not only convenient to the patient but also to you. With teledentistry, you can offer treatment at odd hours and gain funds sitting right at home.
Additional to this; there are several other ways to attract patients. Some generic aspects like the setting of the clinic, staff behavior, demeanor of the professional, and ease of appointment process need to be taken care of.
The frequency of patients at your dental practice is the greatest determinant of the success of your business. A high patient inflow is directly proportional to how remunerative your practice is. Therefore; get creative and prioritize this over everything else. Once you have this under control; you will thrive in no time!
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