Patient Referrals | Minoa Marketing

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Dental Patient Communication: 4 Tips for Selling Your Services

by Naomi Cooper December 16, 2015

As you work to attract and maintain more patients in the coming year, remember that people respond to different personal approaches. One aspect of the dentist/patient relationship that can be particularly difficult to navigate is how to offer comprehensive care without alienating your patients.

Here are 4 ways to gauge your patients’ interest in cosmetic procedures:

When a new patient comes for their first visit, conduct an intake survey. Ask about their interest in the various treatments and products you offer. You may want your patients to retake this survey every so often to be sure you are aware of any changes in their attitude towards elective treatments.
Talk with your patients. Ask them one specific question: If you could change one thing about your smile, what would it be? This helps get the conversation flowing and reveals to you what their motivations and goals are. Get a sense of how things are going. And if you get the impression that for whatever reason they may not be interested in a cosmetic treatment, trust your instincts and hold off on the hard sell.
Avoid pocketbook diagnosing. Don’t fall into the habit of holding yourself back from talking about elective procedures because you assume to know what they’re capable of spending based on what you know about them (i.e., they drive a luxury SUV or they’re in the middle of a messy divorce).
Conduct follow-up surveys with your patients. Find out if their visit was a positive one. Ask for feedback on how to improve their experience and use that feedback to inform how you approach each patient at their next visit.

While your skills as a dentist will bring patients in, it is important to remember that your chairside manner will keep them coming back. Listening to your patients and asking for feedback will go a long way toward improving patient communication, retaining patients and attracting more referrals in 2016 and beyond.

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Growing Your Practice Through Patient Referrals

by Naomi Cooper December 10, 2014

Everyone wants to know how to attract new patients. Dentists often spend big money on external marketing and promotional activities, but did you know one of the most effective ways of increasing new patient flow starts with your existing patient base?

Asking current satisfied patients to refer their friends and family to you is a relatively inexpensive way of promoting your practice, but for many dentists and staff, it is easier said than done. Here are 5 tips to help your practice start asking for more patient referrals in 2015:

1. The Marketing Mindset: The first hurdle that must be overcome is to shift your mindset. Asking for referrals doesn’t have to sound cheesy, desperate or sales-y. Remember, you aren’t selling snake oil; you are simply looking to provide the same high-quality dental care that your existing patients enjoy to others who will appreciate it!

2. Make It A Habit: Remember, marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not about asking every patient for a referral for the next week and then losing steam, it’s about making it an everyday practice for everyone on the team. Get the entire office on board and don’t forget to reward the team for results!

3. Practice Makes Perfect: Working the process of asking for referrals into normal patient conversations on an ongoing basis requires practice. Role playing between members of the team is a great idea, and working on verbal skills training for the entire practice can pay off huge dividends in the long run.

4. Ask For Reviews Too: Remind web-savvy patients that in addition to referring others to your practice, you also welcome them to share their experiences online on influential third-party patient review sites such as Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades.

5. Set A Team Goal (& Incentives!): “Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines,” according to Brian Tracy, author of The Psychology of Achievement. Don’t forget to set new patient goals for the team and establish an objective way to measure results as you go. And finally, dangle the carrot! Whether in the form of individual spot bonuses or a team incentive, be sure to communicate to the dental team the reward that they will earn for a job well done.

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Adopting the Marketing Mindset at Your Dental Practice

by Naomi Cooper February 18, 2014

The term “Marketing” is often associated with external advertising, or activities aimed at attracting new patients to the practice, and while this is certainly an important part of the marketing process, it doesn’t paint the entire picture. In fact, to start growing your practice, you may not have to look any further than your current patient base. When working with my clients, there’s a common piece of advice I always give: Don’t forget about internal marketing!

Internal marketing is the art of establishing relationships with current patients so that they decide to become ambassadors for your practice, referring friends and family to you. Internal marketing drives word of mouth and while it doesn’t cost a lot of money, it can pay off big time in the form of short-term practice viability and long-term sustainability.

I sometimes hear from my clients that asking their patients for referrals (or online reviews) can be intimidating or even uncomfortable. But when you have the right mindset – what I call the “Marketing Mindset” – asking for referrals and reviews becomes an easy and natural part of the day. And remember – while internal marketing isn’t difficult, it does require training on the parts of the doctors and staff. We all have to remember that verbal skills like asking patients for referrals do not necessarily come naturally, but need to be taught – and that just as with clinical skills, practice makes perfect!

With some practice, asking for referrals will no longer feel awkward or “sales-y”, but instead will become a habit…and a good habit, at that.