Biggest Referral Loser
by Rita Zamora
One of the biggest referral losers in dental practices today is not keeping in touch with patients - the right way, on a regular basis. More and more dentists realize the value of referrals, yet few actively practice relationship building. This results not only in lost referral opportunities, but also in lost case acceptance and more importantly lost patients.
Many of your patients are regularly receiving generic postcard offers from neighboring dental practices, each promoting a new special service, new technology or better location. The best way to ensure your patients are loyal, motivated and referring regularly is to keep in touch with them. Yes, excellent patient care is vital, but how often are you permitted to make someone's day? Once or twice per year is not enough. Here are a few effective ways to follow up throughout the year:
#1 Email- few practices are collecting email addresses. While not every patient will elect to receive email from you, many will and this will allow you to communicate inexpensively and quickly.
#2 Postcards- don't send patients generic dental postcards- remember, they've likely already received dozens in their mailbox- instead, why not pick up colorful postcards with a photo of your favorite local town (think summer destinations or fall color drives). Then have someone from your team handwrite a greeting, reminder or timely message.
#3 Newsletters- not your father's newsletter! Despite our desire to interest patients in cutting edge dental technologies, most patients would rather read about you and your team. More personal touch articles and less technical dental will allow patients to feel like they have a real relationship with you.
The key to winning referrals is strong patient relationships- nurtured by unique and personalized follow up, on a regular basis.
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