In this guest blog, Dental business coach, Ashley Latter, underlines the need to attract the right type of patient for your practice.
While a full appointment book looks great, if it’s crammed with patients who are not regular attenders at the dentist and who have only come to see you because they’re in pain, or they’re with you for a single cosmetic treatment and are never likely to darken your door again, then things may not be as rosy as they seem. That’s why it’s important to concentrate your efforts, not just on getting any patients, but on attracting the right ones for your practice.
This may feel a little exclusionary, but many businesses operate this way. I have seen a lot of stories about certain resorts in Spain wanting to reduce the number of tourists visiting them, and in particular some of the rowdier UK visitors. To try to deter the sorts of holidaymakers they don’t want, they are limiting the times when people can drink alcohol. They hope this will mean the sorts of people they don’t want will choose to stay away voluntarily.
In my business, we have a clear vision of our ideal customer. For us they would be someone forward thinking, who wants to grow and develop in both their personal and professional life and who realises for their business to improve they need to grow and develop themselves.
By knowing this we have been able to attract what we call ‘lifers’. These are long-term repeat customers who are dedicated to improving their business skills and who keep coming back to us for courses and advice. These are people who love what you do and who will continue to give you repeat business.
How does this help?
If you know the type of patient you want to attract then it makes it easier for you to target your marketing towards them. I spoke to a dentist recently who was spending a fortune on marketing as the sorts of patients he was attracting were never going to be lifers. He was likely to only see them once or twice.
If your main patient base consists of people who only go to the dentist once in a blue moon when something’s wrong, then you are attracting people who will only be interested in the equivalent of a one-off purchase. That was what was happening to this dentist and is the reason why he was spending breathtaking amounts of money on his marketing. When you’re attracting people who will only buy from you once or twice, then without repeat business, you need to keep finding new customers all the time to keep going.
What sort of patient should you be looking to attract?
First and foremost, the ideal patient is one that will take caring for their oral health seriously. Your aim should be to attract people who value and respect what you do and the advice you give to them. Ultimately, you want to forge a long-lasting relationship with your patients so that they keep coming back to you.
One way of doing this is to have a membership plan and encourage them to join it. If they are willing to pay monthly to be a member of your practice then that’s as clear a demonstration of their loyalty and ‘stickiness’ as you could ask for.
Another trait of your ideal patient is someone who is prepared to invest in making their smile the best it can be. Cosmetic dentistry, whether that’s teeth whitening, Invisalign™ or composite bonding, has been growing in popularity over the past few years meaning more people are prepared to do something about their smile if they’re not quite happy with it. So, these are the right sorts of patients for your practice.
If you nurture your relationship with them and make sure they have a great customer experience, then they will stay with you for many years. They will also become your greatest advocates, so always remember to ask them for a Google review or give them a referral card so they can encourage their friends and family to become members of your practice. It’ll save you a fortune in marketing and ensure that the patients who join your practice are the right ones for you.
About Ashley
Ashley Latter is an industry-renowned dental business consultant. He specialises in delivering the Ethical Sales and Communication Programme, Creating a World Class Patient Journey, Creating a High Performance Team and also works with a very forward group of dentists and Orthodontists on the Serious Players Club, which is an Entrepreneur group.
He has spoken at most of the major conferences in the UK, including those of the BDA, BACD, British Orthodontic Conferences and the ADI Conference.
He is also the author of two books: ‘Helping Patients to say YES’ and ‘Don’t Wait for the Tooth Fairy’.
Leave a Reply