Patient acquisition is the process of attracting and then accepting new patients to your practice for treatment.  While some dental professionals are happy to have every potential patient in town, the most successful practices target their acquisition activities to go after the right ones.  The “right” patient understands your treatment plans, wants what you’re offering (in whole or part), wants it now or soon, has the ability to pay and pays for it (whether they use insurance to help them or they pay out of pocket – doesn’t matter).  And, if their overall experience is satisfying, they are a great new patient referral engine, telling family and friends about your services.

New patients are the lifeblood that keeps dental practices running smoothly.  Patient acquisition is financially beneficial to a practice as it counters the natural progresses of existing patient attrition and when done at a more robust rate, increases the total yearly fees that are billed to your practice.

A referral is typically when someone you have a relationship with, recommends your practice and services to a potential new patient.  Patient referrals provide your office with an instant personal connection to a new revenue prospect.  Because of this personal connection, those referred tend to stay longer than a patient referred by unconnected media resources.  Internal dental patient referrals are the largest source of new patients for practices.  This is followed by networking (fraternal, philanthropic, social organizations, locals schools and PTO’s) and professional referrals from colleagues, either general doctors or treatment specialists.

There are also a number of website directories (like dentalreferral.com) you can employ to supplement your patient acquisition efforts.  These sites match patient needs with the right dentist by easy-to-use online search tools.

Referrals are one of the most affordable ways to acquire new patients.  A patient referred by an existing patient is 60% more likely to refer another person, become a lifelong patient and have immediate loyalty to your practice – based on the recommendation of a family member or friend.

There are 3 key steps in the referral process:

Request – educating on your referral program and then requesting participation.

Teaching your patients and your office staff how to refer is the first step.  You can always start simple with a basic referral card.  Then use your practice management software to track referrals.  Follow up on each lead as quickly as possible to demonstrate your professionalism and care.

Reminder – reminding patients that you value their referrals.

Utilize all contacts you have with a patient to continually remind them how important their referrals are to your practice.  Start from when they walk in the door, with your signage and front office staff, right through to when they leave carrying a supply bag or at home when they get your statement in the mail.  The more frequent the referral message, the more memorable it will be with patients.

Reward – providing an incentive or gift for the referral.

Before you start, research laws in your state or province in regards to gifting patients.  You can start easy by sending a personalized thank you card or have tangible rewards geared to the demographics of your patient base.  Movie tickets are great for teens or a gift card to a coffee shop for senior patients.  Some practices also like to reward with a credit on a patient’s account.  But for your best patients, with healthy mouths and great dental benefits, a grab bag of gift cards to local restaurants or the movies creates a bigger “wow” factor.

So here is how you can get things going at your practice:

Establish a referral program.

Establish a referral program for your practice and coin a catch phase like “Share a Smile” to brand all of the collateral advertising pieces.  Print flyers or brochures and display them in your waiting area, operating and hygiene rooms in a prominent location, and encourage your team to mention the program to each patient that comes in for treatment.  Don’t forget to highlight specific incentives that patients could receive if they send referrals your way.  These incentives could take the form of anything from a discount on dental services to an unrelated “fun” item, like a gift certificate to a local restaurant or movie theater.

Ask for referrals.

Ask for referrals.  Many of your patients may not “take the hint” and start referring people to your practice.  Be proactive and train your staff to ask every patient if they have anyone they would like to refer to your practice.  Make sure they leave with a flyer or brochure, and give them the option of filling out a referral card in the office.  Emphasize that their referrals won’t be required to buy anything or make an appointment – you’ll simply be reaching out.

No everyone on your staff will be comfortable asking for referrals so make sure to provide script options to those not comfortable.  A great way to frame the request is “Did you know we are now accepting new patients like you?  Do you have any friends, family or coworkers who are looking for a good dentist?  Please ask them to mention your name when they call so we can thank you with an “X” gift.”

Include referral cards with all mailings.

Always include referral cards with invoices, statements and any direct mail marketing materials you send out.  For example, if you mail a brochure or a newsletter to patients or area residents, include several tear-off referral cards inside.

Give away freebies.

Give away freebies, such as personalized pens, toothbrushes or magnets, with your contact information and website address printed on them.  These items can usually be printed in bulk at an affordable rate, and they can be a surprisingly effective way to generate new interest in your services.

Include a referral link on your website.

Include a referral link on your website, where visitors can simply type in the names and contact information of individuals that may be interested in your services.  Remember, the easier you make the referral process, the more likely your patients are to participate.  Don’t forget to mention any incentives you may offer via your referral program.

Respond to inquiries quickly.

Respond to any inquiries you receive from interested parties as quickly as possible.  People will appreciate the personal care and attention, and it may make them inclined to start referring their family and friends immediately – perhaps even before their first appointment is scheduled.

Send handwritten postcards, greeting cards or thank you notes.

Show patients you care by sending handwritten postcards, greeting cards or thank you notes.  Coming from their dental professional, this level of personal commitment may take many people by surprise – and that’s a good thing!  Try sending these personalized notes to new patients after their first visit, as well as patients who have just started or finished a significant treatment or procedure.  You may also want to get into the habit of reaching out to all your patients during the holidays, to thank them for their loyalty – or on their birthday to acknowledge this special day.  Keep your notes short, and always send them as quickly as possible after an appointment or meeting.

Most experts agree that a mature dental practice should allocate 3-5% of fees revenue to marketing.  Recall, reactivation, other internal marketing, and marketing to existing patients for referrals and additional services in the office and at home should account for a third, or 1-2%, and two thirds, or 2-3%, to external marketing and marketing to potential “prospective patients”.  Newer or less mature practices can likely use a lot more external marketing than 2-3% of fees.

A dental practice should always craft a business plan to guide their marketing efforts.  This plan should detail projections on patient counts for both existing and new patients, along with revenue targets.  A well-structured and supported referral program should be generating 60% of the plan’s new patient target on an annual basis.

Practices can easily keep track of referrals using their practice management software.  Run a report, at least twice a year, on the number of referrals by source, so you can thank/reward your best referral sources.

Successful practices tailor their patient acquisition activities to go after the right patient – and the same holds true when looking for a partner to help with your referral program.  First, decide what you want and how much work you want to handle internally.  Do you need a consultant to give you advice?  A business partner who can provide a turnkey solution?  A supplier to print your marketing materials?  Someone you can source patient rewards from?  Fit is key – so select a company you can trust, one that will be there in the future and not disappear in the middle of your project.  Make sure they have knowledge and experience to consult, share their experiences of what other dental practices are doing, and stand behind their promises.

Use your local professional network or your state dental association and ask for recommendations.  Then arrange a face to face or phone meeting to make sure there is a good fit.  If it is a turnkey provider have them provide samples of programs they have done for other offices and request that they share results (without breaking any confidentiality).  Ask for client references and contact them with a set of prepared questions.  Once you have settled on the right consultant or business partner, develop a work plan with quarterly follow up once the program has been implemented.  If you are not happy with results, talk honestly.  The foundation of any relationship is good communication.

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At Sharper™, we greatly value the feedback we receive from our customers when they complete our “Would You Recommend Us” survey.  Our customers tell us the things they love about our business, but most importantly they tell us the things that create customer service issues for them.  We also receive a ton of recommendations on how we can improve our business processes to better support our customers and their goals of growing their practice or business successfully.

An important trend with our customers has been the migration of ordering products online at our website www.e-sharper.com.  Since the majority of our products are personalized with contact information and branding like custom logos, we have heard a lot of feedback about how our site did not allow customers to quickly see how their products would look when printed.  They would have to request a proof, which would be sent by email or fax.  Way too labor intensive in this day and age of technology.

So we challenged our IT team to find an easy to use application for our website where customers could enter in the information they wanted to have printed on their product, change fonts, ink colors, logos, etc.  And boy, what they found for us was great!  If you have not been to the Sharper™ site recently, please visit www.e-sharper.com.  Boasting some exciting new features including a revamped look, our website will now allow you to easily search for your products and personalize it with our online personalization tool.

Furthermore, if you create a web account, your name and address information will auto-populate…saving time from manually keying it in.  All of this information is then stored in your account for easy retrieval when you reorder.  You will also see a digital proof which represents how your products will look when printed.  Don’t like the look – then quickly change it.

Needless to say, we love technology and I know our customers will too!  Happy shopping…

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Like many people throughout the world, I continue to feel the emotional pain experienced by Japanese citizens, businesses, social organizations and relief support workers.  First an earthquake, followed by the deadly tsunami and now the nuclear disaster.  Having worked with many Japanese companies over the years, I know they are strong and resilient people, so I was not surprised when I read (online) the following announcement from a senior executive at their Post Office.

Three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, Japan Post has announce their operations are 90% back to normal.   “Mail network and delivery have also been recovered, not only in coverage but also in speed.  Domestic transportation are now functioning as usual with some local exceptions due to the lack or serious destruction of roads.  We are now delivering mail to all addressees, even if they are kept in temporary  shelters (schools, public buildings or hotels.)  Very sadly, nearly 30,000 people are dead or missed, to whom we cannot deliver mails”, stated Shuuji Oobu Sy, from Japan Post.

The relief effort currently underway is enormous – both in its size and even more importantly in its global support.  Our world is truly one community, regardless of the language we may speak or our political or religious background.  At Sharper™, we believe we are part of this community, so to do our part we have worked with our designer friends to launch  a motivational line of cards, available in postcard, laser card and greeting card formats, of which all proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.  These cards use simple imagery and compelling words to convey the strength of not only the Japanese people, but all of the organizations supporting this country as it first buries its citizens - and then with enormous  strength and resolve rebuilds its towns and infrastructure.  Visit www.e-sharper.com/Japan to view the collection.

Japanese Red Cross Society
(http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/index.html).

After many years of pretty reliable service, I made the decision to purchase a new car.  My old one had served me well over the last 11 years, but the repair bills were slowly starting to mount.  Throughout my life, I had always bought my vehicles from the same manufacturer and I had grown comfortable with them.  Their brand stood for quality, service and value.  So it was scary to both buy a new car (boy, are they expensive!) - but also to decide to move to a new company.

The sales experience to purchase my new car overall was great – I got a knowledgeable sales person, good supporting literature and a fair price.  But most impressive was the commitment of the sales person that, other than regular maintenance, I would never need to drive ”to the shop“.  So it was with great concern a few days after I got my car, that I had a problem.  A spare key that was to work with my new electric car starter did not.  It was at this point that the little voice in my head said “Oh no, did I make the right decision to switch to a new car company?”.

I quickly talked with the sales person.  And the first thing he said after I explained the situation was that he was sorry, but had screwed up and forgotten to program the key.  He then indicated he would personally drive over to my office, bring the car in to have the key set up – and return it before the end of my work day.  WOW, I thought, how nice to have an honest answer and a proactive solution that did not cause me to spend anytime personally resolving.  Or driving across town…

The sales person showed up exactly at the time promised and actually returned my car earlier than committed.  It also came back washed and waxed, with paw prints from my dog cleaned from the seats.   Talk about being impressed!

So many companies these days talk about having great customer service, but how many of them actually walk the walk?  And do so without causing their customers time, money or stress?  My new car company did – and so does  Sharper™. We are one of those types of businesses that truly gets how important to our business profitability is world class customer service.

We want our customers to be delighted with their purchases.  So our commitment is:

If any product you order from Sharper™ fails to meet your expectations (and you are the sole judge), you may return it for a prompt exchange, credit or refund.  This guarantee applies to all products we sell.

Is it always easy?  The real answer is no.  People make mistakes, change their minds.  Our customers may give us a phone number to print on their personalized holiday postcards, forgetting their area code has just changed.  When typing a doctor’s name or web site address into our computer system, one of our product consultants can hit a wrong key.   A customer could have just bought new dental business or appointment cards for a hygienist, to have that individual leave the practice a few days after the cards arrive.  Or the orthodontic birthday card design may not appeal to a doctor’s wife who is the office manager.  The list of service issues goes on and on.

But, regardless of what the problem may be or who may be responsible, Sharper™’s 100% satisfaction guarantee stands.  Just like the commitment my new car sales person made to me – the only time I would be in the shop was for regular maintenance.  Now I wonder how I can get him to also do this for me?????

Believe it or not, referrals are typically worth a minimum of $800 over the course of three years.  Personalized dental holiday cards and gifts reflect professionalism and is a great way to generate referrals for your practice.  So are these products included in your dental practice marketing kit to get new patients?  If not, they should be.

The easiest way to accomplish this is source a supplier who specializes in holiday products geared to the dental market, rather than the more vanilla card companies that sell general designs.  A high quality card, with your personalized contact information, demonstrates the value you place in patients and colleagues who provide referrals – while reinforcing your practice brand for quality care.

When sourcing your supplier for dental holiday cards and gifts, please make sure that Sharper™ is on your list.  We have one of the widest selection of dental holiday, thanksgiving, Halloween, new year’s and 2011 calendars.  Listed below is my favorite in our dental holiday cards line of products.  It is a beautie!

More and more doctors are promoting the importance of oral health to the overall health of patients.  Three key links have been found, relating to cardiac disease, renal disease, and complications during pregnancy.

This important trend is resulting in changes to the way dental practices communicate with their patients and their overall dental practice marketing strategies.  While traditional dental recall cards may have been a cartoon character, or dental themed graphic like teeth or floss - practices are now sending educational postcards that specifically discuss the additional health benefits of good oral health.

Detailed below is a good example of a dental recall postcard available in the Sharper line that explains this message – in a compelling, yet simple to understand, manner.

Interested in knowing how to correctly floss your teeth?  These are the instructions my dentist promotes in his dental practice marketing kit, a package of personalized promotional giveaways his team provides to patients at their 6 month check ups.

• Use 18 in of floss, wrapping it around your two middle fingers. Leave an inch or two of floss to work with.
• Holding the floss tightly, gently move the floss up and down between teeth.
• Go beneath the gumline by curving the floss around each tooth.
• Use a clean section of the floss when moving from tooth to tooth.
• To remove floss, use the same back and forth motion to gently bring the floss away from teeth.

Some ideas of items to include in a package of your own are:

• Dental magnets
• Personalized toothbrushes
• Floss
• Brushing timers
• Toothpaste squeezers

All of these items can be conveniently packaged in a dental tote bag.

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, will be held February 12-28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia with some events held in the resort town of Whistler nearby.  Of all of the contests, hockey is my favorite sport to watch.  That is why I was so amused when I received a dental hygiene card in the mail on this theme.  Boy, my dental hygienist knows me…

Designed by the cartoonist Brian Basset, creator of the comic strip Adam@home.  Using Olympic themed dental hygiene cards and dental recall cards for dental practice marketing is a clever way to attract an retain patients!!  How cool!

Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use. 

This is the reason why at Sharper™ we offer our customers so much variety in our dental laser cards.  My most favorite designs are from the comic strip Baby Blues.  Created by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, it brings the daily trials and tribulations of a young couple with three small children to hilarious life.  Zoe, Hamish (Hammie for short) and baby Wren keep their parents hopping through adventures that we can all understand.  This phenomenally popular daily comic strip is syndicated in over 850 newspapers worldwide with a daily readership of over 60 million. 

Like many people, I am a big pet lover – with a cute dog and two cats inhabiting my home.  My one kitty is a recent arrival who showed up on my door step unannounced one evening – just a few days after I had to say good bye to a most beloved cat.  Very old and suffering, I made the decision based upon the recommendation of my veterinarian.  Although it was heart-breaking, I knew it was time.  The pet care team at the practice were so caring, and a few days later in the mail I received the most touching cat sympathy card.  Enclosed inside was an insert for the Rainbow Bridge which is a beautiful story about a special place that pets go to.  The loss of a family pet is always tough emotionally, so that is why I encourage all Sharper™ veterinarian and pet care customers to use the Rainbow Bridge on its own or in conjunction with their cat sympanty cards, dog sympathy cards, or general pet sympathy cards when communicating with pet owners.

With Thanksgiving over for the year, thoughts quickly turn to the holiday festive season.  At Sharper™ this is a really fun time since our customers are into full swing purchasing business holiday cards.  I often spend time at the presses, watching our talented operators print orders and it is so amazing to see the different ways our customers acknowledge their patients or clients.  Some holiday card messages are extremely funny, with humorous poems written by the staff.  Many are very touching, with sincere acknowledgment of how important patients are to a practice’s ongoing success.  And there are always customers who utilize their holiday cards to offer a special promotion to their most loyal clients.  I also see how resourceful our customers are by digitizing their signature so it is pre-printed on their cards.  This saves a ton of time hand signing – very important for those customers with a large database to mail to.

Although I personally get a lot of holiday cards, my most favorite each year is from my veterinarian.  A very serious doctor in person, his cards are so cute – and he takes the time to add a stamped paw print to each.  It is this small gesture that ensures I remain a customer for life at his practice.  Happy Holidays!