How to Keep Dental Patients Coming Back
Dental practices can often begin prioritizing new patients over current patients while looking for potential growth opportunities. Of course, it’s easy to see how new patients can in some ways be directly attributed to a practice growing.
But without making an effort to continue strengthening existing relationships the potential for losing new patients eventually increases as they become regulars at the clinic.
Unfortunately, this way of giving priority to new patients can damage practice growth by straining the relationship with those who matter the most: those who have been coming back for years.
Fortunately, though, it requires less effort to continue strengthening relationships that have already been formed, rather than securing new long-lasting relationships.
There are many benefits, both to the patients and the practice, in maintaining one dental physician for many years. On the patient’s side, there is the benefit of never having to reshare your medical history more than once as your file will encompass every procedure you’ve had done.
And by being a regular patient, the staff will be able to know you on a more personal level, such as your pain tolerance and sensitivity to various dental procedures. Knowing more things like this creates the foundation for lasting trust in the relationship.
Overall, this allows one dental practice the opportunity to create tailored care, specifically for each patient’s needs, which in turn benefits the practice as well as the patients.
From the dental practice point of view, the benefits of having repeated patients for years are undeniable. With reoccurring patients requiring less effort to maintain a strong relationship, the dentists are given more time and energy to put into providing exceptional care.
And with the ability to create individually tailored solutions for each patient, the dental practice can expect multiple benefits from happy patients, like an increase in word-of-mouth traffic and five-star reviews.
By keeping the three following ideas in mind, dental practices can enhance their relationship with current patients and consequently set the groundwork for creating similar relationships with new patients.
1. Having a clean, friendly office and staff
First impressions matter. Whether scheduling an appointment over the phone or walking in the front door for the first time, people are making assumptions based on their experiences with your business. Given that one of the first things that patients will notice when entering your dental practice is the state of the office, it is imperative that the right first impression be made.
One of the best ways of ensuring an excellent office experience is by having happy and excited employees. Of course, this should always be a priority as multiple studies have shown that employee satisfaction can overall directly impact company success.
But with office staff members being one of the first people that patients have contact with, the very first impression is often made here. This makes having satisfied employees a top priority in drawing patients back time and time again.
And luckily, this has a simple solution: offering an environment where employees are excited to come to work. While there are many ways of achieving this, one way is making sure to have functional equipment.
This ensures that there is zero frustration or struggle involved for staff members or the patients they are helping. This leads to the next tip in continuing to keep dental patients coming back to your practice for years to come.
2. Having high quality, functional Equipment
In line with the previous suggestion, one way to increase employee satisfaction is by ensuring that all equipment is made of quality material and is fully functional. Patients can feel at ease knowing that your office offers top-of-the-line dental equipment, and there is no need to ever reschedule because of issues with machines.
Additionally, this goes further by increasing patient satisfaction as well by having a fast and easy experience with high-quality photos and dental x-rays. Dr. Glenn Krieger’s feature in Dental Town’s November issue offers additional information on the importance of having clear and effective clinical photos, plus tips and tricks in capturing the perfect photos.
Superb dental x-rays and imaging give patients the ability to truly see the condition of their oral health. It provides quality imaging that shows results as they transition from start to finish.
Thankfully the advancement of different industry tools has made taking great images a breeze. Dental equipment like Intraoral Cameras and Scanners offer top-of-the-line imaging with self-calibrating features and a 360-degree rotating tip.
With the help of a CBCT system, it can be easier than ever to show three-dimensional images of patients anatomically and help in diagnosis and treatment planning. But with a wide variety of CBCT systems available, it can be daunting to make a selection on your own and be able to properly train staff on how to use it.
Fortunately, Capital Dental Equipment offers a simple solution by offering new and certified refurbished dental equipment with convenient remote support, as well as training and software demonstrations.
3. Scheduling
Finally, one important way to ensure that patients continue coming back is having a scheduling system with multiple lines of communication as means of reminders about appointments.
Missed appointments create the opportunity for patients to begin thinking about changing practices. By decreasing the number of missed appointments dental practices can eliminate this.
One effective route in appointment reminders is having automated texts set up to be delivered at a scheduled time. It can be either a week or a few days before the appointment. These messages should include the appointment date, time, and location, and if possible the context of the appointment, whether a general cleaning or other.
However, it is important to consider the age and demographics of clients when considering this option. For some, a phone call reminder may be more optimal. Additionally, it should be a priority to have a moderate open schedule for appointments and times. Having an office where it is impossible to find an appointment time, or any reschedule availability does not foster an inviting atmosphere for patients to continue returning to.
When dental practices are looking for growth opportunities, it’s essential to value relationships with current patients as much as new patients.
As you continue to grow new relationships it becomes increasingly important to strengthen the bonds between patients and dental staff. It will help foster an environment founded on trust and exceptional care.
Taking care of the patients you already have will in turn create an avenue for new patients to see and hear about the amazing work being done at your practice. And as we know, staying with one dental practice has an abundance of benefits for both the patient and the practice.
