Practice

6 steps to build a thriving dental practice

As practice owner or manager, you want your dental practice to thrive, not just survive. You need more than just excellent dentistry skills, dental practices are multifaceted, you need to manage the day-to-day operations and the ongoing task of increasing patient retention.

The truth is, creating a successful practice doesn’t have to be complicated. After working with hundreds of successful dental practices across Australia, we’ve noticed a few commonalities that these thriving practices share. Follow these 6 steps to build a thriving dental practice for yourself.

Build a winning team

Behind every successful dental practice is a committed and engaged dental team. As Sir Richard Branson said, ‘A company’s employees are its greatest asset and your people are your product’.

If you take the time to build a winning team culture and create a healthy, happy environment for your employees, their enthusiasm and commitment will filter down to patients through every interaction.

How do you do this? Individual’s skills are important, but it’s also vital that they are able to work as part of your team. Always invest in employees who will fit in with your culture and contribute to a positive team culture.

Encouraging team members to participate in professional development opportunities will also ensure your employees continue to grow and have the skills and knowledge that builds confidence and pride in their work.

Discover what makes your practice unique (USP)

If you’ve worked with any marketing companies in the past, you may be familiar wiht the acronym USP. USP, or ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ is an aspect of your business (or services) that sets it apart from the competition.

It’s important to identify your USP as it will help you focus your marketing and branding strategies. Once you know what differentiates you from your competitors, you can clearly communicate it to potential patients.

Offer flexible dental payment plans

We already know that not all patients can afford to pay for their dental treatment upfront. So why not offer them an affordable way to pay?

When you offer an affordable payment plan solution it can help improve treatment acceptance while meeting the financial needs of your patient.

Patients who sign up for the DentiCare Payment Plan solution can get the treatment they need, without the wait. In turn, your practice can generate a consistent and reliable revenue stream to ensure you get paid on-time, every time.

Improve your online presence

If the last two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and physical closures have shown us anything, it’s the importance of having a consistent and engaging online presence.

A user friendly website is essential as it acts as your digital storefront. It allows your customers to learn about your services and connect with you with ease. It’s also an opportunity to encourage return visits as your patients sign up for emails and stay connected with your practice and it’s happenings.

Social media can be an amazing marketing tool, but it’s essential to research your demographic and create a social media strategy to ensure you’re using the right platform and hitting the mark with the information you are sharing. Remember, social media isn’t meant to be passive, so embrace 2-way communication with your followers to build engagement and interaction.

Build A Thriving Dental Clinic

Expand your dental services

While it’s important to have a niche, one of the most effective ways to attract more patients and create a thriving dental practice is to expand your dental services. Obviously this will be limited by the size of your office and staffing, however expanding your practice by adding more services is a great way to strengthen your competitive edge and attract more patients.

Improve patient referrals

For your practice to thrive you need to have a consistent stream of patients. While you may be surviving with word-of-mouth referrals, to thrive you need to put time and energy into how you manage patient referrals.

To increase patient referrals you need to be proactive. Always encourage patient reviews and don’t be afraid to ask loyal patients to tell others about your dental practice. You can also incentivise the referral process to motivate patients to refer their family and friends.

Putting these steps into practice can help your business thrive! Contact us today if you’d like to hear more about our affordable payment plans so your patients can get the treatment they need, with no upfront payment.