Practice

How to retain single visit dental patients

A challenge for many dental practices is how to retain single visit or emergency patients. Whether they are a one-off emergency appointment, or a patient visiting your practice for the first time, keeping them coming back is crucial to your clinic’s success.

July 20th, 2021

As we all know, it’s much more difficult to attract a new client than it is to retain a current one, so it makes sense that your practice focuses energy on client retention to create long-lasting and profitable relationships with patients you’ve already treated.

There are 5 areas you can focus on to increase patient retention.

The first impression

As we’ve talked about in a previous blog article, first impressions are powerful and a great first impression can impact a patient’s overall experience and influence the longevity of the relationship they build with your practice.

There are 5 things to do when shaping a patient’s first impression:

  • Build rapport over the phone, ensuring you make them your first priority, moving away from the old school, transactional approach to appointment setting.
  • Always offer a warm welcome in the form of a digital welcome pack or practice information sent out in the mail.
  • Build connections at the front desk. Greet patients with a smile and by their name when they enter your practice.

Follow-up after treatment

Show your patient that you haven’t forgotten about them once they have paid the bill and walked out the door.

A follow-up call, sms or email is a great way to show your patients they matter. A quick follow-up can go a long way to show your patients you care and build patient loyalty.

Email marketing

Does your practice send out a monthly newsletter?

Building a database of email newsletter clients will take time, but it’s an efficient way of communicating with your existing patients to share information and keep your practice front-of-mind.

An electronic newsletter can keep patients informed about open hours, changes in COVID-19 procedures and other important information. Avoid long, arduous emails. Short, useful, to the point communication is more likely to be positively received by patients.

As with any kind of marketing in the dental industry, it’s important to remain AHPRA compliant.

Woman happy with dental treatment

Social media

As most of us already know, social networking platforms are one of the best ways to communicate and engage with patients.

Creating a consistent social media presence will help your practice remain relevant and top-of-mind for existing patients. Communication is vital for practices and social media provides an excellent platform for two-way interaction.

Maintaining a strong social media presence is also a great way to encourage patients to share reviews and positive feedback.

Flexible dental payment options

We understand that not all patients can afford to pay upfront for the dental treatment they need. We’re sure you probably find many patients hold off on getting the treatment they need because of the cost.

With an affordable payment plan solution, your practice can retain these first time patients (as well as existing patients) by offering them a way to pay for their treatment over time.

The DentiCare payment plan solution ensures your patients get the treatment they need, while you get paid on time, every time, giving your practice a consistent and reliable revenue stream.

With these tips we hope you’ll be able to help your practice convert more of your single visit and emergency appointments into loyal patients. If you’d like to chat about the DentiCare payment plan solution, contact us today.

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