Are You Invisible to Your Existing Patients?
In J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter fantasy novels, one of her most imaginative inventions is the Invisibility Cloak. Simply throw it on and you're invisible to everyone. You can observe them, hear what they’re saying—but they can’t see you!
Well, creative as it might be in fiction, that Invisibility Cloak is hardly endearing when it comes to managing your dental practice. Yet if you don’t maintain contact with—continue to nurture—your existing patient base, you’re effectively wrapping that Invisibility Cloak around your entire practice the moment they climb out of your chair!
What are some of the symptoms of invisibility? Here are a few:
- Has your hygiene schedule had holes in it lately?
- Has your new patient flow dropped off?
- Struggling with low acceptance of treatment?
- More and more patients past due?
- Suffering from Empty Chair Syndrome?
You may be a victim of invisibility.
In a down economy your existing patients are the life-blood of your practice. Without their loyalty, things may only get worse. The most important marketing you do is not to focus on acquiring new patients, but keeping the ones you currently have in your practice. Okay, you say, maintaining contact with patients between appointments is a great idea, but it’s hard to find the time to write letters or create a newsletter on a regular basis.
The antidote is actually quite simple. I recommend that every 90 days, a professional communication be mailed by you, reminding your patients that YOU are their dentist. A single subject, informative letter with a couple of colorful, inviting Smile Cards is a great way to stay in touch and ask for referrals. Or it could be a newsletter filled with colorful graphics and intriguing health information, which arrives in every mailbox of your patient base each quarter.
All you need do is find a professional dental-marketing agency to do all the work. You can decide the content which will appear before it is sent out. Your office team doesn’t need to take time away from their regular tasks—except maybe to provide the mailing list.
Your own quarterly communication can be personalized exclusively for your practice, and is, by far, the simplest, most cost-effective means of visibility—that connection between your practice and your existing patient base. And if you are looking for an inexpensive and powerful new-patient prospecting direct mailer—newsletters work great. Most importantly, it’s practice marketing made easy.
Doctor, if you suspect you're secretly becoming suffocated from that Invisibility Cloak, here is a simple, proven way to remove it—and get on track to your goal.
Give us a toll-free call to discuss planning your own internal marketing strategy: (800) 523-6961.
