It costs more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing customer….
Yet when I talk to dentists about how slow business is at their practice, they all bleat out the same monologue…
“I just need more new patients.”
Often when I see a practice…
Often when I see a practice, the practice has a healthy number of new patients booking in each month. But at the rear end of the practice, that same practice has a continual number of patients leaving the practice without an appointment, or has patients calling back later to cancel, but not to reschedule appointments for necessary diagnosed treatment.
Which kind of seems quite dumb really.
Why would a practice not nurture their existing patient base until those valued customers were ready to bring their teeth and gums treatment up to date… rather these practices seem to be ignoring those loyal patients and start chasing down new patients to join the dental practice?
To me that doesn’t make good business sense.
The existing patients already love and respect you for all that you do for them. So much so, that an existing patient is more likely to accept their treatment and get the work done, when compared to a new patient, who has yet to establish true trust and rapport with their new dentist…
Building a dental practice with a large base of loyal patients who stayed, and paid, and referred was my goal in dental practice ownership.
It just made no sense to be paying for advertising and marketing to bring in new patients, only to see those patients leave through holes in our customer service systems that could easily be addressed.
Choosing a dentist is an emotional decision for the public to make.
Giving all patients an exceptional experience at your dental practice will go a long way towards helping those patients stay with you.
When the dental treatment you provide to your patients is bland, and vanilla, those patients will eventually tire of your dental practice and look elsewhere for a better experience.
Providing an exceptional experience to your patients goes a long way towards differentiating your dental practice from being just a commodity.
Patients want to feel respected and valued, and understood.
And helping them to feel that way is a lot less expensive than having to spend more money on marketing and advertising…
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Dr. David Moffet BDS FPFA CSP is a certified CX Experience coach. David works with his wife Jayne Bandy to help SME businesses improve their Customer Service Systems to create memorable World Class experiences for their valued clients and customers. Click here to find out how David and Jayne can help your business