Many dental practices don’t have a huge advertising budget to build a “big” brand. However by utilizing effective communication strategies, you can make a “big” impact.
Communicating with your customers should be at the top of your agenda. Your customers will give you feedback which may help you improve your dental practice and grow your business. And if you use the right communication strategies you can also cement your business in their minds so that they become die hard patients.
Unfortunately, all too often small dental practices miss this step and try to conduct themselves in a manner more reminiscent of a “big” brand. This can spell disaster for the small dental practice owner.
Here are a few tips to help you avoid this trap and communicate effectively with your customers.
Ask for feedback.
Good or bad, feedback from customers can be the saving grace for any small business. It will help you improve, tweak, keep what’s working and get rid of what isn’t working within your dental practice. You can ask patients to fill in a simple survey card or a fun poll about their preferences and so on. It may help to make the feedback anonymous to make it easier for the patient to state their true feelings about the dental practice.
Stay in touch.
Even if the customer was impressed with your dental practice in the first instance, it’s easy for them to forget about it or go somewhere more convenient. However, if you stay at the forefront of your patient’s mind then you’ll up the chances of them becoming repeat patients.
Send your patients reminders about your dental practice and news about special offers which will benefit them. You can also offer repeat patients a discount voucher and other incentives to get them to come back to you. But keep in mind that the best incentive for patients to return is often a simple “thank you” and great customer service.
You can do this by treating each and every patient as though they are your only patient and making them feel special. Send out birthday or Christmas cards to your customers. Let them know you appreciate them by sending a simple thank you letter, perhaps with a discount voucher inside. And in some cases a small thank you gift may be a worthwhile investment.
Treating customers well is one sure way to stand out from the competition.
Get creative.
Many dental practices use the same old boring marketing strategies. Why not stand out from the crowd by “juicing” up your marketing? Humor goes a long way in marketing – come up with a funny campaign that will grab your customer’s attention.
What may seem “crazy” to some can catch the eyes of potential patients and get them interested in your dental practice. The first step is always getting the patient through the door – a creative marketing campaign will help you do this. Once they’re in the door it’s up to you to wow them with your service.
Communicating effectively with patients doesn’t have to be difficult. It’s all about connecting with people on a more personal level and setting up your dental practice to help your patients and to provide value. A few simple strategies can help you achieve this and stand out from the competition.
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