So, you’ve assessed your dental patient profiles — you know their varying ages, how often they come in and what kind of treatments they get. But, do you have visibility to one of the most critical pieces of information: where your dental patients are located?
Sure, you have their addresses logged, but have you truly dug in and analyzed their locations in comparison to your practice? Have you looked at where you are marketing in relation to your office location? Your dental patients’ locations should not be overlooked; this data is everything when it comes to effective dental marketing.
When you think of your practice, what is your most valuable asset? (Hint: your patient base).
If you remember our post about knowing your 
If you were to ask most of your fellow dentists if they know the number of new patients coming in each month, you can bet that the majority can rattle off that number with no problem. But, what if I were to ask you to tell me how many of your existing patients come back per month? Would that be as easy? I’d bet not. You see, most dentists spend so much time focusing on getting new patients that they forget you have to always keep recruiting and enticing your existing patients to come back to you.
You love your dedicated dental patients. You can always count on them showing up to their appointments, paying in a timely manner and referring you to their friends and family. If you could only clone those patients and get more of them in your door, you’d be set! But, all hope is not lost; you may not be able to fast forward to the future and replicate them, but rest assured, you’ll attract high-value patients to your practice by following some simple recommendations.
If you discovered you could grow your dental practice $1 million next year by making one change… you’d do it, right? Of course you would. Or, so you think. One of the biggest missed opportunities for dental practices is not capitalizing on undone dentistry. If you could make one promise to yourself as we approach 2019, take the steps to getting your dental patients scheduled for their treatment, and watch your practice grow!
Your practice is moving in the right direction. You’ve got your dedicated patients who’ve steadfastly been with you since Day One, and you’re putting the right pieces in place to attract new patients. But you always want to look ahead, right? A good practice doesn’t stay on top of its game if it becomes stagnant.
Your patients have a hectic life. Between work, family, and everything else they’ve got going on, they then have to fit in appointments, and that goes for scheduling time to come into your dental practice. I mean, put yourself in their shoes. With all that you do, you have to think: when is the best time to make time for things like the dentist office?
You’ve got a lot on your plate – you run a successful dental practice, taking care of not only your patients, but your team members each day. Between pulling Ms. Jones’ tooth and making sure all the bills are paid, you don’t have a lot of downtime to focus on other services, such as marketing your business. You decide to take the step and find a dental marketing firm that can take that load off your plate. What they are selling sounds good, and just as you’re about to commit to them, they pull out this caveat – you need to sign a long-term contract for their services. This begs the question, you want good marketing help, but at what price?
You have a steady stream of patients, and you love those loyal customers. They are the ones who will always be there. They never miss an appointment. They tell other people about your practice. They pay on time. If every patient was like them, life would be easy! But, are you measuring your success by those loyalists?
