![\"Successful](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-1-1.jpg\")
Your practice is moving in the right direction. You\u2019ve got your dedicated patients who\u2019ve steadfastly been with you since Day One, and you\u2019re putting the right pieces in place to attract new patients. But you always want to look ahead, right? A good practice doesn\u2019t stay on top of its game if it becomes stagnant.<\/p>\n
There is always<\/em><\/strong> an opportunity to grow, and now is the time to start looking at the biggest opportunities that you can seize to expand your revenue. Learning how to minimize undone dentistry and capitalize on patient referrals can skyrocket your practice from just good to truly great!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you\u2019ve let one patient go unscheduled, you\u2019ve let more, and that starts cutting into your bottom line. Say you have 2,000 active patients; you run a successful practice. When you think of the number of missed appointments for high cost procedures such as crowns, dental implants, dentures, etc., you are missing out on potentially millions of dollars over the cost of a year. There is something to say about striking while the iron is hot; when someone is in your office for their biannual cleaning and you discover further dental treatments need to be done, try to get them scheduled that day! If for whatever reason they leave without scheduling, you need to make sure you follow up with them within one to two weeks of their visit to get that unscheduled treatment scheduled, or that money truly walked out the door!<\/p>\n If someone is hesitant to schedule because of cost, consider offering outside financing. It might be what tips the scale in your direction to get the patient to schedule that treatment.<\/p>\n According to a<\/strong> 2009 study by the Academy of Dental CPAs<\/strong><\/a>, the availability of outside financing to patients increased dental visits by 62% and case acceptance by 282%.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Keep in mind how much people rely on referrals to make any type of business decisions. What their peers, family and friends think matters<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n In a <\/strong>Nielsen study<\/strong><\/a>, 92% of customers from around the world say they trust recommendations or word-of-mouth from friends and family above all other forms of advertising.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n You want to capitalize on crossing all that undone dentistry off your list and getting patient referrals in motion. Here are four things to consider in attaining these goals and building your growth opportunities.<\/p>\n You can highlight a particular topic featuring one of your dentists or a staff member. It shows the human element of your practice, which is appealing to both current and potential patients. Provide a patient profile of one of your success stories; this provides relatability for that patient looking for their next dental home. Finally, showcase a featured service, dental benefits, or reminders. Incorporate those elements into your next newsletter, and you\u2019ll have a winner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you take the time to write and send a thank you note to a patient after a significant procedure, you can include two $50 practice-branded gift cards: one for the patient and one for the person they can refer. This way, you\u2019re cherry picking your best patients, and get them while they\u2019re happy (since you just fixed their teeth)! By embracing that notion of \u201cbirds of a feather flock together,\u201d you can attract people who might run in the same circles as your patients and bring them into your patient group.<\/p>\n When you distribute gift cards, you need to make sure they are branded to your specific practice and have a serial identifier. This allows you to track your efforts.<\/p>\n Trackability is key with your emails, texts, gift cards, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n By tracking your communications and gift cards, you can trace whose card is coming back to you, and know which patient referred you!<\/p>\n Or, you can hand out 10 gift cards to your staff every quarter and have them hand them out to the people they encounter. You can track their progress and know that you have someone truly invested in the practice who is working to recruit on your behalf.<\/p>\n Not sure where to start? We can help you create your strategy to schedule those outstanding appointments and generate more referrals. Contact us at TNT Dental today.<\/p>\n Contact a Tim<\/a><\/p>\n Tim Healy is one of the founders of TNT Dental, the #1 creator of custom websites and marketing strategies for dentists. Recognized as a leading expert in helping dental practices attract new patients, Tim has a true passion for teaching dentists the important \u201cbusiness stuff\u201d they do not teach you in dental school. If there is anything Tim can do to help you, please do not hesitate to contact him directly at the office, (877) 317-4885, on his cell, (214) 680-1270, or via email at tim@tntdental.com<\/a>. Of course, you can always visit www.TNTDental.com<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Your practice is moving in the right direction. You\u2019ve got your dedicated patients who\u2019ve steadfastly been with you since Day One, and you\u2019re putting the right pieces in place to attract new patients. But you always want to look ahead, right? A good practice doesn\u2019t stay on top of its game if it becomes stagnant. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[54,59,53,6,57,58,56,24,55,60,14,52],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dental-practice-growth-tips","tag-custom-dental-website","tag-dental-newsletters","tag-dental-treatment-plan-marketing","tag-dentist-marketing","tag-facebook-advertising-for-dentists","tag-gift-card-marketing","tag-google-ppc-for-dentists","tag-online-marketing-for-dentists","tag-ppc-advertising-for-dentists","tag-practice-management-software-marketing","tag-seo-for-dentists","tag-undone-dentistry"],"yoast_head":"\nSchedule Undone Dentistry<\/h2>\n
![\"Dental](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-2-copy.jpg\")
One of the biggest opportunities you can capitalize on is scheduling undone dentistry<\/strong>. You\u2019ve seen this time and time again. Your patient comes in for their biannual dental exam and uh oh, we\u2019ve got a cavity on our hands. They\u2019re thinking, \u201cI can schedule that appointment sometime down the road,\u201d but before you know it, six months have passed and you haven\u2019t heard from them since they walked out your door.<\/p>\n
\nAccording to RevenueWell<\/a>, patients will come in every 11 months. If you could tweak your processes and work to get them to coming in just one month sooner \u2013 every 10 months \u2013this could potentially be one of the largest growth opportunities you could have in your business!<\/p>\nOutside Financing Makes a Difference<\/h3>\n
\nHave Your Current Patients Work for You<\/h2>\n
![\"Dentist](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-4.jpg\")
Another way to capitalize on growth is through your existing patients\u2019 referrals<\/strong>. Just think, if given the right encouragement (e.g. gift cards, discounts on future services, etc.), you can incentivize your current patients to refer you, either by word of mouth or online. According to DentistryIQ<\/a>, with the right tools and incentives, 40 to 60 percent of your current patients could refer one new patient a year! Stack that on top of your current patient list, and you could have yourself a nice, steady stream of business.<\/p>\n
\nSo, What Are You Doing to Accomplish Those Growth Opportunities?<\/h2>\n
\n1) Quarterly Newsletters<\/h3>\n
![\"Dentist](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-5.png\")
Create and send your newsletter by both email and text. Texts get opened eight times more often than email, so you have a greater chance of reaching your patient base through someone\u2019s phone! Newsletters help connect the patient to your practice, which goes back to the whole notion of patients preferring physicians who they feel they know.<\/p>\n\n2) Practice Management Software<\/h3>\n
![\"Dental](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-6.png\")
Take your patient database and filter by the people who have a treatment plan in place but haven\u2019t begun it yet.\u00a0 Send out an e-blast specifically to those patients and present special offers and discounts to them, to entice them to schedule now. Scheduling undone dentistry is one of your largest opportunities, and tapping into this revenue stream has the potential to significantly impact the success of your practice this year.<\/p>\n\n\n3) Facebook Ads<\/h3>\n
![\"Dentist](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-7.png\")
For your Facebook followers, use ads to target the people who need a treatment plan but haven\u2019t started on it yet. If you didn\u2019t know, you can actually target them specifically, and they are none the wiser! Out of every 200 patients, say you focus on those 60 or so with undone dentistry to get them to schedule their appointment. For only $1 a click, you can have a pretty good ROI, all by creating a little ad with a direct call to action to get them to book their appointment today!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n4) Gift Card Program<\/h3>\n
![\"Gift](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-8.png\")
Encourage your patients to recruit their friends. Everyone loves free money, right? There are a couple of ways to get people excited about selling your brand and helping you attract new patients along the way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThink of the Thank You<\/h4>\n
Get the Team on Board<\/h4>\n
\n![\"Dentist](\"https:\/\/www.tntdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/opportunity-9.jpg\")
Bottom line, you need to get those patients with unscheduled treatments booked. You now have a four-pronged strategy to tap into this undone dentistry and create a proactive effort to implement this!<\/p>\n
\nAbout The Author<\/h2>\n