Dental practice growth and success depend on multiple factors, including adding new patients. However, every new patient may not be suitable for your practice. Our dental office coaches at Bryant Consultants share on the blog today how you can tell if you’re attracting the right new patients and how to nurture them to return.
Why do new patients matter?
Increasing your new patient number may be a focal point of your overall growth strategy. Even though new patients can bring new energy, more production, and make your office appear that it’s thriving, without knowing why you are adding new patients could provide lackluster results. Our dental practice consultants explain that, on average, over 8,000 US-based dental practices add 2.7 net new patients every month. For example, practices that add 50 new patients may also lose 47 active patients that completed their appointment within the last 18 months, which yields a net growth of three patients.
Fortunately, there is a different approach you can take to add new patients to your practice based on other top-performing dental practices.
Instead of using new patients to fill schedule holes, there are two ways you can foster a life-long patient relationship outlined below:
- Make active patients your primary focus. Ensure current patients have an upcoming scheduled appointment.
- Design a new patient experience that converts new patients into active, returning patients.
Remember, the goal is to add new patients that create active patients to increase your practice’s production and boost sustainable growth.
Why should I foster new patient relationships?
Your patients are the lifeblood of your dental practice, and patient attrition is vital. Patience switch dentists have many reasons for doing so, but retaining active patients and attracting the right new patients is the best way for your practice to grow. Unfortunately, the task can be easier said than done. Therefore, our dental office consultants share below a few tips to help you convert new patients into active, returning patients.
- Identify and magnify what matters to the patient. – Each patient has a different reason for choosing your practice and oral health priorities. Finding out more information about their concerns and goals can help you identify with the patient and increase trust. Empathetic listening is a crucial skill when speaking with a patient. If they chose to leave their previous dentist, there’s a reason why. Uncovering the reason and building trust can get you started on the right foot.
- Schedule the next appointment before the patient leaves. – Although scheduling a returning appointment before the patient leaves the office may seem obvious, many dental offices neglect this crucial step. On average, less than half of patients schedule their next appointment before leaving the dental office. Therefore, it’s crucial to discuss with your team ways to improve this KPI, especially when working with new patients.
- Supercharge patient onboarding. – A consistent process for onboarding new patients can supercharge patient onboarding. For example, successful dental practices provide a map that is followed by every team member and helps track new patients from their initial interaction through the end of their first appointment.
How can I attract the right new patients?
Not every patient is the best fit for your practice. For example, some appointments are the result of a current offer, but there is no intention of returning. In some cases, the patient may have such a good experience they decide to stay with your practice. Our dental office coaches explain that the best patients for your practice show up for their appointments on time, have good insurance coverage or payment terms, agree to presented treatments, pay their bills on time, and refer their family members and friends. Spending time and money to attract the right patient through marketing can increase the chances of obtaining a quality new patient.
Bryant Consultants
Adding new patients to your practice every month can be exciting. However, when you also lose the majority of those patients during the same month, it can be heartbreaking to realize practice growth isn’t what you thought. Therefore, it’s vital to attract and retain new patients while reactivating current patience to experience practice growth. If you’re unsure where to start with your practice growth plan, feel free to contact our dental practice consultants at Bryant Consultants for advice and tips. Please call our office at (877) 768-4799 or contact us online to schedule your consultation today.
