Whether you have just launched your first dental practice or you have branched out to a new location, making any new business a success can be hard work. Fortunately, if you are struggling to attract new customers or you are not making as much of a profit as you would like, there are techniques that you can adopt to make sure your new venture is a success.
Read on to discover them all. Plus, how to put them into practice and tailor them to your business.
Identify your USP
USP stands for unique selling point, and it is this that sets you apart from other businesses in your area.
Think about why patients should sign up for your new dental practice rather than stay with their current one. Maybe you offer superior customer service, or perhaps you provide innovative dental procedures. Whatever it is that makes you stand out from the crowd, make sure you shout it from the rooftops.
Attract top talent
If you want to attract more patients, then you need to ensure you have the best people working for you. This includes your dentists as well as your reception staff, who are often the first impression that people get of your business.
To ensure you can attract the best candidates, you need to have a good company culture, meaning your employees need to feel happy, supported, and engaged in your business. There are lots of steps that you can take to foster a healthy office culture, such as providing wellness programs and ongoing career development opportunities.
Offer flexible financing
Offering a simple and highly effective way to increase your customer base, flexible financing enables your patients to pay for their treatment over a period of time rather than by paying upfront. Flexible financing can help you to reach a wider range of patients and can also encourage them to have more extensive procedures carried out.
If you don’t already, you should also consider accepting dental insurance and credit payments.
Invest in quality equipment
Although you don’t need to spend all your budget on making your new dental practice look luxurious, that doesn’t mean that you should scrimp on essential equipment and supplies.
For example, when it comes to choosing the perfect dental chair, your patients’ comfort is paramount.
Also, you need to ensure that you invest in quality tools and machinery so that you can carry out your job to the best of your ability.
Encourage referrals
Word of mouth is worth its weight in gold, so you need to try and get your current patients to recommend you to their family and friends. There are lots of ways that you can encourage referrals, such as simply asking after each appointment, sending out email requests, and asking for feedback on social media.
You may also want to think about offering some kind of incentive for patients and employees that bring in new business, such as a discount on their next treatment or a bonus in their pay.
Plan for the future
When running a busy dental practice, it can become all too easy to get bogged down in daily operations and forget to strategize for the future. However, if you want to remain one step ahead of the competition, you need to take the time to plan for the future.
For example, it can be useful to think about what other dental services you would like to offer or new technologies that you would like to invest in. Ask your colleagues and your customers what they would like to see you offer in the future and then take it from there.
