Our Guide to Increasing Dental Patient Retention, Part 2

For a dental practice to succeed, you need to bank on loyalty. Long-time loyal patients will bring in much more profit than new patients can—and with much less effort too! If you want to avoid losing any more patients than you already have, you need to improve your patient loyalty and build trust for increased patient retention.

Continuing from our previous post, check out our tips to encourage your patients to keep coming back to your clinic.

Improve Your Customer Service

Patient retention is all about keeping your clients happy. When they are satisfied with your services, trust that they will keep scheduling appointments with you for a long time. To make your patients happy and instil loyalty, you need to make them feel at ease and comfortable at your dental practice.

Root canals and tooth extractions don’t exactly spell comfort, but you can encourage them to go to the dentist by making them feel welcome. No one wants to be perceived as just a number or a pound sign—you should let your patients see that you value them as people!

Dental Talent - Our Guide to Increasing Dental Patient Retention, Part 2
Our Guide to Increasing Dental Patient Retention, Part 2 7

You can show your patients that you care about them by training your staff to build rapport, make light conversation, or greet them with a smile. These simple and kind actions can have a significant effect on your patient’s overall experience!

However, keep in mind that your staff can’t make your customers happy if they aren’t happy themselves. Make sure to check on your employees’ well-being and determine whether they’re overworked. Don’t hesitate to add people to your team if you think your staff can’t handle the duties of their jobs anymore!

Follow Up After the Treatment

Providing customer service isn’t just limited to the confines of your dental clinic; it’s also important to show them that you care even long after they’ve left. Give them a ring to ask how they’re feeling after the procedure—this helps earn the person’s loyalty and enables you to figure out how you can improve your practice by listening to their feedback.

Communication is an essential part of any relationship, especially between a patient and the doctor. Staying in touch can help you build a friendly bond with your patient and differentiates your office from the competitors.

Besides phone calls, you can also keep in touch with your patients by:

  • Sending appointment reminders through text or email;
  • Giving surveys to gain feedback; and
  • Regularly providing health and wellness tips on your website through email or on your social media pages.

Offer a Free Day of Services

Offering free dental services, such as teeth cleaning, helps in reactivating patients. Those who are overdue for an appointment will be more likely to visit your clinic this way, and they’ll be less concerned about coming in for an appointment after so long.

Through free service offers, you will have an opportunity to help your patients understand their options for the next visit! Besides reactivating existing patients, you can also acquire new ones this way.

Conclusion

The key to success is in retaining patients. When you do the calculations, focusing on patient retention is much effective in increasing income in the long run! Remember—packed waiting rooms don’t guarantee success for your dental practice. Instead of driving yourself crazy trying to get new patients, take your time in improving your patient retention rates.

Are you looking for salaried dentist jobs or wish to hire more people to add to your staff? You can find the best job openings and candidates at Dental Talent! We can help you reduce your recruitment spending and enable you to hire faster by simplifying the process through technology. Post a job today!