One of the most satisfying parts of working with dentists is helping them grow. Dentists often come to me overworked, stressed, and overwhelmed. They work too many hours for too little money and feel stuck.
The idea of growing a dental practice when you’re stuck in that situation might seem crazy. But there’s hope. The Delivering WOW process can help you turn chaos into focus and direction. It can get you excited about practice growth, sometimes for the first time ever.
Once dentists get excited about the direction of their practice, they often shift to thinking about dental marketing strategies, such as Facebook for dentists and dental marketing funnels.
Dental marketing using Facebook and funnels can help you attract new patients on autopilot. It’s one of three key parts of building a WOW practice that helps you take control of your future.
Growth involves more than only marketing, however. You also need to have systems, processes, and support to take your business to the next level.
Here are seven strategies you can use to grow your dental practice.
1. Improving Case Presentation
Growing your dental practice can be measured in many ways but ultimately boils down to profits. One of the best ways to boost profits while helping patients get the care they need is to improve case-acceptance percentages. Many times, patients don’t accept treatment plans because of ineffective case presentation. Improve your case presentation, and you’ll dramatically increase your revenue.
2. Decreasing Supply Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Many dentists unwittingly overspend on supplies. Saving lots of money on quality supplies has never been easier. All that savings can go straight to profit growth.
3. Understanding Insurance and Alternative-Payment Relationships
Navigating the insurance marketplace is an important part of effective practice growth. Dentists can grow by choosing their insurance relationships wisely. Helping patients understand insurance coverage and find other ways to afford care can have an immediate positive impact on your profits.
4. Reducing Patient Cancellations and No-Shows
Every no-show patient costs money that cannot be adequately recouped by charging a cancelation fee. Even if they pay a fee, collecting it can create tension and ill will. It can also cost team member time and energy to collect. Patient cancelation and no-shows are stressful. They are also avoidable.
5. Setting Fees Effectively
One of my favorite things I help dentists do is how set fees. Too many dentists leave time and money on the table because they don’t set fees well. That leaves them needing to work faster or longer hours just to keep their business going. They can make more money while providing better care to patients by setting fees well. My favorite way to do this by reverse engineering profits. That allows you to set fees in a way that helps you serve patients well while increasing profits.
6. Managing Your Finances Well
There’s a misconception in many businesses that controlling expenses means you need to be cheap. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is you can control expenses by effectively managing finances. Finding the right bookkeeping solution and working with a CPA who understands dental practices can help you take better control of your finances.
7. Streamlining Operations
Practice-management software is more affordable and impactful than ever. It can help you streamline operations by going paperless. It can help you automate appointment scheduling. It can even help you create recurring revenue by implementing in-house membership programs. Imagine not having to spend the time and energy managing insurance relationships while increasing your fees and generating recurring revenue!
What are you doing to grow your practice?
These seven strategies do a number of things to help practices grow. They automate and systematize operations, freeing up doctors and staff to participate in higher-impact activities. They help improve the return on investment in marketing by getting more patients to accept treatment plans when they come in. They reduce waste by saving money on supplies, reducing cancellations and no-shows, and help you manage your finances well. And they directly increase revenue by helping you create additional revenue streams, improve case acceptance, and increase your fees.
They also have an indirect benefit on your practice growth by freeing you and your team up to focus on getting patients for higher-revenue procedures, such as dental implants, crowns, and Invisalign.
If you want more help, check out my training on growing, running, and marketing your dental practice. You will get my best systems and strategies, including specific training on each of these seven areas. You’ll also get exclusive deals and discounts from the best dental product and service providers.
You can also join my free Dental Marketing and Profits Facebook group, where thousands of dentists and I help each other build better practices.
Finally, if you want even more personalized help, sign up for my next business bootcamp session, where I work directly with you and a small group of other dentists to improve your dental practice.
This article originally appeared on DeliveringWow.com.