RevUp Dental

Is your dental practice stuck growing? It's not your dental skills holding you back, it's what's happening under the hood. RevUp shows you where you're losing patients and fixes it with proven systems, training and marketing that makes you money.

Blog By:
Nick Fotache

If you're like most dentists, you've probably been told that the way to grow your practice is to do more marketing—more SEO, more social media, more flyers, maybe even a flashier website.

And while those can help, they’re not the biggest opportunity you're missing.

In fact, most practices could DOUBLE their patient flow without spending a single extra dollar on marketing.

The Real Bottleneck Isn’t Your Marketing—It’s Your Front Desk

Here's the honest truth: the biggest reason you're not seeing more new patients isn’t your website or your Google Ads.

It’s your team’s ability to handle new patient calls—especially your receptionists.

This isn’t about blaming staff. Most dental receptionists are kind, hardworking people—but they’ve never been trained in sales. They don’t know how to guide a conversation with a nervous or unsure new patient. They don’t know what to say when someone is price shopping. And they don’t always leave the kind of first impression that makes a caller feel like, “Yes, this is where I want to go.”

“My Staff Are Amazing!” (Are You Sure?)

We hear this all the time from our clients: “If 10 new patients called my office, I bet my team would book at least 8 or 9 of them.”

But then we ask: "How are you tracking that?"

Most practices aren’t. They don’t measure how many new patient calls they’re getting—or how many actually convert into appointments. It’s all based on gut feeling.

So we built a system at RevUp Dental to track every new patient call. We analyze who called, what they were looking for, who they spoke to, and whether they booked. And if they didn’t, we look at what went wrong and how it could be fixed. 

That’s how we come across so many calls that shock the dentist. They hear their own team mishandling simple inquiries or missing obvious opportunities—and they’re stunned. Listen to some examples below. 



When we play these calls to the dentists, they are shocked: 

The Average Booking Rate? Just 30–35%

When we look at the data from thousands of calls, here’s what we find: most practices only book about 3 or 4 out of every 10 new patient calls. That’s a huge missed opportunity.

Even worse, many practices assume it’s the patient’s fault. “They were just price shopping.” “They had bad insurance.” “They didn’t seem serious.”

But here’s the truth: people don’t call dental offices for fun. If they picked up the phone, they were interested. What they weren’t convinced of was whether they should choose you or your competitor.

Patients Book Based on Emotion, Not Price

Most dental offices charge similar fees. Yet some practices consistently book 7, 8, even 9 out of 10 new patient calls. Why?

Because those practices leave a stronger emotional impression.

Their staff sound more confident, more welcoming, more knowledgeable. They ask the right questions. They guide the conversation. They make patients feel like they’ve found the right place.

Meanwhile, average offices lose patients because the tone was flat, the answers were vague, or the receptionist just didn’t sound that helpful.

Want to Fix This? Start With Discovery Questions

At RevUp, we studied how the best offices in North America handle phone calls—and we built training around it.

One of the most important things they do is ask great Discovery Questions. These aren’t yes/no questions. They’re the kind that help build trust, uncover needs, and move the call forward naturally.

If your schedule isn’t as full as you’d like, don’t assume the answer is spending more on marketing. Instead, take a good look at how your team is handling the calls you’re already getting.