Today’s topic is something the Dental A-Team hears about a lot: Our practice is awesome, but we struggle to find new patients. Kiera talks about why this is such a common issue, and gives tips on what you can do to address it.
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Transcript:
Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am so freaking pumped about today's podcast and I hope you are too. Today's gonna be a fun day. It's about something that I absolutely love and hate. For those of you that have been listening to the podcast for a while, welcome. I'm Kiera Dent. I'm so happy you're here. My job and our company's motto is to possibly impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. And we do that through this podcast. We put it on for free for you. Tactical practical advice for you every single week for doctors and teams because honestly trying to get
both on the same page is really tricky. being a team member myself, being a business owner myself, working with hundreds of offices across the nation, our team works with hundreds of offices, our consulting team is like truly second to none. I do believe that we have the most experienced expert team that you could ever ask for. And they truly guide doctors and teams to fulfillment, to success, and they do it with ease. And of course we pop the confetti and have a ton of fun. So today I wanted to just dive in.
And talk about like, why are great practices still struggling to attract patients? I think that this comes up on many coaching calls in lots of different areas. And it's something of like, but the practice is amazing. Why are they not getting the patients? And I think something that I pulled from some business courses I've taken is it does not matter how great your business is. It matters how well your business is marketed. And so I think for us to just look at this and say, all right, how do we market better? And what are the things? So I have found that it is
not because like you are clinically sound or you're not clinically sound. It's really about like being easy to choose and how are we able to be easy to choose as a practice versus being hard. And there's some simple things today that I wanted to go through because like you can have great dentistry, a solid team, great intentions, but if growth is feeling harder than it should, or we're not attracting these patients, let's talk about some ways to do this. And yes, there are PPO, there's fee for service, there are different things that happen for both of those. But literally what I found is
we've got to like look through what a patient's experiencing before they even come into your practice. So I feel like the growth and systems conversation is like not just about marketing conversations. A lot of times we're like, here, I want the magic bullet. I want you to like give me these items and we can just get all these new patients. And I want to too. And I'm here to say that marketing has a place. ? But I also want you to realize like what are your patients choosing you for? And so looking through your reviews, you can actually throw it into AI and say like,
What are the top like five things that come from these reviews that we're receiving as to why patients are choosing us? And there was a great quote from Top Tips for Effective Clinical Communication in the British Dental Journal, yes, PMC 2023. And they said, effective communication is central to every element of clinical practice from first contact with reception to the point the patient leaves the building. And when I read that quote, I loved that quote because I feel like so often we don't think about
all these mini touch points. And I know we've talked about it before, but it's like, let's work through, like maybe we don't need more new patients. Maybe we just need a better path from attention to appointment. Yes, I love that. From attention, like grabbing their attention to them setting the appointments. And so where can we look for like common misdiagnosis within the practice? What does this look like? And so usually people are like, we need more marketing, we need more patients. And that's not wrong. I was on a coaching call with a practice and we were talking about like,
A great ratio for everybody to have is we need the patient base to be 200 patients per hygienist per day in one week. So for example, if I've got 10 columns of available hygiene in a week, I need 200 patients. Yes, I did easy math for you. What is that answer? 200 patients times 10, bingo, 2000 patients would be an active patient base. Usually seen within the last 12 to 18 months is how many we need to see. So we were looking and this practice was running 14 columns of hygiene in a week. Well, that's 2,800 patients.
They only have 1900 active patients. So what would most practices say? We need more new patients. Let's run into marketing. But like, are there other things that we can do instead of just needing marketing? Like could we maybe, are there patients already sitting within our practice that we need to have? Maybe we do need to have more new patients. Yes, the ideal is 30 new patients per month per doctor. But is that always the case? Are they maybe hiding in the crevices of your practice that we could pull forward?
So me and this office manager had a call, talked about it. looked, we went back to their recall. She was like, here, I got six patients on there. And I was like, well, that's inconvenient. So what things could we do? And so what can we really look for of what about our, are we looking at our re care and our reactivation? Are we reappointing all of these patients? Like before we even go and jump into marketing, which I'm not here to say don't market, but what about all the patients sitting in our database right now? One, can we reactivate them? The answer is yes.
Two, with all the patients coming through, are we asking every single patient, who else can we schedule for you? We absolutely love you. How else can we like, who else can we schedule? Who else do you know that we could schedule for you? So when I look at this, like where is the true diagnosis and do we actually need more? Or is it that like, no, we just need to be better with this. The practice is also asking me like, Kiera, is it the economy? Like we're not getting all these new patients we used to. And I want to say that like generally speaking dentistry is pretty economy bulletproof. Like most patients come in,
Things have it. Now, fee for service, you're gonna struggle more because patients might only like to do one cleaning versus two cleanings, but your insurance driven practices, great news for you. You've already got your patients there. And I'm not here to say that insurance is bad. I actually think insurance is one of the best marketing pieces to drive patients to your practice. And then it's a thousand dollar coupon, like a thousand dollars to get a patient. I know you're like, but Carrie, we take all the cuts and the fees. I don't disagree with you, but how much does it cost to bring on a new patient? Look at that cost.
to benefit and if I can like go beyond their max and my team is really good with that, $1,000 for an insurance max. I understand that not always that's the case, but is that worth it? I say typically yes. So when we look at this, why like, do we really need more marketing? Do we really need more patients? I want you to look for like, let's make sure our systems are tight and taut before we go after and hit the marketing because that just means we got to make sure our bucket, like the walls aren't empty.
We don't have a hole in our bucket, but we actually are filling that bucket with these patients. So that step one is I want you to look there. Me and this office manager, did we find? We found over 800 patients in their database right now. That's how many patients they need. We don't need to go after new patients. We just need to use the patients we already have in our practice because then our practice is full. Now, if we want to grow, then maybe yes, but even that look to see who is in our database version. People don't want this. It's not sexy. It's not fun. It's like, no, but I just want marketing. I want them to be dropped into my lap. I hear you.
but let's make sure that we have that. Now, if we've elected that we do need to go for marketing and we've already tightened up and we have all these pieces, we've got our re-care, we've got our reactivation, we're calling patients, we're making sure that they're reappointed, we're looking and we're running this report consistently, we're asking every single time we schedule patients, who else can I schedule for you? We are actively asking for referrals and reviews. If that's already done, and that's a big if, then we go and look into marketing. So what I want you to look at for you is like,
Do we need to have different messaging on there? How is our, like when we do market, I want you to look at like, what's my website, what's Google, what's our phone experience and is that matching the first impression of us? What about our clarity? Like, are we really crystal clear on who we're trying to market to? Do we have that dialed in? Our dentistry should speak for itself and so tightening up our first impression, tightening up like what our practice is saying to patients and making sure that patients really truly feel like
this office is so different than any other practice, that's going to make sure like that impression online needs to match our patient experience and vice versa. Our patient experience needs to match our online presence. Sometimes offices are so good, but their online presence looks like they are like dated 50 years ago. So making sure that your practice matches, because if a patient's confused, they might not be converting for you. And so let's just look to make sure does our online presence
and our phone calls match our clinical excellence in the practice and does our clinical excellence in the practice match our phone calls and our outside experience? And I hope you guys can see like those two have to be the same. When you pop on Dental A Team, like you listen to me on the podcast, when you join our team, it's freaking fun. We have fun in person masterminds. We have fun in person visits. Teams love when we come. It's got to match what you hear on the podcast. And if it doesn't, people are like, Kiera, I love your energy. And I'm like, I know I have to hire consultants to have my same level of energy. They're not exactly clones of me.
But otherwise it feels like a mismatch and you're like, wow, that person's like really low and cure is really high. You join Dental A Team because you love our energy. You love our style. You love what we present and preach on the podcast. That's why you join. Now, if you didn't experience that, that that's going to be a mismatch. Same thing with you and your practice. Is that a mismatch? Can you tighten that up? So then when it's that we go back to the leaking, we already talked about leaking. So when I look at this, we want to make sure that like we are matching online. And then I talked about our acquisition, our retention, our reactivation, our
reappointment rates. But then in addition to that, there might be more that we could diagnose on there of our experience is amazing. Everything's matching. We might need to go into marketing, but like, let's talk about some other areas where you might have new patients just coming through, through this, which can tie to your marketing. So we've decided our online matches, we're going to go for marketing. We need to get more new patients and or it's already our new patients there. Let's look at how many missed calls we have. People think all the time, like we're just so busy. We're so busy.
missing those calls can actually be impacting your practice with those new patients. Then how do we follow up with them? So if we miss calls, like some people are like, it's fine. We just have a text. Well, that person's hunting right now for a practice. What's that patient experience? And remember, it's these great practices who are failing to attract new patients. Is it because we're missing calls? Is it because we're not doing well with that new patient? Do we not make them fall in love with us when we do get them on the phone? That patient should hang up and be like,
Gosh, Jason or whomever their spouse significant other best friend. I am so freaking pumped to go to that dental practice. If they are not saying that when they hang up with your office, there is something that could be lost there. What about what happens with all these patients that are not like coming through? Do we have a process in place to make sure they get back on the books? What about are we having like a set process in our practice where we're consistently asking for reviews and referrals all the time?
And then also like, do we have this poor handoff from like when a patient calls us and says, this is what I need. And then they take them to the back office and it's not even remotely what they have. Do we have that in there? And so when we look at this, I think it's part of we've got to be tracking and auditing. How many missed calls do we have? How long does it take us to get a missed call to schedule? What about for new patient scheduling? When do we get our new patients in? What about who's overall the followup of this?
And then also, how are we asking for reviews in our practice? If those things, in addition to re-care, reappointment, reactivation, I just listed off eight things. I've got them on my fingers if you're watching the video. Eight things, if we are not doing that, don't talk to me about trying to get new patients and like, ? we can't attract them. You were attracting them, we're just not handling them correctly. We're not taking care of them because this practice is not converting what you're already paying for. And I think if we can't be good stewards over what we're already paying for,
Why are we asking for more? To me, I'm like, tighten the bows. Like that's way easier, but that's discipline and discipline does equal freedom. So for practices, it might be worthwhile before we even jump on the horn and say, we need more new patients. I'm just going to list it off for you. Missed call numbers. We're going to go through our like from missed to scheduling. What about who's over all the followups of all these? What about our review process? What about our re-care? What about our reactivation? What about our reappointment?
If those aren't tight, you have the patience in your practice, you're just not using them and handling them with care. And so make sure that you're not like, I hate wasting money and I think that this is one of the greatest opportunities to waste money. So when we think about it, like here's top funnel, right? We talked about, we gotta make sure our leak is not leaking, okay? Bucket has all the holes filled. Then we gotta make sure what are we saying online versus what they're experiencing and what they're experiencing is that showcased online. Tighten all that up.
And then when we look at this, I'm like, okay, we are solid on this. But what really, really is going to speak and help and what's going to create massive growth for your practice is when the patient journey feels clear, consistent, easy from the first click to the first visit. So when we think about this, we talked about this a little while ago, like what does this new customer want? What does this new patient want? We want to pay attention to like how quickly are we responding to people? What happens when they show up to our practice? Are we so like
excited. Is it genuinely? ? Someone told me a quote for the Ritz-Carlton and it said, ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen. And I have not stopped thinking about their mission statement because I think about it if like, do you have high level professionals serving high level professionals? Or do we have high level professionals serving friends and family of the community? Or do we have like everyday community team members serving and loving everyday team, like community families?
Whatever it is, making sure that this patient feels like the journey is so consistent with what we're putting online, what we're saying we are. So how do we have this? And so really making sure that there is this whole process, like patients love you from the first day that they call you. Patients are excited to work with you. Patients are just giddy. Patients, when they leave the practice, are giddy to refer you, to leave a review for you, to leave a referral. And I think people forget...
that this could actually be a very easy process. So ways that teams can do this is like, let's actually run through a new patient calling, call the practice and like, let's hear how they answer. And don't be afraid to give honest feedback. This is what we're here for. We are here to give honest feedback. And so what was that experience like? Did I feel like you were so excited that you're my best friend that you can't wait to welcome me into the practice? Or if you're more of a holistic practice that it's a Zen, it's a calming, it's a we've got you and we're gonna take great care of you. How do people feel when they call your practice? That's number one.
Number two, let's go online. What do our reviews say? What does our website look like? And does that match when you come into the practice? And if it doesn't, what small little changes, notice they're small, not giant ones. What small changes need to happen? Do we need to update our Google presence? Do we need to update our website? What do we need to do from there? Okay, so we go through that. Then we walk through the practice as a new patient. So come in the door, act like a new patient or act like a regular patient. Let's do role play both of them. How is a new patient greeted? Are they just given an iPad and told to sit there?
Is it like, me have a concierge style with them. What about new patients? Are we saying, hey, it's so great to see you, Kiera. How's your family? Gosh, like let me make sure I get your next cleaning scheduled for you. I know that you absolutely love to like zip out the door you're busy. And who else can I schedule for you? Let me make your life simple while we're waiting. I'll grab you a cup of coffee while you wait. Are we doing that? Did you just hear how many little opportunities I asked? The new patients coming in, the patient there, like how to get more patients just by loving them and being a friend to them. Then what is it like when we take them to the back office?
How is our new patient experience? them in the hygiene chair. How do we explain our pieces? And then what's our wrap up at the end? How do doctors wrap up the exams? How do we take that patient to the front office? How do we hand them off to the front office team to make sure that they're having this amazing experience? Front office team, how are you wrapping up? Are we asking for reviews at that point in time? Do we maybe have a little postcard that we can give them of like, we're trying to help more patients like you. Best way to do it is to leave us a five star review. I love working with you, Kiera. You absolutely make my day. Every time you come into the practice,
I would love it if you'd leave me five star review. Just so you know, my hygienist at the office that I absolutely loved asked me that. I went right home, I had the little postcard, set it on my counter, did the review that night, because it was so simple. That review, also it sat there. My husband doesn't go to that practice. And I was like, I love my hygienist, Jayce. You should probably schedule, like we should get you scheduled for that. Little subtle things. And I'm already patient. I'm the cheapest, easiest marketing to go after. And my patient experience was amazing when I went in there.
Now, when I got annoyed with them, it was because I wouldn't get the same hygienist. I didn't have the same doctor. People didn't know my name. They were late. I left. I ended up leaving the practice. So those little things that we don't think matter are what are deterring. So not only do you role play through what's going great in your practice, but maybe that's also question mark, why would people leave our practice? Asking that question can also be a great audit of why, and are we following up on missed phone calls?
Are we calling people back? Are we scheduling them for unscheduled treatment plans? Are we running this report every single month? Like, do you see how there's an entire ecosystem around these patients? And so when I asked the question at the beginning of why great practices still struggle to attract patients, I think the better question on that is, are we actually doing the little pieces that drive us forward consistently? Are we hoping and praying for miracles of new patients to just rain from the sky?
It's like, I can have rain come every single day from the sky, but if I'm not collecting it in buckets, purifying that, making sure I have a system for that, as much rain that comes down is never going to be enough for you. And so when I look at this, I think it's a space of how can we make sure that our marketing dollars are being well taken care of? Every patient in our practice feels like they are a VIP and that they want to send more patients to us. Those simple, small things are actually how great practices can freaking thrive.
These are how my best of the best do it. When I look at my highest ones, the ones who have repeat customers constantly, they're tight. Their reappointments are there. Their missed calls, they track that, they monitor that. That's a KPI for them. They check to see how long before we get back to missed calls. They are reducing that missed call number. Their reappointment percentages are high from hygienists. They're running the reports. They do not have many patients sitting in their re-care and reactivation campaigns. They are running those on a regular basis, getting patients back into the practice. They also are making sure that they're auditing how's our patient experience.
What's our online presence saying versus what's our inside presence saying? How is our experience? Why would they be leaving us? Let's tighten this up. Let's tighten this up. Let's make sure every encounter is great. We are constantly asking for reviews and referrals. And if that feels daunting to you, then great news. You just heard an amazing opportunity to grow your practice with minimal effort. This is how you're able to do it. You don't need to be fancy, flashy, showy, none of that. All you need to do is have consistency and intentionality. And so I think it's one of those things of growth comes
from being clear, being consistent, and actually having a great experience every time they come, because patients stay for that. So when it's not easy, when you feel like this, a lot of times it's just like doctors are like, I'm busy in the back, Kiera. I'm doing dentistry. I'm drilling and filling. Like, how am supposed to have time for this? And office managers are like, you don't even talk to me. I'm trying to get all the billing out there. I don't disagree. And I feel like these are the cobwebs within the practice that make a practice great or have a practice crumble.
And I think so often people think they need more new patients or they need all these different things when actually all they need is to tighten up and refine and optimize what they already have and have somebody help them with that. So I would love to help you guys. I'd love to find out like where is this breakdown? Where can we tackle it and help hold you guys accountable to it so you actually see the fruits of your labors. So you're actually able to do that. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com if you want some help with this. And today I really want you each to go through an audit. Auditor missed calls.
audit our website, audit where we are like, how long does it take us to call missed calls back? How are we reappointing? How many patients are in our unscheduled lists? How are we following up on them? Do we have a process for that? What's our experience? Are we asking for reviews? And I want you to pick one thing from today's podcast, not all of it, because that can feel daunting, but one thing where we can tighten, sharpen, and refine and optimize to where we don't have these gaps in our practice. Yes, marketing has its place.
But like I said, all the rain can come to you, but if you're not collecting it, refining it and optimizing it, doesn't matter how much rain falls, you're always gonna want more. Just like you're always going to want more new patients. These are little, simple, easy ways to grow your practice. If you're struggling with it, reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Sometimes you don't need a different strategy, you just need to be held accountable. Sometimes it's not going crazy. Like literally this could be a whole marketing podcast, but instead I'm telling you little simple things you can do in your practice today to grow.
You don't need to do it. So I want to remind you that patients don't choose practices that are best in theory. They choose practice that feels easiest to trust. And sometimes I get annoyed because I do watch practices and there are some practices that I don't think should be the highest top practice. And yet they are because they are the easiest to trust. are the easiest. They are the best marketed. They are the ones that just make the process simple. You can think about a competitor you might have.
And question mark, why would patients go there versus you when you might be a better clinician, a better overall experience? I'm not here to say that dentists are not great. I know we're all striving. I also know that some dentists are better than others. And so how can we make sure that the best dentists, those of you listening are winning? I want to make sure that you're winning. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, this is your practice. This is your opportunity. This is your moral obligation to serve patients at the highest level possible. And I just implore you and invite you.
to take one step today, make your practice just a little bit better, a little bit brighter. And if we can help in any way, we're here for you. You have it, it's all yours. And I just remind you that we are so lucky to live in the time we do, to do what we get to do every single day. And if I can help you in any way, reach out. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.