Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Keep Them Coming Back by Tom Hopkins

View Comments (0) More by this author (10)


How many dead files do you have? How many patients came in once or maybe twice, and have never come back again? And, more importantly, what are you doing about them? Rather than letting their information take up space in your manual files or digital files, assign a staff member the task of working with them. Their goal is to either reactivate them as patients or determine that they are not "re-activate-able."

Your initial thought may be that this is a non-productive task. I beg to differ. Even if those inactive patients do not reactivate, finding out where they went and why could help the future of your practice tremendously.

Next to sales functions, customer service functions are vital to overall success and must be given appropriate emphasis. Poor customer service will cost your practice as much revenue as having poor or no marketing plans. Besides, aren't you curious to know what happened to them? If you're the truly caring, dedicated dental professional you profess to be, you will want to know.

There are primarily three reasons people do not come back to your office after an initial visit:
  1. They move away. At least they move far enough away that it's too much of a hassle to come to your office. With some patients, even if it's a bit of a drive to get to you, they'll make a day of it - visit dentist, shop, have lunch, etc. It's a mini road trip for them. I know of patients who are willing to drive 30-45 miles to visit a dental professional they like and trust. These patients might drive past as many as 40 other practices on the way there, but Dr. "Smith" is their guy (or gal) and they don't want to go anywhere else. For them, having a dental appointment is like having a hair appointment. They're regularly scheduled and it impacts what kind of day they have.
  2. They die. It happens. Hopefully, you knew about it and you sent a sympathy card to the family.
  3. They go to the competition. This should not be acceptable to anyone who is running a professional dental practice. If you have patients who did not move far away switch to another dentist, it's your fault. Granted, the fault may specifically lie with someone on your staff, but ultimately that responsibility reflects upward to you - the decision-maker - about how your practice is run.
I know there are some practices that are set up to where an office manager makes most decisions about staff, purchases, how to handle patients and so on. It's wonderful if you can do that. It frees up time to do what you do best - what you trained most specifically for in dental school. However, since you stand to gain the greatest share of revenue and it's your name that gets bandied about in the community, you need to be the one taking on the responsibility for how patients are treated.

If people are treated well, they are likely to tell at least three others about it. However, if people are not treated well or if they have a bad experience, they are likely to share that information with at least 11 people. So, not only will those who are treated poorly leave your practice, they'll probably try to discourage others from ever going there. It's not like they're necessarily "out to get you." But they are out to save their friends and relatives from having similar experiences.

Let's go back to those folks who no longer come to you for their dental needs. It's likely that their need for dental services hasn't changed. However, something in their perception of your services has changed. What might that be? I'll give you a few suggestions here. As you read them, think about how you can counter each of them.

  • An insurance plan changed and you don't accept that particular insurance. Might it benefit your practice to expand the number and types of plans you accept?
  • Someone got married and switched to the new spouse's insurance and dentist for simplicity sake. Getting married is big news. They probably shared it with you or someone on the staff. You all should have worked to "capture" the new spouse as a patient rather than letting the existing patient leave. (And you should have sent them a wedding card.)
  • Someone got divorced or lost a job and no longer has dental insurance. Again, this is big news and is usually shared, especially when insurance is being lost. What plan or program do you have in place to serve the needs of those without insurance? The patient should have been told about it before their file went dead.
  • Friends or relatives praise their own dentists and put doubt in your patients' minds as to whether you're the best. Hopefully, if there was a family feud about whose dentist is the best, all of your patients would have plenty of ammunition to fire about how great you are, as well as your office, your facility, your toothbrushes, your magazines and your bathroom.
  • Your hours are not convenient. Face it. People work days. They work nights. They have kids to care for, soccer games to attend and all sorts of responsibilities. Your practice has to be very convenient for patients. Rather than limiting yourself to appointments Monday through Friday from 8 to 4, why not open early or work late a couple days a week and take another weekday off? Once a month, work all day Saturday. You might be surprised to find out how many patients would jump at those appointments.
  • They don't feel loved and appreciated. Granted, running an office as efficiently as possible is essential. However, you are working with people, not machines. People expect to be cared about. Use patients' names while speaking with them. Have each member of the staff wear name badges or require them to introduce themselves to everyone. Thank patients for coming in when they arrive. Compliment them for being on time. Compliment them on how seriously they take dental hygiene. Compliment patients on their handbags, shoes, jewelry or watch - whatever. Treat them as you would a friend whose long-term friendship you want to cultivate. (Stop short of inviting them to your kids' football game or to see your latest vacation pictures.) Thank them for coming in and tell them you look forward to seeing them again. The term "appreciate" has several meanings. When you appreciate your patients, their value to your practice appreciates as well.
  • They didn't feel they received the best service. Ouch. This one really hurts. After all you worked hard to earn your DDS. If any of your practical skills are lacking, make those a priority in your continuing education programs. Talk with other professionals to determine if there are any strategies for improving your skills in any areas. If you have patients who feel you didn’t do a great job, how you handle them is up to you, but you must handle the situation. Do not let an unhappy patient go without at least attempting to salvage the situation.

There will always be a percentage of people who hop, skip and jump around to different dentists. So, a percentage of your lost patients will fall into that category. Their moving along may have nothing to do with you or your staff.

When you have your staff contact folks in your inactive files, have them say something like this: "Ms. Stark, this is Sara from Dr. Abernathy's office. While we were reviewing your file, we noticed that it's been over six months since your last dental checkup. We hope everything is OK with you. Since your last visit… (mention something that has changed or improved in your practice that would be of benefit to them. Examples include: added a new hygienist/mastered some of the latest pain-free methods/changed office hours). When would it be convenient for you to schedule your next check-up?"

The keys to the effectiveness of that paragraph are:
  1. Use his or her name.
  2. Remind the person how long it's been since the last visit. Time just gets away from some people.
  3. Show sincere concern.
  4. The benefits you cover are meant to be possible reasons to have stopped coming and to start coming again.
  5. Never ask "if " you can schedule a visit. It's too easy to say "no." Always ask "when." This mentally directs the patient to a calendar.
If your staff member senses hesitation on the part of the patient, they need to be prepared to say, "Ms. Stark, please feel free to tell me if there was a challenge during your last visit. What could we have done differently to keep you coming back as a patient?" This can be tough for some staff members to handle. They might take the answer given personally. Assure them it's not personal. Their job is to gather the information - good, bad or ugly - so your practice can improve and grow.

Here are some things you might hear that I've gathered from people I know personally who have switched dentists:

  • "I didn't like the hygienist the last time I was there. She was so rough that I had a headache all afternoon."
  • "I didn't feel I got a good cleaning the last time I went and I can't even tell you who did it because she never gave me her name. For all I know she could have been the dentist's wife and not a hygienist at all."
  • "My friend kept talking about how nice their dentist was so I switched."
  • "My husband goes to someone different and I just thought it would be easier if the whole family went to the same place."
  • "All the doctor did was take a quick look and say 'two crowns and one root canal.'"

I ask you, are all of those situations fixable? Of course they are. But, you'll never know to fix them if you don't ask the questions. Granted, you won't win all of your inactive patients back, but even if you get a few, they'll eventually bring you referral business. With a commitment to a few adjustments in how patients are treated, verbally and physically, you can decrease the number of inactive patients you'll have going forward as well. The key to keeping patients coming back is to find out why they're coming beyond the fact that you have general dental skills that they require.

Author's Bio
Tom Hopkins is a world-renowned expert and authority on selling and salesmanship. His simple yet powerful strategies have been proven effective in many industries, including the dental industry, and during all types of economic cycles. The foundation of his training includes both the "people skills" of proper communication and the nuances that impact every situation where trying to persuade others. Tom's style of delivery is practical and entertaining - making the strategies easy to remember and implement. Learn more about how Tom Hopkins can help you increase revenues in your practice at www.tomhopkins.com/blog. To reach Tom, please e-mail him at tomhopkins@tomhopkins.com. Details about Tom's speaking schedule can be found at: www.tomhopkins.com/live_events.shtml.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
Dentaltown Magazine September 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Townie® Poll
Who or what do you turn to for most financial advice regarding your practice?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds Dental News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2025 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450