Attracting & Keeping Patient Requires Repetitive Contacts

Jul 17, 2014

The demands of operating a dental practice never leave enough time to strengthen important relationships and reinforce your value. Landing new patients and retaining current ones requires continual nurturing.

When a farmer grows crops, much time and tender loving care are required to ensure a successful harvest. When you reach out to potential patients, it is unreasonable to expect that they are going to stop going to the competition and move to your practice. Patients who have specific needs that are not being met are like low hanging fruit — they are ripe for picking. In addition, existing patients also require some nurturing.

Trickle Marketing A solution to these dilemmas is to establish a “trickle marketing” campaign for your patients and prospects. Getting in front of your market in a repetitive, yet strategic fashion can lend hand to a change in their dental practice.

This involves sending regular material to maintain a presence. In some cases, this material doesn’t have to be overtly promotional – it can merely educate patients with useful information and demonstrate your professional competence. By doing so, it keeps your practice in the minds of prospects and patients. You are nurturing the relationship the way the farmer cultivates fruit.

Many dental practice send newsletters, tips, article reprints or brochures to their targeted audience. These devices are all useful. The problem is that most practices don’t send this material out frequently enough.

Think of your personal response to direct mail. In many cases, you pitch it in the trash without opening it, especially if you are busy. The pieces you open and notice are probably the ones that were sent multiple times. There is so much mail clutter, that it can take dozens of exposures for your material to gain recognition.

For the typical dental practice, this poses a dilemma. The high cost of printing and mailing marketing material can make repetitive contacts too costly. As a result, your patients and prospects are not getting sufficient touches throughout the year.

Solution: Augment your mailings with an e-mail marketing campaign. The costs are significantly lower when you send your material out via e-mail (see right-hand box for e-mail tips).

The key to staying in front of your current patients and developing prospects is frequency and value. Instituting a trickle marketing campaign for your company can help achieve these goals.

Categories: Healthcare & Dentistry