Patient Retention: Mastering The Follow-Up Process
Attracting new patients to your dental practice is only half the battle. Retaining them, especially those who initially enquire, requires a well-executed follow-up process. A missed opportunity at this stage can mean losing a potential lifelong patient.
Proactive Follow-Up
A simple enquiry, whether via a website form, phone call, Google Ad or social media platform, represents a significant opportunity. These leads are often warm, actively seeking dental care. However, without a structured follow-up, they can easily slip through the net and end up with a competitor. So what can you do within your practice?
1. Managing Leads Effectively
Dental practices need modern tools. Services like Dental Design’s lead board, part of our premier package, provide a centralised platform to manage all patient enquiries. This allows you to:
- Track Leads: Monitor the progress of each lead from initial contact to appointment booking/treatment completion.
- Assign Responsibilities: Ensure that someone is accountable for following up with each patient.
- Categorise Leads: Segment leads based on their enquiry type (form, call, google ad etc.) and treatment type (dental implants, teeth whitening, invisalign etc.)
- Track ROI: Value each lead by treatment type to understand its worth to your practice.
- Analyse Performance: Identify any issues and optimise your follow-up process.
2. Setting Reminders
Even with a lead board, manual reminders are crucial. Schedule reminders for:
- Call Backs: Set specific times to contact patients who have requested or require follow-up calls.
- Email Follow-Ups: Schedule follow-up emails if patients haven’t responded to initial contact.
- Appointment Reminders: Send automated reminders closer to scheduled appointments.
3. Automated Email Responses
Automated email responses provide immediate confirmation and information to patients. Tailor these responses based on the enquiry type:
- General Enquiry: Thank the patient and provide links to relevant website and booking pages.
- Specific Treatment Enquiry (e.g., Implants): Send a series of emails detailing the process, benefits of the treatment, patient testimonials, case studies etc., and include call to actions to book a consultation.
- NHS Enquiry: Acknowledge their enquiry and include information about private dental options.
4. Training Your Team
Your reception team are often the first point of contact for new patients. Ensure they are:
- Knowledgeable: Well-versed in all practice services and procedures.
- Empathetic: Able to listen and understand patient concerns.
- Professional: Friendly, polite, and efficient.
- Trained in Upselling: Capable of subtly guiding patients towards private options.
NHS vs. Private Dentistry
When a patient enquires about NHS dentistry, and your practice only offers private services, it’s essential to handle the situation delicately.
- Acknowledge the Enquiry: Don’t dismiss the patient immediately.
- Explain Your Practice Model: Clearly state that your practice focuses on private dentistry.
- Highlight the Benefits of Private Care: Emphasise the personalised care, advanced treatments, and shorter waiting times.
- Offer Alternative Options: If possible, provide information about other local NHS practices.
- Subtle Upselling: If appropriate, mention flexible payment plans or membership options that make private care more accessible.
With a solid follow-up system in place, you’ll be well on your way to seeing a significant increase in patient retention.
For more information on how we can assist you, give us a call on 01202 618 967.
More posts from our team
Five Star
Reviewed Marketing
"Would definitely recommend to a friend"
"I cannot recommend Dental Design highly enough"
"Really great company to deal with"
"Very professional, efficient & adaptive to new situations"
"I cannot recommend them highly enough"
"Has been invaluable and gone out of her way to help us"
"We love the look of our practice website. Very professional!"
"Dental Design stood out both in their knowledge of the industry and their professionalism"
"The team and package offered at dental design was unrivalled"
"absolutely fantastic and are always on hand to help"
"Dental Design are fantastic to work with"
"always met with a swift and professional response"
