5 More Marketing Tips that Take Less Than an Hour

Many hygienists think that dental marketing is out of their control and not in their job description. However, with the changing job market, knowing about all aspects of a practice is crucial. If an office has to let go one of their hygienists, would they let go the one that is actively trying to grow the practice, or the one that okay with doing prophies and only worrying about that aspect of the business?

Here are a few tips that you can implement in your office over a lunch break or two.

1.     Sit in your own dental chair and take a look at what the patient sees. Does your operatory look clean and neat from the dental chair viewpoint?  When you are lying back, is the light clean and dust free? Are the ceiling tiles clean and no wires are showing? These will make a big impression to the patient since they see an entirely different view of the practice then we do as we are working.

2.     Update your magazines in your office. Having 5 year old golf magazines in the waiting room is boring! If you are running behind, they may not even notice if they are caught up in the latest gossip magazine. Keep your patients in mind while they are in the waiting area.

3.     If you give anything away to a patient, make sure it has your office name, phone number, and logo on it. Toothbrushes shouldn’t be the only thing imprinted. Bags that toothbrushes go into, post op instruction papers, anything that walks out of the office should have your logo tastefully placed on it. You never know who will see these items and call to schedule an appointment.

4.     Make sure your office's phone skills are on point. If you have multiple people answer the phone, have a script written out to effectively and personally answer the phone. Since this simple call is the first contact with the office, it should be to the point, professional but warm. At the end of the conversation, ask the person if they have any other questions. This is huge! They usually do, like what is the exact location of the office or their current bill, and completely forget to ask once they start chatting about something else. Opening up the conversation to questions shows how much you care for your patients.

5.     Make birthdays a priority. Even if it’s just big birthdays, like 30, 40 or 50. Send them a little something in the mail. If you can, send them flowers or treats to their office. When coworkers ask the birthday girl or boy who their gift is from, they will definitely be impressed that their gift was sent from a dental office.

What do you do to help your practice grow?