by Lee Ann Brady, on 2/27/17 1:44 PM
Use marketing materials.
A major barrier to selling patients on aesthetic treatments such as Six Month Smiles is that they have zero idea you offer them. Let’s be real, sometimes when you work in the back it’s easy to forget what patients experience in the waiting room.
They may have a lovely magazine in their hands, or a “get-to-know-you” flipbook you’ve created, but all these cushy ingredients lead to is comfort and possibly trust…which is useless if there isn’t a treatment (they are aware of) that they can trust you to perform.
Get the Right Information in Front of Patients
Brochures are a quick, digestible medium of communicating relevant information. They can help patients understand that the solution they’ve always wanted for their smile is easier than they thought.
This removes the first few barriers of deciding on treatment: (1) They don’t know it exists, and (2) They don’t realize it can be simple or timely.
I’ve also seen dentists use a monthly email newsletter that functions as an Internet brochure. The only worry here is that you send them too often and essentially annoy patients rather than inform them.
Try it out for a few months (make sure the design is professional and attractive or have Six Month Smiles create it) and see whether it translates to more queries about treatment.
Marketing is unpredictable. You won’t always know if your attempt to entice patients is actually working until that surprising moment when it does. The results may not be immediately obvious. But you have to take a chance on different approaches to see a return on your investment.
(Find these free marketing materials and more on the Six Month Smiles Provider Resource Center!)
CMS Director of Education Dr. Lee Ann Brady lives in Phoenix, Arizona and owns Desert Sun Smiles Dental Care, a private restorative practice in Glendale, Arizona. Outside of her private practice, Dr. Brady teaches, presents at meetings internationally, and writes a clinical dental education blog on her website at www.leeannbrady.com.
To learn more about Clinical Mastery’s approach to improving the quality and quantity of restorative and cosmetic dental cases, go to our website at www.clinicalmastery.com.
