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How Convenient of a Dentist Are You? Posted by Tyson Downs on 1/13/15 12:59 PM
Have you ever stopped to think about how your day is run? For example, are you the type of dentist who comes in for the first appointment of the day no matter what time that is, or do you show up at 8 a.m. each day even if there are no appointments?
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Do you take time off in the middle of the day to go run errands or are you eating lunch right around the corner (or even in the office!)? In short, is your dental practice—and the practices of that practice—meant to be a convenience to you, or to your patients? Now, this blog post isn't to say that you should be tied to work. Far from it, you need balance. But, the question is, are you making it easy for your patients to work with you?
Convenience Really Matters
In a survey that focused on what dental patients want, a whopping 74% of patients said that the ability for a dentist to take appointments right away directly plays into their decision when choosing a dentist. Why? Because most people aren't calling to make scheduled cleaning appointments, they are calling because they have dental pain. As anyone who has ever had a toothache or trauma injury knows, dental pain can be unbearable. Essentially, if you aren't setting your schedule up to be as convenient as possible, what you're telling a patient when you say you can fit them in next week is “Can you live with this pain for seven more days?� While they might be able to, there's nothing to stop them from calling another dentist who can see them later this afternoon, and when it comes time to choose a long-term service provider, that convenience is going to be remembered. Think about it: who are you going to trust more? The person who alleviated your pain no matter how inconvenient is was for them or the person who asked you to live with the pain for another week to better accommodate their schedule?
If You Want Business, You Have to Be In Business For It And while this all seems pretty logical, it comes as no surprise that only 22% of dental practices can accommodate appointments for patients within 48 hours after first point of contact. Why isn't that surprising? Because of the disparity
between dental practices that are wildly successful and those that are constantly looking for new ways to drum up business. And even if you do get a patient in slightly after that 48 hour window, 1-800-DENTIST statistics show that each day that goes by from point of first contact to appointment date, no-show rates exponentially rise daily. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want more patients to come in, you have to be ready, willing and able to accommodate them on their schedule. You have to get them into the chair the same day or next day, otherwise you're going to lose them to someone who can. This means extending your office hours (even if only a few days a week— something that is important to 57% of the patients in the survey). Half of the patients surveyed said they only look for dentists that offer weekend hours, so if you're banking on sitting home Saturday and Sunday, bank on losing patients to the dentists that retain weekend business hours as well.
Ways to Make Your Dental Practice More Convenient But other than staying open later (or opening earlier) on certain days during the week and extending your weekend hours into existence, what else can dentists do to make their practice the more attractive option for both new and recurring patients alike?
Follow the 48 Hour Rule. As a rule of thumb—or tooth as it were—always get your patients in to see you within 48 hours of the first point of contact. If you cannot see the patient within that time frame, it's likely that you will not see them ever. At this point, you might consider making a referral to a specialist and then following up with a checkup appointment (since they will be happy you referred them rather than just told them to wait in pain). If making same-day or next-day appointments doesn't seem realistic to you, consider the fact that showup rates rise as much as 56% when you are able to accommodate patients within this time frame. If your showup rate is lacking, this might be a good first place to start looking.
The Extended Lunch Hour. No, this doesn't mean you should take longer for your lunch, but rather, leave 30 to 40 minutes on either side of your lunch break to fit in new or emergency patients. This doesn't take up much out of your time and normally if a patient is in pain, they will start calling first thing in the morning. If you don't have your emergency or new patient hours filled up, simply take your next appointment a little early—nobody ever minds that! If that is your busiest time for appointments, you can also leave some time in the early morning or before you leave, but even if it's just a few times per week, make that time! (Ideally, you should do this most every day, if not every day.)
Get Them In No Matter What. For new patients, offer a free office tour or a pro-rated 10 minute exam. Get them into the office and in your system so you can keep them as clients. Turning them away flat out is a surefire way to never hear from a prospect again, so even if it's a quickie or meet and greet, that is going to go over well until you can make some chair time. If it's an emergency, you can bet your dollar that shuffling your schedule around will make a lasting impression.
Of course, the best way to be convenient is to incorporate these types of options right into your website so a prospect
can just click a button, fill out a quick form and be contacted immediately with an appointment date within 48 hours. To find out more about how to integrate online appointments into your existing website or social media pages, click here. Topics: General Business