Improving Your Practice
The most recent McGill Advisory newsletter discussed marketing and how we are using marketing to hit our fullest capacity. Some surprising results were that 38% of respondents thought they were at 100% of capacity. 13% felt they were at 90-99%, and 25% felt they were above 80% of capacity. If you are in those camps, is it worth it to continually invest in marketing? The answer is yes, whether it’s to continue to drive new patients, or to try to get better patients in the door. If we are to focus on these goals, what sort of marketing should we do?
Sometimes when you use the word marketing, you think of billboards, radio, and Google Ads. While those items fall into marketing, it can be super constrictive to think of only those items.
Internal marketing is the best dollars I’ve ever spent, and partially because it improves many of the metrics of my practice. Here’s a few things that are actually trackable that internal marketing impacts:
- Patients are happier and they leave Google Reviews.
- Patients love the experience and tell their friends about us and we get more New Patients.
- Patients know we do high quality work and accept more treatment recommendations.
- Patients wear our T-shirts around town and more people see our logo and choose us as their dentist- even more new patients.
What is Internal Marketing?
In general, internal marketing is comprised of:
- Internal branding on all paperwork, including digital paperwork
- Patient experience
- Decor, design and smells
- Scripting for understanding and experience
- Patient giveaways, both daily and monthly
- Email blasts (end of year and procedure specific)
- Special procedure days (Invisalign)
- Whitening specials
- Authority wall (your degree, awards, CE)
- Membership plans (you need to have one and market it)
- Thank You cards (send to new patients and those who referred them)
- Signage (front of building, parking lot, sidewalks)
- TV slides (in-office or on computer screens)
There’s probably even more that we’re forgetting, but this is a good list of what is needed to really look professional for every patient touch-point in the office. Internal marketing also includes scripting to make sure that the patient experience is choreographed to be high-service.
So, as you consider spending more on marketing to increase new patients and production, look inside the practice first rather than anything outside.
If you want to read the newest DSN Marketing Manual you can purchase it here.