Previously, I’ve written about how reverse--engineering (dentaleconomics.com/reverse) and controlling your schedule (dentaleconomics.com/minutes) are essential keys to achieving the dental success you desire. However, there is one more component to this: focusing on profits.
Forget about revenue; focus on profits
If you’re going to be more profitable, stop focusing on bringing in as many new patients as possible. Instead, do more with what you already have and make the practice you have now more profitable. Ensure everything is dialed in, so that when you add on more patients, you’re increasing profits, not just running up the volume, churning and burning.
Have you ever really done the math? Take all your new patients from this year or last year, multiply that by all the years of your career, and show me where all those patients are. You probably have more leaving than staying. Well, increased profits all come down to the fact that …
Retention and relationship drive case acceptance
That’s what this is all about. Instead of quantity and getting patients in and out of the door as quickly as possible, it’s about what you can do to make a life-changing impact on them with the dentistry solutions they can only find in your office.
Most patients believe all dentists are the same. The real way to differentiate yourself is to make their experience personal. Give them a diagnostically focused experience. Here, it’s not about how much dentistry you do, it’s about how much dentistry you diagnose every single day in your practice. It’s about motivating patients and turning that diagnosis into case acceptance for the patients you want to serve.
Focus on patients who say “yes”
After all, without “yes” patients, you have nothing to do! This is such an important concept, but it can be easy to forget with all of your day-to-day responsibilities and issues. So, how do you find and keep these patients? Obviously, each of these concepts can go into great detail with specific activities unique to you, your practice, and the dental lifestyle you want to achieve, but here is an overview.
1. Prepare before patients walk in the door.
Does your “patient experience” only focus on the time patients are actually sitting in your office? If so, you’re part of the majority. But this actually needs to start way before they open the door and walk in. You want to build a “better patient” before you even meet them.
This involves a “pre-education” process that starts with a personal phone call where you connect with them emotionally and personally. It allows you to differentiate your office, so they choose you in the first place. You come across as a dental professional who actually cares about them as a person.
After your call, send new patients valuable information to answer their questions and let them know exactly how you can help them. Get forms and other necessary paperwork finished in advance in the simplest way possible for them. This way, they arrive for their appointment with their health and how you can help top-of-mind instead of stressing about the treatment, payments, insurance, and other issues.
It all comes back to the Golden Rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated … and I don’t think any of us want to be considered just a number on an assembly line.
2. Plan your patient’s time during their visit.
If you take step one into consideration, now you can revise your process for the patient’s actual time in your office. You can focus on the patient’s experience so they feel comfortable and know they are receiving care specific to their needs.
With your time freed up to focus on the patient, think of all the ways you can build rapport and discuss all of the benefits you can provide to help that particular patient now and in the future. And their family and friends, too. You develop a relationship with your patients that is unique to you and your office.
3. Continue the patient experience after they leave.
Once your patient finishes their appointment, don’t forget the follow-up process. You’ve worked hard to create this experience, so ensure that you have a process in place to keep this relationship growing.
Communicate via phone, email, newsletters, social media, direct mail, and more. Let patients know that you are the real deal and actually care about their health as a person and medical professional, not just a number. This takes extra time and resources, but this is how you create a profitable practice that consists of “yes” patients.
Profitability stems from relationships
That is where the magic is. In order to get a better patient, you have to create a better process—a process that tells the patient what you’re about and what they’re coming in to do. A process that guides them through that journey.
Let new patients know exactly what to expect and introduce yourself before they even step into your office. Build rapport and then focus on their specific needs during their visit. Afterward, follow up with them to see how they are doing and what they need to do for their oral health now and in the future.
If you truly want a fulfilling and profitable practice, it’s not about being a number and getting as many patients in and out of the door as possible. It’s about practicing what you love to do, the way you want to and when, and actually improving the lives of your patients in the process.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the January 2025 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
