Nothing matches the long-term protection that keeping existing patients happy provides.
Michael Abernathy, DDS
Keeping patients happy is the best defense against competition. The offices that keep patients happy are virtually unbeatable.
* Their patients are more loyal.
* They accept dental treatment more often.
* They are willing to pay more for the practice?s products.
* They stick with the practice through difficult periods, allowing the office time to adapt to change.
Nothing matches the long-term protection that keeping existing patients happy provides. A newer and bigger office will not do it, new technology will not do it, nor will reduced labor costs do it.
So if keeping patients happy is the best thing we can do, why do so many offices merely give it lip service rather than actually doing it? Even sadder, the vast majority of dental offices fail to put this key marketing concept into practice, despite large investments in Omarketing.O
The overwhelming difference between the winners and the others is not in what they do, but rather how do they do. Few, if any, differences exist between the successful practices and their counterparts in terms of the services offered, quality of staff, or even the technical skills of the doctor.
The critical difference is an emphasis on customer satisfaction as it affects profits. Successful dentists never forget they 1) must keep their patients happy and 2) operate a profitable business. Their success lies in their ability to take an integrated, holistic approach to their practices that balances these two, sometimes conflicting, requirements without compromising their patients or the bottom line.
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction creates market success. This is the central premise of the marketing concept OKeeping patients happy is good business.O Our quantitative analysis confirms these findings. The Wilson Learning Center found that customer loyalty was intimately related to satisfaction with the product. The happier patients are with a given service, the more likely they are to buy it again and the less likely they are to switch to your competition.
Offices that adopt the strategy of maximizing customer or patient satisfaction obtain several, vital competitive advantages. Their long-term profitability is normally higher than their competitors and they have more protection against shifts in patients? needs. If these offices should slip up, their chances of regaining lost patients and markets are much better than offices that are not as patient-oriented.
Long-term profitability
By providing superior patient satisfaction, doctors can obtain several competitive advantages that will lead to higher profitability.
1. Less wasted motion. In the process of keeping patients happy, you get to know them so well that you make fewer Ofalse starts.O You should know what your patients want, even before you are aware of it. This allows you to anticipate case acceptance.
2. The practice gets a price advantage. In office after office, happy patients are willing to pay extra for the additional satisfaction they derive. How much extra? That depends on other factors such as the overall competitive environment, the price sensitivity of patients, the type of purchase, and practice positioning. However, be it small or large, that extra margin is always there.
3. Patients come back more often. Satisfied patients are more loyal to their doctors. They?re more likely to come back to your office to have other dental services done. Combined with their willingness to pay a premium price, this higher repeat rate leads to greater revenues. This is particularly valuable in a highly competitive industry such as dentistry, where the price premium may be tiny (i.e., 1 to 5 percent), as is often the case in most areas of the country. In such situations, the slight price advantage, together with the higher loyalty or repeat-visit rate, slowly but steadily adds up to greater long-term profitability.
4. Transaction costs are lower. As every doctor knows, it is easier to sell more dentistry to an existing patient than it is to attract new patients. Thus, greater patient loyalty means that the office?s ongoing overhead expenses are lower. The office doesn?t have to spend as much time or money on marketing schemes. The question is no longer, OWhy should the patient buy your service?O Instead, the focus is on which services and how much the patient should accept. In many cases, the doctor merely sets up the treatment and answers patients? questions. The dentist no longer has to spend much time OsellingO dental services.
5.Communication costs are lower. Lastly, happy patients act as a volunteer sales force. They tell others (friends, relatives, and neighboring businesses), helping you to leverage your presence in the marketplace.
Keeping your existing patients happy with your practice definitely keeps the ball in your court and the winning advantage on your side.
