Communication Solutions For Dental Patient Retention
Attracting new patients and bringing them into your dental clinic are quite challenging especially given the fact that there are many similar practices in your locality that are also vying to win them over. But the challenge does not stop there. One of the most difficult parts of running a dental clinic is how you can retain your patients.
Providing excellent quality dental care at affordable rates and using high-end dental facility and instruments like dental loupes are no longer enough to attain a high percentage of patient satisfaction and retention. Many patients are also looking for convenience and better dental practice logistics and customer service.
Importance of communication in dentistry
Communication is a vital part of customer service. But many practices underemphasize its importance. Poor communication can hurt your practice and can also greatly affect patient retention. Thankfully, there are different ways to enhance your communication system and to improve patient satisfaction and retention. Among these ways are as follows:
Train your staff
The right technology is useless if your staff does not know how to utilize it for the benefit of your practice. Hence, you need to train your staff in order for them to communicate more effectively with your patients.
Automate your scheduling system
The typical way of appointment scheduling (which is through phone) is becoming obsolete nowadays. In today's era, everyone seems to be more focused on using the modern ways of communication than on the traditional telephone system. And this is also true with your patients.
It helps if you offer different options when it comes to appointment scheduling. In addition to phone calls, you may use your website, social media page, and email for this purpose. Not only are these options more convenient, they are likewise quicker than phone calls.
Make it easier for your patients to reach you
Patients, especially the busy ones, usually don't wait for minutes for you to answer the phone or to provide information they are asking from you through a telephone call. Moreover, people nowadays don't have time to check their voicemail.
Why let your patients wait for minutes if there are other ways to connect with you in just a matter of seconds? Make it easier for your patients to communicate with you through mobile phone or email. You can send appointment reminders or follow-ups via email or text. This option will not only increase the likelihood of your message to reach the right person in a few seconds, it likewise makes it more convenient for your patients to text back.
Utilize the power of social media
Social media is such a powerful marketing and communication tool. Aside from real-time, two-way texting through mobile phones or text enabled landline, you can use social media to connect with your patients, to share valuable information about your practice and about oral health like the latest updates in your dental practice and some expert tips on maintaining a healthy teeth.