Chris Baker of Corona Marketing Limited continues his thoughts on what you should be doing in 2021 and beyond…

 The value of your patients

The reduction of footfall in all practices has meant that like never before, each individual patient is of HUGE value to your practice. They must be nurtured. They must be looked after; treated like royalty and made to feel loved. And consider the economics – fewer patients means that each patient that does attend the practice has to be worth more.

Are there ways in which you can ethically increase the value of each patient? Certainly – you can consider a dental plan or perhaps even a dental guarantee for your patients (https://www.mydentalguarantee.co.uk/ ) – in a post Covid world, the peace of mind that a guarantee or even just knowing that their regular costs are covered is of great value.

But, for a plan or guarantee to be a success takes a lot of training, effort and ensuring all the team are onside. Can you put that amount of effort in? I have seen practices gain thousands of plan members in a matter of months but this meant the Principal, Associates, TCOs, Nurses, Front of House all had a role to play and knew what was expected of them.

With surgery time at an absolute premium (at the time of writing the recommendation was still 15 minutes’ fallow time between AGPs), diary zoning is now no longer a nice to have but a have to have. You may split the practice into AGP and non-AGP areas. When are you providing certain treatments? By zoning your diary, you can make the most of every minute.

What do your patients want? 

All the surveys that have been taken, seem to show the UK population falling into two distinct groups. One, are still fearful and nervous and will have to be convinced of their need to visit the dentist and the safe environment that they will find when they get there. The other, will exhibit the ‘F**k It’ factor. Some people will have sat at home for months on 80 or 100% of their salary, with very little to spend their money on! In previous recessions (and there is going to be a big one) we have seen that people spend any disposable income on ‘affordable luxuries’. Focus on making the dentistry you offer affordable (not cheap – that is different).

Each of these groups will need vastly different marketing messages. For the first, concentrate on the health message. Coronavirus has made many of us think about our overall health even more than we did before and hopefully not take it for granted. Use the links between oral health and the rest of the body. Make them aware of how safe a dental practice environment always has been, and the further steps you have taken due to the pandemic.

The second group will react to more traditional marketing messages e.g.

‘Have you always been meaning to do something about those crooked teeth/gap etc’? You can come for a FREE consultation and find out all about the treatment and whether it is relevant to you. And, we can offer finance to make it affordable for you in these straitened times.’

Video consultations

These have got to be a must. They enable people to find out more about various treatments at no cost to themselves in the comfort of their own home. They enable your practice to schedule consultations so they do not interrupt clinical time, they allow you to see patients at different stages of the buying journey with less risk. If you have a TCO then they are a no-brainer.

Online Advertising 

If your practice uses or has considered online advertising such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads, you should start your campaign. The ‘F**k It’ patients are out there and ready for your messages! Make sure that you understand how both these platforms work, how they are different and get comprehensive monthly reports so that you know what works and what doesn’t.

So, look at all of these areas, work on a coherent plan and you should see your practice return to as close to normality as quickly as possible.