Increasing your rate of case acceptance is one of the best ways to grow your dental practice. In short, if more patients agree with your recommended services, you’re going to do more business and make more money. If it were that easy, though, every dental office would be enjoying high acceptance rates. Bryant Consultants recommends following these four steps to increase your patient case acceptance.
1) Word of mouth matters
Hearing from someone you know personally about any type of professional service is going to have the greatest impact on your decision-making process. Having current patients share positive experiences at your practice is the most effective type of marketing you can have because it’s connecting with prospective patients on a personal level.
2) Online reviews (especially the bad ones) can be the deciding factor
More and more people are searching online when they need professional services—including medical and dental care. Any online reviews of your practice probably are going to show up when someone performs a relevant search. And a bad review can have a huge impact on the overall online presence and perception of your business. Plus, unlike a negative in-person referral, a negative review online is on the Internet forever. Make sure you’re keeping track of online feedback about your practice. If you encounter a bad review, ideally, you would reach out in an attempt to satisfy the displeased patient.
3) Make sure your website is up to date
Your website is the central hub of the online identity of your dental practice. If you don’t have a site, you desperately need one. If you do have a webpage, you need to make sure it looks sleek, modern, and is easy to navigate whether someone is using a computer, tablet, or phone. You also want to make sure all the content on your site is current. Does it list all the current services you provide, as well as any special tools and technology you use while providing care? Is the written content clear and free of typos? Does it list any specialties you offer, as well as your specific credentials in the field of dentistry? If you can’t answer yes to any of these questions, invest in updating your site.
4) Invest in marketing
There are so many ways to make people aware of your practice. You can buy advertising on traditional mediums like the radio, TV, and newspaper. You can try to reach people through social media networks like Facebook and Instagram. Whatever method you choose, the goal should be the same: to entice new patients to join your practice. When you do hear from prospective new patients, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. That means the initial phone call needs to be friendly and informative.
What do these four factors have in common, and have to do with case acceptance?
It’s all about perception. New clients have formed opinions about your practice long before they pick up the phone to schedule that initial appointment. They’ve heard about you from friends and family. They’ve done their research online. They’ve looked you up on social media or seen advertisements. This opinion forms the basis of their initial level of trust in your practice—and trust is the one key component in case acceptance. If you want patients to accept the treatment plan you are proposing, you have to earn their trust. These strategies help build that initial trust.
Maybe you’re not sure how to incorporate these strategies. The services offered by Bryant Consultants can help you refine your vision, establish goals, and set processes in place to evolve your business. Contact us by calling (877) 768-4799. We provide consultation, training, and coaching to help improve the operations of your practice so that you can provide exceptional results to your patients. No office is out of reach for us. We will even come to you!
