There is no doubt financial times have got tougher, with fewer people spending on non-essential treatments, existing patients leaving their dental examination until they have a problem, and hygienist appointments harder to fill.
It has been shown in a recession that the businesses that not only survive but come out stronger are those who invest in marketing their business.
This is not about just sending out a standard reminder card or letter; it's about being proactive, using varied media and being highly focused to maintain patient numbers by using a systematic approach to marketing.
If you have a system in place, and a member of staff whose responsibility it is to follow the system you can expect existing patients to return at a greater frequency, and new patients coming in to replace the natural wastage.
I am often asked by business owners what is the one thing they can do to market their business that would turn revenues around; sadly there is not one golden bullet. Thankfully there are a whole host of tools that can be deployed on a monthly basis to bring back existing patients and generate new ones.
In the old days a dentist was found predominantly as a result of the Yellow Pages, today a dentist is generally found as a result of being on the first page of a Google search.
Google is the number one internet search engine and as such is likely to bring you the majority of your new patients. Most dentists do have a website, but when patients search for dentist and the name of their town, your website may not even surface on the first page of Google. You can pay for pay per click advertising, which can be effective and is a whole subject on its own, but getting your free listing right is the first step.
One of the first tools I would recommend to a practice that provides an easy win, will take no more than an hour and is easy to set up, is a Google Places account.
This is a totally free service and if done correctly will mean that your practice will appear in the first seven results shown on Google under the Google Places listings. Your practice will also be shown on the map view that accompanies the Google places listings.
The first step is to look to see where you are on Google places, so simply type into the Google search bar the word dentist and the name of your town. This will show you where you rank in the listings.
There are a whole range of videos on the web that show you how to update your listing on Google Places. The key is to get as much information on there about your business. Include your website details, as well as photographs and video. You also need to encourage genuine testimonials to be posted onto the site. The more complete the information the higher up the listing you will appear. Couple this with a link to a good quality website and this can be classed as one of the easy marketing wins.
This helps recruit new patients, and existing patients often use Google to find their current dentist's phone number quickly - if they can't find it they may go elsewhere, so don't underestimate the importance of ranking in Google Places.
This is not the golden bullet but it is as important as Yellow Pages was not so many years ago but with the added benefit of being free.