How To Get New Patients For Your Dental Practice in Australia
Hi everyone, Angus Pryor here, Creator of the Dental Profit System, co-author of the Amazon crushing book, The Better Business Book, bringing you the special video on how to get new patients for your dental practice in Australia.
Look, the reality is in Australia, that the competition in the dental industry is that never before levels. The fact that you are watching this video suggests to me that you’re experiencing some of that. Now in the next few minutes, what we’re going to look at, is a number of ways to get new patients for your dental practice in Australia.
Before we get into the real nitty-gritty, I want you to think about something. There’s a hurdle that patients need to get over when they come to you. I always think, for a client who is never dealt with you before, it’s like they’ve got something they’ve got to jump over to get to your business. They got to go to the top, so the key thing is, how do you make it easy for them. They don’t know you at all, and how can you make it easy for them to sort of jump over that hurdle, and to go from never dealt with this business at all, to actually now become a client.
One of the things to consider is around their fears. Now as far as I can tell, there are three basic fears that potential patients would have, when they’re considering whether to deal with you. The first is around pain. I can tell you for people my generation and older, then as a kid, going to the dentist could be quite painful. These days, my impression is it’s nothing like that. But that certainly was the case historically, so that a fear to address. To be kept waiting … If you’re a dental … A lot of people dealing with healthcare professionals, they hate the fact that they have to wait. In fact, I must admit I don’t like waiting much either. The other fear is around cost. They feel they are somehow charging too much.
In terms of how we bring in new patients, we’ve got to make it easy for them to jump their hurdle, and overcome their fears. Curiously, one of the ways you can do this, is to address it head on, where you could have something on your website that talks about each of these aspects, and says, “If you haven’t been to the dentist for a while, you may not realize that technology has really moved on.” I’ve had a lot of feelings over the years, and I would say in recent times, my dental experience has been consistently very positive, even if I’m getting drilling or whatever done. It’s nothing like what used to be. Addressing this head-on on your website can be helpful.
What’s even better is video, where you can actually talk through it. A really good way to do that is to either do direct video, and put that on your website, or even Facebook Live. Curiously, if you hate the idea of being on Facebook Live, because that’s fearful for you, well what an excellent opportunity to sort of say, “Hey, this is Mary from ABC dental. Look, to be honest with you, I want to talk to you about fear, because right now, I’m doing this on Facebook live, and this is a fear for me doing this. But I also understand can be fearful for you coming to the dentist, so let’s talk about that stuff.”
Another thing you can do to make it easy for people to deal with you, address their fears, is to set up a guarantee. Now in dentistry, you’ve got to be careful about making any guarantees around the dental outcome. But there’s no restriction on making guarantees around a service-based outcome. One thing that people were really worried about, is they hate being kept waiting. If you know that yours is a practice where you are meticulous about running on time, than having an on-time guarantee can be really powerful. Remember, you’re trying to get this person to jump over that hurdle, and so the on-time guarantee could be, “We guarantee that you will start within 5 minutes, or 10 minutes of the allotted appointment time. If you don’t, will take $100 off the bill.” You can do that sort of thing, an online guarantee.
The other one with the client where the feedback, fantastic first visit, where the feedback from their clients was that they couldn’t believe the experience they had at the dentist. They couldn’t believe how much time they took with them, to really listen to them, and understand their needs. We came up with fantastic first visit guarantee, where it’s a really great way of getting people to jump over the hurdle. To go, “Well, if you don’t have a fantastic first visit, then we’ll give you movie tickets, or whatever the case may be.” Those are couple of ways to help you bring in new patients.
Then the third one I suppose, the fourth one perhaps … is this marvelous phrase that, we are known for. The benefit of we are known for, is you’re setting yourself up as being someone different. For example, if pain is a real issue for people who are not coming, and you’re thinking, well let’s have a guarantee around blah, blah, blah, you could be constantly saying on the phone, on your website, “We’re known for taking special care with sensitive patients.” Just constantly sort of milking that, we’re known for, whatever it is. Is it around pain? Is it around being on time? Is it around cost? Is it around a particular type of client?
These are some simple ways to help you bring in new patients. It’s not marketing tactics, in terms of taking an add, or so on. But these are ways to set yourself apart from the other dentists in your area, and ultimately how to help you to get new patients for your dental practice in Australia. Otherwise, from me, Angus Pryor, see you next time.