• What are your hygiene and treatment no show and cancellation statistics?
• Are dead-air patients more likely to exhibit certain dental health issues?
• Do these dental patients have specific financial markers?
• Rely too much on insurance, put off treatment because of fees, etc.
• If you have a penalty, who most often pays it?
• New patients, your most loyal patients, the abusers (and then they never come back)
• Is there a specific time of the day that is most "abused"?
• Is there a specific day of the week that is most "abused"?
• Does your schedule provide any flexibility? 
• Evenings, weekends, early mornings, etc.?

By identifying the most likely dead air patient and the factors behind it, you can implement two "fixes". Communication does not work in a vacuum. For example, if you have created consumer unfriendly scheduling issues (like work three days a week from noon to 1:10pm) communication success is put in an untenable position.  Remember patients always have the choice of not going to the dentist.

One dentist client of mine works three days per week - 12 hours each day and saw his patient base rise by 15 percent. However, convenience is only a small part of long-term success. Fear and loathing of the dental visit is not eliminated with 24-7 service. To continue with the radio analogy, convenience is great AM radio; communication gives dentistry its FM clarity.

BACK to TOP

Preventive Care Dental Patient Communication

Preventing the dead air patient is essential. While some patients come in as dead air weight, others move into the dead air region because of lack of connective-ness. Therefore, just focusing on those who are "causing the problem" (like only fixing the toothaches) would be setting your sights on the most difficult targets.

No news about you is no show heaven: Who shows up when you invite them to your special events: your closest friends or those who barely know you? Regularly tell your patients about what is going on in your practice (internally or externally).

Scared Straight: Every three or four months send out a "dental health warning". Don't wait for dental health month to explain to them what is going on in their mouth that could negatively affect their lives or their family.

Send an ADA pamphlet with a short letter/note or comment on a dental topic that was in the news (note where you saw the story). Few people care about their dental health until something hurts: let them know hurting is not the only symptom of bad oral health. (While Niche Dental would recommend branded literature - something is better than nothing.)

Kind words: Warnings only go so far. "Scaring" people is counterproductive if deep caring does not surround it. Reprimanding your children because of their mistakes will have no effect if there is not a much larger history of kind words (and hugs and kisses).

Thank your patients with an internal strategy and an external element. Make them feel like they have made a great decision to make you their choice and why it will continue to be good for them. (I was not brought up as a hugger, but my kids are worth more than only what I am used to.) Success often requires more than what is innately comfortable or normal to us.

Dig deeper than the normal in your energy and expense in this matter. Remember how much each cancellation and no-show costs you. If you were able to eliminate 90% of them, what would that be worth to you? To get this started, spend the other 10% in team time and money on getting that 90% back.

BACK to TOP

Get Their Attention Dentistry Communication

Attention communication is like a disc jockey's public appearance: it changes the dynamics beyond the normal ears-only event. As a dentist, you need to "get out" and enhance your image.

Communicating directly to patients is the most precise form of marketing. Getting new patients is more difficult than encouraging current patients to do more. However, getting your current patients attention has two levels: what comes directly from you and the public incident.

The concepts in the Prevention Communication section are ones that come directly from you. While patients are more likely to be affected by communication from you than the general public, they can also have an "I already know" view of you. This perspective cannot always be overcome with direct-from-you marketing. It hardly ever catches them off guard; a layer of "filtered" familiarity is always there.

Therefore, limiting your dental marketing to patient-to-patient communication will not entirely enlighten your patients. Attention communication is public marketing. Your special feature in the newspaper, your segment on the local TV station, your radio commercials, and the advertisement in your city magazine all put you in a position to open up their filter. The "I did not know my dentist did that" occurrence is all too common when dentists go beyond the confines of their four walls and patient households.

Few patients sit down with a cup of coffee and reflectively review your mailings or sit snuggled up to their spouse with a glass of wine while viewing their case presentation in your office. Public dental marketing takes them and your brand out of the abnormal, stressful, fear laden, anxiety filled circumstances associated with internal or external patient-to-patient dental communication.

Obviously, public communication also encourages the acquisition of new patients. It also creates a platform and backbone of perceptions that build up your brand for those patients before they arrive. Rather than having such a steep hill to climb - new patients already have a layer of preventive communication in place.  Their no-show and canceling tendencies are tamped down and the value they have in you is much higher from the beginning.

This combination of positive attributes makes Attention Communication vital if you want to overcome the reality of the cultural and societal changes.  This reality includes where/how people get their information and how much they move around/change jobs/etc.

Develop a regular strategy of dental public attention communication: get your brand out of the sound proof studio. Start small if you have to and build it as you develop your voice. Let your local media know what you are doing. Find a way into the "normal" lives of your patients or they will find a better channel.

BACK to TOP

Dental Patient Retention Communication

No shows and those who cancel appointments are broadcasting something loud and clear: that your services lack urgent value. If you are not regularly communicating with them, you are agreeing that this audience should tune out.

Without a higher-level of communication, the only time you can "influence their behavior" is when they show up or you are able to penalize them. This is too little (communication) and possibly too much (penalty) too late.

Once you have identified the most likely no-shows and cancellers, beef up communication with them and discover their concerns.

Treat them like new patients. Send them a new patient (so happy you are coming) letter before each appointment. Write in a few patient quotes to back up your value.

Get their email address and send them a personalized email referring them to various sites that will help them understand the value of your care. If you have a dental website, put in links to helpful areas of your site.

Make sure they know how much you appreciate their business (when they do show up). Offer some type of extra service or giveaway: whatever is appropriate in their situation and for your dental brand.

Take more time with them. Find out what is going on in their lives, not intrusively, but as way to put less space between you and them. Even if they do not stay as your patient, you can develop a profile of reasons why no-shows and cancellations are happening.

Call them after their appointment and see how things went. Even leaving a message on their voicemail to thank them is another way to get closer to them.

Of course, you can do some or all of this with every one of your patients. But start with the goal of developing a better rapport with those who are struggling with your brand and leaving because of all the dead air. Turn your microphone back on and start broadcasting your dental brand.