There are many reasons why customers may leave a dental office and choose another one. It is important to figure out why clients are leaving a particular dental office. Some experts believe that the internet plays a role. In an interview, Dr. Larry Emmott believes that:
“The Internet is overrun with customer review sites, and dentists are a favorite target.”
He urges that dental offices keep a close eye on what is said online regarding their office.
Other experts, like Dr. David Madow and Dr. Richard Madow, believe that it could be that marketing techniques are “boring.” What they suggest is sprucing up the way the dentists and dental clinics market themselves. This could be something as simple as writing a personal note on a business card instead of leaving it blank. The personal note could wish the patient a great day or offer a compliment. The Madow brothers believe that this will make it harder for patients to dismiss your card.
But are these the only reasons why clients are leaving a particular dental office? No. As mentioned earlier, there could be many reasons.
Understanding Why Clients are Leaving
Many doctors (across many fields) are afraid of losing patients, especially now with the recent pay cuts they have suffered. This does include some dentists. The fear is perfectly acceptable since many of these doctors own small offices and depend on the money from their practice. This makes every patient even more precious to a medical practitioner, yet many are losing them for one reason or another.
Sure, many dental offices admit that there are some reasons why customers leave that they have no control over. This could include things like death, a client moving away, or the recommendation of another professional by a trusted source. But this only accounts for about 18 percent of the customers that leave. There are 14 percent that leave because they are dissatisfied with the service provided at a dental office, and 68 percent leave due to poor attitude or indifference.
Here is an infographic that indicates the fastest ways to lose clients:
This means that a dental office can take steps to eliminate the reasons why clients leave. What should be understood is that this can be done.
How To Turn Things Around
There are few things that can be done to try to keep clients from leaving. One thing that might work is to over exceed expectations. Over exceeding expectations is all about under-promising and then simply giving more. Then customers will feel like they are getting much more than they expected.
A dental office can do this by offering a particular service that usually requires certain steps, like a full dental cleaning or something similar but withholding those extra steps. The dentist can then mention those steps as if they are extra steps, which will automatically make the client feel as if he or she is valued by the dentist.
The internet is another venue that needs to be used. This means that a dental office needs to optimize their website, start SEO-friendly blogs, social media, and make sure to search and eliminate negative reviews. It is also imperative that the SEO specialist hired understands that a dentist in Toronto needs all traffic to point to that particular region.
Dental Offices That Are Doing It Right
The following are a few offices who wanted to make sure that customers kept coming back for more. Keep in mind that these changes are not over-night changes, meaning they do take some dedication. Remember that these are just brief descriptions about what each dental office did.
Waterview Dental understood how to keep customers coming back. For one, they have revamped their online presence by updating their web page as well as monitoring sites like Yelp. Yelp is a review site where just about every business is reviewed.
Cosmo Dental Centre is another dental office that learned how to retain their customer base. This office developed a SEO blog section and offered more online services, which is necessary in this modern world.
Mint Dentistry decided to retrain their staff to be friendlier. And they used social media as well as their webpage to present themselves as a hip dental office. This dental practice understood the power of smiles and selfies.
Dentistry on King began to use blogs and decided to offer online services that some dental offices do not take advantage of, such as online appointments. The webpage has been focused on the region, and the team is focused on giving more than what customers expect.
Rosedale Family Dental Care offers and updated site that is both SEO friendly and mobile friendly. The staff is focused on smiling and being personable with every customers. There is a sense of family built-in, which makes it harder for customers to leave.
Davisville Smiles Dental updated their old website to something much more accessible and reader-friendly. The information is presented in small chunks, just like web readers like. The staff changed their focus; they are focused on being family-oriented instead of all business.
City Dental on Yonge is now using online services to lure new customers in. The site is mobile and tablet-friendly. The staff is actively using technology to accommodate appointments and other services. This is something that has helped the office.
Parkview Dental is a dental office that is now offering services beyond what most customers expect. Of course, this is just a marketing ploy, but it is an effective one. The site has also been updated and has an appealing look, which customers appreciate.
Runnymede Dental Centre’s site looks updated and much more professional. This makes customers feel like they are fully committed. A well-tendered website usually makes customers believe that the office will take good care of them, too.
Fort York Dentist has updated both their office and their website. The dental office created a synchronicity where both the site and office look upgraded. This makes customers think of cutting-edge tools and advanced dentistry, which is a good thing.
It is clear to see that a dental office can bring customers back, instead of losing them, with the right tools and a few suggestions.