In this guest blog, veteran Dental Business Coach, Ashley Latter, suggests ways practices can help ensure their income stays healthy in a difficult economy.
Since the start of the war in Iran in late February this year the effects have permeated throughout the economy. Rising fuel and food prices have seen patients tightening their belts. This has resulted in some patients delaying essential treatments, and a decrease in new enquiries.
Unfavourable economic conditions affect all types of businesses. However, there are some proactive steps dental practices can take to improve things for themselves.
Here are some strategic suggestions to help dental practices not only survive but thrive during tough times:
Create your own economy
What do I mean by ‘create your own economy’? There are so many things happening in the wider economy that affect your business, such as increases in energy prices, fuel and so on over which you have no control. So, creating your own economy is about focusing on the factors you can control. It requires innovative thinking, taking proactive measures, and being committed to delivering exceptional value to your patients.
In the case of dental practices, this means providing excellent dental care, ensuring the overall patient experience is the best it can be, expanding treatment offerings, and ensuring you have no leaky buckets.
Try employing these tactics:
- Ask all patients if they are happy with their smile and if there is anything they would like to improve. Often, dentists report that this is something they ask new patients but not existing ones. It’s likely there are opportunities for more business within your existing client base, you just need to ask the questions. The secret is to treat all your existing patients as if they were new ones.
- Follow Up. Ensure you have a system in place to follow up with patients after consultations. If they do not proceed with the treatment, then you can find out the reason why. It might be that they were not quite ready to proceed at the time but might be in the near future. It might simply be that they would like to go ahead but haven’t got round to making the appointment. Patients need to feel ready to proceed with treatment and by having a follow up system you can make sure that you catch them at the right time.
- Make use of technology. While it’s great to have all the best up-to-date equipment, unless you use it to its full capacity, it’s a waste of money. I visited a dental practice recently where one of the dentists had a digital scanner in his room which, he confessed, he hardly used. There is no point spending thousands of pounds on technology if you do not use it.
- Keep on top of your fees. While benchmarking yourself against other practices can be useful, slavishly pegging your fees to the other practices in the area can be dangerous. If your costs have increased, then it’s important that your fees reflect this. Review your fees annually and ensure they’re keeping up with inflation and increases in business expenses. Your costs may be different from other local practices so your aim should be to do what’s best for your business. There’s no point keeping parity with other practices if you’re losing money. Someone has to be the most expensive practice in the town, as long as your fees are fair, why shouldn’t it be you?
- Treat every new enquiry like gold dust. When patients contact your Practice to enquire about cosmetic treatment, they are looking for something that will change their lives. That means the way you handle things needs to be worthy of that. Take the time to speak to all new patients yourself in a quiet room and then watch your conversions soar. New patients looking for cosmetic treatments need to trust that you are the one to help them.
Creating your own economy can help your practice navigate economic challenges with confidence and resilience. By making a few minor changes, enhancing the patient experience, expanding service offerings and following up on treatment plans, dental practices can not only survive but thrive in any economic climate.
About Ashley
Ashley Latter is an industry-renowned dental business consultant. He specialises in delivering the Ethical Sales and Communication Programme, creating a World Class Patient Journey, Creating a High Performance Team.
He also works with a very forward group of Dentists and Orthodontists on his well-renowned programme called The Entrepreneur group.
He is also the author of four books: ‘Don’t wait for the Tooth Fairy’, ‘You are Worth it- How to discuss fees with more self-confidence’, ‘The Practice Managers Jugglers’ Book and his latest book ‘The Perfect Dental Consultation’.”