Want to Attract New Dental Patients? Think About a Referral Contest

Referral contests are one of the best ways to attract new patients. People love contests and competition for two reasons: (1) Competitiveness is a part of human nature. And, (2) people love to win stuff.

Just think, the most widely watched shows on TV are competitions. Sporting events and reality shows dominate the TV ratings because they are competitive contests. And, the thrill of getting something for nothing is basically second nature for Americans. If you don’t believe this, consider the billions of lottery tickets sold each week.

The contest format of referrals is successful due to the fact that it covers the two main factors of attracting referrals to any business. Those two factors are: Reward and Recognition.

As I said, people like winning stuff, and they love to be gratuitously singled out as doing something good. Referral contests are a great way to make this happen in your practice. They are not difficult to set up, and actually take very little effort to run. All you need to do is promote your contest correctly (a patient newsletter is a good way).

Here are two great examples of successful referral contests that worked wonders.

Example 1:

A dentist was looking for a way to promote and gather referrals in his practice, and the idea was brought up to give away $1000 to the person who referred the most patients.

Each person who referred would get a gift of some sort. I believe, in this case, it was a gift certificate to a local restaurant, and the person referring the most patients at the end of the contest would receive $1000 in cash.

If you run your contest without the small gift for each referral, you will scare some people away. Giving the small gift as a “thank you” to your patients is a good draw for even the shy person that does not care to try for the $1000. The small gift also draws attention to the fact that you get something even for referring one person.

Well, during the 3 weeks that this contest ran, the office generated 44 new patients.

If we do the math in this case, basically, for $1000 this office gathered 44 new patients (an average of just under $23 per patient).

The success is based on the prize. If the top prize was $100, there would have been less of a response. For $10,000, you can bet people would be flying their friends, family, and the family dog to the office.

For some dentists $1000 may seem like a big chunk of money. Think about this, in comparison: Instead, you could spend $1000 to send some direct mail pieces to your neighborhood to attract 10 or so new patients… OR, you can offer the same amount of money to have your patients refer their friends and family to your practice. Remember, your patients will have already sold their friends and family on the benefits of your practice and your dental care. Meaning, they like you from the get-go and are ready to be loyal patients from the moment they walk in your door.

In another, very similar, case there were two ladies at the top of the list who were neck and neck with each other. And, every time one of the ladies would refer a patient in, the front office staff would call the other lady to alert her. This went on for the duration of the contest.

Finally, near the end of the contest, one of the ladies actually drove a patient to the practice for the final referral that eventually won the contest for her.

Now, you don’t have to go that far, but you can see how a simple contest can create a huge buzz throughout your patient base that will literally have them driving patients to your office.

There is another, totally different way, to run a contest in your practice. This first method, mentioned above, is the “most-referrals-wins” contest, and really plays on people’s competitiveness.

If that sounds too crazy for you, there is also the example below. The “weighted drawing” contest is another simple and easy way to run a contest without eliminating any one referrer from having a chance to win the grand prize.

Example 2:

This dentist continually runs this type of contest and offers a new prize every quarter. His prizes have, so far, included computers with flat screen monitors, and a huge 47″ Plasma TV. He is currently giving away 2 round trip airplane tickets to anywhere in the United States.

The contest format is simple. For every referral that completes a new patient visit, the referrer receives one entry into the drawing. Refer one person, and you have one chance to win. Refer 10 people, and have 10 chances.

At the end of the quarter, all of the chances are gathered in a bowl and the winner is drawn. The winner then gets their picture taken with the doctor and the prize, and that picture gets placed in the monthly newsletter. The picture is then accompanied by the announcement of the next contest and the next prize.

Keeping the prizes fresh is exciting for the patients and keeps them involved in the process. If you continually give away the same prize, people will get bored with the contest (unless it is a big prize like $1,000,000).

The picture is a very important step! DO NOT MISS THIS! If you do not promote a winner, people will not get excited about the next contest.

Oh, the results… well, in speaking to the doctor a couple of weeks ago, he reported that the new patients he gains from referrals, on their first visit alone, easily brings in an extra $35,000 per year and pays for their patient newsletter to go out.

That’s only the income from their first visits! “The rest is gravy.” He said.

There is one key that both of these referral contests have in common. That key is promotion to your patients. Without the correct promotion, both of these contests fail. If you don’t tell people what they need to do to win a prize, they won’t do it.

Both of the above examples utilized a patient newsletter to promote the contest. Showing your patients that people are actually winning the contests, will help make them feel like they, too, can win and will want to at least try.

Also, in your newsletter, include referral cards that can be used as the “drawing” cards for your contest. They’re business cards that your patients can write their name on (to ensure they get proper credit) and hand out to their friends and family.

Referral contests are not a hard thing to set up. Just decide on how you want to set it up and make sure your patients know about it. Get them excited. And, remember, if you don’t make a big deal about it, neither will anyone else.

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EMC Dental Marketing is a full-service Dental Practice Marketing, Dental Advertising, and Practice Management agency that focusses on solving a dentists top 2 problems - attracting new patients and retaining the patients they already have.

Business cards, it seems, are neglected, abused, given little if any thought when designed, and are grossly misunderstood when it comes to their real intended use.

A business card, as it turns out, is nothing more than an abbreviated ad and a way for people (preferably those that want to spend money with you) to contact you.

However, what approximately 99% of everyone who has a business card misses is this: the ADVERTISEMENT part! Few people take advantage of the business and use it to generate business.

I will try to walk you through the do’s and don’ts of creating a business card.

Let’s start with the headline. Yes, your business card should have a headline. How else is someone going to know whether or not they should keep the card or even call you?

You have to give people a compelling reason WHY they should take action. A headline’s job is to get attention. Then, get the reader to read on… to learn more.

Next, don’t make the important information so small that it’s impossible to read without one of those old biology class microscopes. Fill up the card. White space has never enticed anyone to do anything. In other words, white space in any ad, or on any business card, is space that costs you money, but fails to generate any revenue.

If you have a website, include it in your contact information. However, by adding this to your card, you are implying that this is a valid way to get what you have to offer. Make sure that your website is always functional and up-to-date. If your prices change, be sure to update this information on your website. Equally important is the services that you provide. Make sure that your website informs people about what you can do. And, if your abilities change (grow), make sure your website reflects those changes.

Pairing with the website, a personal email address is also a great addition. A lot of people feel like they can get more information through email, and it seems less threatening. However, I must reiterate the “personal” part of this. Don’t put info@yourcompany.com. This makes people feel like their email will probably go off to some outsourced respondent in India. No, put YOUR email address – you@yourcompany.com.

Next important tip: Use both sides! Paper is expensive; ink is cheap. We’re going back to the white space-factor. For many potential customers, that 2.5X3″ piece of cardstock is the only thing they might see of yours. Make it count.

AND, include an guarantee or an offer… Or, both! Give them an additional reason to keep your card and take action.

Lastly, provide a small, simple map. This is especially important if you work with a lot of people that are new to your area. Try to give them a general sense of where they can find you.

So, let’s re-cap.

1. Headline – WHY should I even keep this thing?
2. Easily read your contact information.
3. Website and email included (but, only if this is a true resource you can offer).
4. Use both sides of the business card.
5. Offer something to entice them to want to work with you.
6. Map.

If you already have a business card, rethink your design and the use of your card. Make sure that it serves as, not only a resource for your contact information, but also as an advertisement.

If you have not yet put your business card together, or if someone else is creating your card for you, be sure to evaluate all of these key pieces that every professional’s business card should include. Make it work for you.

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EMC Dental Marketing is a full-service Dental Practice Marketing, Dental Advertising, and Practice Management agency that focusses on solving a dentists top 2 problems - attracting new patients and retaining the patients they already have.

A lot of dentists have been sending me well wishes, and
congratulations for my new baby, but there is one problem… she’s
not here yet.

Even though her due date was Monday, she hasn’t left the
comfortable confines of her moms belly.

I was going to wait to send you the following announcement until
after the baby is born, but I can’t wait any longer.

Due to popular demand, I am re-opening the Personal Dental Coach
program as of September 1st.

Over the next few weeks I will be releasing some videos letting you
know some information about the group, and also some previews of
the actual curriculum of the program.

I am planning on covering the following subjects…

- Creating a magnetic practice message that will attract patients
like a moth to a lightbulb
- Using contests to create rabid excitement in your practice
- How to drive traffic to your website using paid and non-paid
search engine tactics
- How to control your online reputation
- How to increase your non-chairside productivity 100%
- Using online video to gain attention
- and more to come…

I need your help. If and only if you are interested, visit the
website at 

http://personaldentalcoach.com

and enter your name and email. This will let me know what kind of
numbers to plan on.

Also, respond to this email with any topics you would like to learn
about marketing and increasing profits in your business. as I said,
I am developing the curriculum right now.

And if you’ve had bad experiences in the past, let me know those
too. I want this to be your program and be formed to fit you.

So go to http://personaldentalcoach.com right now and sign in if
you like.

Thanks, and I’ll keep you updated about the baby!!!

James Erickson
Former Marine
President, EMC Dental Marketing

P.S. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting some videos on the
website of some tricks and tips that could be very beneficial if
you join the program or not. So go now to
http://personaldentalcoach.com to get on the VIP list now!

P.S. #2 Go ahead and hit the reply button and tell me what you want
to learn. Over the next few weeks before the program I’ll be
creating some free videos answering your questions. I want this to
be YOUR program.

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EMC Dental Marketing is a full-service Dental Practice Marketing, Dental Advertising, and Practice Management agency that focusses on solving a dentists top 2 problems - attracting new patients and retaining the patients they already have.

One of the most aggravating things for a dentist, I might imagine, is having all that undone treatment sitting in files. Hundreds of thousands of dollars – in some cases probably millions. Just sitting there, needing to be done; patients in need. But, what happens to it?

For 99.9% dental practices, nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

In my years of coaching, consulting and working with thousands of dentists, I’ve heard of many different ways to manage this most annoying and gut-wrenching problem. (What? You’re not gut-wrenched to think of all that undone treatment? You should be!)

There is a method, or system to handle it. Let me give you a few examples. One is right for you. Personally, I’d do all of them until I figured out how to properly work them.

No. 1 – Call the people who have undone treatment. Yeah, imagine that! A FREE call! And guess what? You’ll close a TON of treatment because of it. Additionally, it puts the responsibility squarely where it belongs (my opinion, mind you): on the doctor and staff. You see, you are doing your patients a disservice by NOT having them complete necessary treatment. Cosmetics are a different story and require a different approach. But, for general health reasons, you should do what it takes to get your patients moved to the decision – Yes, I am going to get that treatment done. It’s all done by script, so there’s nothing that cannot be copied or duplicated by any staff member with idle time.

No. 2 – A first-class, hand-addressed letter. Yes, I am a fan of letters. Similar to the call, except, people don’t usually screen mail with the same scrutiny that they may screen calls. Put together a basic letter reminding them of the importance of completing their treatment, then adjust it for particular cases. Try to make it as personable as possible. This gives the sense that you truly care about them, as a person, and not just the money that you plan to get from them. This is also another aspect of building relationships with your patients. This, we all know, is crucial.

No. 3 – Education. Another easy one. If your patients aren’t accepting treatment and if money isn’t the problem (they drive new cars don’t they? And what about the new TV for Christmas? Get on their level!), then you need to educate them more. Do what it takes, morally, ethically and legally to move your patients to the right decision. And just ask them, “If not now, when? It’s only going to get worse, as will the pain!” I mean, with all the tools and technology at your disposal, including sedation, air abrasion, and so on, they don’t have an excuse!

No. 4 – Offer them an opportunity to pay over time. And keep on presenting this as an option. If they can pay $75 a month for 6 months, then let them do it! Systems control your success or failure in this arena. There are great companies out there that can help you in this area, and they offer great rates to dentists.

No. 5 – Finally, do nothing. If your results are already so good and you’re not ticked at yourself for all the undone treatment sitting in that filing cabinet, then do nothing. Or, maybe you have adequate patient flow and you’re just not worried about it, then that’s okay too.

However, if you want more production, get all those people back in your chair! Even if things are going “okay” in your practice, why not make things “great”? Have a production record breaking month! You know you want to. Just make it happen.

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EMC Dental Marketing is a full-service Dental Practice Marketing, Dental Advertising, and Practice Management agency that focusses on solving a dentists top 2 problems - attracting new patients and retaining the patients they already have.

Based on what I see, day in and day out, there’s a lot of confusion in the marketplace on what actions, activities, and so on, stimulates your patients to return time and time again to your practice. Too often, we assume (incorrectly) that just because we’ve seen a patient once, they owe it to us to come back.

That is dangerous and erroneous thinking. In fact, that kind of superiority complex can get a business, any business, in a boatload of trouble in a hurry.

No one, and I mean NO ONE, has to return to our businesses if they don’t want to.

So, what are some “killers” you can identify and quickly eliminate in your practice to ensure your patients return AND refer? Here are five of them…

1.) Results perceived (and actual) versus results desired.

That’s right, you have to deliver what your patients want! They’re footing the bill. Give them what they want. Build the relationship with them, and later they’ll be more receptive to what you recommend. Full-mouth reconstructions don’t happen in one visit and neither does building a relationship. You have to deliver the results patients want. It can be perceived or actual, depending on the situation. Nonetheless, give them what they want.

2.) Is it easy to do business with your practice?

It’s amazing to me, the number of companies that have actual “sales prevention” departments. I’ll give you an example: I’ve purchased thousands of dollars worth of pens and cool gifts for my clients from Myron, the specialty pen manufacturer. I emailed them once, asking if I could order a refill for my $3.00 pen that I really like. Here’s the answer, verbatim, from their email:

Thank you for taking the time to express your interest in Myron’s products and services. In response to your letter, Myron does not carry refills or inserts. We advise you to visit your local office supply store to inquire about generic refills or inserts. Or simply call us to re-order new pens and Pocket Pal diaries.

So, here they have an opportunity to make MORE sales to their clients and they turn me away to another store. Are you doing this with your patients? Are you not recommending and carrying a fluoride rinse? Floss they can purchase? Toothpaste? Sonic toothbrushes? WHY NOT? They have to buy it somewhere! Why not carry it, at the very least as a convenience to your patients?

3.) Money issues.

This is a particularly HUGE pet peeve of mine. I abhor businesses, and will not patronize them, if they will not allow me to make purchases with my preferred method of buying: American Express.

I have a VISA and MasterCard, too, but I really like getting the miles and cash back for using my AmEx. WHY do companies insist on not taking a particular kind of credit card? You should take any kind of payment that your patients want to give you. You must realize that you are losing sales and production if you make it hard to buy from you.

Further, if you are not offering financing that YOU control, then you’re missing the boat. You could be earning thousands in interest by offering safe, convenient, fair payment plans that allow patients to get their work done on their terms, and allow them to afford the best dentistry delivered.

4.) Value – Perceived and Actual.

Are you missing the magic moneymaker? The value of a service is determined by how your patients feel when they leave. They tell you how much value they find in your practice by referring others and telling you in your surveys (you ARE sending out surveys to your patients aren’t you?). In the real world, perceived value is worth as much, and oftentimes more, than actual value. How patients feel about the value you deliver is critical. If you fail to gauge this on your practice success barometer, you’re missing out. What do patients GET for doing business with you? Do they just get good service and good dentistry? Or, do they get something more? Come on - use your imagination.

5.) Not understanding the importance of marketing.

You had to assume that I would include marketing in here somewhere, right? Of course. Marketing your practice isn’t something to be taken lightly. It is important that your whole team understands what marketing is all about. It’s critical that they know what the goal of your marketing is, and that marketing a business never stops. It’s constant. Businesses, dental practices included, go belly-up without a constant and predictable stream of new patients. Marketing your practice is a planned event, with planned and predicted outcomes. For example: If you mail out 1500 postcards every three weeks, religiously, you will see a nice, steady flow of new patients rolling in every month, keeping your new-patient-slots full.

6.) Strong patient flow today – Strong patient flow tomorrow.

It is easy, when you are booked out for a month or more and referring people to your friend across the street, to think that you don’t need to market for a while. It’s easy to think that you can take a “marketing break” and start-up again when things slow down. But, why would you ever want things to slow down? That’s crazy! Isn’t the whole point of marketing to get patients in the door and watch your practice grow? If you get too overwhelmed, get people in to help you. Take on a new associate. Hire more office staff. Get a bigger building.

Whatever you do, even if things look rosy now, be sure to realize that there’s a 30-60 day ramp-up period with new patients coming in the door and getting their production and their referrals on the books.

7.) “We didn’t see any results from our first couple newsletter mailings. It must not work for me.”

Truthfully, I have seen newsletters NOT work for a couple of my clients. They’re no longer clients, either. After we found out how they were running their practice and learned about their disciplinary history from their dental boards, it’s no wonder. A blessing from the Pope wouldn’t have helped.

If you expect results from marketing programs of any kind, you and your team have to be 110% committed to their success. It’s no different than adapting a new technology to use in your practice. Your whole team has to be 110% supportive for it to be successful. Embrace change. Encourage change. It has to happen.

Marketing programs and advertising pieces get the phone to ring. Your team must sell the appointment and SELL to the patients once they arrive. There are lots of ways to drop the ball there… And, you can’t blame it on the call generation technique, either!

One thing I’ve noticed about human nature: We humans need to be trained to do things. Seriously. We need to be trained how to be good clients of businesses. We need to be trained how to be good patients that show up on time for appointments. We need to be trained as toddlers how to go to the bathroom, for crying out loud! Now, as adults, thought is not even required.

So, it would stand to reason that you would need to train your patients to refer to you, and that is going to take patience (just like mom had when she was potty training us), to get them to take action, refer, and refer again.

If on that first, second, or even third mailing of a patient newsletter, your results are not where you expected, have patience. People need to be trained! Your patients are no different. Keep telling them what to do, and eventually they’ll get the message. And they will begin to refer.

8.) Mishandling of incoming calls.

This is probably the No. 1 most common problem in an over-whelming majority of dental practices… and other businesses as well.

I don’t have the room, here in this article, to go into great detail about this, but suffice it to say, the easiest way to kill repeat visits, and first visits for that matter, is to mishandle phone calls of all kinds.

Dead air is a big problem with a lot of offices. This mostly occurs due to lack of training, and the people answering the phone are not capable of, or interested in, selling an appointment. If the person answering the phone does not have the proper mindset to sell the appointment, they won’t. Therefore, callers can easily change their minds before making the appointment. Practice. Educate. Review. Practice. That’s what it’s all about. Establish a system in your practice that covers the P.E.R.P.!

9.) Lack of follow-up.

This is another HUGE pet peeve of mine. All you have to do is train your front office staff to follow-up with patients that call and do not schedule for whatever reason. Send out these people information about your practice, why they should visit you versus others and what makes you unique. AND, included a special offer. This makes your practice even more enticing.

Just by taking a couple easy follow-up steps, you could easily save 15-20 patients a year. Patients that you might never have gotten to do treatment on otherwise.

Another area that a lot of practices lack, in follow-ups, is post-op calls and post-op gifts. You have to do these if you expect referrals! Establish some guideline and begin it Monday morning.

Also, review your systems in place for undone treatment follow-ups. Do you have something in place to handle that issue and is it being done?

10.) Too busy. Not enough time to dedicate to patients.

You can solve this problem by outsourcing non-revenue producing tasks. Hire cheap labor (think high school students) to take care of mundane, must-be-done-in-office tasks, like filing. I hear a lot of complaints from dentists that their team is overworked and overloaded, unable to get what needs to be done… done. Here are two solutions to this:

Outsource things like insurance follow-ups and past due account follow-ups. This way, your team will be able to spend more time with patients. That’s what it’s all about, the patients!

So, today, take a moment to consider each of these “killers” and how they might be affecting your practice. Make alterations to ensure that your patients keep coming back to you, time and time again.

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EMC Dental Marketing is a full-service Dental Practice Marketing, Dental Advertising, and Practice Management agency that focusses on solving a dentists top 2 problems - attracting new patients and retaining the patients they already have.