In your dental practice marketing, you have to start your business right. You should be able to know how to make your practice go along with your dental practice marketing business. Doctors ask me: “How do I know where to start with your marketing?”, and “How do I know if my practice can be helped with marketing?”. I gave them a round about answer which explains what you really need to think about in dental practice marketing instead of being misled by a consultant or marketing representative. Here are two specific measurements which helps me objectively coach my clients on their practice.
1st Measurement: Taking The Referral Ratio
You need to consider the Referral Ratio in dental practice marketing. To obtain this raito, just take the total number of referrals you received last year and divide it by the total number of active patients you have. In formula, it is written as:
Referral Ratio = (total # of referrals received last year) (total # of active patients you have)
Take for example, if you have 300 referrals and 1000 active patients:
Referral Ratio = (300 referrals) / (1000 active patients) = 30%
* 30% Referral Ratio is considered “Good”, though not great... but it is a good start for your business.
Take another example, if you have 100 referrals and 1000 active patients:
Referral Ratio = (100 referrals) / (1000 active patients) = 10%
* If you are with this kind of percentage, then you have lots and lots of improvements to do. But the important thing is that you now know it.. and you can work to get higher and exert more effort!
If your Referral Ratio is below 50% in dental practice marketing, then you would list it as one of your strategic objectives to improve over the next 90 days to 12 months. If you range below a 20% Referral Ratio, then it calls for immediate action!
2nd Measurement: The 6-Month Value Of A New Patient
In your dental practice marketing, know what a patient is worth to your practice at a month time basis. You can have a 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month time basis. As you get started, keep it simple. The reason why you would want it is that it will tell you how much patients are spending with your dental practice in that time. This tells you what your return on investment (or ROI) is in 6 months! Let's say, if your cost to acquire a new patient is $100; and your 6-month patient value is $600; then you know for every $1 you spend... you get approximately $6 back, which is a good start! However, if your ROI is within 3:1 or 1:1, then you are in considered to be in a bad position! You need to improve as soon as possible! Either way, even if you have a higher ROI, you will be always looking to improve on this area!
Always remember that to be successful in your dental practice marketing business, always improve the value of each patient. You can increase referrals per patient, diagnose more and improve case acceptance, improve your new patient experience, start a patient newsletter so as to communicate with your existing patients and get them to choose more of your services, offer more services, hold an Invisalign Open House, and start placing implants. There are more ideas available, but this gives you a very good start your dental marketing business!
Visit our website at www.dentistprofits.com and get a free CD and Book titled, “The Underground Secrets Of Attracting High Quality New Patients Who Pay, Stay, & Refer!”.
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