Dr. Christopher Phelps

	As I’ve said on many occasions, if you want to survive in today’s tough economy, you need to attract new patients and grow your practice.

	“How can I grow,” you wonder, “when everyone already has a dentist?” I’m going to let you in on a secret. Not everyone has a regular dentist or gets their teeth cleaned twice a year. There are people at your gym, in your church and around your community who haven’t seen the dentist in years. They’re just not telling you, because you’re a 

 If you want to grow your practice, you need to find these underserved people, reach out to them, and get them into your practice.

More from Dr. Phelps: Partnerships for patients: Could community groups and businesses help you find new patients?

	
	One group that’s ripe for outreach is the Baby Boomers. They’re retiring in huge numbers, and many are losing their dental insurance. Unlike many older Americans, the Baby Boomers keep their teeth into adulthood, yet 

 have dental insurance after retirement. Baby Boomers also started getting their permanent teeth before municipal fluoridation became widespread. So while they have all their teeth, they also have fillings, crowns and other dental work that needs regular maintenance.

	These factors make Baby Boomers some of the most profitable potential patients out there. In fact, most of the 

 has come from Baby Boomers. The big question is how can you convince Baby Boomers to come into your office and receive care, even without insurance?

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 I offer one idea for reaching out to Baby Boomers who lack insurance but need dental care. I developed an in-house dental savings plan tailored to the needs of retirees in my area. By marketing this plan directly to retirees, I found a way to get Baby Boomers into my office. It’s a win-win situation for all of us. I get to grow my practice, and they get to age gracefully with attractive, youthful looking smiles.

	Even if you’re not ready to take the leap and offer a savings plan, you need to reach out to Baby Boomers so that you can expand your practice. Meet them where they’re at, and give them reasons to come to you for their dental care. You’ll be helping an underserved community while growing your practice.  

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As I’ve said on many occasions, if you want to survive in today’s tough economy, you need to attract new patients and grow your practice.

Baby boomers: An underserved population ripe for dental outreach

	I’ve often lamented the fact that dental school teaches us how to diagnose and treat patients, but not how to attract new patients.

	To learn how to run our practices, we have to look beyond the world of dentistry and embrace ideas from business. Recently, 

 ran an interesting article on how a new business can attract customers by partnering with existing firms.  With some tweaking, I think the ideas in the article could help your average dentist find and 

	The author recommends finding a local business with a customer base similar to the people you hope to attract. In exchange for a database of the business’s customers, you send out a ‘special offer,’ for a free product or service. You receive access to new clients, and the business gets to earn goodwill with a ‘perk’ that cost it nothing.

	So, how would we tweak this system to apply to dentistry? Well, I used a similar tactic when I 

 through presentations at a local retirement community. I knew I wanted to attract retirees, I offered them a perk for showing up, and the community event planners got the credit for offering a fun evening activity. Depending on your target patient demographics, you might be able to team up with other community groups.

	For instance, a pediatric dentist could offer a free dental care goody bag to every member of the local little league who came into his office. While the families were there to pick up the goodies, you staff could let them look around and offer them the chance to make appointments.  If you’d like to target young professionals, approach a local gym about forming a partnership. Since dentistry is essentially a ‘health and wellness’ business, you can work with other health and wellness firms in your community to reach new customers.

	The key, as with all marketing, is to have a good idea of your target audience. Then, meet them where they are and get them to come to you.  Finally, before you start a campaign like this, make sure you’ve trained your staff in how to convert calls and visits into new patient appointments.  If you need help teaching you staff how to interact with new patients, 

	Remember, it’s never too late to learn entrepreneurship and business management skills.  When it comes to attracting new patients, you face the same struggles as every other business on the planet. Be creative, apply innovative business solutions to your own situation and grow.

I’ve often lamented the fact that dental school teaches us how to diagnose and treat patients, but not how to attract new patients.

Partnerships for patients: Could community groups and businesses help you find new patients?

	When a new patient calls your office, do your staff members give them a great phone experience? 

	Do they even answer the telephone call? The telephone is often your first point of contact with new patients. If you make a mistake on the call, you’ll never see that patient in your office. Does your staff need more training on phone calls? Here are simple elements that can help you capitalize on this huge lost opportunity and get more new patients in the door.

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Element 1: The call gets answered promptly

	New patients often lack patience. If the phone rings repeatedly, the patient is put on hold or if the call gets dropped during transfer, you’ve lost that patient forever. Make sure your staff knows to answer calls promptly. For rush times, have your back-office staff ready to help front-office staff meet high demand. Avoid transferring new patients or putting them on hold. Deal with them immediately so  they can see  your office runs efficiently and takes their needs seriously.

Element 2:  Get more tasks/duties off their plate

	Many times, we find offices don't answer the telephone because the staff is tied up either verifying insurance benefits or confirming appointments for the next day. Many times they will be on hold for more than 20 minutes trying to verify those insurance benefits. Confirming appointments can take more than two hours of their time on any given day, especially if you have them confirming appointments two weeks and two days out. Why are they doing this? There are plenty of automated services out there that will send out text and email alerts to your patients and confirm them. Many of these companies will even make phone calls on your behalf if you can’t text or email your patients. There are also virtual assistants and other businesses that will do all the insurance verification for you. Why not spend a small investment here and free up this time for your team to handle your new patient phone calls? Their ability to answer will far outweigh any cost you would incur for these services. 

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Element 3: Get patients to an appointment with positive reenforcement

	Many people who don’t already have a relationship with a dental practice are nervous about coming in for an appointment. Even after they make the call, they may try to avoid committing to a date and time. Overcome their anxiety and hesitation with positive, upbeat statements. “So can I schedule you for some time next week?” “Do Mondays or Tuesdays work better for you?” “What time of day would you prefer for your appointment?” Positive, helpful phrases like these encourage new patients to move past their fears and make that first appointment with your office.

Element 4: Use commitment language that prevents no-shows

	Great phone skills can  prevent no-shows, and it’s a fact that the main reason patients “no show” on you is that we don’t get enough of a commitment out of them for that appointment. People need choices, but when we dictate specific times, they are not committing voluntarily to that time and are more likely to not call you if they can’t make it. Instead of saying: “Friday at 2 p.m.? No? OK. How about Monday at 3 p.m.?”  you should instead say, “What works best for you? This week or next week? Morning or afternoon? This Tuesday or next Tuesday? 8 a.m. or 10 a.m.?” Giving people choices like these means they are more likely to make a true commitment and show up for their appointment. Train your staff to use phrases like, “Will you please call us 24 hours before the appointment if you have to cancel or reschedule?” or “I’ll let the other staff know you will call us if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment.” If you can get a new patient to actively commit to a precancellation call in this manner, you’ll reduce the risk that they’ll skip the appointment. People who feel obligated to show up are more likely to arrive at their appointment. That’s the power of getting more commitments from our patients. 
	
	Remember, every new patient you get into the office is worth thousands in procedures and referrals of family members and friends. Start your new patient relationships off right by helping your staff members learn to make great phone calls. If you’re unsure of how your staff is doing on the phone and want more information on new patient calls, contact 

 and teach your staff how to give new patients a great first experience with your office.

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When a new patient calls your office, do your staff members give them a great phone experience?

Dental office dynamics: Four elements of a great phone call

	If you were an early adopter of dental savings plans, the opportunity to capture an untapped fee for service market was exciting.

	We know among adults over 45, 59 percent are uninsured. It should be an easy sell right? It is important to point out that a dental savings plan is not a dental discount plan, nor is it an in-house financing plan like CareCredit. In-house savings plans are based on an annual fee and give patients an affordable alternative to insurance. The hope for providers is by providing accessible preventive care, getting patients in the door will lead to greater commitment to treatment plans. In theory, dental savings plans are a “no-brainer”.

	The problem, however, is most doctors I speak to have had zero luck selling these plans in their office. They complain of low acceptance and ongoing frustration with marketing. When asked, most doctors are marketing to their existing patient base using external methods. They advertise in-office and around town with flyers, radio spots and car wraps. Something is missing.

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	I had heard the stories of colleagues attempting to sell these plans to no avail so I never picked one up-until I had a life-altering conversation with a patient. This patient moved to the area to live in an unassisted retirement community. Turns out this vibrant group of retired Baby Boomers was a few miles from my practice. The lightbulb went on. Until that conversation, I had struggled to find an engaging way to market to Baby Boomers. We know the facts about Baby Boomers:

		They believe they can’t afford preventive services

		They are wary of traditional marketing strategies

	These challenges guided me to develop the strategy that grew my practice by 43 percent two years in a row. Did you know:

		Baby Boomers control 70 percent of the total US net worth

		The average income of Boomers is over $71,000

		Boomers account for over half of all consumer spending

		Among adults older than age 45, 59 percent are without dental insurance

		Between 2000 and 2010, dental spending increased among Boomers

	My patient let me know her community had an internal publication. I determined that thisgroup of uninsured Baby Boomers may be the perfect audience for a dental savings plan.

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Continue to page two to read how Dr. Phelps implemented his plan...

	I received a well-timed invitation to give an educational workshop on the community campus. I elevated the event by bringing in my favorite wines from a recent trip to Napa. I picked up select cheeses and had two team members join as hostesses, keeping glasses full and people happy. I spoke on relevant dental issues and then pitched my brand-new Dental $avings Plan. To say it was a hit would be an understatement. People loved the inperson, grassroots effort of the event. I learned that to have a successful dental savings plan you need the perfect pairing of fine wine, cheese, a Dental $avings Plan and a group of Baby Boomers.

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	For each wine and cheese event I host I spend $130 on supplies, an hour of my time and the time of two team members. Is it worth it? Here’s the financial impact these events have had on my practice over a two-year period: I sold 947–957 dental $avings plans at $299 each. That comes to $286,143 in revenue. Each of those patients spent an additional $1,254 on top of the $299, resulting in an additional $1,200,078. So is it worth it? For me it’s a no-brainer.

	Most doctors are busy. If you don’t have the time to make presentations, develop marketing materials and a pricing strategy for a Dental $avings Plan. Heck, maybe you don’t even drink wine! The good news is I have a turn-key program you can implement today. Kits complete with a fee structure, video tutorials, ready-made presentations and a book are available to help you create your own Dental $avings Plan wine and cheese event in your area. If you want to grow your practice by 20-40 percent over the next two years, grab a copy of the book and book new patients today.

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	Dr. Phelp’s book is scheduled to launch October 2015. Preorder your copy today at wineandcheesenewpatients.com. Cheers to your upcoming success!

If you were an early adopter of dental savings plans, the opportunity to capture an
untapped fee for service market was exciting.