Chris Barrow’s Blog

The top 10 things to do when your appointment book gets “gappy”

Every month I spend a full day on the telephone with my clients – that’s 15 minutes which each of them, asking “how can I help?” and coaching them live.

I listen for trends at each one of these days – and already in July there is a noticeable trend around the appointment book becoming a bit “gappy” – patients either not turning up in sufficient numbers or cancelling more frequently.

In previous years, it has been all too easy to blame “the summer months” as being a time of year when dental health is not a priority and many patients are far too busy thinking about vacations. However, I’m hearing another sub-plot this year that I feel we have to consider and discuss.

The sub-plot is along the lines of “I went private in April (or have been moving towards private since April) and my fear/suspicion is that patients are either looking for cheaper dental maintenance elsewhere or shopping around with my treatment plan for a better price.”

If that’s true (and my belief is that there is some truth in it) then we must take action.

What to do?

Well on the basis that you are busy and might be skimming this article and others during lunch, let me try and give you an easily digestible “top 10” list that you might even share with the rest of the dental team:

1. Recognize that its not “just you”, your business has not lost its allure, there is nothing wrong so don’t blame or try and fix things, don’t start “BMW’ing (bitching, moaning and whining) about what a lousy team you have, or what lousy patients you have been landed with. This is a national phenomenon – I’m hearing it from all corners of the UK – so just plug yourself in to the conversation and plan your way through;

2. It may actually be partly because the “summer months” syndrome is true.

a. That every parent in the country is either preparing to go, or going, on holiday – a major source of stress and

b. Preparing to accommodate the needs of bored children who will shortly have 6 weeks of idle time, waking at lunchtime and asking “what’s for breakfast?” and then expecting their adult minders to become entertainment officers whenever they take their eyes off The Simpsons and America’s Next Top Model.

So, if your diary/appointment book is looking a little easier than normal – here’s what to do:

1. Write to all your patients to explain that this would be a good time to “entertain” their little blighters by bringing them in for a dental check-up. Seriously – why not organise some children’s days where you can see them all in one go – very popular strategy with many of my clients. Put away all the fine china, the glossy magazines and the flat plasma screens and just fill the place with electronics – Playstations, Gameboys, comics and show cartoons or sci-fi movies on the TV. No more “Salmonella Lego” please. Recruit all the team in to spend the day seeing the children – hygienist in as a dental health educator. Many of you who have gone private are either seeing the children free of charge for check-ups or selling them a junior membership scheme – use this time to market those services and also to an introduction to a change in practice services – that in future you will offering these “children’s days” at every school holiday – better then turning up at 4.00pm with hyper-active, sugar-deficient delinquents and stressed parents, team and clinicians. Oh – by the way – make sure that after every children’s’ day you take the staff out for a good knees-up in the evening!
2. Write to all your patients with a special summer offer on tooth whitening – imagine how much nicer they will look under the strobes of Ibiza with a beautiful set of gleaming white gnashers – and maybe offer a “super-sizzling summer smile special” with a discount voucher for treatment delivered before September. Make sure that the “discount voucher” clearly states that treatment must commence before a cut-off date – and also make sure that you state very clearly “one voucher per patient” – we have heard of patients turning up with multiple vouchers and claiming free treatment.
3. Write to all your patients with a few copies of your business card or Welcome Pack – tell the truth (that it’s quiet in August) and ask them to invite any family, friends or colleagues that they think would like to visit a new practice. Maybe offer another discount voucher on the cost of a first appointment (with the same caveats mentioned above).
4. I recently wrote a blog post on this subject – you can read it at:

http://www.thebusinesscoachingco.com/blog/archives/318

A reader pointed out that one of the reasons dentists complain about gaps in the appointment book in July/August is that “people are in holiday mode” – I attempted to address what to do about this in the blog post above and I’m doing so in this article.

However, my reader added that part of this problem arises because dentists themselves take holidays (nothing wrong with that) but then allow their own recall system to get buggered up as a result. So my moral here is – rather than complain about the good weather and the holiday season – make sure your recall systems are robust and still in operation.

5. I also suspect another factor – which is many practices are going private post-nGDS and that some of the patients are either delaying treatment or shopping around? Here is an interesting email exchange that took place with one of my clients just this morning:

“Hi Chris

How are you?

I was wondering if you could just help me with some verbal skills. When

contacting patients who have outstanding treatment, a reply we are quite

often getting is “I can get it cheaper elsewhere” most people are naming

other countries! How would you best answer this objection?

Many Thanks”

My reply:

“Morning – from a technical point of view, the sales trainers say that the best way to answer an objection is to deal with it before the customer thinks of it…

So you might consider some dialogue when the treatment plan is being discussed, along the lines of:

“If you are the kind of person who likes to shop around, you will find that this treatment can be offered at lower prices elsewhere – especially overseas.

We would like to remind you of a quotation from John Ruskin, the Victorian entrepreneur, made in 1890:

“It is unwise to pay too much but its worse to pay too little.

When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all.

When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it cannot be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run.

And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”

And what the client has to establish for themselves is “what risks do I run if I source this treatment elsewhere?”

Don’t answer that for them – let them work it out for themselves.”

6. And here’s another thought for NHS practices – that in an attempt to keep pace with UDA targets, you are piling all the treatment into current appointments rather than spreading it out?
7. Do you have a robust cancellation policy? Patients cancel appointments when they know they can and I have written about this subject in this publication before now – you can access a copy of a previous article at http://www.thebusinesscoachingco.com/blog/free-tips-and-articles/the-cost-of-cancelled-appointments/. It is essential that your dental team are well trained in communicating your policy to patients who are tempted to mess you about – receptionists are the front-line troops in this process and the more investment you make in their communication skills the better.
8. Let’s now take a look at your overall marketing. Do you have:

ü a good quality business card?

ü a great Patient Welcome Pack?

ü a smile check?

ü a good referral system?

ü a great web site that attracts those who “Google” for a dentist in your area? There are over 100,000 people a month doing that in the UK right now.

9. My last two suggestions are about using the “spare time” to start getting out and about in your local personal and professional community. People in business are becoming more aware of the fact that a healthy and good-looking smile are part of their own “appearance” and “marketing” – so the market for cosmetic dentistry to those in sales and marketing is growing. Many of my dental clients are giving presentations that you can give to local affluent special interest groups (the tennis club – not the pigeon fanciers) and business groups on “how to create a lovely smile”. If you can rustle together a 30-minute PowerPoint slide show you are set to go – get over those public speaking fears – or get trained.
10. And finally, research a number of useful Strategic Alliance partners with whom you swap clients and share marketing. Ask your team to take a look at the local business directories on-line and identify those who are providing “well-being” services. Discuss with them ways in which you can “add value” to each of your existing client bases – or invest in some joint external marketing to find new clients.

There will never be a better time than a quiet summer to get started.

So don’t tell me you aren’t busy – you are as busy as hell! Go to work!