We all know that most practices loss ‘em as fast as they get ‘em. You see it every week, certainly every month… patients cancel, don’t show up, come in and never come back.
It’s unfortunate but it’s reality because we have to keep piling on more new patients over and over again. Every month you start back over at zero to fight the good fight of helping patients get healthy and scoring points in the form of treatment dollars.
By now, you should know about the intense and thorough training I’m doing about this very problem – PATIENT RETENTION – this week.
You should not miss this. You can never be too good at keeping more patients in your practice. Grab your seat for this unique online event right here…
Live Webcast Training: Wednesday, Feb 7th >>>
Today, I’m giving you a few smaller details that I won’t have time to cover on this more comprehensive and very strategic training.
Doctors and Team Members ask me all the time what they can do to reactivate patients and ‘get them back’ to fill up hygiene or convert unscheduled treatment.
I don’t mind the question, but I always answer the same. The first thing you should do to work on reactivation is:
STOP LOSING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE
Fairly obvious, right? Yet, it’s the truth. Most practices are completely negligent about keeping track of patients in the first place. They don’t know when someone is gone until it’s too late.
Let’s start with the basics this week and we’ll get to the hard part later on. Unfortunately for patients everywhere, most practices won’t go to work on these but YOU WILL and that’s all that matters to me.
So, how do you keep your patients coming back? I’ll tell you exactly that and it’s probably not what you think because these are all easy, simple and free (don’t worry even the hard ones are cheap).
I often talk about my 10-practice test. If you visited 10 offices, what would make you stand out and be obviously different?
If you really want to wow your patients, you have to connect with them. All of them. However, specifically new patients are susceptible to NOT being committed to you until after they have been in many times (key word: many; so we have to make that possible).
There are four ways to do it, every time.
First, you want to Acknowledge Them. Whether you write their name on a board, call them the night before (many doctors do this which makes it special), send personalized confirmation texts/emails or even sending a hand written note in advanced (instead of after) as a welcome.
If you are following me seriously, then you are already doing many of these things if not all of them. You want them to know you know it’s their first visit.
For every patient, you want to acknowledge them as soon as they walk in and ideally get up, greet them, shake hands and say hello. And whatever you do, don’t stand at the door and yell out their name (which is just one step above the license branch calling your number).
Next, you want to do as many things as possible to Make it Personal! This can be done by writing detailed notes throughout the new patient process to recall later on. This allows you to have a deeper relationship with more patients.
You could go as far as knowing what type of drink they like or if they have a favorite hobby or something you share in common. Just find a way to make them feel special and that they are the only patient (or any thing) on your mind, as they should be.
This one is easy once you get in the habit of it. You really must learn to always Say Their Name. The secret to this is do it early and often so you remember. As you make the hand off to your team member, restate their name to make it personal and casual so they feel like you really do know them.
And then we have the most critical rule. Remember this and I promise you, you will help more patients immediately.
Always Make It About Them – Not You. You are here for them, they are not here for you. Focus on the patient, both personally and clinically. Be curious and always on a mission to discover ways you can help them get healthy.
These are so very simple but you would be surprised at the difference these experiential actions, behaviors and means engaging your patients will make. They will feel your energy and authenticity, which will lead to a connection with your practice. It they felt important and if they truly mattered, they will come back.
If someone feels part of your practice, they will have to think twice before leaving, not showing up, cancelling, letting you down in any way because you have elevated your value in their lives.
Don’t take this for granted. Be self-aware and pay attention to what you say and how you say it. You must always remain present. Rate yourself on these abilities and ask yourself what you can do to improve at actual genuine patient engagement.
Now, onto the training. I’m about to show you how to turn your patients into GOLD. You can work harder and harder as you cycle through patients while never really having a chance to help them (let alone cultivate any life changing treatment)… or… you can master the art of patient retention and start hitting your goals faster and easier because your patients will be more valuable to you.
Is there anything else more significant than keeping your patients? I think not. This very well could be the most important presentation I have ever put together. I lay it all out – live – this week…
Register for the Live Webcast and Master Patient Retention >>>
