As we turn the final corner of the year and head into December… do not let up, do not slow down, do not let fewer days or time off or anything else deter your progress.
Now is the time to set the tone to break some records and dictate the pace for January. If you think of your year like a sport’s season, while you are down to the final two minutes when you never pull back, you always drive forward.
Today, I give you five simple things to begin doing now for the New Year and to finish strong in 2017… you’ve got about 5 good weeks left to maximize.
Of course, you have the typical ‘use up your benefits’ campaign, which is necessary only because you weren’t good enough at getting them throughout the year. But, the real powerful use of this gimmick is to anchor it to unscheduled treatment and to patients who have expired exams or lapsed hygiene appointments.
You shouldn’t need to bribe patients who are active in the practice to use up their insurance because you should be focused on comprehensive dentistry. However, for those you have to dig a little deeper for, it’s a viable strategy to get them back in.
The reality is, you should be busy enough, booked up enough, scheduled out enough that you don’t even have room to accommodate these people – if you do, well, there is always next year.
I’d prefer you to consider a few more advanced strategies…
1 – Prepay for complete treatment to be prescheduled for after the holidays… give an incentive from Santa Claus. I hate discounts but leaving all the treatment in the patient’s mouth is just wasteful. There is strategy to ‘giving patients a deal’ when they are worthy of it as a motivator to move forward. Doing it around the Holidays is the best way to cover it up.
2 – Send cards to everyone or some surprise gifts… good old fashion Christmas Cards that let people know you think about them other times than when you have your hand in their mouths (or in their pockets). This stimulates referrals and retention of patients. Another advance strategy is a celebratory card, letter or even call to all the new patients from the past 12 months ensuring they come back next year. The key is reminding them of their great decision in the first place. You might even consider an appreciation event.
3 – Of course, you can always tie things into our favorite topics like charities and giving back… most people do this with referrals but why not do it with every single dollar of dentistry done in December. What if you told every patient “hey, we have great news today, we are going to give you a beautiful smile and because of that we are also donating a smile to someone else…” or you can do a certain dollar a tooth or a toy for a tot or anything that suits your fancy. Make it fun to do business with you, to say yes to you, to give you money and get dentistry done now.
4 – Beat the bushes and hit the pavement as now is the time (only because you may not have done it before) to get out there and tell your neighboring businesses how much you appreciate them… referrals or not, consider this gifting in advance of getting something in return. You can use the Holidays to your advantage to get exposure in the community by taking gifts around and inviting people into the practice at the same time. People will remember; especially since no one else will ever do it.
5 – Personal calls to patients you have been working to close, tying up loose ends for the year and family referrals that haven’t committed… if you really want to dig deep, you can even cash in on some favors owed by others whether that’s an introduction to a new referral source, a lunch and learn promise that hasn’t been kept, a promotion event opportunity or other stuff. This takes the whole team to rally and to customize personal outreach and see what you can make happen.
It’s important to never act or feel desperate. However, you can’t stand under the tree and wait for the fruit to fall. It’s too late by that time. You have to climb up the tree and pluck the ripest fruit; or at the very least give that tree a good shaking.
These all won’t be for everyone but they should at the very least stimulate productive conversations that lead to making the most of the rest of the year in ways that you hadn’t thought about before.
If you want the same results as you’ve always gotten and the accidental dentistry that’ll happen this time of the year, then just do what you have always done and sit back and wait. If you want to do something spectacular and set yourself up for a record finish and a stellar start – then you’ll go out of your way to create momentum and compound opportunities on top of what already exists.
I’ll be back next month with a powerful finish and series of Huddle’s to set you up for the ultimate success next year. Until then, there is still a lot of time left in this one… so get to it!
