March 12, 2020 by bettyhayden

Dentist Office Leadership, Practice Management, and Marketing Tips and Ideas for April 2020

Hello, Friends ~

How was your first quarter? I hope you reached (or exceeded) your office production, collection, and NP goals.

Now it’s time to welcome Spring and your second quarter. Be sure to review your plans to make this second quarter your best one yet! Ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page.

Here are some practice management, leadership, and marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your dental practice, exceed your current and potential patient’s expectations, and to have more fun as a team during the month of April! (I am certain that less-stress and more fun at the office is something that we all want.)

Leadership Tips and Ideas:

“A team that plays and learns together stays together.”

National Fun at Work Day: 1^st – Have a silly theme for this day. (For example, Crazy hair, silly socks, decades day, etc. POST pictures on Facebook and Instagram)

National Dental Hygienists Week: 4^th – 10^th (note: this is for my Canadian friends)

Celebrate your hard-working front office team:

Administrative Professionals Week: 20-24^th /Admin Professionals Day: 22^nd

See Employee Appreciation Ideas Here: Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas Pinterest Board

Practice Management Ideas:

Hygiene Continuing Care Reminders – Reach out your past-due hygiene patients.

April 18^th -24^th is Cleaning For A Reason Week. Turn this into a “time(past-time) for your spring dental health cleaning, examination, and oral cancer screening appointment” reminder.

Oh, this also may be the perfect time for you to spring clean the office! See: Is Your Dental Office Past-due For A Cleaning?

Educational Opportunities:

Oral Cancer Awareness Month ~ An excellent opportunity for you to raise oral cancer awareness and the need for early detection in order to save lives. See Dental Office Tips and Ideas for Oral Cancer Awareness Month April 2020

Stress Awareness Month ~ Share with your patients in-office and via your social media platforms how stress can negatively impact their dental health. Provide tips for reducing and dealing with stress. As well as how a bite-guard may be helpful.

Marketing Tips and Ideas:

April is National Garden Month

Here are some ideas for you: (I have shared this one before, but it is so effective that I want to share it again.)

Theme: Spring Flowers

Focus: Spring into a Healthy & Beautiful Smile

Fun Give Away: Flower Seed Packets w/a label and business card attached.

Flower seed packets can be purchased at most Dollar Stores for around .20 a packet. Great deal!

The labels you attach to the flower seed packets can say:

“Your referrals help grow our practice, Thank you! “

“Our Office Blooms Because of you! “

“Please enjoy these flowers growing as much as we enjoy your referrals growing our practice.”

Your patients will love these little flower seed packets give-aways! Make certain the office name & info is on the packet.

For awesome ideas for flower seed packaging/presentation check out my Pinterest board HERE.

Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement during the month of April –

Vitamin C Day: 4^th

National Siblings Day: 10^th

Banana Day: 15^th

National Jelly Bean Day: 22^nd

National Superhero Day: 28^th

Wishing you all a productive, stress-free, and very happy April! Remember, that I love hearing all about your plans and ideas to have a great month so please share them with me.

If you appreciated these complimentary ideas I would love for you to please leave me a review/recommendation here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Thank you!!

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address (to bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

March 3, 2020 by bettyhayden

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for Oral Cancer Awareness Month April 2020

Hello Friends,

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month and Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week is the 5th – 12th of April – An excellent opportunity for you to raise oral cancer awareness and the need for early detection in order to save lives.

According to the American Cancer Society, over 53,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer this year. An estimated 10,750 people will die of these cancers, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day.

While smoking and tobacco use are still major risk factors, the fastest-growing segment of oral cancer patients is young, healthy, nonsmoking individuals due to the connection to the HPV virus. See more: http://oralcancerfoundation.org/events/oral-head-neck-cancer-awareness-month/

Here are some Oral Cancer Awareness Tips and Ideas to get you Started:

Hygiene Continuing Care Opportunity: Encourage your inactive patients to come in for their important free oral cancer screening.
Partner with a local business to do free oral cancer screenings at their location.
Open House/Oral Cancer Screening Event at your office. (See Tips and Ideas for Dental Office Open House Event )
Donate a portion of service/product sales (ie: teeth whitening, fluoride, Invisalign) to Oral Cancer Research.
Host or Participate in Oral Cancer Research 5k Walk/Run.
Give away Free T-shirts or Bracelets to every patient that makes a donation toward Oral Cancer Research or Just Because 🙂
Create a video to share on your social media platforms demonstrating how oral cancer screenings are quick & painless.
Bring in your local dermatologist for a lunch n learn to demonstrate oral, head & neck cancer screenings.
Have a gift card or gift basket raffle that your patients can enter to win during the month of April.

Consider offering complimentary oral cancer screenings during the month of April or on a designated day…

Your offer is this:

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

our office is pleased to offer

FREE Oral Cancer Screenings

a National Effort to END ORAL CANCER!

How can you promote your offer?

Send a Press Release to local newspapers & TV stations.
Create a one-page flyer for your patients to share with their friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors.
Talk about it on all of your office Social Media sites!
Create a Facebook Complimentary Oral Cancer Screening Event.

If you’re looking for additional marketing ideas not related to oral cancer awareness for April, please visit here: Dental Marketing and Practice Management Ideas for April

Remember that when your patients are healthy – your practice is healthy. For your patients to smile healthy they need to schedule the treatment you’ve diagnosed and to come in regularly for their hygiene continuing care appointments and oral cancer screenings.

If you’re struggling to reach your practice goals – feel free to contact me for a complimentary, no-obligation 30-minute telephone consultation at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com to see if a coaching relationship is right for you.

Did you like the complimentary tips and ideas I shared in this article? I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave me a review/recommendation here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK.

Yours for Greater Success,
~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

February 26, 2020 by bettyhayden

Dental Office First Impressions – Your Online Presence

Hello Friends,

It has been said that “how you present yourself is how people first view you.”

Clearly, First Impressions Matter. How are you presenting your dental practice, your services, your care, yourself and your team online? What you’re showcasing or not showcasing provides a first impression. Are you attracting potential new patients or turning them away?

Let’s consider briefly just three areas where your online presence and first impressions matter most…

Website

It amazes me how many dental offices still don’t have a website or they have an old website with cookie-cutter, canned content and little to no information about the office, the doctor and team, and the services that they offer.

Your website should reflect the culture and personality of the practice and the team. The content should be fresh and relevant. The photos should be attractive and current. This reminds me if you have pictures on your website of team members that are no longer working at the office please remove them. Ensure that you don’t have any broken links or “coming soon” pages that have been there far too long. Think about this, when people visit your website are you welcoming them with warm and helpful messaging or inadvertently turning them away with poor messaging and unattractive pages? Keep in mind, this isn’t about what you like or dislike – this is about the patient and potential patient. For example, if I am researching dental implants on your website I do not want to see the step by step details of how an implant is placed – it freaks me out. What I want to see is the result – a beautiful tooth that allows me to smile with confidence. I don’t think that I am alone here. I feel it’s safe to say that most people care more about the why and not so much the how.

What’s in it for them to choose your dental office? Why should they choose your office over the many other dentist websites they’ve visited?

Google

SEO – Make sure people can find you without much effort.
Listing – If you have more than one Google listing for your office that can be quite confusing to potential patients and you end up being your OWN competitor. Make it easier on everyone by merging your listings into just one.
Information – Ensure that your name, address, phone number, website, etc. are all current and accurate.
Content – Are you regularly posting fresh content to your Google business page? If not, you should. It’s easy to do and people visiting your listing like to see fresh content. When you post on your page you can add a link that will direct people to your website or social media pages.
Photos – Have attractive photos (both inside and outside the practice) of your office on your listing. As well, share photos of you and your team. If you have old, outdated photos of the office or team members on your listing please delete them,
Reviews – You want Google reviews. You also want to acknowledge the reviews…the positive and the negative ones.

Social Media

Social media platforms such as, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Blogs, Online Community News Pages, YouTube and more help to build your dental practice. Even if you’re not a fan of social media, please remember that most likely many of your patients and potential patients are using these platforms regularly. You want to be where they are and since first impressions matter – you want to make sure that your office is making a positive impression. Learn more about how to use these platforms here: Dental Practice Social Media Platform Tips and Content Ideas

The internet is full of information and choices make it easy for your potential patients to find accurate information about your practice moving them to choose to make your office their dental home.

Another quick reminder is most often after someone finds your office on the internet unless they direct message you or utilize online scheduling they’ll be picking up the telephone and calling the office so please take some time now to ensure that your office phones are being answered during the times when potential patients are most likely to call and that they are being answered effectively. Learn more here: Dental Office Telephone Principles

I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK.

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty – Dental Coach

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

February 18, 2020 by bettyhayden

Dental Office On Hold Telephone Messaging Tips and Ideas

Hello Friends,

Have you ever called a local business and were immediately put on hold only to hear every few seconds this crazy annoying beeping sound or there is dead silence? You can’t tell if you’ve been disconnected or are still on hold. Or what about the business that has a radio station playing as their on-hold message, except it’s all static or playing some lame music?

What kind of message do you think this sends to your callers? What about the anxious and nervous potential new patients calling? Is your on-hold messaging welcoming or repelling?

Now, I believe the best customer service is to never put the caller on hold. However, we all know that from time to time it happens. Emphasis on from time to time. And when it does happen it should only be a brief hold. If you can’t get right back to that caller – please take down their name and number and promise to call them back. Make good on that promise. (For how to effectively answer the dental office telephone SEE How to Effectively Answer the Dental Office Telephone)

A while back I set one of my clients up with a message on hold service, created beautiful, short custom marketing messages for them and on the first day of using it, a caller said: “Oh, I didn’t know you do teeth whitening.” See how that works?

Having a quality message on hold system set up is a good thing. Use this service as an opportunity to educate and inform your callers while they are on hold. Help them to see why they’ve made a good choice calling your practice.

Every dental office has information, news, events, or dental health facts and services that should be highlighted while a caller is put on hold.

In addition to playing music, what are some things you can talk about?

Special Office Events
Information about your In-Office Savings Plan
Dental Services & Products
Dental Health Tips
Office Hours
Social Media Site Information (Invite callers to “like” / “follow” the office.)
Financial Expectations
Website Address

A message on hold system allows you to advertise to your patients and keep them informed on the latest and greatest office happenings. It will also distract them from the fact that they’ve been put on hold.

Please make sure that you keep your content fresh! One of my doctors’ offices has had the same on-hold message for years!! I think I have it memorized. Blah!

You can certainly create your own on hold-messaging but if you prefer to use a third-party source there are many on-hold messaging services out there.

My suggestions for what to look for in a message on hold service/system are:

Quality Sound & Voice Talent.
Inexpensive – You don’t need to spend a lot of money!
Helpful – Exceptional Customer Service.
Allows you to change your message and music throughout the year.
Doesn’t lock you into a long contract.
Will help you create effective messages.
Makes the setup and process easy on you and your team!
Allows you to listen to sample messages before buying.

Have you ever called your office and were put on hold? (If not, please call your office and be placed on hold) – I know your patients and potential patients have, and what is it that they’re hearing or not hearing? Make the time they’re on hold count!

Those are my thoughts on on-hold messaging.

Real quick before I go, since we’re talking about putting callers on hold, might I add, never, ever answer the phone with “hold please” or “can you hold?”! Take a quick second, find out who they are and what they need. People prefer not being put on hold. If you are habitually needing to put callers on hold, you need more people answering the phones.

I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me here on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK.

Are you receiving my free dental marketing and practice management ideas every month to your email? If not, PLEASE take a second and follow today or send me your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea. Feel free to share my blog with your dental friends. ~ Thank you!

Yours for Greater Success!

~Betty – Dental Coach

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest

Betty Hayden Consulting – Dental Coaching, Practice Management, Leadership, and Marketing

Dedicated to helping doctors and their team have an office that is not only highly productive and fun but one that allows them to consistently exceed patient expectations.

Dental Office On Hold Telephone Messaging Tips and Ideas

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