November 21, 2019 by bettyhayden

Dental Office Tips and Ideas for December 2019

Hello, Friends ~

December is the last month of your final quarter for 2019.

What does December typically look like in your dental practice? Schedules jammed with patients trying to use their remaining dental insurance benefits before they expire? Patients breaking their appointments same-day because they’re too stressed out or financially strapped to think about going to the dentist? What about you and your employees – do you mentally check out thinking about your time off for the holidays? Or is it just another stress-free and perfectly productive month? Haha – you have months like that, right? 😉

Regardless of what December usually looks like in your office – take some time now to plan for how you will keep/get a full and productive schedule all month long without any extra stress. I know that we can’t control the schedule 100% because well you know… life happens. However, we certainly can plan to end the year on a happy note.

I put together a few dental leadership, marketing, and management tips and ideas to help you do just that.

Marketing Tips & Ideas

Cookie Cutter Week: 1-7 – Purchase a variety of cookie cutters to individually package and seal with an office label that says: “Our Patients Are a CUT Above the Rest!” See more patient gift ideas here: Patient Appreciation Gift Ideas

Travel Toothbrush Bags – Many of your patients travel during the holidays – Surprise them with a small gift for their travels. Put together toothbrush bags that include a toothbrush, floss, toothpaste and a “what to do in a dental emergency” handout. You could also include other travel sized items such as lotion, Advil, lip balm, etc.

Community Involvement: Donations – Open your office as a Drop-Off Location for donations of non-perishable food items or winter gear for families/individuals in need.

Oftentimes, local print & TV news will pick up these types of stories. (Especially around the holidays.)

Educational Opportunity: National 12-hour Fresh Breath Day: 12th –Create a few short videos for your social media platforms about the possible causes of bad breath as well as some tips and remedies to keep their breath smelling fresh.

Practice Management Tips & Ideas

Incomplete Treatment:

Do you have any patients with incomplete treatment or ones that are due/past due in hygiene with remaining insurance benefits that will expire at the end of this year? Do what you can to help them see the need and value in scheduling an appointment this month. Some offices invite their patients to take advantage of “today only” special offers that they share via their social media sites, email blasts, and telephone calls.

Be alert to any patients that are coming in with the doctor or hygienist and have incomplete treatment or are due in hygiene. If the schedule allows, encourage them to take care of both at the same time. This means carefully reviewing all charts in advance of the appointment.

Homecare Products:

December is a great time for Special offers on Electric Toothbrushes

Cosmetic Dentistry Opportunity:

Many of your patients will be attending holiday parties/events during the month of December. Typically with these special occasions come a lot of picture-taking. Now is a great time to help them see how they can easily get their smile ready for the camera with teeth whitening and other cosmetic treatment/procedures.

Gift Certificates:

Remember, Gift Certificates/Cards for Teeth Whitening or Dental Treatment should always be available for your patients to purchase as gifts for their loved ones.

Leadership Tips & Ideas

December is National Write a Business Plan Month – Plan now to make 2020 your Best Year Ever! Meet as a team to discuss marketing ideas, production, & collection goals, new patient goals, continuing education needs/wants, and office maintenance/repairs/remodel needs. Put your plans down on paper! Be sure to include a plan of action: The Who, What, Where, When & How’s!

Note: If you struggle with implementing your leadership, practice management & marketing goals – a dental coaching relationship may be the solution! Contact: Betty @bhaydenconsulting.gmail.com.

~ Social Media Post Ideas to Improve Engagement ~

National Cookie Day: 4th

National Cotton Candy Day: 7th

Short Girl Appreciation Day: 21st (Shortest day of the year)

National Thank you note day: 26th

Bacon Day: 30th

Sometimes despite your best efforts the schedule still falls apart. Don’t stress over it, instead use that downtime to do some training, team building, and/or office cleaning/organizing.

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas? I would love and truly appreciate for you to please take a minute to leave a review/recommendation for me 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 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

September 25, 2018 by bettyhayden

Gift and Give Away Ideas for your Dental Patients

Hello Friends,

Are you looking for a fun way to thank your patients for their referrals and encourage your patients to tell their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers about your office? A great and inexpensive way to do this is to present them with an unexpected gift at their appointment.

Here are a few ideas for you…

GIFTS for FALL:

* Apple Cider *

Warm or cold cider is a nice fall treat. You don’t need to give every patient their own jug of cider a small cup of cider will be well received and appreciated. Include a sign near the cider that says:

“You’re the Apple of Our Eye”

* S’mores Kit *

Pinterest has some neat ideas for inexpensive and fun s’more kits.

“We Need S’More Patients Like You!”

Just a few of the creative ways you can exceed your patients’ expectations with this sweet treat… Thank you for sharing 🙂

GIFTS in WINTER:

* Tea *

Attach your business card or a special offer to green tea packets as a special give-away for your patients. Even if they don’t drink tea they can give it to a family member, friend, co-worker or a neighbor. Easy and inexpensive way to advertise your office and exceed your patients’ expectations. The label/tag may say:

“Our Patients are TEA-riffic!”

* Candle *

Mini candle jars make a nice gift. Attach a tag or label with your office info and one of these sayings:

“Our Patients Are Scentsational”

“Your Referrals Warm Our Hearts”

* Lotion *

Pass out little bottles of lotion. If they are not imprinted with your office name add a tag to the bottle with your office name and website with this saying…

“Hands Down We Have The Best Patients In Town!”

* Soup *

Here is a delicious gift idea for Winter: “Warm-Up Wednesday’s” Set up a slow cooker with soup or chili every Wednesday for your patients to enjoy. (Have recipe cards ready to share) Your patients will love the free food!

or this idea…

Dr. Bruyere and the team are always coming up with thoughtful gifts for their patients!

* Apples *
This one is especially for the offices that are opposed to sharing sugary treats with their patients…

Basket of fresh Apples with a sign or stickers on the apples that say:

“Our Patients Are Awesome to The Core”

“You’re the Apple of our Eyes”

See my Apple-themed Dental Marketing Ideas for more apple ideas.

* FREE Food – Gift Certificates *

When in doubt, food is a great way to reach your patients’ hearts…especially, free food. This is also an opportunity to do some cross-marketing with local businesses. Ask them to donate gift cards for free food/drink. Or you can purchase gift certificates to give away to your patients on special days. Check out these ideas:

GIFTS for SPRING: (For awesome Spring gift ideas visit my Pinterest page HERE

* Flower/Herb/Veggie Seed Packets *

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 could 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.”

* Honey *

Give your patients gifts of little jars of honey. Attach a tag saying:

“Thank You For BEE-ing Our Patient”

Check out what Dr. Bruyere’s office did…

GIFTS for SUMMER:

* Mini Sunscreen *

Give away mini bottles of sunscreen. If you don’t have them imprinted with your office name, simply add a tag to the bottles.

* Free Ice Cream Cone Certificates *

Team up with local ice cream shop for donations of free ice cream cones

* Zucchini *

Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night. (I’m serious, it’s a real day in August!) While you probably don’t want to visit your patient’s homes during the night you can easily have a basket of zucchini at the office for your patients to take. Wrap some ribbon and a business card with a zucchini recipe on it for your patients to sneak onto their neighbor’s porch during the night.

Dr. Bruyere & Team celebrating “Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night “

ANYTIME GIFTS

* Pens *

Purchase imprinted pens and add a tag to the pens that say:

“Take Note We Think You’re Awesome”

“Our Patients are just Write”

Tip: promostuff4u.com has a wonderful selection of pens and they offer exceptional customer service.

* Cookies *

Individually wrapped purchased or homemade cookies are a sweet treat. Add this label:

“Thankful for Sweet Patients Like You”

* Flowers *
Fresh single stem flowers or Small potted flowers (ex: inexpensive gift would be a marigold in a small flower pot, you can get mini pots from the dollar store 4/$1.00)

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

“Our Office Blooms Because of you! “

* Xylitol Products *

Offer Xylitol samples of Gum, Mints, and Suckers

Tip: Also have these items available for purchase

* Donuts *

Who doesn’t enjoy a yummy donut occasionally? Display a platter of donuts at the front desk or at your patient beverage station with a sign that says:

“Donut Know What We Would Do Without Wonderful Patients Like You!”

* Bath Salts/Sugar Scrubs *

Consider making bath salts or sugar scrubs as a team building activity. Give away as gifts to your patients.

Tip: Pinterest is loaded with recipes and super cute packaging ideas.

* Lip Balm *

Order imprinted lip balm and attach cute tags to the packaging with this saying…

“Our Patients are the Balm!”

Tip: www.lipbalmexpress.com is a great company to order imprinted, all natural, inexpensive lip balm. See also Pinterest for fun packaging ideas for your lip balm.

* Gift of Health Certificates *

Instead of just asking your patients to refer their friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to your office, give them a gift of health certificate to share with their friends, family, neighbors & co-workers.

Here is a scripting idea:

Gift of Health Certificate

To: ______________________________________

From: ___________________________________

Your oral health affects your overall health!

This is your invitation to receive $25 toward dental treatment and a complimentary oral cancer screening from __(office name__.

Please RSVP at __(office phone number).

We’ll give you a reason to smile!

Add here: Office address & website/social media sites

Note: You can do some seasonal gift of health certificates by changing the paper and envelope according to the current season.

These are just a few patient appreciation gift ideas. I’m sure you can come up with even more fun gift ideas. I would LOVE to hear all about what you come up with! Please share your stories and pictures with me on my Facebook page or via email. Thank you to all of you that have sent me messages and pictures of your gift ideas!!

Plan to make each month special for your patients with unexpected gifts of appreciation. Important Reminder: Whatever you decide to give away to your patients, include your office name and website on/with the gift whenever possible!!

Did you enjoy these tips and ideas? I would love and truly appreciate for you to please leave a review/recommendation for me 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 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

August 26, 2016 by bettyhayden

Dental Marketing to Seniors

Hello Friends,

Marketing to seniors typically isn’t a priority for most dentists. However, since advancing age doesn’t mean seniors cannot keep their teeth for a lifetime, why not take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to this generation? Help them to see they’re not destined to lose their teeth.

A few ways to reach out to Senior Citizens:

Senior Appreciation Day (In-office)

Senior Health & Wellness Expo

Direct Mail Marketing to Senior Living Communities

Website & Social Media Sites

Today, I’m going to focus on ideas for you to use at a community senior health & wellness fair/expo. However, many of the ideas for talking points, presentation and giveaways may be used in the other forms of marketing mentioned above.

Health Fair settings can be challenging for a couple of different reasons.

One, there are a lot of vendors and booths/displays so you’re going to want to make sure that your display table stands out. That it draws the attention of the guests.

Two, most people are there for something free. No problem for you, because they won’t leave your display empty-handed.

Many wonder what they should talk about and what sort of items should they give away?

How about these ideas…

Service Talking Points ~

– Denture/Partial Maintenance & Repair
– Bad Breath
– Dry Mouth
– Teeth Whitening
– Orthodontics
– Implants
– Oral Cancer (On-site screenings)
– The mouth-body connection
– Smile Makeover

Presentation / Demonstration ~

– Power Point/Video presentation on a laptop/tablet/LARGE monitor with before and after photos and/or information about your services.
– How To Demonstrations: Proper Brushing & Flossing Techniques

Display ~

– Table Cloth
– Banner (Office Name and Website address)
– Brochures
– Business Cards
– Use nice baskets, containers and frames to display your items.

Keep your table neat but attractive – too much information and “stuff” will be overwhelming in that setting.

Include a Big Call to Action with a deadline: You could hand out a sheet of paper that has a special offer on it: Complimentary Oral Cancer Screening, New Patient Special or Teeth Whitening Offer. On that sheet include some of the other services you offer. Also, include your social media sites and of course all your office contact info.

Make certain that you’ll have the ability to schedule complimentary consultations and New Patient Hygiene visits right there on the spot. (Access to your schedule…at the very least a copy of the schedule for the next 2 weeks.)

Very Important: Your display table must include friendly, smiling, approachable and outgoing team members (also wearing, professional & clean attire).

Other things you can do to attract people to your table…

– Prize Wheel

– Gift Basket Drawing/Raffle
Lots of FREE stuff! Which brings us to…

Giveaways ~

– Bottled Water
– Healthy Snacks
– Xylitol Products- Gum/Mints

– Sample dental health products with sticker or tag attached showing that a “refill” may be purchased at your office.
– Imprinted Toothbrushes
– Toothpaste
– Floss / Imprinted Floss Cards
– Imprinted Pens
– Magnets
– My favorite idea for a quick & inexpensive freebie is Lip Balm- (my go to; http://www.lipbalmexpress)
– Reusable Bags with your Office Information on them is a handy giveaway, one that allows them to carry their free gifts in and advertise your office for you.

If you’re not looking to spend a lot of money on bags, please consider using small imprinted plastic bags so no one is fumbling with their gifts.

(If you’re wondering where you can order some of the imprinted items listed above and many others not listed, check out Bizarre Marketing. I share this particular company with you because their customer service is awesome.)

Raffle / Drawing ~

– Electric Toothbrush
– Whitening Pen
– Gift Cards
– Gift Baskets ( Themes: Dental, Gardening, Seasonal items, Spa – don’t hesitate to team up with local businesses for basket items)
– Free Teeth Whitening and or $ off Dental Treatment ( NOTE: they can either check the box for which one or all that they are hoping to win. Use a full sheet of paper with prize options and large space for them to fill out their name, email, address & phone (to be used later to send nice to meet you cards).

Should you decide to use a Prize Wheel instead of Raffle/Drawing be sure to find another way to capture their information so you can follow-up with a “pleasure to meet you” thank you card after the event.

Encourage attendees to “like” your office Facebook page and “follow” your office on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Perhaps you can offer some type of incentive/reward for visiting your social media sites.

Take a few minutes before and after the event to briefly introduce yourself to the other vendors and businesses at the expo. Give them a bag with some of your office freebies. This is a great opportunity to build relationships within your community.

So many ways for you to have a fun and successful senior health and wellness fair. Do you have any other ideas that have worked well for you? Please, share them with me.

If you do not already subscribe to receive our free dental marketing and practice management ideas right to your inbox each month, please do so today. Feel free to tell your dental friends about Hayden Consulting. ~Thank you!

We welcome your comments, questions, and likes.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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

April 19, 2016 by bettyhayden

Dental Marketing Ideas for May

Hello Dental Friends,

“Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.”
~Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Spring is such a great time of year. I love seeing the trees bloom and the perennials sprouting in my flower beds. It’s also a time for me to get a lot of spring house cleaning/organizing accomplished and fun summer activities planned before our children are on their summer vacation from school.

Spring can be a great time for your dental office too! It’s a wonderful time to really look at the office through the eyes of your patients and potential patients and make any needed improvements. This article, Tips to Improve your Dental Office -First Impressions has many ideas to help get you started.

As promised, here are some dental marketing ideas for the month of May. Last week, I shared some dental marketing ideas to be used during the month of May’s Teacher Appreciation and Nurses week. If you missed it, you can read about them here.

betty hayden consulting may dental marketing ideas

Gifts from the Garden Month –

Host a Spring Perennial Plant Exchange at your office. What a fantastic way to meet your neighbors! (It would be awesome to turn this into a “Beautify & Clean-Up” Local Businesses in the Community Event.)

If you are interested in having me help your office create a custom “Garden Month” (or different themed) campaign that includes ideas for special offers, patient give-aways/drawings, community involvement, cross marketing with local businesses and recare/incomplete treatment scripting, please contact me today at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

National Pet Month – People love to talk and brag about their pets. Use this week to ask your friends/patients on your social media sites to post pictures of their pets. Post pictures of your team members pets. Turn it into a contest: the pet with the most likes wins a special treat.

High Blood Pressure Education Month – Why do we take your blood pressure at your dental appointment? High blood pressure is called the silent killer because, although it contributes to such potential killers as stroke and heart attack, those who suffer from it often have no signs or symptoms.

Many people see their dentist more regularly than a physician and could get an early warning about high blood pressure when getting their teeth cleaned or having other dental treatment done. We take your blood pressure because we care about you.

Family Practice & Pediatric Office Marketing Ideas:

National Family Wellness Month –

Target: Families

Product Feature: Cleanings, Sealants, Mouthguards & Fluoride

May Practice Management Reminders:

Insurance/Hygiene Recare/Incomplete Treatment Reminder: Many insurance companies renew their maximum on June 1st. Pull a report of any patients due in hygiene or with incomplete treatment that have benefits remaining before their June renewal. Make Use it or Lose It calls & mail reminders.

Gift Certificates – Gift certificates for Teeth Whitening make great Gifts!

If you have any other thoughts or ideas please feel free to comment below. Should you need any help with your May marketing campaign, please email Betty: bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. This way, you won’t miss a single idea! PLEASE, feel free to share my blog with your colleagues.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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